The Al Franken Podcast

In this Best Of episode, we revisit our 2023 conversation with Rhode Island Senator Sheldon Whitehouse. We talked to Sen. Whitehouse about his book, “The Scheme,” which examines how dark money and radical right wing activists worked tirelessly to gain control of the Supreme Court. Sen. Whitehouse lays out all the key players in this effort, including The Federalist Society and Leonard Leo, the mai...

In this Best Of episode, we revisit our 2020 conversation with Jimmy Kimmel! We go through his long career, beginning with his start in radio and his transition to television. We discuss the birth of Jimmy’s late night show back in 2003 and how, in his own words, the show was "genuinely terrible.” With time, Jimmy figured it out and established a template for what makes a good show and learned wha...

Throughout the 2024 election, we all heard about the dangers of Project 2025, yet somehow it’s worse than we imagined. Trump continuously said he didn't know anything about it (but he did), and nearly a year after his swearing in, we've seen a huge portion of it already implemented. We're joined by The Atlantic’s David A. Graham, author of the new book, “The Project: How Project 2025 is Shaping Am...

As we approach the end of 2025, we take a look back at what happened around the world in Trump’s first year back in office. We're joined by two of the best foreign policy writers we know: Franklin Foer and Anne Applebaum from The Atlantic!  We discuss the EIGHT wars and conflicts that Trump has single handedly ended, while also examining the ongoing conflicts in The Middle East, Ukraine, Venezuela...

We're joined by the great Mark Leibovich from The Atlantic to run through some of the wild stories fresh out of Washington. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth is facing criticisms on multiple fronts: Not only was it reported that he ordered the killing of two survivors from a bombed alleged drug trafficking boat, a Pentagon Inspector General also found that he put American troops' lives in danger with...

One of Donald Trump's most successful initiatives in his second term has been making himself and his family richer than ever. We're joined by The New Yorker’s David Kirkpatrick, who earlier this year wrote a piece outlining all the ways the legendary grifters have cashed in during Trump’s presidency.  The Trump family has long been associated with shameless cash grabs, but we have reached new leve...

In Donald Trump's second term, we've seen a flurry of pardons and commutations. Of course, every President is granted the pardon power, but with this administration, pardons often seem to have a price tag. We're joined by Liz Oyer, former US pardon attorney (appointed by Biden and fired by Trump), to discuss some of the shadier pardons doled out during Trump's second term (so far).  Oyer lays out...

After 43 days, the longest government shutdown in American history has finally ended. We're joined by Catherine Rampell from The Bulwark and MSNBC to talk about how it finally came to a close and why a lot of Democrats are mad at their party. Catherine details how the Trump administration used the shutdown as an excuse to inflict as much pain as possible on SNAP recipients. Not only did the admini...

The Democratic Party showed signs of life all around the country with last week's off-season elections. Helping us make sense of it all is Molly Jong-Fast, opinion writer for The New York Times and host of the Fast Politics podcast! Molly examines NYC's new mayor, Zohran Mamdani, and why his campaign was so successful. Can he actually deliver on the promises he's made in the campaign? Molly shares...

We are approaching the longest government shutdown in American history with no end in sight. But it seems like this is exactly what the Trump administration wants. How much longer can this go on? We are joined by David Weigel from Semafor to discuss the damage of the shutdown and how the White House believes it's winning this fight. Weigel examines how the Trump administration seems to be disconne...

Every day brings a new constitutional crisis. Donald Trump isn't just breaking norms... he's weaponizing the entire justice system against anyone who dare cross him. We're joined by former U.S. Attorney Harry Litman to cut through the chaos and explain what the hell is happening. Trump promised that he would bring "retribution" to his second term - turns he wasn’t lying. So far he’s gone after Jam...

Donald Trump and the Republican Party have the backing of Evangelicals and fundamentalist Christians. But if you read the Bible or listen to the teachings of Jesus Christ, it would be clear that their policies are anything but Christ-like. We're joined by comedian, radio host, and NYT bestselling author John Fugelsang to discuss his new book, “Separation of Church and Hate.”  Fugelsang shares his...

