The Lincoln Project

Host Reed Galen gives his immediate reaction and analysis to yesterday’s news that Donald Trump has been indicted by a Manhattan grand jury. He discusses what we can expect in the immediate future, what this means for the Republican party and the 2024 presidential race, and how until this all plays out…our nation’s democracy remains in danger. If you’d like to connect with The Lincoln Project, sen...

Host Reed Galen is joined by Hugo Lowell, Political Investigations Reporter for The Guardian . They discuss the latest in the Trump indictment narrative, the dangers of Trump’s seemingly productive 2024 campaign team, and what Ron DeSantis is already getting wrong in regards to his yet-to-be-announced presidential campaign. If you’d like to connect with The Lincoln Project, send an email to podcas...

Host Reed Galen is joined by Ruth Ben-Ghiat, Author and Professor of History and Italian Studies at New York University. They discuss how the entire GOP has become an autocratic entity (not just the MAGA extremists), why Trump’s propaganda has turned into policy, and how Donald Trump’s victimhood complex is just another play from the standard authoritarian playbook. Plus, what’s the fallout from t...

Host Reed Galen is joined by Tom Nichols (Author and Staff Writer at The Atlantic ) to discuss why so many Americans (especially Republicans) find themselves in a midlife crisis, the motivations of the Fox News propaganda machine, and why Americans must recalibrate their voting behaviors in the direction of democracy…rather than party. Plus, Vladimir Putin is nothing more than a moderately clever...

Host Reed Galen is joined by retired United States Army Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman who was the former Director for European Affairs for the United States National Security Council. They discuss the current state of the war in Ukraine, why ultra-MAGA’s pro-Russia rhetoric encourages Putin to prolong the war, how the U.S support of Ukraine offers a very favorable return on investment in te...

Host Reed Galen is joined by Maya May (Comedian and Lincoln Project Content Creator) to answer questions asked by YOU, the members of the Lincoln Project community. Listeners ask about the latest with the Fox News lawsuit, the upcoming Wisconsin Supreme Court, and the road to the 2024 election (both as a whole and what the impact of a third party candidate could be). If you’d like to connect with...

Host Reed Galen is joined by Dr. Steven Levitsky (Professor of Government at Harvard University) to discuss how authoritarianism continues to threaten American democracy, why the GOP continues to publicly embrace authoritarianism while many privately denounce it, and what to expect from Trump, DeSantis, and the rest of the 2024 hopefuls. Plus, is the United States in line for a violent origin of d...

Host Reed Galen is joined by Simon Rosenberg, Founder and President of New Democrat Network (NDN)/New Policy Institute, to discuss how Fox News can no longer be trusted as a news organization, why the “red wave” never came in the 2022 midterms, why Democrats must become information warriors if they want to be successful in this new political era, and what to expect in the road to 2024. To hear mor...

Host Reed Galen is joined by journalist and New York Times Bestselling Author, Anand Giridharadas. They discuss how our current political age may be best titled as “the age of impunity”, how decades of dramatic social change has left Americans morally adrift, and how there hasn’t been a better time in recent history for the pro-democracy movement to reclaim “freedom” and “patriotism”. Plus, why it...

Host Reed Galen is joined by Matt Bennett, Co-Founder and Executive Vice President for Public Affairs at Third Way. They discuss why it is impossible for a third party presidential candidate in 2024 to win the presidency, how just about every third party run scenario would greatly benefit Donald Trump, and why so many in the political sphere continue to operate like it’s 2015. To read Third Way’s...

Host Reed Galen is joined by Lincoln Project Senior Advisor Stuart Stevens to celebrate the 163rd anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s “Cooper Union Address”, originally delivered on February 27, 1860. They discuss how Lincoln’s words continue to ring true today, highlight the parallels between 1860 and today, and lay out the stakes for ensuring that the pro-democracy coalition is victorious. If you’d...

Host Reed Galen is joined by the investigative journalist and New York Times bestselling author, Vicky Ward. They discuss the inner-workings of New York real estate development and how that culture influenced the culture of the Trump administration (especially with regards to Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump). Plus, a New York trophy building that doubles as a ticking time bomb, Jared Kushner’s ques...

