Episodes

  • Bill Kristol and Elaina Plott Calabro: A Sordid Lot

    Bill Kristol and Elaina Plott Calabro: A Sordid Lot
    Dec 2 2024
    Kash Patel, who could potentially run the FBI, is a compulsive liar who can't keep his facts straight about his work experience or even where he was born. Aside from being a player in the attempted coup, even Trump loyalists are alarmed by his devotion to the president-elect. Meanwhile, by pardoning Hunter, Biden is not only putting his family ahead of the public interest, he's also giving a giant gift to Trump. Plus, more details on Pete Hegseth's disqualifying behavior, and Trump's avenue for getting around the Senate confirmation process. Elaina Plott Calabro and Bill Kristol join Tim Miller.

    show notes:

    Elaina's profile of Kash Patel
    Patel's target list
    Jack Goldsmith on Trump getting around the Senate confirmation process
    Tim and Sam on Biden's pardon of Hunter
    Tim and Sam on Pete Hegseth's mom
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    1 hr and 18 mins
  • Jonathan Chait: A Scary Clown

    Jonathan Chait: A Scary Clown
    Nov 27 2024
    Pete Hegseth may have a winning Fox & Friends smile, but his desire to shoot protesters, commit war crimes, and purge non-MAGA leaders from the military aligns with Trump's views—and is probably the reason why he was nominated for defense secretary. Plus, Republicans won without offering a middle-class economic agenda, and the ties between the Democrats' loss and the party's busy-body language police.

    Jonathan Chait joins Tim Miller.

    show notes

    Chait's piece on Pete Hegseth
    Tim's Thanksgiving playlist
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    52 mins
  • George Will: Democracy Rests on Persuasion

    George Will: Democracy Rests on Persuasion
    Nov 26 2024
    For those living under a gray cloud because of what the American electorate has done, it's time to get to work on changing opinions. People who follow the news and read op-eds may be in a minority, but salient minorities have propelled history. On the 50th anniversary of George Will's tenure at The Washington Post, George joins Tim to discuss the power of criticizing presidents and saying what you think. Plus, Tim reads from the mailbag and serves up some advice for dealing with Trump-supporting relatives at the Thanksgiving table.

    George Will joins Tim Miller

    show notes

    George on his first 50 years as a columnist

    George's first column for The Post

    An appreciation of the Iron Man of America's oped pages

    Mona's tribute to George

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    51 mins
  • Bill Kristol: We Were Right To Be Alarmed

    Bill Kristol: We Were Right To Be Alarmed
    Nov 25 2024
    The danger of Trump's nominees is that the main condition of employment—aside from being on Fox—is their fealty to him, and a willingness to go along with the ideological fervor of Stephen Miller, Russ Vought and JD Vance. Meanwhile, the math may not add up for Tulsi, Sarah McBride shows grace and dignity in response to Nancy Mace, and Trump goes weirdly quiet.

    Bill Kristol joins Tim Miller.

    show notes
    Clip of Sarah McBride on MSNBC
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    53 mins
  • Sarah Longwell and Jonathan V. Last: The Lonely Boy Club

    Sarah Longwell and Jonathan V. Last: The Lonely Boy Club
    Nov 22 2024
    The country is now paying for the pathologies of the oligarchs and baddies who were stuffed into lockers when they were kids. And let's be honest: A chunk of MAGA doesn't mind the sexual assaults at all—they "put women in their place." Meanwhile, Gaetz's replacement, Pam Bondi, was an active member of the attempted coup, Elon's plan to slash the federal workforce would cut a minuscule part of the budget, the oil men don't want to produce more oil, and Democrats have to go back to their 90s-style economic messaging.

    Sarah and JVL join Tim Miller for the weekend pod.

    show notes
    The Secret Podcast
    JVL's Triad newsletter from Thursday
    Tim's playlist
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    59 mins
  • Sam Harris: Our Democracy Is Already Unraveling

    Sam Harris: Our Democracy Is Already Unraveling
    Nov 21 2024
    Because Trump wasn't penalized for trying to steal the 2020 election, our democracy has already been damaged. And he was laying the groundwork to do it again in '24, with the assistance of MAGA's opportunistic election fraud lies. Meanwhile, David Sacks & co would never let Trump run any of their businesses, but they're all in on his Alex Jones-grade lies. Plus, was Kamala done in by not responding to the anti-trans ad? And 90% of what's wrong with Elon is his Twitter addiction.

    Sam Harris joins Tim Miller.
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    58 mins
  • Marc Caputo and Dan Goldman: Trump v. the United States

    Marc Caputo and Dan Goldman: Trump v. the United States
    Nov 20 2024
    The incompetent and compromised nominees Trump has assembled at record pace show how little regard he has for the essential functions our government provides. He wants to harness its power for his own ends, in a way that could put Americans and our national security at risk—but he can only do this if Congress is complicit. Meanwhile, the roundly-hated Matt Gaetz is providing cover for the sex abuse allegations against the other nominees, and the House majority margin may be razor thin.

    Rep. Dan Goldman and Marc Caputo join Tim Miller.

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    54 mins
  • Jen Psaki: Don't Speak to Me

    Jen Psaki: Don't Speak to Me
    Nov 19 2024
    The Democrats focus too much on reaching white college-educated voters, and the threat to democracy was not the right closing message. Plus, Nancy Mace needs to get a life beyond getting MAGA street cred, no one wants to be in the same bathroom with MTG, and Jared Polis may be on to something with the hippie-ish libertarians.

    Jen Psaki joins Tim Miller.
    show notes
    Gov. Polis tweet about RFK, Jr.
    The governor's follow-up tweet
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    43 mins