Episodes
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In this Best Of episode, we revisit the conversation from earlier this year with SNL writer and producer Jim Downey. Al and Jim worked on several iconic sketches and remember some of their favorite political bits from the history of the show. They also discuss the importance of rewarding audiences for knowing stuff but not punishing them for not knowing stuff. Plus, Jim answers to Al's allegation that he helped George W Bush win the 2000 election!
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The Atlantic's George Packer joins us to discuss his recent piece titled The End of Democratic Delusions. Packer discusses the new era that Donald Trump has ushered in and what that means to politics moving forward. Trump won a close election, but it's a moment for the Democratic establishment to take a look at their shortcomings and redevelop their messaging and platform in the years ahead.
Read George Packer's piece in The Atlantic: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2025/01/trump-reelection-voter-demographic-change/680752/
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Episodes manquant?
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We're joined by two of our favorite foreign policy writers to examine what the end of Bashar al-Assad’s regime means to Syria and the region. Frank Foer and Anne Applebaum from The Atlantic also look toward the incoming Trump administration and what lies ahead. Can Trump be a steady hand to stop escalating war around the world? How will Israel react? And what happens to our support of Ukraine in their efforts against the tyrant Putin?
Read Anne's book Autocracy, Inc: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/725302/autocracy-inc-by-anne-applebaum/
Read Frank's work in The Atlantic: https://www.theatlantic.com/author/franklin-foer/
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As we move closer to the second Trump administration, we are learning more about his incoming Cabinet. Aaron Blake, senior political reporter and author/host of The Campaign Moment newsletter and podcast for the Washington Post joins us to discuss some of Trump's Cabinet picks and their struggles to be confirmed. Also, the American people seem to overwhelmingly want a check on Trump's power. What will that look like with an administration that believes it has a mandate? Plus, we break down Hunter Biden's pardon and how that might impact Joe Biden's legacy.
Read Aaron's work in the Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/aaron-blake/
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In this Thanksgiving Best Of, we revisit our conversation with our friend Anne Applebaum! We aired this a few months ago when Anne's newest book, Autocracy Inc., had been released. She chronicles the rise of authoritarianism around the world and how those autocracies work together to keep themselves in power. With Donald Trump elected President once again, could we be heading for a similar fate? Other countries thwarted authoritarian candidates over the last year, but America decided that another round of Trumpism was the way to go. We can only hope that the country can survive it.
Read Anne's work in The Atlantic: https://www.theatlantic.com/author/anne-applebaum/
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Donald Trump's Cabinet selection is about as chaotic as we expected it to be. Matt Gaetz withdrew his name for Attorney General after a number of Republican Senators expressed concern with the pick. We're joined by David Axelrod, who says that Republicans in the Senate have more power than you might expect. David also examines how Democrats, the party of working people, lost so many working class voters in the Presidential election.
Listen to David's podcast, The Axe Files: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-axe-files-with-david-axelrod/id1043593599
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The incoming Trump administration has started announcing some of the picks for the incoming Cabinet. Somehow, they're worse than you could have imagined. We break down some of the unsavory characters who might be making policy in Trump's second term with political reporter for Semafor, David Weigel.
Weigel also explains how the right wing media ecosystem has moved away from TV and onto the internet. Right wing and right wing-adjacent programming is dominating YouTube and podcasts. How did they build such a network? And how do Democrats counterprogram those voices?
Read Weigel's latest for Semafor: https://www.semafor.com/author/david-weigel
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The nightmare we all feared came true last week. Donald Trump has been elected for a second term as President of the United States. We're joined by our friend Norm Ornstein to make sense of it all. If we take Trump at his word, we should expect mass deportations, economic instability, further deterioration of women’s rights, attacks on public education, constant fights with the media and his critics and much worse. Norm discusses the long road ahead that could include devastation especially for the states that supported him the most. There's not a lot to be hopeful about right now, but Norm manages to share some good news for the years ahead...If we're willing to fight for it.
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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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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
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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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