The Blueprint with Jen Psaki

The youngest person in Congress, Representative Maxwell Alejandro Frost of the Florida 10th, says he’s "very pissed off" about the eight senators who agreed to a deal with the GOP to end the shutdown. He says that group – average age 69 – is behaving as though we’re not in a new political era. “When we have Democrats living in a political world that doesn't exist anymore, and Republicans living in...

Last night felt like a make-or-break moment for Democrats, as voters handed decisive victories to the party, especially in New Jersey, Virginia, and New York City. The three candidates that won in those places (Mikie Sherrill, Abigail Spanberger, and Zohran Mamdani respectively) are very different from each other and ran very different campaigns, showing that there isn’t only one face of the Democ...

The freshman Congresswoman from Delaware has been a politics nerd from a young age. Sarah McBride had Joe Biden’s autograph on her wall growing up, interned in the Obama White House, and then was elected a Delaware State Senator. In that role, she helped pass the largest increase in the social safety net in the state’s history. McBride is known for being the first openly transgender member of Cong...

The two-term governor of Kentucky is a Democrat – and he runs a state Trump won by 30 points last year. He’s got plenty to say about what’s holding Democrats back and where they go from here. His most direct advice? “Talk normal.” And he doesn’t shy away from standing up for things he believes in even when they’re unpopular in his deep red state. As one of the most popular governors in the country...

Many of your favorite MSNBC hosts gathered recently at an annual fan event to talk about the future of the Democratic party and democracy itself. Jen teamed up with Rachel Maddow to tackle tough and thoughtful questions from audience members including how to cut through all the political noise and how to understand how we got here. Jen also interviewed the cohosts of the wildly popular “I’ve Had I...

On the second season of “The Blueprint,” Jen Psaki is convening rising stars and leading voices to hash out a viable playbook and identify the priorities that will help propel Democrats back into power. And each week, she kicks things off with a conversation with her friend and Democratic campaign strategist Lis Smith, who has advised dozens of candidates vying in races at the local level all the...

Democrats are looking to regain power, and there is a whole lot of warranted debate about what a winning formula looks like. “The Blueprint with Jen Psaki” is a forum where those discussions take place. On season two of her podcast, Jen sits down with some of the biggest names on the left side of the political spectrum to talk about confronting Trump 2.0 and how the Democratic party can shape the...

Democrats would do well to listen to the leaders in their party who know how to communicate. Whether on the economy, green jobs, or the future of chip manufacturing, former Ohio Congressman Tim Ryan has a way of talking about these issues that resonates and makes sense to people. He joined Jen Psaki in this episode to share some insights into how Democrats can rethink and reframe the issues that m...

The political reality is, Democrats are not in charge of anything right now in Washington. So, in this episode, MSNBC’s Jen Psaki wanted to check in with party organizer and fierce voting rights advocate Stacey Abrams about how Democrats can find their way out of the wilderness and prepare for the next wave of elections. Rather than resisting what is in front of them, Stacey talks about insisting...

Governor JB Pritzker of Illinois is not your average progressive. He is a billionaire with an activist upbringing, in a family that prioritized advocating for the people who need it most. MSNBC's Jen Psaki wanted to get a sense of his approach to governing in this second Trump term and why priorities like raising the minimum wage and ending his state’s grocery tax are front of mind for him. They a...

Jemele Hill has made a name for herself speaking truth to power as a journalist. She is also masterful at synthesizing the intersection of sports and politics. During his first administration, Hill was willing to go where many of her peers wouldn’t when she famously called out Donald Trump. Jen Psaki sits down with the “Spolitics” host and Atlantic writer to get her take on what she thinks Democra...

In this episode, MSNBC’s Jen Psaki sits down with former CNN primetime anchor turned independent journalist, Don Lemon. Don talks about the new perspective he has gained from ditching the formality of a studio and becoming a leaner, meaner media machine. And they touch on how Democrats have been slower to catch up to the evolving media ecosystem.  Don believes the Democratic party, despite their ‘...

In this episode, Jen Psaki talks with her former boss Rahm Emanuel about what he thinks Democrats need to do to win again.  He offers his trademark candor on where Democrats slipped up in 2024, but also talks about what the future can look like.  He stresses the value of who the messengers are, the damage of litmus tests to winning and the importance of running someone in every single race from sc...