Host Reed Galen is joined by Lincoln Project Senior Advisor Jeff Timmer to discuss the recent tragic shooting at Michigan State University, the text message revelations from Fox News regarding Dominion Voting Systems/the Big Lie, and the inevitable-to-expand field of candidates in the 2024 GOP presidential primary. Plus, if you’re looking forward to a horse race…you’re going to be sorely disappoin...

Host Reed Galen is joined by Lincoln Project Senior Advisor Joe Trippi to discuss the House Republicans continuing to flirt with debt default, why Kevin McCarthy is such a weak Speaker (and public servant in general), and how the GOP candidates for the 2024 primary are playing right into Trump’s hand. Plus, Joe gives his big predictions for 2023 and beyond. If you’d like to connect with The Lincol...

This episode was originally released on March 11, 2022…just weeks after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. As the one year anniversary of that invasion approaches…we thought it was important to look back at how things began to better understand how things stand today. In this encore presentation, host Reed Galen is joined by retired United States Army Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman who was the...

Host Reed Galen is joined by fellow Lincoln Project Co-Founder Rick Wilson and Lincoln Project Senior Advisor Trygve Olson to discuss their takeaways from President Biden’s State of the Union, why the “Endangered 18” are on the hot seat and what they have to do to get out of it, and why a third-party candidate in 2024 is such a bad idea. Plus, every contender in the 2024 Republican primaries not n...

Host Reed Galen answers questions asked by the members of the Lincoln Project community about the new Republican-controlled House of Representatives, the 2024 presidential election, and the finer points of political messaging and strategy. Plus, why the war in Ukraine continues to be crucial in the fight for democracy. If you’d like to connect with The Lincoln Project, send an email to podcast@lin...

Host Reed Galen is joined by Jay McKenzie, the founder of “Did Nothing Wrong”, a newsletter and podcast that seeks to make sense of the chaotic narratives that threaten to hijack our nation’s discourse and politics. They discuss the MAGA movement’s commitment to cultivating distrust in our nation’s institutions (by political means and otherwise), how the GOP is completely disinterested in governin...

Host Reed Galen is joined by Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez, the President and Executive Director of NextGen America, the nation’s largest youth voter organization. They discuss, the ever-changing political landscape of Texas, why Latino voters should never be looked at like a monolith, what motivates young voters, and why economic inequality is such a threat to democracy. If you’d like to connect with...

Host Reed Galen is joined by Alexander Theodoridis, Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. They discuss the current state of polling in the U.S. and how it’s evolved from “the golden age”, why our nation finds itself so politically polarized, and what motivates Americans to show up on election day. Plus, Ron DeSantis is an uninteresting presidential ca...

Host Reed Galen is joined by Ron Insana (Senior Analyst and Commentator at CNBC) to discuss the current state of our nation’s economy, the Republican’s flirtation with the debt ceiling, why the GOP’s latest proposal for a flat tax would prove disastrous, and President Biden’s stewardship (both at home and overseas) during the first two years of his administration. Plus, just because someone is a b...

Host Reed Galen is joined by Author and Senior Book Editor at The Atlantic, Gal Beckerman. They discuss how radical ideas originate and the workings of the movements that form around them, how social media is not the catch all solution when it comes to messaging, and how in order for an idea to truly take hold…a crucial part of the process is rational dialog/strategy in a quiet, private (not publi...

Host Reed Galen is joined by Joshua Zeitz…historian, New York Times bestselling author, and contributing editor to Politico Magazine . They discuss the evolution of Abraham Lincoln’s faith starting from childhood, throughout his early political career, and throughout his presidency. Plus, how during his presidency he was successfully able to use his understanding of Christianity to mobilize the co...

Host Reed Galen is joined by David Rothkopf (Contributing Columnist for The Daily Beast and Host of Deep State Radio) to discuss where our nation stands two years into the Biden administration, how the rest of the world no longer has an American example to dissuade them from authoritarianism, and how the longer authoritarianism is embraced (in the United States or elsewhere) the greater the irreve...

Host Reed Galen is joined by Juliet Jeske, author of the “Decoding Fox News” newsletter. They discuss how Juliet got her start covering the far right media ecosystem, how she now watches every minute of Fox News and reports on it (all while maintaining her sanity), and the inner workings of Fox News and its personalities. Plus, what drives the bizarre obsessions that so many media personalities an...