The Commentary Magazine Podcast

The podcast takes up the news of Donald Trump’s weekend—first the announcement of a special prosecutor and then the way other Republican politicians started firing at him at the Republican Jewish Coalition meeting in Las Vegas. What does it mean? Give a listen. Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What will Nancy Pelosi’s legacy be? Savvy political operator? Anti-progressive obstacle? Or will she have a legacy at all? Also, Elon Musk continues to drive everyone insane. Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Trump’s backers in the world of professional politics appreciated the limited restraint the former president employed in his speech announcing his new presidential run. Trump’s fans liked everything else. Which Trump will win? Also, do Democrats have any reason to think crime is a problem? Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Frederick Kagan of the Critical Threats Project is one of the leading American authorities on the war in Ukraine. He joins us today to discuss the astonishing Ukrainian triumphs against the Russian military and where things might go from here. He also tells us about the ongoing and unprecedented protests in Iran and why we need to pay closer attention to them. Give a listen. Source Learn more abou...

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Today’s podcast continues to examine the details of the midterm disaster for Republicans and what Donald Trump’s putative announcement of his 2024 campaign portends. Give a listen. Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Political analyst and all-around great guy Chris Stirewalt joins the podcast today to discuss the bet he made with me on Election Day he won—because I swallowed the conventional wisdom about the midterms and he didn’t. We try to figure out what Donald Trump is doing by saying the white governor of Virginia has a Chinese-sounding name, among other kinds of crazy stuff. Give a listen. Source Learn m...

Meghan McCain joins the podcast today to talk midterms, Arizona and anti-McCainiac Keri Lake, about whom Meghan has some harsh, dare I say even unprintable, words. Give a listen. Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The podcast today looks at the astounding results of the midterms and asks Republicans whether they are going to continue to remain in an intimate relationship with a pathological loser narcissist who has now been humiliated by the American electorate in three separate national contests. Give a listen. Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Eli Lake joins the podcast on the eve of the midterm elections to discuss, you know, the midterm elections—and we conclude with a pretty heated discussion of Eli’s new COMMENTARY piece, “Can the FBI Be Saved From Itself—And Can We Be Saved From The FBI?” Give a listen. Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Steve Kornacki joins us a day before he will instruct all of America on the midterm elections from his Big Board to express final thoughts on these tumultuous midterm elections, why the polls are so hard to understand, and what we might expect. He uses Virginia as the test case for Republican gains—you’ll find out why if you give a listen. Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.f...

Author, columnist, and co-host of the “Not Even Mad” podcast, James Kirchick, drops in to talk about Democratic pollster Stanley Greenberg’s searing indictment of his party’s record on crime. Also, stronger than expected jobs numbers, and what they say about inflation. Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Joe Biden delivered another speech last night about the threat Republicans pose to the health of American democracy, this time drawing a straight line from the January 6 riots to the attack on Paul Pelosi. Is he right? Or are Democrats as conditional as Republicans when it comes to their affection for the mechanisms of self-government? Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/ad...

AEI scholar and George Mason University assistant professor of law, Adam White, rejoins the program today to discuss the Supreme Court’s deliberative process ahead of what looks to be a momentous decision on the legality of Affirmative Action. Also, the left finally allows itself to notice Joe Biden’s gaffes. Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dan Senor joins the podcast today to map out five scenarios for the Israeli election results—Israel is voting today. And then we discuss why professional Republicans seem a little more anxious than thrilled about the clear pattern in the polling about what's going to happen next Tuesday here in the American elections. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The horrific attack on Paul Pelosi, and the abhorrent response to it from those who think it might convey political advantage and want to maximize or neutralize it. Also, what to make of polling discrepancies with eight days left before the midterms. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Did Elon Musk just conclude the most ill-considered financial transaction in human history when he purchased Twitter? We’ll soon see. Also, the frenetic effort on the left to claim that crime is a manufactured election-year issue. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Democrats struggle to reconcile the data, which doesn’t suggest a massive Republican wave is inbound, and the general sense of the political landscape. And it’s driving them crazy. Also, how a New York judge’s ruling against a vaccine mandate for municipal workers scuttles the Democratic Party’s confused Covid narrative and the amazing life of the late Lucianne Goldberg. Learn more about your ad c...

Tuesday night’s senatorial debate in Pennsylvania treated voters to a voyeuristic spectacle that was painful to watch. Can voters look beyond John Fetterman’s infirmities on November 8? Also, Lee Zeldin shines in the New York state gubernatorial debate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Eliana Johnson of the Washington Free Beacon joins the podcast today to talk about the jaw-dropping letter from House progressives to Joe Biden on Ukraine and how this sudden attack from his left suggests nothing good about Democratic prospects two weeks hence. And a lot of other stuff. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's podcast examines the devastatingly bad findings of the latest educational assessment of American schoolchildren—and how they show the need for a true reckoning on the costs of the COVID regimes put in place in March 2020 and then kept in place even as the scientific facts made it clear they were unnecessary and injurious. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/...

The podcast takes up an article in The Federalist arguing that the New Right should stop calling itself conservative because conservatives reject using state power to punish your enemies. Also, the Democratic Party’s “precriminations” have begun, but the most potent excuse for the party’s loss in November is to blame voters for putting their economic situation above American democracy. Learn more...

Today's podcast begins with talk about the potential Red tsunami before taking up a genuinely shocking and disgusting New York Times article that accuses Israel of stealing Palestinian recipes as a form of cultural genocide. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As Democrats stare into the abyss they avoided staring into for many months, Barack Obama has emerged to scold them for being "buzzkills." He's right. But on today's podcast, we explain why he was the author of the Democratic Party's current woes. Oh, and we extend a surprise invitation to our roast to one James Bennet. Why? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adcho...

Today's podcast features a conversation about Kanye West and Donald Trump and their incendiary comments about Jews. And, again, the midterm elections. And, again, COVID. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices