Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s presidential run is inspiring new fears among Democrats that he will help Donald Trump win the White House again. Meanwhile, Kennedy’s campaign is now expressing confidence that he’ll appear on the ballot in all the key swing states and beyond. So it’s notable that the Kennedy clan is taking urgent new steps to mobilize in response—against their own family member’s candidacy. We chatted with Jill Lawrence, a veteran journalist and author of a new piece for The Bulwark on this dynamic, who explains the remarkable role the Kennedys are poised to play in stopping RFK Jr. from serving as pro-Trump spoiler. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With jury selection in Donald Trump’s hush money trial beginning this week in New York, some have dismisses the case as weak. Yet Trump, who is accused of falsifying business records to conceal payoffs over his alleged affair with Stormy Daniels, is not acting as if he’s out of the woods. Dave Aronberg, a prosecutor in Florida who writes for Meidas Touch News, has argued that it’s not necessarily a weak case at all. We chatted with Aronberg about what to expect from the trial and how surprise evidence could emerge that badly complicates Trump’s defense. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Donald Trump’s presidential campaign has been hit by a lot of bad news lately. His former vice president declined to endorse him. His legal travails are getting worse. And some states are lurching to new extremes on abortion, making it impossible for Trump to shrug off responsibility for the end of Roe v. Wade. Yet as Media Matters has documented, Fox News appears to be dramatically downplaying a lot of these stories. We talked to Media Matters news director John Whitehouse about Fox’s evolution into a pro-Trump propaganda network and what that says about today’s right wing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Wednesday, Donald Trump declared that he won’t sign a national abortion ban if elected president, a clear sign he recognizes the issue poses a severe threat to his prospects. But this week, the Arizona State Supreme Court upheld an 1864 law banning almost all abortions, demonstrating that Trump will be forced to answer for every extremist lurch in the states from now until the election. We chatted with Elvia Diaz, the editorial page editor of The Arizona Republic, who explains how deeply personal this issue is for millions of women and why that’s a serious problem for Trump and the GOP in Arizona and beyond. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At a recent fundraiser, Donald Trump promised big tax cuts to some of the richest donors in the country. He also suggested he wants more immigrants from countries like Norway—hint, hint—while blasting Latin American migrants as criminals and worse. This corrupt bargain—offer huge giveaways to wealthy elites so they embrace far right governance—is an old story. In today’s episode, Harvard professor Daniel Ziblatt—who studies what happens when conservative elites ally with authoritarian movements—explains why it’s extraordinarily reckless for corporate leaders to calculate they can work with Trump despite his promise of a lawless second term. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, Mike Johnson finally appears set to decide whether to hold a House vote on funding military aid to Ukraine. If so, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene has threatened to try to oust him as Speaker. Yet something funny has happened: A lot of House Republicans want to vote on Ukraine aid. Is there any chance it might pass? How will Donald Trump react? We talked to Julia Ioffe, a journalist for Puck and a leading voice on Russia-U.S. relations, who shed light on the brutal road ahead for Ukraine and explained how the MAGA-Putin alliance really works. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s a new trend: GOP legislatures are advancing bills that place onerous new kinds of restrictions on public and school libraries in states like Idaho, Alabama, Georgia and others. On the front lines of taking on this trend is Emily Drabinski, the president of the American Library Association, who also grew up in Idaho and is openly gay. So we invited Drabinski on to the show to shed light on what it takes to battle the book banners targeting LGBTQ materials in states like her own, and what sort of toll this is taking on communities across the country. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, The New York Times reported that Donald Trump recently spoke privately with Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman. Trump’s team won’t say word boo about what was discussed, and we can guess why: His private business dealings with the Saudis are going gangbusters even as he’s locking up the GOP presidential nomination, creating all kinds of opportunities for corruption. We talked to Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland, who explained why the Trump-Saudi relationship is absolutely crying out for serious scrutiny. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, special counsel Jack Smith made a surprise move in his prosecution of Donald Trump for stealing classified documents. He called on Judge Aileen Cannon to make a quick decision on a key matter, flaunting his frustration with her over numerous rulings putting the thumb on the scale for Trump. We chatted with Philip Rotner, a veteran lawyer who has written a series of pieces for The Bulwark arguing that Cannon is killing the case against Trump right in broad daylight. Rotner explains in unsettling terms why her interventions for Trump are likely to get uglier. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One of Donald Trump’s central campaign promises has been to pardon untold numbers of rioters who attacked the Capitol—people he’s described as martyrs, victims and “hostages.” Now, an important new analysis finds that many of the inmates Trump has referred to are ones who violently attacked law enforcement officers. We talked to Tom Joscelyn, lead author of that analysis and a former senior Jan. 6 committee staffer, who explains how his findings blow apart a lot of Trump-MAGA propaganda about that dark and terrible day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

