Radio Atlantic

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A weekly flagship podcast from The Atlantic hosted by Jeffrey Goldberg (Editor-in-Chief, The Atlantic), Matt Thompson (Deputy Editor, The Atlantic), and Alex Wagner (Co-host, CBS This Morning: Saturday; Contributing Editor, The Atlantic). We're living in historic times. Who better than a 160-year-old magazine to help you make sense of them? Each week, The Atlantic's top editors sit down with leading voices to explore what's happening in the world, how things became the way they are, and where they're going next.

A weekly flagship podcast from The Atlantic hosted by Jeffrey Goldberg (Editor-in-Chief, The Atlantic), Matt Thompson (Deputy Editor, The Atlantic), and Alex Wagner (Co-host, CBS This Morning: Saturday; Contributing Editor, The Atlantic). We're living in historic times. Who better than a 160-year-old magazine to help you make sense of them? Each week, The Atlantic's top editors sit down with leading voices to explore what's happening in the world, how things became the way they are, and where they're going next.

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United States

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News & Politics Podcasts

World News

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English

Email:

radio@theatlantic.com

Episodes

The First Gene-Edited Babies

12/6/2018

A Chinese researcher recently touched off a global controversy when he announced the birth of the world’s first genetically edited babies. The claims remain unverified, but the news shocked and dismayed scientists around the world. Atlantic staff writers Ed Yong and Sarah Zhang join Matt Thompson to discuss the news and what it means for the future of genetic editing. Links - The CRISPR Baby Scandal Gets Worse by the Day (Ed Yong, December 3, 2018) - Chinese Scientists Are Outraged by...

Duration:00:31:14

What’s Happening With Mueller and Manafort?

11/28/2018

Paul Manafort’s cooperation with the Mueller probe has collapsed. In a Monday filing, the special counsel’s office said he repeatedly lied to federal investigators, nullifying the plea agreement and exposing him to new charges. Not soon after, news stories broke reporting that Manafort had met with Julian Assange in 2016, that a meeting between Manafort and Ecuador’s then-president was under scrutiny by Mueller, and that Manafort’s lawyer was briefing Trump’s attorneys. All this comes as...

Duration:00:36:59

Florida Flashbacks

11/15/2018

The midterms were over a week ago, but a number of races have yet to be called. In Florida, the senate and governor elections have both come down to a recount, and accusations of vote-tampering are flying. Alex Wagner talks with Atlantic staff writer Isaac Dovere to understand what’s going on, and then turns to two veterans of the last such debacle: Mark McKinnon, chief media adviser for George W. Bush's 2000 campaign and Jeremy Bash, national security issues director for the Gore...

Duration:00:36:05

What Did We Learn From the Midterms?

11/9/2018

Executive Editor Matt Thompson interviews Atlantic reporters on what lessons they drew from the midterm elections, speaking in turn with: Vann Newkirk, Emma Green, Ron Brownstein, Adam Harris, and David Graham. Links - “The Democrats’ Deep-South Strategy Was a Winner After All”(Vann R. Newkirk II, November 8, 2018) - ”Tuesday Showed the Drawbacks of Trump's Electoral Bargain” (Ronald Brownstein, November 7, 2018) - “The Year of the Woman Still Leaves Women With Terrible Representation...

Duration:00:44:33

Midterms in the Wake of Political Violence

11/2/2018

The upcoming midterms mark the first nationwide referendum on the Trump presidency and the GOP-led Congress. Coming amid a shocking spree of political violence and an ugly showdown over voting rights, Tuesday’s election will have massive ramifications. What conclusions can we draw from the vote? Links - “The Jews of Pittsburgh Bury Their Dead” (Emma Green, October 30, 2018) - “Trump Shut Programs to Counter Violent Extremism” (Peter Beinart, October 29, 2018) - “Trump’s Caravan...

