Radio Atlantic

Trump isn’t like most Republican presidents, but his views on trade have been an unusually firm departure from his party. Despite long championing free trade, the GOP is now led by a man who seems deeply skeptical of it. Last week, he upended trade negotiations with China by levying tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese goods, carrying out a threat he’d issued just before a Chinese delegation visited...

Franklin Foer joins Isaac Dovere to discuss his story in the June issue of The Atlantic about Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. Orbán described his vision of Hungary as an "alternative to liberal democracy," and, in recent years, cemented his power by undermining civil society. When Orbán’s party won a majority last year, it rewrote parts of the constitution, redrew parliamentary districts...

Last weekend’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner was the first one in years without a comedian. In the Trump era, comedians have struggled to adjust — are things too serious? Too biased? Too absurd? Is any of it funny anymore? Jordan Klepper has been on three very different political comedy shows in three years. He was a fake news correspondent on The Daily Show, then a parody conspiracy theorist...

Atlantic Ideas Editor Yoni Appelbaum and Vox editor-at-large Ezra Klein have both deeply researched the question of impeachment — and each came to a different conclusion. Appelbaum argued in The Atlantic’s March cover story that the House of Representatives “must immediately open a formal impeachment inquiry into President Trump, and bring the debate out of the court of public opinion and into Con...

On Tuesday, Attorney General William Barr ordered immigration judges to stop releasing asylum seekers on bail. The move signals an even fiercer immigration policy that could include the return of family separations. A few weeks ago, the president threatened to close the southern border. Days later, he fired his Homeland Security chief, who reportedly lost out to hardliners in the White House. Isaa...

The crowded race for the Democratic nomination includes both frontrunners and long-shots, but how do we know which is which? Some big names have trailed in fundraising and polls. And some written off early have found surprising support. On this week’s Radio Atlantic, Isaac Dovere is joined by one of the biggest long-shot successes in recent Democratic politics: Howard Dean. The former Vermont gove...

In recent days, three women have accused former Vice President Joe Biden of inappropriate contact. On Wednesday, Biden announced in a video that he is going to be “mindful” about personal space going forward, that he hears what these women are saying, and that he "gets it." While a number of prominent women have come to Biden's defense, there are plenty of critics who have said he has no place rep...

Last week, the special counsel submitted his report to Attorney General Bill Barr. And this week, Barr shared his brief summary of the big conclusions: there was no collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign. As for obstruction of justice, Mueller left that question unresolved. In his letter, Barr said the DOJ had decided the evidence presented didn’t merit criminal charges. More could change...

When elected, most presidents either sell their assets or put them in a blind trust. Isolating a president’s financial interests from their time in office has been a norm for decades: from Jimmy Carter giving up his peanut farm to Barack Obama liquidating his assets. But Donald Trump is not like most presidents. He’s said he won’t divest from his businesses, even though his real estate deals aroun...

Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort will spend around seven years in federal prison — far less than the nineteen to twenty-four years recommended by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. The sentences prompted a backlash when a federal judge in Virginia said Manafort deserved leniency for his “otherwise blameless life.” But it’s not just the punishment that has people talking. Manafort’s crimes...

The Democratic party is in a battle with itself. After devastating losses in 2016, the party was resurgent in 2018, but the lessons from both elections remain unclear: should the Democratic party be one of progressive grassroots activism or should it try to win back suburban and moderate voters? Dan Pfeiffer — former senior advisor to President Obama and co-host of Pod Save America — thinks the ch...

On Wednesday before the House Oversight Committee, Michael Cohen called the president a racist, a conman, and a cheat. He also brought documents. Trump’s onetime confidant testified for seven hours. He laid a trail of legal breadcrumbs that are likely to be followed by House Democrats and federal investigators, among others—long after Robert Mueller hands in his report to the Attorney General. For...

Last week, President Trump declared a national emergency to get funding for the wall. The move gave him elevated power to move money around, but it was immediately met with lawsuits from 16 states. What exactly is a national emergency? Why is this one different? And just how far do a president’s emergency powers really go? Alex Wagner speaks with Liza Goitein, Co-Director of the Liberty and Nation...

