The Best People with Nicolle Wallace

Symone Sanders Townsend and Eugene Daniels were once at odds as White House staffer and White House reporter. Now they’re friends and colleagues—each co-hosting their own shows at MS NOW. But their off-air conversations are where the real action is. Their new show, “MS NOW Presents: Clock It” is an invitation to their groupchat, the liveliest—and most informative—in news. Whether it’s ICE getting...

Eric Holder exemplifies a Justice Department guided by principle and integrity— rather than by the whims of a White House occupant. Holder’s unique perspective as the nation’s former chief law enforcement officer allows him to diagnose an untethered executive branch intent on weaponizing institutions, while also owning where Democrats fall short: “Democrats have been uncomfortable with the acquisi...

Susan Rice’s exemplary career in government and international relations has earned her a distinctive reputation as a resolute advocate for American interests on the world stage. As the former Ambassador to the United Nations and President Obama’s National Security Advisor, she is keenly aware of our nation’s leadership role across the globe. So, her sober analysis of President Trump’s brazen and “...

In a media market saturated with content, Oliver Darcy breaks the fourth wall—turning the lens back on the content makers shaping today’s news. The veteran media reporter and “Status” newsletter founder is known for delivering must-read scoops and industry analysis. In this episode, Darcy joins Nicolle to analyze the depths of corporate capitulation to Donald Trump, how MAGA media stars are comman...

Against the backdrop of the shocking U.S. capture of President Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela, renowned historian and Substack superstar Heather Cox Richardson is back with Nicolle, bringing her unique capacity to explain our current state of play through a historically tinted lens. As Trump’s actions abroad rattle the post-World War II international order, Heather warns of a political era that adher...

Listen to this special invitation from Rachel Maddow and sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts to take advantage of a 3-month free trial! With MS NOW Premium, you can get our entire suite of podcasts – everything from “The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell” to “Main Justice” – all ad-free. As a subscriber, you also get exclusive bonus content from shows such as “Rachel Maddow Presents: Burn...

Happy New Year! This week, we’re revisiting an episode we recorded back in September with the iconic folk singer, songwriter, and activist, Joan Baez. Please enjoy! We’ll be back with new episodes next week. Legendary singer and activist Joan Baez still marches in protests; but she also performs in a circus, dances with drag queens and does whatever else she can to maintain a sense of joy and laug...

As we reflect on 2025 and prepare for the new year, we thought it would be a good time to share an episode we recorded back in September that blends themes of comedy, friendship, and community. Please enjoy this “Best of the Best” with Nicolle’s dear friend and former co-host, Rosie O’Donnell. Rosie O’Donnell has never shied away from a microphone. And while her decades-long public feud with Donal...

Marc Elias is a formidable elections attorney and a fierce defender of voting rights. As Republicans hone a strategy of subtracting voters from the rolls in the 2026 midterms, Elias relentlessly challenges their efforts—in the courts and in the public square. Against the backdrop of notching over 60 legal victories against Donald Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election, Elias joins Nicolle...

It takes a rare kind of brilliance to be universally funny, and Leslie Jones is Exhibit A. With the release of her new comedy special "Life: Part Two”, the Emmy-award winning SNL alum joins Nicolle — who she affectionately calls “Nickkkaaay!” — for a conversation packed with candor, irreverence, and unadulterated hilarity. Whether she’s calling out the narcissism fueling our leaders or recounting...

With the backdrop of intensifying scrutiny over the Trump administration's boat strikes, Nicolle’s friend and colleague Rachel Maddow returns — this time with a chilling piece of American history in hand. Rachel’s latest podcast, “Rachel Maddow Presents: Burn Order”, examines one of the most astonishing chapters in American history: the U.S. government’s decision to forcibly target, detain, and up...

Claire Danes knew she was destined to act at five years old, and audiences have felt that certainty ever since – from her turn as Angela Chase in the cult favorite series “My So-Called Life” to the iconic Carrie Mathison in “Homeland,” her devotion to her craft has delivered some of television’s most compelling characters. Her latest work in Netflix’s “The Beast in Me” is no different, with Danes...

