Politix

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.politix.fm Right-wing religious fanatics want women to have more children with bread-winning men. Donald Trump views masculinity as synonymous with physical toughness. The synthesis: instead of using prosperity to make family formation more appealing, what if we just crushed female employment and made most jobs manual labor? In this episode, Matt and Brian discuss: * How Trump’s economic policy and disdain for white-collar professionalism might actually drive men into blue-collar work, and women into the kitchen. * Why this is a bad idea! * Whether Trump’s fear of backlash suggests Republicans will ultimately lack the courage of their convictions to stick with this attempted cultural revolution. Then, behind the paywall, what, if anything, can liberal elites do to make progressive politics and the Democratic Party more appealing to men—particularly men who like the idea of working hard and playing by the rules to get ahead, but don’t like Trump’s lying, misogyny, and authoritarianism? Can quietly competent Democrats like Chris Van Hollen out “man” testosterone-addled incompetents like Pete Hegseth? And is the solution to this gender-driven tension for men to spend less time online and more time socializing? All that, plus the full Politix archive are available to paid subscribers—just upgrade your subscription and pipe full episodes directly to your favorite podcast app via your own private feed. Further reading: * Brian on how men can be manly without working in the mines at the behest of soft elites like Trump and Elon Musk. * Matt on the gender politics of Trumponomics. * Stephan Schubert.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.politix.fm Two weeks into his trade war, Donald Trump has made at least a few tactical retreats, and markets have stabilized a bit as a result. Are we just in the eye of the storm? Or is it possible the economic fallout from the trade war won’t be as severe as we feared on LIBERATION DAY? In this episode, Matt and Brian discuss: * Why did markets recover significantly (though not entirely) from the big sell off after Trump launched the trade war? * Who has a better read on the harm Trump is likely to do to the United States and its economy, traders or Democrats? * Even in a least-bad case scenario, isn’t Trump setting himself up to absorb more economic blowback than Joe Biden did for presiding over a year of moderate inflation? Then, behind the paywall, how can Democrats hedge against the possibility that public opinion won’t do all their political work for them? Between Trump violating court orders, and Democrats facing greater threats of violence, how likely are we to lose democracy well before the midterm elections? What if anything can Democrats do to keep the rule of law intact enough to have a fair shot next November? What kinds of candidates should they recruit to maximize their odds of retaking power, even if the economy doesn’t collapse? All that, plus the full Politix archive are available to paid subscribers—just upgrade your subscription and pipe full episodes directly to your favorite podcast app via your own private feed. Further reading: * Matt on the trade-deficit myths driving Trump’s economic self-sabotage. * Brian on how House Democrats can exploit the rules to run down the clock and draw attention to the assault on democracy, and growing momentum for resistance. * Democrats plan a fact-finding trip to the CECOT gulag in El Salvador.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.politix.fm Last week, in one fell swoop, Donald Trump wiped out trillions of dollars in wealth, upended all of our trade relations, and poised the U.S. for a lengthy recession and higher prices. His big money backers are in freakout mode. He’s made himself politically vulnerable in dramatic fashion, but also undermined the foundations of the American age. In this episode, Matt and Brian discuss life with (and after?) Trump’s tariffs: * How the fuck did Trump’s billionaire backers get this so catastrophically wrong? * Is Trump looking for an offramp, where he “negotiates” away these tariffs in exchange for symbolic victories, or are they here to stay? * How does uncertainty around that question exacerbate damage to the economy economic? Then, behind the paywall, where, if anywhere, do we go from here? Are Democrats handling the situation optimally, in both legislative and messaging contexts? Would it even matter all that much if Congress revoked presidential tariff authority, now that the whole world sees us as erratic and untrustworthy? Is there a path back to an American-led global economic order, or are we just permanently poorer? All that, plus the full Politix archive are available to paid subscribers—just upgrade your subscription and pipe full episodes directly to your favorite podcast app via your own private feed. Further reading: * Brian on what it would look like to really reverse America’s Trump-induced collapse. * Matt’s 29 thoughts on Liberation Day™️. * Josh Marshall on how all power is unitary.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.politix.fm There are signs of life in the Democratic Party, and if Republicans continue to badly underperform in special elections, the vibes could shift. But there are some things even a robust opposition can’t really stop, when a president claims autocratic power, and is insulated from normal political considerations After a brief discussion of Cory Booker’s filibuster, and the Supreme Court race in Wisconsin, Matt and Brian discuss the unitary executive theory. Specifically: * What is the unitary executive theory? * Is a rogue presidency really what Republicans had in mind when they concocted this theory a few decades ago? * Would adverse court rulings establishing an all-powerful, unaccountable executive mean the end of Fed independence, and a ruined economy? Then, behind the paywall, are there any legitimate reforms to our political system that would be both wise and make the government more responsive to election outcomes? Is there any circumstances under which this kind of king-like presidency would not devolve into criminality and corruption? Will any constitutional checks remain if the Supreme Court grants Trump’s unitary executive claims, or will it be entirely up to the masses? All that, plus the full Politix archive are available to paid subscribers—just upgrade your subscription and pipe full episodes directly to your favorite podcast app via your own private feed. Further reading: * One way to weaken Trump’s executive would be to rescind his tariff authority. * The long tail of law firms caving to Trump’s lawless threats. * Pramila Jayapal’s Resistance Lab.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.politix.fm Chuck Schumer and Senate Democrats continue to catch hell from their own voters for caving in the government shutdown fight. But in the coming days, perhaps sooner than most people are expecting, Congress will have to increase the debt limit. And once again, Democrats will have to decide whether and how to use their votes to rein in an out-of-control GOP. After some quick observations about the Trump administration’s snowballing Signal Scandal, Matt and Brian discuss and explain: * What happens, as far as we know, if the U.S. government runs out of borrowing authority; * Whether DOGE has made a default crisis more imminent by crippling the IRS (and, thus, revenue collection); * How Democratic leaders should seize control of this story now, and make their demands clear, before the deadline is at hand and Republicans beat them to the punch; * Why articulating their demands up front might help them avoid the trap of caving to Republican pressure. Then, behind the paywall, what should those demands be? It isn’t certain that Republicans will need Democratic votes to increase the debt limit. But if they do, should Democrats use their leverage to stave off the Republican threat to Medicaid? Or would they better off focusing on the issues like DOGE and Trump administration lawbreaking that were at issue in the aborted shutdown fight? All that, plus the full Politix archive are available to paid subscribers—just upgrade your subscription and pipe full episodes directly to your favorite podcast app via your own private feed. Further reading: * How the Trump administration texted Jeffrey Goldberg its war plans. * Brian’s 19 thoughts on the Signal scandal. * Donate to Susan Crawford. * Join the Tesla Takedown movement. * Elon Musk and the payment system.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.politix.fm Donald Trump is becoming unpopular, but Democrats are more unpopular than they’ve ever been, reflecting not just Republican voter partisanship, but the fact that tens of millions of Democratic voters are fed up with their party’s conduct in the aftermath of the election. With partisan anger boiling over, calls for Chuck Schumer to resign from leadership, and constitutional crises on our doorstep, Matt and Brian discuss: * How did Democrats in Congress bungle the politics of funding the government so badly? * Will they have another bite at the apple when it’s time to raise the debt limit, or has the ship full of apples sailed? * Given mediocre Democratic congressional performance in 2024, and little prospect of winning the Senate in 2026 (absent a generational Trump-induced crisis) what’s the argument for Schumer to keep his job? Then, behind the paywall, a lot of yelling. Are Democrats playing too much protect-defense under dire circumstances? Should leaders like Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries be focused entirely on 2026 election politics, or are the moral stakes of Donald Trump’s authoritarian takeover threat severe enough to adopt a less cautious, feistier, more procedurally aggressive posture? Is the Politix synthesis of Yglesias-style policy moderation and Beutler-style procedural hardball the sweet spot for the party in the Trump era? All that, plus the full Politix archive are available to paid subscribers—just upgrade your subscription and pipe full episodes directly to your favorite podcast app via your own private feed. Further reading: * Matt’s sigh of relief that Schumer prevented the shutdown. * Brian argues that if Democrats aren’t going to pick big fights that might move public opinion, and leave everything to the courts, they should probably lay some political groundwork for whenever Trump decides he can ignore court rulings. * Donate to Susan Crawford. * Join the Tesla Takedown movement. * Proposition: “We're gonna get a lot of primary challengers with the issue positions of 2013 Barack Obama and a burning, unhinged desire to put Republicans in jail.” Would this be good or bad, and would it win or lose?