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos recently accused the National Enquirer of “extortion and blackmail” over private photos of him obtained by the tabloid. In a Medium post, Bezos shared emails from the Enquirer that threaten to publish those photos unless he accedes to their demands. How did a celebrity magazine get into the rough and tumble world of extortion? Jeffrey Toobin, New Yorker staff writer and C...

Recently, news broke that Virginia’s Democratic governor and attorney general both wore blackface in the 1980s. The controversy now enveloping the state has seemed all too familiar, as blackface photos of even more politicians have come out in recent years. Alex Wagner sits down with staff writers Vann R. Newkirk II and Adam Serwer to ask: how does this keep happening? Learn more about your ad cho...

Senator Kamala Harris has drawn criticism for beginning her 2020 campaign by pitching herself as a ‘progressive prosecutor’ despite a more mixed record. Alex Wagner sits down with two people who have thought deeply about the power of prosecutors in America: Georgetown Law Professor Paul Butler and New York Times Magazine staff writer Emily Bazelon. What exactly is Harris’s record? How does race in...

The government shutdown is now the longest in U.S. history, but President Trump seems no closer to a deal to resolve it. Why does the “master dealmaker” -- as he sold himself on the campaign trail -- seem at a loss in his first negotiation with a Democratic House? New York Times White House Correspondent and ‘Trump whisperer’ Maggie Haberman joins Alex Wagner to explain how his business career act...

On Friday, the New York Times published a startling story: In 2017, days after Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, the bureau opened an inquiry into whether the president was secretly working on behalf of Russia. It was an explosive development in an already major story. Since this news came out, it’s informed how we see two other very big new stories: On Sunday, the Washington Post reported tha...

Social media platforms once promised to connect the world. Today’s digital communities, though, often feel like forces for disunity. Anger and discord in 2018 seemed only amplified by the social media institutions that now dictate our conversations. Executive editor Matt Thompson sits down with staff writer Alexis Madrigal to find out how we got to this point and whether we can do anything to solv...

Observing antidemocratic ‘power grabs’ by state Republicans, Atlantic staff writer George Packer writes that “the corruption of the Republican Party in the Trump era seemed to set in with breathtaking speed. In fact, it took more than a half century to reach the point where faced with a choice between democracy and power, the party chose the latter.” To understand how the party of Lincoln became t...

On Thursday, Maria Butina became the first Russian national convicted of seeking to influence the 2016 election. As part of Russia’s years-long effort to cozy up to the American right, Butina gained access to conservative circles through the National Rifle Association. And as the NRA is under scrutiny for ties to Russian operatives, it appears the organization illegally coordinated with the Trump...

A Chinese researcher recently touched off a global controversy when he announced the birth of the world’s first genetically edited babies. The claims remain unverified, but the news shocked and dismayed scientists around the world. Atlantic staff writers Ed Yong and Sarah Zhang join Matt Thompson to discuss the news and what it means for the future of genetic editing. Links - The CRISPR Baby Scand...

Paul Manafort’s cooperation with the Mueller probe has collapsed. In a Monday filing, the special counsel’s office said he repeatedly lied to federal investigators, nullifying the plea agreement and exposing him to new charges. Not soon after, news stories broke reporting that Manafort had met with Julian Assange in 2016, that a meeting between Manafort and Ecuador’s then-president was under scrut...

The midterms were over a week ago, but a number of races have yet to be called. In Florida, the senate and governor elections have both come down to a recount, and accusations of vote-tampering are flying. Alex Wagner talks with Atlantic staff writer Isaac Dovere to understand what’s going on, and then turns to two veterans of the last such debacle: Mark McKinnon, chief media adviser for George W....

Executive Editor Matt Thompson interviews Atlantic reporters on what lessons they drew from the midterm elections, speaking in turn with: Vann Newkirk, Emma Green, Ron Brownstein, Adam Harris, and David Graham. Links - “The Democrats’ Deep-South Strategy Was a Winner After All”(Vann R. Newkirk II, November 8, 2018) - ”Tuesday Showed the Drawbacks of Trump's Electoral Bargain” (Ronald Brownstein, N...