The Commentary Magazine Podcast

Today's podcast is a threnody of denunciation: Of the CDC, of the Biden administration's haplessness, and of the seemingly deliberate disinformation regarding the Delta variant in the New York Times and on CBS News, among many other places. Plus: Will Democratic leftists kill the infrastructure bill? And how delusional was the Biden negotiating team when it came to dealing with the Iranians on the...

There is a bipartisan infrastructure deal, and it looks likely to pass. The smorgasbord of other progressive wish list items that was supposed to follow its passage, however, is more imperiled than ever. Couple this with a disappointing second-quarter GDP number, and you have to wonder if the government spending to which we’ve committed ourselves over the course of the pandemic is the problem. Sou...

Today’s podcast takes up the fulfillment of what we’ve been warning against—the public-health people are lowering the boom again in a self-defeating effort to control the spread of the COVID variant by controlling the behavior of… the already vaccinated. We take apart the reasons proffered by the CDC director for this bizarre guidance. Then we talk about the shame of the attacks on the Capitol......

American athletes are having a tough time at the Olympics. On today’s podcast, we suggest various causes, among them that there is no longer a psychic benefit to be gleaned from representing your country in these games. We also wonder at the competency of American politicians and the potential horrors awaiting Afghanistan as we pull out. Give a listen. Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visi...

As the pressure grows to return America to a condition of mini-lockdown, we examine the words and ideas of the public-health bureaucracy that is horrified by the prospect of America just…governing itself. Plus: transgender athletes and Jackie Mason. Give a listen. Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With municipalities around the country reimposing indoor masking recommendations or even mandates, no one seems to be asking whether the fully vaccinated will welcome much less endure restrictions they shouldn’t have to observe. Is a backlash brewing? Also, California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s recall election is looking more and more like a tossup. Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphon...

Did Nancy Pelosi make a mistake by rejecting two more pro-Trump Republicans from the January 6 commission? Or is she once again making a strategic blunder? Also, inflation has become one of voters’ primary concerns, and the threat it represents to Democrats is growing. Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s podcast continues our conversation from yesterday about the Jeff Bezos expedition and the hunger among elite liberals to heap scorn and derision upon it, him, and the very idea of technological progress. Why? And are there really breakthrough infections? And what can we learn from Eric Adams, NYC mayoral candidate, and his commonsensical neocon remarks? Give a listen. Source Learn more abo...

Today’s passionate podcast features praise for the American people when it comes to vaccination and serious querying why we are turning this amazing national mobilization success into a neurotic failure. And we celebrate Jeff Bezos’s trip into near-space and ask again why it is that we are being told by the liberal establishment that it is a pointless and vainglorious effort. Cheer up, people! Sou...

Michael Brendan Dougherty of National Review joins us today to discuss his controversial NR piece, “Convincing the Skeptics,” which caused a firestorm on Twitter for supposedly showing undue sympathy for those who aren’t getting the vaccines. We also talk about bad polling and the very bad Kenneth Roth of Human Rights Watch. Give a listen. Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.f...

Today’s podcast features COMMENTARY columnist Matthew Continetti joining us to ruminate upon the Biden administration’s response to the events in Cuba, the outrageous imposition of an indoor mask mandate in L.A. county, and why liberals seem to think the only way to be properly sexual these days is to be in a throuple. Give a listen. Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adch...

The podcast crew expresses skepticism at the notion that Biden and the Democrats have a brilliant strategy to get their $3.5 trillion spending bill passed. And we express skepticism about Joint Chiefs chair Mark Milley’s self-portrait as the man Who Saved America from the New Nazis. And we praise Olivia Rodrigo, who’s great. Give a listen. Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.f...

James B. Meigs joins today’s podcast to discuss the Delta variant surge and the continuing refusal of many on the Right to act to contravene it. We also talk about the weirdness of Democratic senators announcing they had agreed to a $3.5 trillion deal that, in fact, they hadn’t all agreed to—and why on earth the Biden administration is giving in to Iran. Give a listen. Source Learn more about your...

Washington Free Beacon Editor-in-Chief Elianna Johnson joins the program today in Christine Rosen’s absence to talk about Texas Democrats’ tactical retreat from their jobs, Cuba’s ongoing protests, and troublingly high inflationary signals. Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Noah Rothman is back after a week away from the podcast to offer his two cents on the Delta variant surge and how it’s affecting conservative media and Republican politics. We also discuss the revolt in Cuba and why it’s important to support democratic rebellions abroad… and Black Widow. Give a listen. Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s hodgepodge of a podcast takes up our personal histories of summer camp, Joe Biden’s speech on Afghanistan, the conversion of COVID into a seasonal flu, and bad documentaries. Give a listen. Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We talk about the recent uptick in U.S. COVID cases, the ever-elusive end of the pandemic, and the skepticism around vaccines and lockdowns. We touch on Donald Trump’s move against Big Tech, and we close out with some old sitcom gems. Hint: Chuckles the Clown. Give a listen. Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our friend Steve Kornacki joins the podcast today to talk about the results of the New York City primary in the Democratic party and what they say about the party’s ideological makeup—and about the future of ranked-choice voting. It’s great. Give a listen. Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The leftist attacks on America around July 4 may prove to be the unforced error of all unforced errors, or so we say on today’s (sadly Noah-free) podcast. We also talk about tenure for critical race theorists, who really knows about critical race theory, and who should be talking about the vaccination problem. Give a listen. Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s the Fourth of July weekend and we spend the podcast defending America from the nonsense of NPR, the liberal notion that America is a bad actor on the world stage, and the idea that COVID is some form of rough justice for America’s sins. Have a glorious weekend as you give a listen. Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today’s podcast: What happened in the Bill Cosby case? How best can we discuss the extraordinary life of Donald Rumsfeld, RIP? What is ballot harvesting? Will people believe elections are fair ever again? Give a listen. Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s podcast looks at the disaster of the New York Democratic mayoral primary and what it says about the way liberal cities and states work. And more repulsive blather from Ilhan Omar. Give a listen. Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s podcast concludes with a commemoration of the life and career of 95-year-old Mel Brooks and what they have to teach us—and how we need to restore what he brought to American life and American comedy. Before that, we ask why Democrats and Republicans have such wildly divergent views about the end of the pandemic—and the thickets into which the Biden administration has wandered with Iran. So...

Matthew Continetti joins today’s podcast, which features a conversation about aliens and God so deep that you may think we were high or drunk while recording it. We weren’t. Give a listen. Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the final podcast of the week, we try to make sense out of Joe Biden praising bipartisan dealmaking before promising to pass everything left out of the bipartisan infrastructure deal—which will likely destroy that deal. What’s the game here? Is there one? And did Mike Pence just end his Republican political career? Give a listen. Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adcho...