Radio Atlantic
242 episodes - English - Latest episode: 5 days ago - ★★★★ - 1.7K ratingsThe Atlantic has long been known as an ideas-driven magazine. Now we’re bringing that same ethos to audio. Like the magazine, the show will “road test” the big ideas that both drive the news and shape our culture. Through conversations—and sometimes sharp debates—with the most insightful thinkers and writers on topics of the day, Radio Atlantic will complicate overly simplistic views. It will cut through the noise with clarifying, personal narratives. It will, hopefully, help listeners make up their own mind about certain ideas.
The national conversation right now can be chaotic, reckless, and stuck. Radio Atlantic aims to bring some order to our thinking—and encourage listeners to be purposeful about how they unstick their mind.
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Episodes
Andrew Yang
April 27, 2020 13:39 - 31 minutesThe former presidential candidate discusses universal basic income, coronavirus-linked bigotry against Asian Americans, and how the pandemic has accelerated the automation trends he's long worried about. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Stacey Abrams
April 24, 2020 11:00 - 33 minutesGeorgia politician and voting rights activist Stacey Abrams discusses elections in a pandemic, vice presidential aspirations, and Star Trek. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Pandemic Created a New Form of Voter Suppression
April 11, 2020 21:33 - 29 minutesSherrilyn Ifill of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund discusses Wisconsin’s election debacle and how the coronavirus has become a new tool of voter suppression. Ifill says Wisconsin legislators “created a perfect storm where it didn't have to exist” and that the Supreme Court’s “terrible decision” allowing the election to proceed “consigned people to have to choose between their health and their right as citizens to participate and vote.” She describes how the current partisan debate around voter ...
Voter Suppression By Pandemic
April 11, 2020 21:33 - 29 minutesSherrilyn Ifill of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund discusses Wisconsin’s election debacle and how the coronavirus has become a new tool of voter suppression. Ifill says Wisconsin legislators “created a perfect storm where it didn't have to exist” and that the Supreme Court’s “terrible decision” allowing the election to proceed “consigned people to have to choose between their health and their right as citizens to participate and vote.” She describes how the current partisan debate around voter s...
‘The Woman From Michigan’
April 03, 2020 12:15 - 20 minutesGovernor Gretchen Whitmer joins to discuss Michigan’s coronavirus response and her relationship with President Trump. Elected in the state’s 2018 wave election, the popular young governor is considered a potential running mate for Joe Biden. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Risking Exposure in Congress
March 28, 2020 02:29 - 22 minutesGrace Meng represents New York in Congress. Her Queens district is at the center of the U.S. coronavirus outbreak, where its hospitals face an ‘apocalyptic’ situation. She spent the day flying to and from Washington to pass the $2 trillion stimulus package. After landing back home, she spoke with Isaac Dovere about her constituents fighting against the coronavirus, having to risk exposure flying to Washington for the vote, and how politicians using the phrase ‘Chinese virus’ has impacted the ...
Arnold Schwarzenegger on the Pandemic Response
March 25, 2020 13:05 - 21 minutesArnold Schwarzenegger has asked everyone to stay home. He's issued PSA videos, with his mini donkey and mini horse, and from his jacuzzi, urging people to socially distance. Besides his celebrity, he of course also spent seven years governing California—a state that's no stranger to disaster. He calls Isaac Dovere to share his thoughts on this bonus episode of The Ticket: Politics from The Atlantic. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Coronavirus Response, with Senator Sherrod Brown
March 20, 2020 12:29 - 34 minutesSenator Sherrod Brown discusses the Trump administration's response to the pandemic and what he thinks Congress needs to do now. The progressive Ohio senator believes that, as Americans rely on expanded social insurance programs to weather this crisis, they'll value government taking on a bigger role in society. "I think you'll see the kind of structural change in our society that most of the country wants," he tells Isaac Dovere. "I think the public overwhelmingly agrees and sees more clear...