GOP members of Congress facing tough races are suddenly worried that having Donald Trump at the top of the ticket might present them with a problem, according to new reports. They fear having to answer for Trump’s degeneracy and extremism, even as the GOP’s small donor base is not delivering at the very moment as Trump is siphoning off party money for legal fees. What explains this sudden GOP epiphany about Trump? How likely is it that these fears will materialize? We chatted with Tim Persico, a top Democratic operative involved in House races in 2022, who provided insights into how this Trump effect really works. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Donald Trump’s announcement that he is now peddling something called the “God Bless the USA Bible” drew outrage from some religious figures, but one group that’s been conspicuously quiet about it are evangelical leaders. Why? Perhaps because Trump is making subtle promises to give them what they want. We talked with Katherine Stewart, a journalist who covers the religious right, about all the ways Trump is signaling a second term shaped around ideals of Christian Nationalism. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You’ve probably heard someone say we’re in the midst of a “racial realignment.” The idea is that Donald Trump is surprisingly strong among nonwhite voters, helping explain why head-to-head polling looks rough for President Biden. But political analyst Ron Brownstein has written an important new piece that adds sorely needed nuance, finding that the flipside to Trump’s strength among nonwhites is Biden’s unexpected support among white voters. We chatted with Brownstein about why his thesis shows that Trump’s position is more precarious than it seems. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Two days after a major bridge collapsed in Baltimore when a cargo ship rammed into it, we still know little about six bridge workers who are presumed dead after an intensive search. Little by little, we’re learning that police were just about to alert the workers about the crash but were a hair too late, and that they were immigrants who were supporting children and families. Who were these workers? Could they have been saved? We talked to Maximillian Alvarez, editor in chief of the Baltimore-based Real News Network, about what this horror tells us about immigrant life in America. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

All of a sudden Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene seems to be attacking House Speaker Mike Johnson almost daily over all kinds of things, especially his promise to find a way to pass military aid to Ukraine. Does that mean Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans will successfully thwart that effort? Why is the House GOP in such chaos, anyway? We chatted with GOP lobbyist Liam Donovan, a Twitter virtuoso and shrewd observer of Republican politics, who helped demystify all the crazy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

NBC News is reeling over its decision to hire former Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel as a political analyst. McDaniel actively participated in Donald Trump’s effort to steal the 2020 election, pressuring state officials not to certify the outcome, and personalities like Joe Scarborough and Chuck Todd have been harshly critical. We chatted with New York University’s Jay Rosen, one of our most incisive media critics, about whether the uproar will prompt the media to grapple more deeply with its struggle to capture the true threat Trump and MAGA pose to our democracy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In recent days, Donald Trump opened the door to cutting Social Security, and he’s also threatened to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which would throw millions off health insurance. All this comes as President Biden’s economy is doing quite well by many metrics. Yet Trump is favored on the economy, and his MAGA support remains solid, even though his policies would badly sell out his base. We talked to New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, author of a series of columns about the economies under Trump and Biden, who helps us make sense of all these disconnects. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With Donald Trump’s fundraising badly trailing that of President Biden, the RNC’s new “election integrity” lawyer, Christina Bobb, is emerging as an important player in the Trump-MAGA campaign apparatus. Bobb, who was deeply involved in Trump’s Stop-the-Steal efforts, will help reassure the MAGA faithful, perhaps firing up the small-dollar donations that Trump desperately needs. We chatted with Andrew Egger, who has a great new piece for The Bulwark about Bobb’s role, about why she’s so pivotal for Trump and how she’s become the face of the new MAGA establishment. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Donald Trump just announced that he’s likely to campaign for the presidency on a promise of a 15-week abortion ban, even as political commentators are wondering whether reproductive rights will be as salient this fall as they were in 2022 and 2023. An interesting test looms in deep red Alabama, where Marilyn Lands is running for a state House seat in a special election set for March 26th—a campaign that Lands has made about her own agonizing abortion story. We talked to Lands about what she’s hearing on the ground and how voters are reacting to her personal journey. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is there any chance that Congress will not abandon Ukraine to the Russians? With Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans determined to cut off military aid to Ukraine, it’s looking grim. Yet there are glimmers of hope. Some Republicans are reportedly pushing a proposal that would offer aid to Ukraine as a loan. And there are signs that House Speaker Mike Johnson does want something to pass. We chatted with Democratic Congressman Brendan Boyle of Pennsylvania, who offered a keen understanding of the tortured dynamics surrounding this deeply dispiriting debate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, Donald Trump’s lawyers admitted that he’s failed to secure a bond to cover the half-a-billion-dollar penalty he faces in his civil fraud case in New York. As The New York Times delicately noted, “he does not have enough liquidity” to persuade any company to provide that bond. Translation: He doesn’t have the cash. This is humiliating to Trump, relative to his self-mythology. But it also points to his broader, largely-overlooked weaknesses in the 2024 campaign. We discussed this with The New Republic’s Timothy Noah, author of a great new piece on Trump’s financial travails that predicts he will soon declare bankruptcy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Ohio over the weekend, Donald Trump delivered one of his most unhinged and dangerous rally speeches yet: He used appallingly dehumanizing language about migrants, saluted the Jan. 6 rioters as patriots and heroes, and predicted a “bloodbath” if he loses the election. We talked to New Yorker staff writer Susan Glasser, the author of an excellent new piece about Trump’s use of violent and authoritarian language at rallies like this one, about why the media urgently needs to do better at conveying the full threat to democracy that Trump poses. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer gave an extraordinary speech lacerating Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel over the horrific civilian toll in Gaza. This is an important moment in U.S. politics: The highest ranking Jewish Democrat stood strongly for Palestinian rights at a time when the war in Gaza is badly dividing the Democratic coalition. To navigate these complexities, we talked to Randi Weingarten of the American Federation of Teachers, which is promoting a peace effort called Standing Together, and Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne, who writes regularly about intra-coalitional tensions among Democrats. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Democratic strategist Simon Rosenberg has prominently argued that it’s premature to freak out about Donald Trump’s lead in the polls. Rosenberg’s case is partly that the Democratic Party is strong and has been winning lots of elections lately, as readers of his “Hopium Chronicles” well know. But there’s another, less-appreciated side to his analysis: That the people who make ads and run campaigns and do politics for a living know that Trump’s unfathomably high pile-up of negatives is, in the end, probably insurmountable for him. So we chatted with Rosenberg about this side of his theory — and about why the Biden team appears quietly confident of victory. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, a group of prominent “Never Trump” Republicans and conservatives announced that they will spend $50 million to defeat Donald Trump this fall. The group, Republican Voters against Trump, hopes to appeal to independents and moderate Republicans who backed him in 2020 and might be persuaded not to in 2024. But how big is this pool of voters, and what’s the best way to reach them? We chatted with strategist Sarah Longwell, who runs the group and regularly conducts focus groups to figure out what really makes these elusive voters tick. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Over the weekend, The New York Times published a news analysis entitled, “The Biden-Trump rerun: A nation craving change gets more of the same.” This has become a constant refrain in the press: One of the candidates is running on an explicit set of promises to destroy American democracy, yet the press keeps calling this a “rerun” of 2020, almost as if it’s all a sporting event. We chatted with Mark Jacob, a former veteran journalist who writes the “Stop the Presses” newsletter, about all the insidious ways that press coverage is sanitizing the threat posed by Donald Trump and MAGA. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Have you heard of Bridget Ziegler? A co-founder of the far right Moms for Liberty, she is embroiled in a three-way sex scandal involving her husband, Florida GOP chair Christian Ziegler. Now some Florida parents are running brutal ads attacking her, even as the Moms for Liberty movement is unexpectedly losing ground everywhere. We chatted with journalist Jennifer Berkshire, the author of a forthcoming book on our cultural battles over education, who explained the bigger, deeper story here: The right are the ones now on the defensive in the school wars. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. triggered an online explosion with a very weird defense of himself for spending time with Jeffrey Epstein. Everyone laughed, but we think this saga is revealing: It opens a window on his underappreciated appeal to disaffected young men. So we chatted with Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, a New School professor who specializes in politics and culture and has dissected the Kennedy phenomenon in surprising ways. Petrzela helped us uncover the darker undercurrents driving Kennedy’s popularity and the ugly truths it reveals about our politics. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Texas is a state that keeps breaking the hearts of Democrats everywhere. But hopes are rising again this week, after Representative Colin Allred, a former NFL player and civil rights lawyer, captured the Democratic nomination to unseat Senator Ted Cruz. Six years after Beto O’Rourke fell three points short of beating Cruz, what will be different this time? We chatted with Allred about his path forward, how Democrats can compete in rural America, and why Republicans have turned the border into a fantasy zone. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Earlier this week, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico signed a handful of gun control bills in the face of a terrible spate of gun violence in her state that has drawn national attention. Lujan Grisham is smack in the middle of some big trends in our politics right now: The transformation of the southwest, the success of Democrats in border states, and the rise of the female Democratic governor in the era of Donald Trump. We chatted with Lujan Grisham about all these things—and a whole lot more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices