The Contrarian Pod

It’s been a week, and we had a lot to talk through. That’s why we’re bringing you all a special episode today. It’s a double feature! On Thursday’s Coffee with Contrarians , April Ryan got to speak with Maya Wiley. She is the President and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. After that, she sat down with Rep. Al Green (D-TX) on The Tea . Assaults on Justice proved to be a r...

On Tuesday’s episode of The Tea with April Ryan , April spoke with Lisa Rice, President and CEO of the National Fair Housing Alliance. While discussing the worsening housing affordability crisis, Lisa revealed that DOGE has all but destroyed fair housing grants, jeopardizing the lives of already vulnerable people, all in the name of being “anti-DEI.” The Contrarian is owned by nobody. Your paid su...

On Monday’s Coffee with Contrarians, our publisher Norm Eisen chatted with independent journalist and contributor Katie Phang, on everything from the chaotic July 4th celebrations in DC to what happened with Team USA. During their chat, the two previewed Trump’s trip to the NATO summit, analyzed the white nationalist march in Washington, D.C., and discussed the latest in World Cup drama. Coffee wi...

Ahead of this weekend’s Independence Day celebrations, April Ryan discussed the dichotomy of America with Professor Eddie Glaude, who teaches African American studies and religion at Princeton. The two examined the contradictions between America’s “hope and freedom!” self-proclamations, ‘pull yourself up by the bootstraps’ mentality, and the country’s legacy of racism. Professor Glaude asks, will...

Yesterday was jam packed with SCOTUS’ final case decisions of the season: trans athletes in sports, campaign finance, and birthright citizenship. To make sense of what exactly these decisions were and their likely implications, April spoke to Janai Nelson, President and Director-Counsel of the Legal Defense Fund, on The Tea. The Legal Defense Fund is one of the strongest legal organizations in the...

Earlier today, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that President Donald Trump’s executive order that sought to restrict birthright citizenship is unconstitutional. This means that the court has upheld the 14th amendment and reaffirmed that Trump can’t just take a pen and change the Constitution. Our Publisher Norm Eisen led this litigation alongside the ACLU and was on the steps of SCOTUS when the decis...

On the Tea with April Ryan, April sat down with Esosa Osa, the Founder and CEO of Onyx Impact. They looked at the recent SCOTUS ruling allowing Trump to strip Temporary Protected Status from millions of legal immigrants and how Trump derailed a bipartisan bill in Congress that hoped to make housing affordable. Plus, Esosa unveiled the backstory of Onyx Impact’s new digital assistant, Aisha. AI, su...

On Coffee with Contrarians, contributor and independent journalist Katie Phang sat down with political pollster, analyst and organizer extraordinaire Simon Rosenberg . They looked at what last night’s primary results in New York could mean for the Midterms, the Senate’s vote on a War Powers Resolution, and Trump’s allegedly deteriorating health. Coffee with Contrarians is live every Monday, Wednes...

Earlier this week, Contrarian Publisher Norm Eisen sat down with former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance on Coffee with Contrarians. They talked about Trump’s reflecting pool disaster, the almost $1.8 billion slush fund, and MAGA’s current plan to disrupt the midterms. Coffee with Contrarians is live every Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 9:15 AM ET. The Contrarian is owned by nobody. Your paid subscri...

Yesterday , Trump and Vance virtually signed an agreement to end the blockade of Iranian ports, reopen the Strait of Hormuz, and start 60 days of nuclear negotiations. Contrarian Publisher Norm Eisen sat down with the Senator Peter Welch (D-VT) to talk about the so-called “framework” of a peace deal and Todd Blanche’s nomination as Attorney General. The Contrarian is owned by nobody. Your paid sub...

On this week’s Let’s Do Lunch, economist and Senior Fellow at Center for American Progress Jared Bernstein chatted with Jason Furman, economist and former chair at the Council of Economic Advisers under the Obama administration. Jared and Jason answered all of your burning questions on the economy and went over inflation numbers, oil prices, social security, and the debut of the world’s first tril...

Greenland, Iceland, whatever Trump is the name of the country has been spared from U.S. invasion — at least for now. What hasn’t been spared is the quickly deteriorating relationships with NATO allies. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Jen discuss NATO’s future, Trump’s submissiveness towards Russia, and the Democrats’ dilemma over an impending DHS appropriations bill. The Contrarian is owned...

Traditionally, it’s authoritarian dictators — not democratically elected presidents — who call for the execution of their perceived political enemies. Yet, President Trump claimed six Democratic senators are seditionists and added “DEATH!” to the end of a recent Truth Social post. Senator Chris Coons from Delaware and Jen Rubin talked about why Trump’s escalating rhetoric is a danger, not only to...