The Commentary Magazine Podcast

Today's podcast discusses the beating of a Chabad rabbi by a ride-share driver in DC and what it suggests about the spate of violent acts against Jews after 10/7, how this might tie into the border issue, and Congressional races in which this kind of thing will play a role. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we get into the growing UNRWA scandal and how it exposes the deep, structural absurdities of the agency's very existence. We also talk about the American elite's twisted view of U.S.-Israeli relations and whether Joe Biden should pay attention to younger Americans who oppose his support for Israel. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's podcast worries over Joe Biden's next steps relating to Iran and its proxies attacking Americans in the Middle East and the temptation to do just a little bit and not a lot to respond, which will only make things worse. It's even more puzzling given how vulnerable Biden is in an election year against Donald Trump on this issue because Trump can favorably contrast his record on Iran with Bi...

Today's podcast discusses all the efforts to end things in DC—negotiations over border legislation, the Nikki Haley campaign, the process by which the Republican Party functions—and why everybody who's working to stop things might be acting in a short-sighted and self-destructive manner. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's podcast looks at the peril to Ukraine and Israel aid now that the Republicans in the Senate are turning away from any kind of deal with Joe Biden on the border. Does this give Biden a talking point on the border against Trump? And where exactly is there an argument against Ukraine aid that isn't disingenuous? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Eliana Johnson joins the podcast to discuss the strange triumphalism of Nikki Haley's loser speech last night in New Hampshire and the strange negativity of Donald Trump's winner speech a few hours later. Does this portend a season in which Haley exposes Trump's flaws as she continues her run? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With the Republican contest all but over and almost ten months to go to the election, there are so many variable possibilities for 2024 it's impossible to game them out. Could this be the most interesting year ever? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chris Stirewalt joins the podcast to talk about the DeSantis departure from the race, whether Ron is angling for veep, and the composition of the two parties over the past 20 years. Also, Harvard goes pernicious yet again. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's podcast looks at a stunning new poll of the attitudes of Americans who earn more than $150,000 a year, have a graduate degree, and live in in densely populated areas. Those attitudes are so profoundly in opposition to those of Americans who make less and have less education that they explain a great deal about the continuing strength of Donald Trump. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad...

Today we take up the news that Nikki Haley's most prominent endorser has announced that he expects her to come in second in New Hampshire. Is it over? It kinda feels like it. But this opens up a slim path for Ron DeSantis. We also discuss the Biden administration's wrongheaded foreign policy and wonder whether Joe Biden and Antony Blinken even mean what they say about a Palestinian state. Give a l...

Political savant nonpareil Steve Kornacki joins the podcast today to break down the Iowa results, look ahead to New Hampshire, and make recommendations about what to look for on Tuesday if you want to get a real sense of where this race (if it is a race) might be going. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's podcast wrestles with questions relating to Donald Trump's smashing victory in Iowa last night. Does the tiny number of caucusgoers represent anything? Does anyone have a path besides Trump now? Where do Bugs Bunny, Donald Duck, and the obscure movie Clockwise come in to the discussion? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's podcast takes up a jaw-dropping New York Times article that asks how important, really, is Israel to the religion of Judaism. Yes, you read that right. Also, the Iowa caucuses are upon us, and it looks like the Republican coronation might be commencing. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we discuss the American strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen. Was it enough to deter terrorism in the Red Sea? What does it accomplish so long as the Biden administration continues to ignore the Iranian threat? We also take up the matter of American apologists for terrorism and propose a Biden-Trump debate. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's podcast asks why Chris Christie ran in the first place, and come to think of it, why did DeSantis run when he clearly had people telling him he couldn't actually beat Trump by, you know, arguing he should be president and not Trump? And should Nikki Haley take up a second career as a tobacco auctioneer? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's podcast goes through some of Trump's legal shenanigans—and the apparent shenanigans of his Atlanta prosecutor, Fani Willis—and offers a new interpretation of his life and history. Clue: It's like Damn Yankees. Also, the first Commentary DisRecommends! Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's podcast finds a connection between the pro-Palestinian protests closing bridges and tunnels and inconveniencing hundreds of thousands of people and the kinds of petty shoplifting that make going to stores in urban centers more and more hellish. What's the connection? And why should kids take the SAT? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's podcast points out the wet, limp noodle that was Joe Biden's supposedly "fiery" speech about democracy at Valley Forge before joining the world in wonder at the disappearance into a hospital by the Defense Secretary with the world on fire. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's podcast looks at the current state of the race on the day Joe Biden will deliver a speech on Donald Trump's threat to democracy, and we ask: Is Biden doing this to make sure Trump keeps talking about the supposedly stolen election, which is the subject Biden believes can propel him to a second term? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's podcast takes up the appalling self-defense of the ousted Harvard president Claudine Gay in the New York Times before a discussion of the 2024 matchup and whether Al Gore should have run in 2004 the way Donald Trump is re-running in 2024. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dan Senor joins today's podcast to talk about the major developments in Israel over the past few weeks—the assassination of a top Hamas terrorist in Lebanon and the Supreme Court's overturning of judicial reform there. Then we get to the larger meaning of Claudine Gay's resignation from Harvard. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the first podcast of 2024, we discuss what is already the dumbest opinion piece of the year. And we catch up on the presidential race. How damaging was Nikki Haley's answer about the Civil War? How bad was Joe Biden's New Year's Eve appearance? How much did Maine's secretary of state help Donald Trump? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On our final holiday week podcast, we choose the people we think represented 2023, in good ways and in very bad ways as well. From a heroic fighting man to a monstrous and foolish military leader, and others in between. Give a listen as you have a Happy New Year! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's holiday week podcast offers our picks for the most interesting television offerings of the year, which include vampires, cannibals, pizza, comedians, zombies, and space explorers. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today's holiday-week short podcast we offer you our selection for the best or most meaningful books we've read in 2023, from a 1978 discourse on lying to an Israeli novel about American anti-Semitism to a book about American breakdown to the best play of the century—and a comedian's memoir. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices