Episodes
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Live from New York, it’s our pre-election podcast. After a contentious and exhausting election cycle, we have made it to Election Day. Last week, we gathered with some of our favorite guests to help us understand what we might see in the coming days and weeks. Can we finally vanquish Donald Trump? Can he actually win? And if so, what does that mean for America? We’re joined by Jessica Taylor from the Cook Political Report to break down the Senate races around the country. We also talk to Jeremy Peters from the NYT about undecided voters and what they might be looking for as they head to the polls. Plus, our friends Mark Leibovich from The Atlantic and Molly Jong-Fast, host of the Fast Politics Podcast, discuss what is at stake in this election and how we move forward as a country.
Read Jessica Taylor’s latest for the Cook Political Report: https://www.cookpolitical.com/about/staff/jessica-taylor
Read Jeremy Peters in the NYT: https://www.nytimes.com/by/jeremy-w-peters
Listen to Molly Jong-Fast’s podcast, Fast Politics: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fast-politics-with-molly-jong-fast/id1645614328
Read Mark Leibovich in The Atlantic: https://www.theatlantic.com/author/mark-leibovich/
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The economy is always one of the most important issues in any election. So how does Kamala Harris's vision for America's economy stack up against Donald Trump's? Catherine Rampell from the Washington Post joins us to discuss. Trump's economic plan seems to revolve around tariffs, an issue that he seems to have a hard time understanding. Not only that, his threat to deport millions of undocumented workers will undoubtedly drive up the cost of goods around the country. It's clear that Trump cannot be trusted on this issue. Plus, Catherine tells us the story of Flint, Michigan and a program that is aimed to give money to families of newborn babies. It's a plan so successful and so popular that Kamala Harris has adopted a version of it for her campaign platform. Can it work on the national level?
LAST CHANCE: Get tickets to see a live taping of the Al Franken Podcast in NYC on October 28th! https://www.alfranken.com/appearances
Read Catherine's latest in WaPo: https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/catherine-rampell/
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Episodes manquant?
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This election could all come down to abortion. Laura Bassett from The Cut and Sarah Zhang from The Atlantic have both been writing about the issue and how it's playing into this election. Sarah's recent piece in The Atlantic examined how Idaho's draconian abortion laws have set the state's healthcare back for women. Laura has been writing about the issue for years and says that it poses a serious threat to Ted Cruz's reelection campaign in Texas.
NYC! Come see a live taping of the Al Franken Podcast. We'll be joined by Jessica Taylor, Jeremy Peters and Mark Jong-Fast with Mark Leibovich. Get your tickets today! https://www.alfranken.com/appearances
Read Laura's writing in The Cut: https://www.thecut.com/author/laura-bassett/
Subscribe to Laura's Substack called Nightcap: https://www.laura-bassett.com/
Read Sarah Zhang's incredible piece on Idaho abortion laws in The Atlantic: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2024/10/abortion-ban-idaho-ob-gyn-maternity-care/679567/
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It's been a year since the horrific attack in Israel that set off the current wars in the Middle East. Frank Foer from The Atlantic and David Rothkopf from The Daily Beast to talk about the painful year and what happens moving forward. If a ceasefire is worked out, what is the future of Gaza and how will it rebuild? What political price is America paying for its role in the wars? And does anyone actually think Donald Trump would be the best person to manage this crisis?
Plus, Nobel Prize-winning climate scientist Michael Mann kicks off this week's show! Hurricanes Helene and Milton have caused unprecedented damage to parts of the country. Unless we take action on climate, storms like this could be our new reality.
NYC! Come see a live taping of the podcast at City Winery on October 28th. Get your tickets today! https://www.alfranken.com/appearances
Read Franklin Foer in The Atlantic: https://www.theatlantic.com/author/franklin-foer/
Read David Rothkopf in The Daily Beast: https://www.thedailybeast.com/author/david-rothkopf
Michael Mann's latest book, Our Fragile Moment, is out soon in paperback! https://michaelmann.net/books/our-fragile-moment
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It's been a wild week and we're lucky to have Tim Miller from The Bulwark and Aaron Blake from the Washington Post to help break it all down. Special counsel Jack Smith's case against Donald Trump was unsealed this week. We got the best look yet at Trump's behavior on January 6th. It's filled with criminal activity and contradicts many of Trump's previous defenses about that day. We also had the much-anticipated Vice Presidential debate between Tim Walz and JD Vance. Will America buy the constant lying of the Trump/Vance ticket?
Come join Al for a LIVE podcast in NYC! October 28th at City Winery: https://www.alfranken.com/appearances
Read Tim Miller for The Bulwark: https://www.thebulwark.com/
Listen to The Bulwark Podcast: https://www.thebulwark.com/s/bulwarkpodcast
Sign up for Aaron Blake's "The Campaign Moment" newsletter! https://www.washingtonpost.com/newsletters/
And check out Aaron's podcast for The Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/podcasts/the-campaign-moment/
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With so much happening on the campaign trail, we turn to Jamelle Bouie for his first visit to the podcast. We discuss Donald Trump and JD Vance's attacks on the truth with their harmful comments on Haitian immigrants and their lies about abortion. We look at different Senate races around the country and what they could mean for the next President. And we get into Project 2025 and examine just how far Republicans are willing to let Trump go should he become President again. Spoiler alert: it would be terrifying!
Read Jamelle's latest in the NY Times: https://www.nytimes.com/column/jamelle-bouie
Watch Jamelle's TikTok channel: https://www.tiktok.com/@jamellebouie?lang=en
We are coming to St. Louis and NYC for LIVE podcasts! Get your tickets and be a part of the show! https://www.alfranken.com/appearances
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Trump and the GOP are working harder to disenfranchise voters NOW than they were in 2020. They are no longer a majoritarian party and want to disrupt our electoral process as much as they can. How will we preserve the integrity of this election? What are some of the ways that Trump and GOP lawyers will attempt to derail the will of the people? Our friend and top Democratic election lawyer Marc Elias from Democracy Docket joins us to break down some of the ways that our democracy is under attack and what we can do to fight it.
Support Marc and Democracy Docket: https://www.democracydocket.com/
Join the excitement of our LIVE podcast taping in St. Louis on October 10. I'll be recording a live podcast with special guests Emily Wales, Jason Kander, and Diana Kander. Come join us! https://www.alfranken.com/appearances
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Jeremy Peters from the NYT joins us to recap the wild debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. It was a complete meltdown for Trump while Harris delivered strong messages on abortion, democracy and Trump's crowd sizes. Trump rambled, made baseless allegations and looked terrible. Even Fox News had to admit that Trump lost the debate badly. So where do we go from here? How does Harris keep her momentum going and transition this energy into votes?
We are taping a live podcast in St. Louis next month! Come be a part of the show! https://www.alfranken.com/appearances
Jeremy's book Insurgency: How Republicans Lost Their Party and Got Everything They Ever Wanted explains how the party ended up in this situation: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/586398/insurgency-by-jeremy-w-peters/
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Joe Conason joins to discuss his new book "The Longest Con." In it, he lays out the rich and ugly history of right wing grifters. It's been happening for a long time. Joe goes back to the 1950s with the McCarthy era and takes us all the way through to one of the biggest grifters we've ever seen: Donald Trump. We discuss religious broadcasters and how some of them swindle their viewers regularly. Many of whom have abandoned their values all in the name of making a quick buck. And with Donald Trump on the ballot again this year, Conason explains how his second term will include a windfall of cash for the disgraced former President and his cronies.
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As we enter the Fall season of the Presidential campaign, we are taking a break for Labor Day. So we're replaying this interview with comedian and actor Martin Short! The fourth season of Only Murderers in the Building just debuted on Hulu, and in this conversation from 2022, he discusses his role on the show and his 50+ years in showbiz. He also examines his relationship with his co-star Steve Martin and breaks down some of his classic characters from over the years.
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We're joined once again by Mark Leibovich from The Atlantic and Molly Jong-Fast, host of the Fast Politics Podcast! The Democrats just wrapped up their National Convention and nominated Kamala Harris to be the nominee for President. Can she carry this momentum all the way to Election Day? Meanwhile, Republicans were caught flat-footed when Joe Biden dropped out and Donald Trump is spiraling out of control. There's still a long way to go before Election Day!
Read Mark's writing in The Atlantic: https://www.theatlantic.com/author/mark-leibovich/
Watch Molly's YouTube video on the dangers of Project 2025: https://youtu.be/yUJSEvYIiy8?si=ZmiG6zibjMSDNJl6
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Content creator Brian Tyler Cohen joins the podcast for the first time to talk about his new book Shameless: Republicans’ Deliberate Dysfunction and the Battle to Preserve Democracy. In the book, he discusses the many ways that the Republican Party uses confusion, artificial slogans and, of course, flat out lies to remain in power. We also discuss the myth of the liberal media and how so many of Donald Trump's lies are allowed to flourish in the right wing echo chamber.
Subscribe to Brian's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/briantylercohen
Subscribe to Brian's podcast No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen: https://briantylercohen.com/podcast/
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Professor Scott Galloway joins the podcast for the first time! He has thoughts on the current political climate and how extreme most of the Republican agenda is these days. He also speaks about how modern politics and policies have left our young people disaffected and feeling left out of the political process. From minimum wage to college admissions, Galloway shares policies and solutions that can help ease his declared "war on young people".
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Our friend Anne Applebaum has written a new book called Autocracy Inc. She chronicles the rise of authoritarianism around the world and how those autocracies work together to keep themselves in power. With Donald Trump running for President of the United States, could we be heading for a similar fate? We've seen other countries thwart autocracies in recent weeks. Is America ready to do the same? Plus, Donald Trump has one of the most disliked VP candidates in history. We talk to The Liberal Redneck, comedian Trae Crowder, about JD Vance and his "Hillbilly" roots.
Read Anne's work in The Atlantic: https://www.theatlantic.com/author/anne-applebaum/
Check out Trae Crowder's YouTube channel! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTHsQd-vRXK1bp4vpifl6yA
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This past week, we saw President Joe Biden drop out of the Presidential race and VP Kamala Harris emerge as the new nominee for the Democratic Party. The Atlantic's Frank Foer wrote the book "The Last Politician" about Joe Biden's consequential first term and Elaina Plott Calabro, also from The Atlantic, has interviewed Kamala Harris multiple times. We recap some of Biden's biggest accomplishments and examine the radically changed political landscape since Joe Biden withdrew from the race. How will the Trump campaign adjust to run against Kamala Harris? Can she sustain the excitement around her campaign all the way to November? P
Read Elaina's latest on the Trump vs Harris campaign: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/07/kamala-harris-prosecutor-president/679226/
Read Frank's latest on Biden's exit from the race: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/07/bidens-greatest-strengths-proved-his-undoing/679179/
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The Republican National Convention concluded last week. We heard from Trump's VP nominee, JD Vance, and we heard from Donald Trump for the first time since the assassination attempt. Trump pushed lie after lie during his speech. No surprise. The real question is whether or not Joe Biden can beat him. Mark Leibovich from The Atlantic and Molly Jong Fast from the Fast Politics Podcast join the podcast to lay out the plan forward to defeat Donald Trump. Plus, you've probably heard of Project 2025. What is it and how is it fueling the Republican Party's agenda?
Read Mark's writing in The Atlantic: https://www.theatlantic.com/author/mark-leibovich/
Watch Molly's YouTube video on the dangers of Project 2025: https://youtu.be/yUJSEvYIiy8?si=ZmiG6zibjMSDNJl6
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The Supreme Court term has ended after a series of punishing decisions that break years of precedent. While there were many horrible decisions made in this term, two stand out: The cases on Presidential Immunity and the Chevron Doctrine. Why are these so important? We're joined by our Supreme Court expert and host of the Amicus podcast, Dahlia Lithwick. Al and Dahlia lay out the devastating consequences ahead in the wake of these decisions and try to lay out a path forward.
Listen to Dahlia's Amicus podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/amicus-with-dahlia-lithwick-law-justice-and-the-courts/id928790786
Read Dahlia's great work in Slate:https://slate.com/author/dahlia-lithwick
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One of my favorite episodes from this year (so far). The historian on her bestseller "Democracy Awakening" and how America's democracy is on a knife's edge. Perfect for July 4th weekend!
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Jefferson reflects on the glaring error he made 248 years ago.
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Donald Trump lied over and over again at the debate. But it's been overshadowed by President Biden's terrible performance. Political scientist and an emeritus scholar at the American Enterprise Institute Norm Ornstein joins us to recap Thursday evening's debacle. Is there a plan forward for the Democratic Party if Biden drops out? How can Biden prove that the debate was an anomaly and win his party back? Plus, the latest round of Supreme Court decisions dropped on Friday. Norm breaks down the terrible decisions and what they say about the direction they are taking this country.
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