We're thrilled to welcome David Hogg to the podcast. Hogg is a co-founder of March For Our Lives and his PAC, Leaders We Deserve. He shares about how the tragedy in Parkland, FL launched him into the political fray. Hogg notoriously served as a Vice Chair of the Democratic National Committee for a brief time. He tells us about some of the inner workings of the DNC and then what happened when shit...

Chaos has ensued across the federal government as we face another shutdown. We're joined by political scientist, an emeritus scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, and friend of the show, Norm Ornstein, to make sense of it all. What is this shutdown all about? Healthcare. With Republicans in charge of the House, the Senate, the Presidency, AND the Supreme Court, can they dodge the blame? Me...

 Trump picked RFK Jr. to take over the Department of Health and Human Services, and chaos has ensued. So far, RFK Jr. is ignoring the advice of experts and bringing along his cronies to push vaccine skepticism. It could have a devastating impact on the health of Americans for years to come. We're joined by Former CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden, who currently heads global health organization Resolve...

Hear a teaser for The Global Story, the daily BBC news podcast that covers the intersection where the world and America meet. Find The Global Story on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts.

We are joined by Randi Weingarten, the President of the American Federation of Teachers, to discuss her new book, “Why Fascists Fear Teachers: Public Education and the Future of Democracy.” In the book, Weingarten details how there has been a systematic demonization of teachers and public education in America. She argues that one of the pillars of public education is critical thinking, which preve...

Baltimore, Maryland is one of Donald Trump's most frequent targets when talking about crime in America. As the President continues to threaten to send troops into American cities, we wanted to hear from Baltimore's mayor, Brandon Scott.  Since Mayor Scott took office, the city has seen a dramatic drop in violent crime. He explains his policies and how investing in the community has helped calm the...

Donald Trump rolled out the red carpet for Vladimir Putin in Alaska last month and came up empty handed...  No ceasefire, no concessions, nothing. So what does the future of the war in Ukraine look like? We turn to journalist Tim Mak who has been based in Kiev since the start of the war. Tim is the founder of The Counteroffensive, a Substack that chronicles life in Ukraine and the agony of this wa...

In this Best Of episode, we revisit our 2022 conversation with comedian and actor Bob Odenkirk! We got to hear from him about his memoir “Comedy, Comedy, Comedy, Drama” and his early beginnings writing comedy in grade school. We reminisce about our days together at Saturday Night Live and discuss some of our favorite sketches. We also talk about his sketch series, “Mr. Show with Bob and David.” Bo...

In his second term, Donald Trump has upended many American institutions, but perhaps none more than the Department of Justice. He's filled the DOJ with lackeys, like AG Pam Bondi, who are corrupting our system of justice in ways never seen before.  We're joined by two veterans of the DOJ: Barbara McQuade, professor at University of Michigan Law School, and Daniel Richman, professor at Columbia Law...

With Donald Trump and the Republican Party low in the polls, Texas is resorting to one of their favorite ways to win voters: cheating. They’ve drawn new maps to implement unprecedented gerrymandering, taking away five Democratic-held seats - all done at Trump’s insistence, of course. We're joined by Ari Berman, national voting rights correspondent for Mother Jones, to walk us through Texas Governo...

Gaza faces mass starvation as Israel blocks critical food and aid to the region. We're joined by The Atlantic's Franklin Foer to discuss his recent piece, “Israel's Last Chance,” and how the only answer to this atrocity is for Israel to flood Gaza with food. Foer also discusses the legitimate criticism of Benjamin Netanyahu, while acknowledging that some of the protests can veer into antisemitism,...

We're joined by journalist and best-selling author, Jonathan Alter, to dig deeper into the latest in Trump’s America. Jonathan’s most recent piece in Washington Monthly explains how the BBB’s enormous funding for ICE will turn America into a police state. With over 75 billion dollars, ICE will now be bigger than all American law enforcement agencies combined. We discuss Trump's authoritarianism, i...

We're thrilled to welcome an old friend from Al’s SNL days, comedian Kevin Nealon! Kevin and Al trade stories from working together on Saturday Night Live and discuss how the show has changed over the years.  Kevin shares how he created several trademark bits, including Mr. Subliminal and Hans and Franz. Plus, we get backstories on some sketches that Al and Kevin worked on together. We also get in...