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.politix.fm By the time this episode runs, we’ll be two days from the deadline to fund the government. And if Republicans get there act together juuuust a bit, Democrats will have to decide if and how to wield their leverage to the end of forcing the Trump administration back into compliance with the rule of law. In this episode, Matt and Brian discuss: * Can Democrats hold out indefinitely, if Donald Trump refuses to faithfully execute the law, and win the politics of a government shutdown with the voting public? * Can they wield the filibuster power to at least strip the funding bill of special goodies House Republicans added to unify their members? * What would represent Democrats standing firm, and what would could as a betrayal of their constituents? Then, behind the paywall, does the rapidly deteriorating economy change the equation at all? Does it give Democrats leverage to align against a clean funding bill, given that Trump has only been able to damage the economy so badly because he’s abused his economic powers? And what can Democrats at the state level do, short of encouraging Tesla vandalism, to make Trump and Musk feel pain for their dereliction of duty? All that, plus the full Politix archive are available to paid subscribers—just upgrade your subscription and pipe full episodes directly to your favorite podcast app via your own private feed. Further reading: * Brian argues that Democrats need to be prepared not just to blame Trump for economic turbulence, but to prebut all the lies he’ll tell about it. * Matt says Democrats should learn from Trump’s economic failures, and re-embrace conventional economics. * “Tesla faces vandalism and protests amid backlash” 🎻.

Just six weeks into his presidency, Donald Trump has dragged the country to the brink of recession. He’s become unpopular, lost the public’s trust to handle the economy, and hollowed out the government in risky ways. So in his first speech to Congress, Trump: blamed all of it on Joe Biden, subjected Democrats to a torrent of abuse, lied about Social Security (among many other things), and redoubled his commitment to tariffs, even if they cause “disturbance.” In this free post-address episode, Matt and Brian discuss: * Was this speech worse (that is, more dishonest, defamatory, etc.) than his first-term State of the Union addresses? * Does his dishonest and degrading style simply make him less popular, or is there a method to it? * What’s the endgame of seeding a bunch of lies about Social Security—a program he’s promised never to cut, and doesn’t have the votes to cut anyhow? * Would Democrats have served themselves better by boycotting the speech or having another party-wide plan to convey their contempt for and total lack of confidence in Trump? Plus: Elon Musk, Elissa Slotkin. William McKinley To our free subscribers: Thanks for listening. We hope you’ll stick around, and consider upgrading to a paid subscription. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.politix.fm/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.politix.fm Even in the acute phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, most Americans thought Donald Trump was a good steward of the economy. This misplaced faith has been key to his political durability. But after just one month of indiscriminately firing federal workers, illegally reneging on federal spending commitments, and making erratic threats to tariff the bejesus out of our trading partners, his economic approval has fallen under water. So what’s going on? In this episode, Matt and Brian discuss: * Are people really just annoyed that Trump has ignored the price of eggs and other staple goods? * Is it that by mistreating people and crippling important services, he’s created an unflattering news environment that has soured people on him generally? * Or might he have actually tipped the economy into recession at lightning speed? Then, behind the paywall, why does the explanation matter? Did Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries happen to land on exactly the right strategy to oppose Trump in his second term? If people are actually mad about the cruelty and lawlessness, does it suggest Democrats should shift their focus from egg trolling to forcing Trump back into regular order?And to that end, are Democrats prepared to force a confrontation over the rule of law as the deadline to fund the government approaches? All that, plus the full Politix archive are available to paid subscribers—just upgrade your subscription and pipe full episodes directly to your favorite podcast app via your own private feed. Further reading: * Brian on why losing popularity so quickly puts a big dent in Trump’s plan to become an autocrat. * Matt on how foreign leaders on the receiving end of Trump’s tariff’s threats can exploit this weakness by calling his bluff. * The perils of the Trump-GOP plan to cut Medicaid.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.politix.fm Explaining the GOP’s rapid slide into authoritarianism is complicated, but you can’t tell the story if you don’t understand that Republicans have been unwilling to abandon huge, unpopular tax cuts for the rich as an organizing principle. In their view of things, if popular majorities don’t support regressive tax cuts, then democracy has to go. So it’s no surprise that last week House Republicans published its blueprint for special legislation that would cut taxes by many trillions of dollars, and partially make up the cost through enormous cuts to Medicaid. In this episode, Matt and Brian (who used the wrong mic like an asshole) discuss: * Why Democrats are so eager for Republicans to shift emphasis from attacking the civil service and the rule of law to advancing huge tax cuts for the rich. * Can Republicans, with their small Senate majority and tiny House majority, actually pass anything significant * Have they convinced themselves that there’s never a big political downside to cutting rich people’s taxes? Then, behind the paywall, why that assumption is more likely than usual to blow up in their face. How