The Commentary Magazine Podcast

Biden's Trip and the GOP's Reaction

Matthew Continetti joins the podcast as permanent co-host today as we discuss the president’s trip to Kyiv and just what it was Ron DeSantis was saying about it exactly—and how the early 20th century’s politics in America might be an eerie parallel to what’s happening right now. Give a listen. Source

It's Noah's Last Podcast

Today we say a fond farewell to our colleague Noah Rothman, who is off to National Review. We do so by discussing his favorite recent story, the continuing balloon madness. Then we move onto debilitated senators and what to do about them, and the astounding filing by Dominion Voting Systems in its case against Fox News. Give a listen. Source

The Phileas Fogg of War

Today’s podcast: More balloons, why is the Right growing pessimistic about Ukraine when the Russians are experiencing catastrophes anew, and the New York Times gets attacked for not being…sufficiently pro-trans? Really? Give a listen. Source

They Keep Changing the Story

Today’s podcast finds us all feeling gaslighted by the blizzard of weird and contradictory details coming out about the UFO incursions. We also discuss whether it’s now inevitable that Donald Trump will be indicted by the federal special prosecutor. And why aren’t soft-on-crime politicians facing consequences? Give a listen. Source

Nikki Haley Enters the Arena

Today’s podcast examines former South Carolina governor/UN ambassador Nikki Haley’s announcement video for her presidential candidacy. Are the themes good ones? How directly does she take on Trump? And what about inflation and the balloons? Give a listen. Source

The Balloon Story Gets More Unnerving

Today’s podcast notes three more incidents in which American missiles downed unidentified flying objects and wonders what is worse: That we knew about all this and are lying about it now or that we knew nothing and are scrambling in the darkness to figure it all out. Also: McConnell takes care of business and a really fun Super Bowl. Give a listen. Source

Do We Even Have a China Policy?

Today’s podcast asks why the Biden administration declassified information regarding the Chinese surveillance flights via balloon and what they might suggest about the White House’s posture toward China—or whether we even have a posture toward China. Also, the Fetterman fears may have come home to roost. And what about Nikki Haley getting 11 percent in a three-way poll? Give a listen. Source

Biden's Anti-Republican Election Play

Today’s podcast notes Joe Biden’s pleasure at having drawn Republicans out into yelling at him during the State of the Union and how Bidenites are telegraphing that this is how they intend to win in 2024. Good strategy or not? Give a listen. Source

Biden's Speech and All the Yelling

We analyze Joe Biden’s State of the Union, the Republican heckling, and the interesting response from Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders on today’s episode featuring Matthew Continetti, who will join the podcast as a permanent daily co-host in a few weeks. Give a listen. Source

What Will Biden Say About China?

Today’s podcast takes up the coming State of the Union speech and the fact that President Biden will have to make an accounting for himself on the bizarre week of balloon intelligence hijinks. Give a listen. Source

Does Anyone Know What They’re Doing?

The director of social, cultural, and constitutional studies at AEI and National Affairs editor, Yuval Levin, joins the show today to talk about why experts didn’t see last Friday’s jobs numbers coming. Also, what the Chinese surveillance balloon says about American national security and the Biden administration’s handling of it. Source

What's With the Balloon?

Today’s podcast discusses a Chinese balloon, removing House members from committees, and Russia’s gambit in Ukraine. Give a listen. Source

Oh, So It Was Your Laptop, Hunter!

Hunter Biden’s legal team not only acknowledges that the “laptop from hell” was Hunter Biden’s but is now trying a newly “aggressive” strategy to go after the people who disseminated its contents—without ever stopping to acknowledge the two-plus years of lies about it. We take this up, as well as the assault on Ron DeSantis for his efforts to repair a flawed African American studies curriculum. Source

COVID and Koch

Tevi Troy joins the podcast today to talk about his article in COMMENTARY, “Ed Koch, Ten Years Gone.” And Tevi puts on his health-care hat as a former high-ranking official at the Department of Health and Human Services to help us understand the baffling Biden White House announcement that the COVID emergency will be over…in three months. Give a listen. Source

This Will Leave a Mark

Mark Halperin of Wide World of News joins us today to discuss his must-read newsletter, the probabilities of both Trump and Biden being the 2024 nominees, what the change in White House chiefs of staff might portend, Kamala Harris’s trials, and whether Ron DeSantis is overvalued. Give a listen. Source

Do They Really Want ‘Police Reforms?’