This Isn’t Trump’s Katrina (Except When It Is)
March 13, 2020 21:02 - 49 minutesVann Newkirk joins Isaac Dovere to discuss Floodlines—the new Atlantic podcast about Hurricane Katrina—and what lessons the disaster response in 2005 has for the coronavirus crisis in 2020. (After their conversation, listen for the full first episode of Floodlines.) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Beating Donald Trump, with David Plouffe
March 06, 2020 22:36 - 33 minutesThe campaign manager behind Obama’s 2008 election breaks down the state of the Democratic party. What do Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden each need to do to win the nomination? And for an election Plouffe says has probably “the biggest stakes the country's ever known,” what do Democrats have to do to defeat President Trump? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
South Carolina, with Jennifer Palmieri
February 29, 2020 00:12 - 33 minutesFormer Clinton aide Jennifer Palmieri discusses the South Carolina primary, how 2020 is different than 2016, and how sexism still shapes American politics. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Unlearned Lessons of 2016, with Katy Tur
February 21, 2020 16:42 - 32 minutesAs Democrats slugged it out in Nevada this week, the president undermined the Justice Department in Washington. News anchor Katy Tur—and everyone else covering politics—has had to constantly switch gears between two stories: a crowded primary of challengers working to overtake one another, and a post-impeachment White House emboldened to break yet more democratic norms. But when the general election arrives, and the two stories merge, will the news media be up to the task? Tur grew up around...
A Historic Vote on Equal Rights, and Hopes for Gun Control
February 14, 2020 17:38 - 33 minutesOn Thursday, Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton presided over debate on a bill to advance the Equal Rights Amendment. After the bill passed, she sat down in her office with Isaac Dovere to discuss the historic ERA vote and how she thinks Congress can take action on gun violence. Also on the show: thoughts on New Hampshire and an exclusive exchange with Andrew Yang, recorded as he prepared to announce the end of his candidacy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The New Hampshire Primary, with Chris Pappas
February 07, 2020 04:45 - 30 minutesAfter the chaos of Iowa, New Hampshire is set to deliver the first clear results of the 2020 presidential race. And on the show to preview the first primary vote is New Hampshire Congressman Chris Pappas. The freshman Democrat is new to Washington, but he's been around Granite State politics his entire life. He was elected state representative at 22, but has been meeting presidential candidates since he was 7. His family's Manchester restaurant has been a waypoint on the trail to the White H...
The Iowa Caucuses, with J.D. Scholten
January 30, 2020 23:19 - 34 minutesIsaac Dovere previews the Iowa caucuses with congressional candidate J.D. Scholten. A former baseball player running to represent the state’s most rural district, Scholten offers an on-the-ground view as Iowans gather to pick a president. He discusses his race against Rep. Steve King (who he nearly unseated in 2018), what Iowans care about as they go to the caucuses, and whether the state should keep its first-in-the-nation vote. Like many of his fellow Iowans, he’s had presidential candida...
The Ticket: Politics from The Atlantic
January 28, 2020 23:30 - 1 minuteOn Thursday, Radio Atlantic is becoming The Ticket: Politics from The Atlantic. As the 2020 voting begins, this show will relaunch with a new name and new look — but you’ll still get the same important conversations each week. Keep listening for interviews with the people defining this incredible moment in American history. Same show. Same feed. New name. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot
January 24, 2020 16:51 - 32 minutesThe new mayor of Chicago, Lori Lightfoot, won all fifty of Chicago’s wards in a landslide last year. A lawyer with experience in government oversight, Lightfoot ran on an anti-corruption and police reform platform. She campaigned as a political outsider in a city long run by dynasties. And she represents a lot of firsts: the first African-American woman to lead the city, its first openly gay mayor, and for her, the first time running for higher office. Lightfoot came into the job with a big o...
Arnold Schwarzenegger on Show-Business Politics
January 16, 2020 19:00 - 37 minutesThe governator discusses the Republican party, his commitment to the environment, and the Democratic candidates (his review: "such bad actors"). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
"He Doesn't Understand War"
January 09, 2020 10:00 - 34 minutesRuben Gallego says President Trump doesn’t understand war, but the situation with Iran could soon escalate to one. Gallego is a progressive congressman from Arizona and a combat veteran who served in Iraq — stationed at one point at one of the bases struck by Iranian missiles this week. He discusses his experience of war, his insights on the developing crisis, and what he worries about most. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Will the Trump Presidential Library Have an Impeachment Section?