Duration:00:46:20

The Murder of Jamal Khashoggi

10/26/2018

On October 2nd, Washington Post contributing columnist Jamal Khashoggi entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, never to be seen again. Details of the journalist’s brutal killing and dismemberment have since emerged, prompting an international crisis for the kingdom and its de-facto ruler, crown prince Mohammed bin Salman. This week, The Atlantic’s Editor in Chief Jeffrey Goldberg sits down with Fred Hiatt, the Washington Post’s editorial page editor and Jamal Khashoggi’s former boss, to...

Duration:00:39:37

The Politics of Ancestry

10/19/2018

Senator Elizabeth Warren recently shared results of a genetic analysis to back up her family’s story of Cherokee ancestry, hoping to blunt a favorite Republican attack line. The move backfired. A DNA result does not confer a Cherokee heritage. And in general, efforts to link our genetics with our ethnic or cultural identities have a long and sordid history. So what’s more revealing: the results of DNA tests like Warren’s? Or what we try to find in them? Links - “The First DNA Test as...

Duration:00:48:45

America's Higher Education Crisis

10/12/2018

A college education has become a key asset towards success in the American economy, but for many Americans, access to higher education—especially at a prestigious university—feels increasingly out of reach. With its capricious admissions and massive debt loads, the system is struggling. So we’re sitting down this week with two members of our Education team—editor Alia Wong and staff writer Adam Harris—to ask the question: is U.S. higher education sustainable? Links - “Harvard Admissions...

Duration:00:52:35

Remembering Ferguson with DeRay Mckesson

10/5/2018

Four years ago, after a police officer shot and killed Michael Brown, protestors took to the streets of Ferguson, Missouri. Among them was a school administrator, always clad in a trademark blue vest. DeRay Mckesson, now a face of what became the Black Lives Matter movement, spoke in Washington this week at The Atlantic Festival. Mckesson recently authored a memoir: On the Other Side of Freedom: The Case for Hope. Links - On the Other Side of Freedom: The Case for Hope (DeRay Mckesson,...

Duration:00:38:11

Is the Public Square Gone?

9/28/2018

After a news week that’s felt more like a news month, Matt Thompson sits down with two experienced editors to ask how people manage to make and consume news in today’s environment. Adrienne LaFrance is the editor of TheAtlantic.com. Franklin Foer is a national correspondent for The Atlantic and the author of World Without Mind. Links - “The Death of the Public Square” (Franklin Foer, July 6, 2018) - “The Most Powerful Publishers in the World Don’t Give a Damn” (Adrienne LaFrance, August...

Duration:00:55:50

The Reputations and Reckonings of #MeToo

9/21/2018

As Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh faces assault allegations, the #MeToo movement reaches its first anniversary. Beyond a potential hearing reminiscent of the Anita Hill testimony 27 years ago, recent days have seen the head of CBS toppled, the editor of The New York Review of Books gone, and even a glacier renamed. What’s changed since the start of the #MeToo movement and what hasn’t? Links - “The Logical Fallacy of Christine Blasey Ford’s ‘Choice’” (Megan Garber, September 20,...

Duration:00:46:34

Is Democracy Dying?

9/14/2018

With authoritarianism and populism on the rise around the world, The Atlantic examines the fate of democracy in its October issue. Anne Applebaum writes that Poland shows how quickly things can fall apart and Jeffrey Rosen writes that the state of American politics is one Founder’s worst nightmare. They join Jeffrey Goldberg and Alex Wagner to discuss this precarious moment in history. Links - “Is Democracy Dying?” (October 2018 Issue) - “America Is Living James Madison’s Nightmare”...

Duration:00:44:25

How Much Longer Can Football Last?

9/7/2018

Mark Leibovich has a day job covering the reality show of politics as the New York Times Magazine’s Chief National Correspondent, but he’s spent the spent the last few years reporting a book on America’s other biggest reality show: football. The new season begins with Colin Kaepernick the face of Nike, Donald Trump the NFL’s biggest commentator, and America’s most popular sport facing a myriad of problems. How does football survive both CTE and declining ratings? Which is the bigger swamp –...

Duration:00:44:36

The Endless Devastation of Hurricane Season

8/31/2018

This week, the most rigorous estimate yet of deaths caused by Hurricane Maria was published, marking a grim milestone: the hurricane season of 2017 was one of the deadliest in North America in a century. A year after Puerto Rico, Houston, and other communities were devastated by storms, they’re still counting the victims and trying to rebuild. Because of climate change, these types of extreme disasters may only grow more common. In this episode, The Atlantic’s staff writers Vann Newkirk...

Duration:00:54:51

Trump’s Worst Day

8/23/2018

Matt and Gillian discuss Paul Manafort’s guilty verdict and Michael Cohen’s guilty plea with Franklin Foer and David A. Graham. Was Tuesday a turning point for the Trump administration? Links - “The Day That Everything Changed for Trump” (David A. Graham, August 22, 2018) - “Trump’s Victory Was a Disaster for Michael Cohen and Paul Manafort” (David A. Graham, August 23, 2018) - “Blind Confidence Couldn’t Save Paul Manafort” (Franklin Foer, August 21, 2018) - “The Plot Against America”...

Duration:00:44:57

When Does Hollywood’s Diversity Become Real Representation?

8/17/2018

With movies like Crazy Rich Asians, BlacKkKlansman, and Sorry To Bother You out in theaters, Hollywood is trying to mute the complaint that it lacks racial and ethnic diversity, to avoid another #OscarsSoWhite. But depicting people of color onscreen was always the easy part. Next comes a harder question: how authentically are minority experiences being represented? Matt sits down with senior editor Gillian White and culture writer Hannah Giorgis to discuss. Links - “What Does It Mean to...

Duration:00:44:22

Charlottesville: One Year Later

8/10/2018

It’s been a year since the violence of the “Unite the Right” rally and the political turmoil of its aftermath. How did Charlottesville change the country? Has the alt-right withered under the new scrutiny or grown amidst the new visibility? And what responsibility do tech platforms have to stop the spread of hateful ideologies? Links - "The White Nationalists Are Winning" (Adam Serwer, August 10, 2018) - “White threat in a browning America” (Ezra Klein, Vox, July 30, 2018) - “The Hate...

Duration:00:50:02

Keepers of the Year 2018

7/20/2018

The first anniversary of Radio Atlantic this week coincides with one of the newsiest weeks of 2018. So we’ve decided to take the opportunity to lift our sights above the fog of news for a few minutes, and discuss the things that are most important to remember—the Keepers of the Year. We revisit some of the most memorable keepers of the show’s earliest months, and share reflections from our Atlantic colleagues. Links - “Nanette Is a Radical, Transformative Work of Comedy” (Sophie Gilbert,...

Duration:01:07:12

The Future of Europe

7/13/2018

As President Trump meets with other western leaders in Europe, the spirit of democratic cooperation we’re used to in NATO summits is gone. But it’s not just Trump. Populist movements around Europe are agitating against the cooperation that has bound the continent since World War II. Where is the West headed? Is this a short-term fever brought on by unique stresses? Or does it herald a re-fracturing of the continent? Are the ‘member states’ of Europe becoming ‘nation states’ again? Links -...

Duration:00:45:13

Are We Ready for the Next Pandemic?

7/6/2018

“Humanity is now in the midst of its fastest-ever period of change,” writes Ed Yong in the July/August issue of The Atlantic. Urbanization and globalization mean pathogens can spread and become drug-resistant more quickly than ever. Yong joins executive editor Matt Thompson and fellow science writer Sarah Zhang to discuss what vulnerabilities exist a century after the 1918 pandemic, and how our sharpest risks might be societal and psychological. Links - “The Next Plague Is Coming. Is...

Duration:00:58:10