The brutal beating death of Tyre Nichols at the hands of Memphis police has reignited the debate around over-policing and race in America. But “reform” doesn’t seem to be the objective critics of police culture and those pushing a racial narrative in this killing want. Also, thoughts on the Palestinian violence against Israeli worshipers and the Israeli strike on Iranian military facilities. Source

Are the Trump-Skeptics Getting Serious?

The arrest-related shooting of a black suspect has captured the attention of racial activists, but the narrative is complicated by the race of the police involved, who are also black. Also, is Donald Trump’s resurgence in the polls cresting, or has it only just begun? Source

The Committee To Wreck Everything

Today’s podcast brings up good economic numbers and asks whether we’re just now measuring everything badly—and how the political system is uniquely incompetent when it comes to resolving future economic crises before they happen. Also, some news about our show’s future. Give a listen. Source

Giving Tanks

Frederick Kagan joins the podcast to help us understand the breakthrough in NATO thinking that has led Germany and the United States to commit high-tech tanks to the war in Ukraine, how the war is going, and what America's understanding of the war should be as we approach the end of the first year of fighting. Give a listen.

FBI-Yai-Yai

Eli Lake joins us to talk about the indictment of the former head of the counterintelligence unit of the FBI in New York and what it might tell us about the FBI, the Justice Department, and the ongoing obsession with the 2016 elections. Give a listen. Source

Are Biden's Troubles Reinvigorating Trump?

President Edith Piaf

Joe Biden says he has “no regrets” about his handling of classified information. Really? Why not? Seems like a big deal to us on the podcast. Also a big deal: Ukraine. And the Supreme Court’s inability to find the leaker of its most important decision in decades. Give a listen. Source

The Left's Ideological Enforcers

Today’s podcast takes up the successful war by New York leftists against their own Democratic governor, Kathy Hochul, and her choice for chief judge of the state’s court of appeals. Why are they attacking her? And why is the left ganging up on a hockey player who didn’t want to wear a warmup jacket of their choosing? Give a listen. Source

Unpacking the Freak Out over Israeli Politics

Editor, author, and columnist at the Jewish News Service and the Jerusalem Post, Ruthie Blum, joins the podcast today to explain why so many American Jews, in particular, are in a panic over the alleged threat to democracy in Israel posed by the country’s new government. Source

Fighting Vainly the Old Ennui

Today’s podcast asks whether it’s just a January funk or are we in an extended period of American social depression—from quiet quitting to mass shoplifting. Also, China’s in a funk too! Give a listen. Source

The COVID Revolts and the Biden-Trump Indictments

Today’s podcast takes up Noah Rothman’s lead February article, “The Worldwide COVID Revolts,” and what it says about the political fallout from the restrictions on human activity over the past three years. And we begin with the pickle the Biden people find themselves in if the special counsel pursues criminal charges against Donald Trump relating to classified documents. Give a listen. Source

Biden's Petard Hanging

Eli Lake joins the podcast to discuss the Biden-documents revelations that caused Attorney General Merrick Garland to appoint a special prosecutor to look into the matter. And we pay tribute to the late Paul Johnson. Give a listen. Source

There Are No Standards

The allegation that Joe Biden also mishandled classified documents expands to include a second tranche discovered at an undisclosed location, which raises questions about the legal exposure of the president and his team. Or does it? And if it doesn’t, what does that suggest about the Justice Department’s investigation into Trump’s alleged misconduct? Source

Fed Up

Today’s podcast considers a startling quote from Fed chairman Jay Powell, the nature of liberal vs. conservative beliefs about government power and regulation, and why classified documents in Joe Biden’s post-veep office were in a manila envelope marked “personal.” Give a listen. Source

Yes, Republicans Don't Like the IRS. So?

Today’s podcast takes up the bizarre accusations against the GOP that it is somehow acting in an illegitimate way by fulfilling a campaign promise to stand against the growth in the size and aggressiveness of the IRS. And what’s this—Joe Biden took classified documents out of the Obama White House? Give a listen. Source

Good Luck, Kevin McCarthy

The podcast today asks what exactly the future holds for Kevin McCarthy and the House Republicans in the wake of McCarthy’s 15th-ballot election as House Speaker. Nothing good, it seems. Give a listen. Source

The ‘Democratic' Republicans

Today’s podcast considers the argument made by the House rebels that they are merely practicing “democracy” as it was meant to be practiced—when, in fact, they are a tiny minority using the powers of obstruction, not majority opinion, to try and get their way. Give a listen. Source

The 'Democratic' Republicans

Today's podcast considers the argument made by the House rebels that they are merely practicing "democracy" as it was meant to be practiced—when, in fact, they are a tiny minority using the powers of obstruction, not majority opinion, to try and get their way. Give a listen.

The Horror of Portlandia

We’re joined today by the journalist Nancy Rommelmann, whose shocking article, “ A Murder in Portland,” exposes the nature of the existential threat posed to ordinary people by progressives committed to freeing criminals. Give a listen. Source

The Washington Blank Show

Matt Continetti joins the podcast to talk about Kevin McCarthy’s horrible day and what that day portends for the Republican party over the next days, weeks, and years. Give a listen. Source

The GOP House Meltdown

As the new year begins, the podcast looks with wonder and horror at the really insane start of the new Congress, in the hands of a tiny Republican majority—and controlled, it seems, by a tiny minority within the majority that wants to see the world burn. Give a listen. Source

The Trends of 2022

The Bright Side of 2022

It turns out 2022 wasn’t entirely irredeemable. We reflect on some of the year’s silver linings and positive developments. Noah: The revitalization of NATO. Abe: A bad year for autocrats. Christine: Candidates who deserve to lose lost. John: Nuclear fusion. Source

The Movies We Loved in 2022

The gang discusses the movies they enjoyed (or really didn’t enjoy) in 2022. Abe: “The Banshees of Inisherin” and “Moonage Daydream” Christine: “Top Gun: Maverick” Noah: “Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers” (yes, seriously). John: “Singin’ in the Rain”... Source

The Television We Loved in 2022

Today, we dive into the television shows we watched and loved—or, at least, liked—in 2022. John: “1883” and “She-Hulk: Attorney at Law” Abe: “Mr. Inbetween” Christine: “Severance” and “Slow Horses” Noah: “The Dropout” and “Inventing Anna”... Source

The Books We Loved in 2022

To open up a week of special Christmas week podcasts, we talk about the books we read and loved in 2022. Source

The January 6th Report

The podcast today asks whether the January 6 report is an example of overreach or whether its findings may be morally merited if not a proper legal blueprint for action against Donald Trump. Give a listen. Source

A Tale of Two Flags

Volodymyr Zelensky came to the nation’s capital, and, in our nation’s Capitol, he crushed it with a speech that was both substantive and heartening. We break it down and break down the resistance to it among elements of the Right. Give a listen. Source

Zelensky Comes to Town

Today’s podcast looks at the rank politics being played around the visit of Ukrainian President Wolodymyr Zelensky’s stunning one-day trip to Washington to meet with Joe Biden and speak to Congress. Also, seriously? We’re supposed to mask up again? Give a listen. Source

The Last January 6th Hearing

Was it just grandstanding, or did the committee make its case for the criminal referrals it made to the Justice Department relating to Donald Trump? And does the final grab-bag spending bill actually have some good stuff in it? Give a listen. Source

Even Corporate Media Can't Ignore the Border Any Longer

Today’s podcast looks at the accelerating crisis at the southern border of the United States, and the fact that the Biden administration is putting its head in the sand and trying to ignore it—which other Democratic politicians dealing with the fallout will not allow. And, we wonder, how will the January 6th committee recommendations coming out on Monday affect Donald Trump’s standing in the GOP? Source

Is Musk Sucking Up All the Trump Oxygen?

Today’s podcast points out that Donald Trump’s bizarre announcement that he’s selling NFT images of himself was completely overshadowed later in the day by Elon Musk banning some journalists on Twitter. Does this mean Trump is now, literally, yesterday morning’s news and will remain so? Give a listen. Source

The GOP’s State of Nature

From Rep. Ralph Norman’s calls for “marshall law” to prevent Republican officials from certifying 2020’s election results, to House Republicans’ attacks against Kevin McCarthy, to Kevin McCarthy’s attacks against Mitch McConnell, the GOP is at war with itself. And maybe that’s all they want to do. Source

Should the Vaccines Be Investigated?

With Ron DeSantis pretty firmly taking the lead in 2024 matchups against Donald Trump, there also comes news of DeSantis seeking to convene a grand jury to investigate possible false claims about the efficacy of the COVID vaccines. Is this just pandering to anti-vax lunatics, or is something more interesting going on here? Give a listen. Source

The Arrest of Sam Bankman-Fried

James B. Meigs joins the podcast today to talk about his January COMMENTARY column, “Twilight of the Tech Gods,” and how the collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX represents another example of the way in which the Silicon Valley techno-optimist culture has done injury to capitalism. And how about them Twitter files? Give a listen. Source