December 20, 2019 10:00 - 35 minutesOn the day President Trump is impeached, Isaac Dovere visits the Nixon Library with Tom Steyer. The billionaire presidential candidate has spent two years (and millions of dollars) to keep impeachment in the headlines. As the House of Representatives prepares for the historic vote, they reflect on Nixon's legacy, Trump's future, and Steyer's unique family history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Why Impeachment Is Different This Time Around
December 13, 2019 00:49 - 27 minutesSteve Chabot, a House Republican who helped lead his party's impeachment fight against Bill Clinton, explains why he’s unconvinced by the Democrats’ case against Trump. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Britain Votes (Again)
December 05, 2019 22:21 - 33 minutesDonald Trump wasn’t the only election surprise of 2016. Three months before he won the presidency, the United Kingdom also shocked observers by voting to leave the European Union. Ever since, Brexit has dominated British politics. But while Americans may have to wait another eleven months to see Trump’s name back on the ballot, British elections arrive much faster (and of late, much more frequently). Britain may not be terribly enthusiastic about heading back to the polls, but the stakes cou...
Is Russia Winning the Impeachment Hearings?
November 22, 2019 18:48 - 40 minutesDuring an impeachment hearing this week, President Trump's former top Russia adviser accused Republicans of peddling Russian propaganda. Anne Applebaum is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and historian who will join The Atlantic as a staff writer in January. As one of the world’s leading experts on pre- and post-Communist Europe, disinformation and propaganda, and the future of democracy, she joins Isaac Dovere to discuss impeachment through a global lens. How did a conspiracy theory conco...
How to Stop A Civil War
November 14, 2019 10:00 - 41 minutesThe special December issue of The Atlantic focuses on a single theme: “How to Stop a Civil War.” Two contributors to the issue, Harvard professor Danielle Allen and staff writer Adam Serwer, join Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg to discuss their arguments in the magazine. Allen’s piece, “The Road From Serfdom,” asserts that unity must be made a priority again and offers prescriptive steps for how it can be achieved. In “Against Reconciliation,” Serwer argues that the nation’s pursuits of comp...
Virginia Hates Tyrants
November 07, 2019 10:00 - 42 minutesSenator Tim Kaine discusses Democrats' historic win in Virginia and what it means for 2020. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
President Pete?
October 31, 2019 15:00 - 31 minutesMayor Pete Buttigieg discusses his unlikely presidential run. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Reporting in ‘Forgotten America’
October 24, 2019 15:19 - 37 minutesJames Fallows spent decades covering national politics for The Atlantic. For the last four years though, he’s traveled the parts of America typically left out of the national conversation. And he comes back with good news. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sanders vs. Warren?
October 18, 2019 03:25 - 37 minutesThe fourth Democratic debate this week highlighted Elizabeth Warren’s new front-runner status. It also marked the return to public events for Bernie Sanders, who showcased his energy following a heart attack and touted a key new endorsement from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The two progressive candidates haven’t gone after each other thus far. How much longer will that last? And where does the race go from here? Joining Isaac Dovere this week is Elaine Godfrey, who reports on progressive politic...
How ISIS Returns
October 11, 2019 17:18 - 38 minutesStaff writer Mike Giglio has been reporting on ISIS since before Americans knew what to call it. He documents his five years in the region for a new book, Shatter the Nations: ISIS and the War for the Caliphate. He joins Isaac Dovere to discuss the abrupt changes happening in Syria. How did a phone call upend American policy towards its Kurdish allies? What’s happening on the ground now? And where will this new cycle of violence lead? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adcho...
Understanding the Whistle-Blower
October 03, 2019 22:39 - 36 minutesAs a CIA officer detailed to the White House, Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin is one of the few people to have done the same work as the whistle-blower. She joins Isaac Dovere to discuss that experience, how it led her to play a key role in starting the impeachment inquiry, and how she’s now explaining that decision of conscience to the pro-Trump district she represents. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Amy Klobuchar, Live at The Atlantic Festival
September 26, 2019 20:27 - 44 minutesAs impeachment news comes in by the minute, The Atlantic hosts its annual festival in our nation’s capital. Minnesota senator and presidential candidate Amy Klobuchar joins Isaac Dovere on stage for a live taping of Radio Atlantic. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Steve Bullock's Longshot Case
September 19, 2019 09:00 - 41 minutesThe Montana governor talks about his presidential campaign, his personal connection to the gun control debate, and why running his home state has uniquely prepared him to run a divided country. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Heir
September 12, 2019 09:00 - 30 minutesBegun with a gold-rush brothel in the Yukon, the Trump empire has long been passed down through generations. Donald Trump inherited a business from his father, who inherited it from his father. Now following in those footsteps are Donald Trump Jr, Ivanka Trump, and Eric Trump — all brought into the family business, whatever that happened to be at the moment. When it was real estate, they worked at the Trump Organization. When it became television, they were in the cast of The Apprentice. And ...
On the Road with Beto
September 06, 2019 15:41 - 43 minutesThis week, Beto O'Rourke took a bus out of New York. Not a campaign bus, just a regular old bus. Isaac Dovere joined for the trip and they talked about how the presidential candidate has been changed by the recent mass shootings in West Texas. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Man Who Couldn't Take It Anymore
August 29, 2019 09:00 - 36 minutesIn December, Defense Secretary James Mattis resigned in protest after President Trump announced plans to withdraw troops from Syria. As the last "adult in the room" at the White House, critics worried his departure would loosen the president’s behavior even further. Days after the news broke though, Christmas and the government shutdown pushed Mattis’ resignation into the background. Now, nine months later, he’s beginning to speak publicly again. For the latest issue of the magazine, Editor-...
Recession Politics
August 23, 2019 00:33 - 43 minutesThis week showed increasing signs that a recession could be on the horizon. Manufacturing is shrinking. Job growth is slowing. The markets are spooked — and now so is the president. But what exactly is happening? Annie Lowrey joins Isaac Dovere to make sense of the recession news. (What exactly is the yield curve and why does it matter?) They discuss what a downturn would do to the 2020 race. And they explore why many voters don’t feel economically secure despite record growth. This June mark...
Andrew Yang's Campaign Against the Coming Dystopia
August 15, 2019 08:00 - 41 minutesAndrew Yang joins Isaac Dovere on the trail in Iowa. Yang’s campaign started as a long-shot from a first-time politician, but he’s found a following. His message about the bleak future technology’s bringing to America (and his plan to give everyone $1000 a month) has led to an enormous online fandom — one that’s actually translating into poll numbers and dollars. Unlike many more traditional candidates, he’s already qualified for the next Democratic debates. So, what does his campaign say abo...
Cory Booker on White Supremacist Violence
August 08, 2019 09:00 - 35 minutesOn Wednesday, Senator Cory Booker gave a speech on gun violence and white nationalism at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, the same church that lost nine of its members to a white supremacist gunman four years ago. Following his speech, the presidential hopeful sat down with Isaac Dovere in the pastor's office to discuss his plans for ending gun violence in America and why he believes that "we can't let these conversations devolve into the impotent simplicity of who is or ...
Rebuilding the Blue Wall
August 01, 2019 12:30 - 31 minutesWhile in Detroit covering the Democratic debates, Isaac Dovere sits down with Dana Nessel, Michigan’s new Democratic attorney general and the state’s first openly gay statewide officeholder. Last year, Nessel was part of an all-women executive slate that many said couldn’t win. But every single woman candidate did and Nessel now holds a job that Republican men had controlled for 16 years. What lessons does Nessel’s victory have for Democrats trying to retake Michigan and other crucial states ...
The Veteran Candidate
July 26, 2019 11:58 - 35 minutesSeth Moulton, the Massachusetts congressman and presidential candidate, joins Isaac Dovere this week. Moulton shares his thoughts on Nancy Pelosi, ‘the squad,’ and the direction of the Democratic Party. Speaking soon after Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s hearings on Capitol Hill, Moulton gives his reaction as an early proponent of impeachment. And the decorated Marine veteran discusses his campaign’s focus on national security issues and why the current commander-in-chief is “putting America...
How to Cover Racist Tweets
July 19, 2019 22:01 - 44 minutesOn Sunday, President Trump told four members of Congress to “go back” to the countries “from which they came.” Journalists have spent the week working through how to discuss what is a textbook racist statement aimed at four congresswomen who—besides all being American citizens—are all women of color. Newsrooms faced hard questions: Do you call the president a racist? How do you not call the president a racist? Do you give him the attention he wants, and how do you modulate that, contextualiz...