"Rachel Maddow Presents: Burn Order" is the story of one of the most shocking decisions in American history: the executive order to target and round up innocent citizens, Japanese Americans, at the outbreak of World War II. This six-episode narrative podcast will examine and shed new light on how that policy came to be, who was behind it, who attempted to stop it, and the heroism needed to end the...

Since the government shutdown ended, there’s been a renewed focus on releasing the Epstein files. And after the House and Senate voted to compel the Justice Department to make the files public, President Trump signed the bill, beginning a 30-day countdown to their release. With this as a backdrop, we thought it would be a good time to re-up an episode of "The Best People" we released back in mid-S...

As an American historian and history professor at Boston College, Heather Cox Richardson muses, “ I don't predict the future, I predict the past.” But there is a reason that her renowned “Letters From an American” Substack has the most subscribers of anyone on the platform: Cox Richardson’s ability to apply the lessons from our nation’s history to the politics of our present. And she sees a signif...

Scott Galloway — affectionately known as “Prof G” to his legion of podcast followers — is deeply concerned about young men in America. In his new book “Notes on Being a Man,” he reflects on how a lack of economic viability and social connection has created powerful headwinds that make the experience of young men today far different from his own. Scott joins Nicolle to share his analysis of several...

“Pod Save America” began as a way to “narrow the distance” between the conversations former Obama White House staffers were having in private and the ones echoing throughout the public sphere. And since launching in 2017, it’s become a force in America’s competitive media culture. As two of the three co-founders behind Crooked Media, Jon Favreau and Tommy Vietor are ushering in a new era of politi...

Governor JB Pritzker has mastered the art of standing up to Donald Trump. Whether he’s mocking Trump’s threat to jail him (“Come and get me, Mr. President!) or calling on the citizens of Illinois to grab their phones and document how ICE is targeting black and brown people, Pritzker is showing us how it’s done. With the threat of deployment of federal troops to the streets of Chicago, Pritzker is...

Charlamagne Tha God’s more than 7 million monthly listeners hang on his every word for a reason: Charlamagne is plugged into real Americans’ lives. Listening to Charlamagne’s nationally syndicated radio show “The Breakfast Club” has been likened to “sitting on America’s front porch” – a sensibility Charlamagne honed growing up in rural South Carolina. “It gave me a front row seat on working class...

Jen Psaki is on a mission to show us how the Democratic party can use this political moment to fight and win again. On Season 2 of her podcast, “The Blueprint,” she interviews the people reshaping the party, starting with Texas Congressman Greg Casar, Chair of the Progressive Caucus. The first two episodes of “The Blueprint with Jen Psaki” are available now, and will continue to drop every Wednesd...

Martin Sheen has been playing iconic leading men for nearly 70 years from "Badlands" to "Apocalypse Now" and of course as President Jed Bartlet in "The West Wing." But the Emmy and Golden Globe winner says that while acting is his profession, activism keeps him alive. The son of immigrants, social justice is at the center of his life; Sheen's decades of non-violent civil disobedience has earned hi...

Anthony Scaramucci, known as “The Mooch” to friends and foes alike, holds a unique place in American politics. A baseball fanatic and Goldman Sachs alum, he was once a Donald Trump supporter, campaign advisor, and held an 11-day stint as Trump’s White House Communications Director in 2017. After Trump called him a “deep-stater” and fired him, Scaramucci did a lot of soul searching. And in 2019, he...

Rosie O’Donnell has never shied away from a microphone. And while her decades-long public feud with Donald Trump has at times been fodder for tabloids, she is quite clear that her decision to move to Ireland, her ancestral home, was all about her family and her own self-preservation. Rosie and Nicolle first met as co-hosts thrown together to debate on “The View”, but they developed a friendship th...

Legendary singer and activist Joan Baez still marches in protests; but she also performs in a circus, dances with drag queens and does whatever else she can to maintain a sense of joy and laughter. Baez has spent her career equally at home on the political frontlines as behind a guitar. But as the world has changed, so has how she calculates risk. She thinks if she were to be arrested now – as opp...

At 22 years old, Jess Michaels was thriving. She was finding success as a dancer and model in New York City. Then, in 1991, she met Jeffrey Epstein. Jess Michaels was sexually assaulted by Epstein and it destroyed her stability, her career and her health. After doing the work to begin healing from this trauma, she has found renewed purpose as an advocate alongside other survivors of Epstein's abus...