In this episode of “The Blueprint with Jen Psaki”, Jen sits down with social media darling and provocateur Jack Schlossberg to hone in on how conservatives have come to be the loudest voices online, while Democrats seem to have just ceded the ground. They talk about how to reach young voters – young men specifically – and why Dem’s reluctance to make mistakes has cost them. To listen to the shows...

Welcome to “The Blueprint with Jen Psaki,” a new podcast from MSNBC looking to shed some light on the state of the Democratic party and how to win again.  On this first episode, the conversation starts like many across the country– with football. Governor Wes Moore of Maryland is no stranger to the sport and his approach to the game often aligns with his approach to politics: be a team player, and...

As Democrats continue to dust themselves off after big losses in 2024, MSNBC’s Jen Psaki examines what’s next for the party. On “The Blueprint with Jen Psaki,” she dives into two crucial questions: where do Democrats stand in this moment? And how can they win again? With a format built for real conversations and necessary pushback, Jen sits down with some of the left’s biggest names to talk about...

There is no sugar-coating it, Democrats got walloped across the board. On "How to Win 2024 " , Senator Claire McCaskill is joined by hosts of MSNBC’s “The Weekend” to analyze the surprising margins of Trump’s win and what they mean for our democracy and our values.  Michael Steele, Alicia Menendez  and Symone Sanders Townsend team up with Claire to give some context to how this result unfolded, wh...

One candidate called for unity and promised to be a leader for all Americans on the Ellipse. The other continued a grievance tour and promised mass deportations amid a “love fest” at MSG. On this last episode before the election, Senator Claire McCaskill is joined again by Symone Sanders Townsend, former senior advisor to Vice President Harris, and co-host of MSNBC’s The Weekend . They tally the c...

This week,  Senator Claire McCaskill is joined by Michael Steele, former RNC Chair and co-host of MSNBC’s "The Weekend ", to analyze both candidates' final stretch strategies, as millions of Americans on both sides of the aisle cast their votes early. Then, Illinois Congresswoman and registered nurse Lauren Underwood explains why-- beyond the Dobbs decision-- senior care, prescription drug prices,...

With three weeks to go and early voting reaching record numbers, the campaigns are circling around their drastically disparate final pitches to voters. This week, MSNBC political analyst Elise Jordan joins former Senator Claire McCaskill to highlightTrump’s stark vision of the “enemies from within”, while Harris speaks to the center- and a combative Bret Baier on Fox News. Then, Senator Brian Scha...

While both candidates continue to crisscross the nation’s battlegrounds, Vice President Harris is also doing something former President Trump is not: interviews in traditional and new media. This week, Republican communications veteran Brendan Buck joins former Senator Claire McCaskill to look at the media strategies of both campaigns, and why Trump continues to derail GOP efforts to embrace early...

After Tuesday’s Vice-presidential debate, viewers were left feeling some nostalgia from debates past: heavy on policy, politeness, and comity. This week, Claire McCaskill is joined once again by her friend and former Senate colleague Heidi Heitkamp. They tick through the particulars from a relatively genial debate, and while it won’t likely move the needle much, it exposed the two distinct faces o...

With 40 days to go and voters paying attention, Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump are vying for the upper hand when it comes to their plans for the economy and border security. Former Senator Claire McCaskill distills who has the winning arguments with her co-host this week, former chair of the RNC and co-host of MSNBC’s The Weekend, Michael Steele. The duo then get so...

After Sunday’s second apparent assassination attempt, former Senator Claire McCaskill and former Harris senior advisor Symone Sanders Townsend reflect on the volatility of the moment, and the importance of taking down the temperature, while not shying away from calling out incendiary comments intended to stoke the flames. Then, the co-founder of Men4Choice , Oren Jacobson, joins the dynamic duo to...

On the fourth and final episode of our “The Threat of Project 2025” series, Chris Hayes speaks with Grist climate reporter Zoya Teirstein for her take on Project 2025’s impact on climate and the environment, especially in communities already suffering from climate-related catastrophes. Then, Dr. Vernon Morris , a professor of chemistry and atmospheric sciences at Arizona State University, shares h...