The New Liberal Podcast

The national debt is enormous and still growing. And the Republican Party's proposed 2025 budget would increase it even further. Are we slowly walking into a crisis? Jessica Riedl and Ben Ritz join the podcast to discuss the state of the US government's budget, how bad things could get, and what we need to do to fix it. To get bonus episodes, support us at patreon.com/newliberalpodcast  or  https:...

The Republican Party is promoting a budget resolution that would cut almost a trillion dollars from Medicaid. Congressman Ritchie Torres joins the show to discuss what impact this would have on Medicaid's almost 100 million users, why Medicaid is a bipartisan issue, and how we can focus public debate away from the scandal of the moment and onto saving programs like Medicaid from severe cuts. To ge...

For decades, America used a system of race-based affirmative action to ensure that disadvantaged minority groups had a presence at elite universities. Was that the right approach? Richard Kahlenberg joins the podcast to talk about his book 'Class Matters', and make the case that class-based affirmative action is a superior way to get real diversity on campus. To get bonus episodes, support us at p...

How can we build a more abundant world without scarcity in housing, energy, and more? Derek Thompson joins the podcast to discuss his and Ezra Klein's new book Abundance. We talk about the policies and the politics involved in abundance, how to spark more innovation in the economy, and why we desperately need the abundance movement. To get bonus episodes, support us at patreon.com/newliberalpodcas...

How do we balance the need to de-carbonize our energy grid with the need to lower energy costs for working class people? Elan Sykes is the Director of Energy and Climate Policy at PPI, and he joins the podcast to discuss how we can build out the grid, lower people's bills, and ultimately end up with clean and abundant energy. To get bonus episodes, support us at patreon.com/newliberalpodcast  or ...

Why doesn't anything work? Why does it take so long to build housing, or green energy, or infrastructure? Why is the government so often inefficient and uncapable? Marc Dunkelman joins the podcast to discuss his new book  Why Nothing Works . We talk about the history of the progressive movement and how two separate impulses - the centralization of power vs the decentralization of power - have caus...

The last two weeks have seen a number of controversies related to DOGE, the Department of Governmental Efficiency that Elon Musk heads in the new Trump administration. Jeremiah talks through what's going on, why DOGE seems to be breaking so many things, and what their real goals are. Also check out our conversation with Jennifer Pahlka:   https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/making-government-mor...

One of the most important trends from the 2024 presidential election was the rightward shift of young people - especially young men. Richard Reeves joins the podcast to talk about why this shift happened, what mistakes Democrats have made in courting male voters, and how they can fix their self-inflicted wounds. To get bonus episodes, support us at patreon.com/newliberalpodcast  or  https://cnlibe...

Over the last several elections, Democrats have seen worse and worse results with working class voters. The traditional party of the working class is now in danger of becoming the party of the educated elite. PPI President Will Marshall joins the podcast to discuss how we win back the working class. To get bonus episodes, support us at patreon.com/newliberalpodcast  or  https://cnliberalism.org/be...

It's time for another books episode! Jeremiah breaks down the best books he read in 2024, covering topics like nuclear war, social media and web platforms, DC's lobbying industry, the nature of taking risks, how to make government more effective, and more! Part 1 of the books episode from earlier this year - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-new-liberal-podcasts-best-books-of-2024-pt-1/id1...

Substack is an increasingly important part of our cultural and media ecosystem. But is it actually any better than other forms of traditional media or social media? Substack co-founder Hamish McKenzie joins the podcast to talk about content moderation, the economics of media, and much more as we dive into what exactly Substack is and where it's going. To get bonus episodes, support us at  patreon....

Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy will be leading a new organization called DOGE, the Department of Governmental Efficiency. Can they actually make the government more effective? Jennifer Pahlka is the author of Recoding America and she joins the podcast to talk about why the government is so ineffective in so many ways, whether or not Elon and Vivek have the right ideas, and what needs to be done to...

How can Democrats break the trends we saw in 2024? Congressman Ritchie Torres joins the podcast to talk about why Democrats are losing key demographics, how the far left undermines Democrats' credibility as a party, and why we must listen to the voices of everyday Americans in the center. To get bonus episodes, support us at  patreon.com/newliberalpodcast  or  https://cnliberalism.org/become-a-mem...

PPI's Diana Moss joins the podcast to make the argument that not only is fixing our antitrust enforcement good policy, but it's also a key part of fixing the Democratic Party's political woes.   To get bonus episodes, support us at  patreon.com/newliberalpodcast  or  https://cnliberalism.org/become-a-member Got questions? Send us a note at  mailbag@cnliberalism.org . Follow us at: https://twitter....

Jeremiah tackles Donald Trump's victory in the presidential election in this episode. Why did the country shift right? What issues were crucial to the campaign? How did digital media vs traditional campaign tactics work? And where do Dems go from here?  All this and more in this episode of the New Liberal Podcast. To get bonus episodes, support us at  patreon.com/newliberalpodcast  or  https://cnl...

Everyone's talking about the swing states, but few people are talking about Nebraska's 2nd Congressional district. Co-founder of Women Who Run Nebraska Denise Powell joins the podcast to discuss why this one district in a bright red state could end up decided the entire US presidential election. To get bonus episodes, support us at  patreon.com/newliberalpodcast  or  https://cnliberalism.org/becom...

We're now very close to election night, so what exactly is the state of the presidential race? Lakshya Jain, CEO and co-founder of Split Ticket, joins the podcast to discuss the race. We chat about why this election has been hard to model, what people get wrong about the polls, what the state of the battle for Congress looks like, and what signs to watch out for on election night.  To get bonus ep...

Last week, climate activists disrupted a climate event because one of the speakers, Matt Yglesias, is supportive of fracking for natural gas. Matt joins the New Liberal podcast to discuss why he thinks fracking is a necessary part of our energy policy, what climate protestors get wrong in their approach to politics, and what a more effective form of climate activism would look like.  Read more: ht...

In an age of political polarization and extremism, how can we get things back to moderation and to the center? Yair Zivan joins the podcast to discuss his new book The Center Must Hold. We discuss how Zivan defines centrism, why he believes it's the best approach to politics, and why it could be a solution to polarization. To get bonus episodes, support us at  patreon.com/newliberalpodcast or http...

Where did all of the hype around self-driving cars go? Timothy Lee joins the podcast to discuss the state of the self-driving car industry, technological and regulatory obstacles to getting self-driving cars in your city, and where he sees the auto industry going in 10 years. To get bonus episodes, support us at  patreon.com/newliberalpodcast or https://cnliberalism.org/become-a-member Got questio...

Over the past two weeks, a viral lie has taken off in right-wing circles about Haitian migrants in the US. In this episode Jeremiah explains how the lie started, what's actually happening in reality, and why conservatives need to lie about immigrants. To get bonus episodes, support us at  patreon.com/newliberalpodcast or https://cnliberalism.org/become-a-member Got questions? Send us a note at mai...

A member-exclusive podcast, now released free to the public!   It's time for another books episode! Jeremiah breaks down the best books he's read thus far in 2024, covering topics like American evangelicals, how social media and smartphones are changing society, liberal theory, pragmatic environmentalism, and much more! To get bonus episodes, support us at  patreon.com/newliberalpodcast or https:/...

Jeremiah is a guest on the Project Liberal podcast/livestream, and talks with Project Liberal founder Josh Eakle about the state of liberalism, the state of the Democratic Party, and the most effective ways to make America more liberal. Check out Project Liberal at https://projectliberal.org/ To get bonus episodes, support us at  patreon.com/newliberalpodcast or https://cnliberalism.org/become-a-m...

What do poker players, effective altruists, and venture capitalists have in common? Nate Silver proposes that they all have a particular approach to dealing with risk, and form a single tribe that he calls 'The River'. Nate joins the podcast to talk about the culture of taking big risks, how this analytical approach applies to politics, and what we can learn from gamblers of all kinds. To get bonu...

Almost every rich country (including America) isn't having enough kids to sustain their current population. Is this something we should be worried about? And if so, how do we fix it? Lyman Stone is the Director of the Pronatalism Initiative and joins the show to discuss the ideas around pronatalism. Why is it a problem if society has fewer and fewer kids each generation? Are there economic or cult...