Trump Diplomacy
July 11, 2019 11:55 - 49 minutesThis week, the British ambassador to the United States resigned after private cables leaked with his frank assessment of the White House and its occupant. Sir Kim Darroch described the administration as “clumsy” and "inept" and said President Trump "radiates insecurity." In response, the president called Darroch “wacky,” a “very stupid guy,” and a “pompous fool.” The episode is another in a long string of public feuds for Trump. But the departure of the ambassador from America's closest ally ...
The Other Republican
June 27, 2019 04:00 - 36 minutesFormer Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld has experience taking down a Republican president. He began his career in politics as one of the first lawyers hired to investigate Watergate for the House. Working alongside another low-level staffer named Hillary Clinton, his job was to define what constituted an impeachable offense for a president. Now, he’s one of the rare Republicans who thinks Donald Trump’s actions have met that definition. He’s called for the president to be impeached, and even ...
The Fight for Reparations
June 21, 2019 23:16 - 34 minutesOn Wednesday—for the first time in a decade—Congress held a hearing on reparations for slavery. It was a crystallizing moment for an issue that has gained prominence since Ta-Nehisi Coates’s 2014 Atlantic essay. Coates and others testified before a House committee on June 19th—Juneteenth—a day the nation celebrates emancipation from slavery. Every year, Atlantic staff writer Vann R. Newkirk II writes a Juneteenth essay. He joins Isaac Dovere to discuss the history of the holiday, the importan...
The Reelection Battle Begins
June 13, 2019 22:30 - 37 minutesThe 2020 race is on. Staff writer Edward-Isaac Dovere, who covers Democratic politics, was in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, for the unofficial kick-off of the fight to replace Donald Trump. Elaina Plott, who covers the White House, will be in Orlando on Tuesday when the president officially announces his re-election campaign. On this week’s Radio Atlantic: two reporters inhabiting two very different universes discuss what the coming months have in store. Who does President Trump want to face? Who has ...
Partisanship at the Supreme Court
June 06, 2019 21:39 - 33 minutesIn the coming days, the Supreme Court will announce its decisions on two cases that ask the same basic question: how far should partisan politics go? One will determine whether a citizenship question will appear on the 2020 census. The other asks whether partisan gerrymandering is constitutional. With these decisions imminent, that same question about partisanship in non-partisan institutions hangs over the court itself. Still wounded by Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation battle, the nati...
The Abortion Debate’s New Urgency
May 30, 2019 23:19 - 35 minutesRecent weeks have seen unprecedented anti-abortion bills pass in states across the country. In Alabama, abortion is now banned under state law, without any exceptions for rape or incest. Georgia, Ohio, and Kentucky have all passed so-called ‘heartbeat’ bills making abortion illegal six to eight weeks into pregnancy. On Wednesday, Louisiana's legislature passed its own heartbeat bill without any exceptions for rape or incest. In Missouri, abortion has been outlawed after eight weeks. And on Fr...
Introducing Crazy/Genius Season 3
May 23, 2019 04:00 - 37 minutesPrivacy is now the most important idea on the internet—so what exactly is it? And if we care about our privacy, why aren’t we willing to pay to keep it? This week’s Radio Atlantic is a preview of the new season of Crazy/Genius, The Atlantic’s podcast about technology and culture. Staff writer Derek Thompson joins Isaac Dovere to discuss Season 3, which kicks off with an episode about privacy. Subscribe to Crazy/Genius: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | Google Play Learn more about your ad...
Trump’s Trade War
May 16, 2019 04:00 - 33 minutesTrump isn’t like most Republican presidents, but his views on trade have been an unusually firm departure from his party. Despite long championing free trade, the GOP is now led by a man who seems deeply skeptical of it. Last week, he upended trade negotiations with China by levying tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese goods, carrying out a threat he’d issued just before a Chinese delegation visited the White House. On Monday, China retaliated with tariffs on $60 billion in U.S. goods. A trade ...
Liberalism’s Last Stand
May 09, 2019 18:32 - 47 minutesFranklin Foer joins Isaac Dovere to discuss his story in the June issue of The Atlantic about Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. Orbán described his vision of Hungary as an "alternative to liberal democracy," and, in recent years, cemented his power by undermining civil society. When Orbán’s party won a majority last year, it rewrote parts of the constitution, redrew parliamentary districts, and stacked courts. Foer details how one of the last independent institutions—a university in B...