many people would lose their health insurance if Republicans cut $2 trillion from Medicaid? How dramatically would trillions of dollars in (mostly deficit-financed tax cuts increase inflation? If Republicans have doomed themselves no matter what (either they cause economic harm, or they abandon their legislative agenda), why don’t Democrats train more of their focus on the unfolding constitutional crisis, before Republicans succeed at wiping out constitutional government. All that, plus the full Politix archive are available to paid subscribers—just upgrade your subscription and pipe full episodes directly to your favorite podcast app via your own private feed. Further reading: * Matt on the disconnect between Donald Trump’s aggressive power-grabbing and his party’s legislative incompetence. * Real-world consequences of the Trump-Musk assault on the work force are really bad. * The famous George H.W. Bush-Bill Clinton exchange on the real world impact of federal debt. * We’re rationing eggs now.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.politix.fm Donald Trump and Elon Musk are now on the receiving end of multiple court orders requiring them to rein in their constitutional crime spree: resume impounded payments, destroy improperly downloaded government data, restore regular government communications. Their response, as of this recording, has been to see how contemptuous they can be of the orders, and musing openly about outright defiance. In this episode, Matt and Brian discuss: * What, specifically, precipitated this legitimation crisis? * If the Trump administration’s announces it will disregard district court orders, is it time to take to the streets? * Is Kendrick Lamar likelier to shatter the MAGA coalition than professional Democrats? Then, behind the paywall, how well, if at all, are Democrats responding to the prospect of a completely lawless presidency? Should they be more plainspoken about how they will use their power to restore the rule of law? If Trump will ignore district court orders enjoining his efforts to impound money, will he also ignore them if he tries to spend money absent a congressional appropriation? All that, plus the full Politix archive are available to paid subscribers—just upgrade your subscription and pipe full episodes directly to your favorite podcast app via your own private feed. Further reading: * Matt on why there are many, many better forms of resistance than doomscrolling. * Brian argues a crisis like this is the right time for Democrats to sideline over-cautious, elections-oriented consultants, and listen to people who know how to put down coup attempts. * Cass Sunstein on the high price of ignoring the social cost of carbon. (Trust us, it’s relevant.)

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.politix.fm Prior to the election, Elon Musk warned non-billionaire Americans to brace for “temporary hardship” (approving) in the event of a second Donald Trump presidency. Over the weekend, after insisting he’d impose 25 percent tariffs on all Canadian and Mexican imports, Trump also acknowledged (perhaps for the first time) that his economic policies will cause “pain.” By Monday, he’d backed down from the tariffs, but Musk is still on a rampage through the federal bureaucracy and Trump continues his efforts to purge the Justice Department and remake the government dictatorially. In this episode, Matt and Brian discuss: * Why did Trump (again) chicken out of his tariff threats? * Does it tell us anything meaningful about his real views, his political calculations, or what he may do in the future? * Why didn’t Trump exempt China, and what does that mean for the U.S. economy (and for Musk, who conducts tons of business in China)? Then, behind the paywall, a through line connecting Trump’s economic policy bluster with his very real effort to mount an authoritarian takeover. What are Trump, Musk, and his technogoons doing behind the scenes at the Treasury Department? Why are they also fixated on USAID? And how should Democrats, including nervous moderates, be prepared to respond? All that, plus the full Politix archive are available to paid subscribers—just upgrade your subscription and pipe full episodes directly to your favorite podcast app via your own private feed. Further reading: * Brian’s 18 thoughts on the omnicrisis, what Trump thinks he’s doing, and how to sort his volleys and outrages to focus on what matters most. * Matt makes the case that beleaguered civil servants shouldn’t quit their jobs. * What Musk’s techdork mafia appears to be doing at the Treasury Department. * Did Russians sneak a bug into the Oval Office during Trump’s first presidency?

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.politix.fm In just the past week, Donald Trump has illegally fired over a dozen federal anti-corruption watchdogs, installed Fox News weekend host Pete Hegseth as secretary of defense, and then claimed the power to arbitrarily withhold congressional appropriation—an unconstitutional maneuver called “impoundment.” In this episode, Matt and Brian discuss: * What are inspectors general, and why does Trump want to fire them? * How does his desire to avoid waste, fraud, and abuse oversight interact with his attempt to impound federal grant, loan, and aid spending? * What Democrats can do to try to force Trump and the GOP back into compliance with the law before it’s too late. Then, behind the paywall, are these just indiscriminate power grabs, or is there a method here? Why did Elon Musk, the country’s biggest defense contractor and political donor, take a special interest in getting a lightweight like Pete Hegseth confirmed as defense secretary, at a department that suddenly has no watchdog? Did the fact that Trump had limited success abusing and corrupting the civil service in his first term trick people into letting their guard down? All that, plus the full Politix archive are available to paid subscribers—just upgrade your subscription and pipe full episodes directly to your favorite podcast app via your own private feed. Further reading: * Matt on congressional Republicans’ war against the poor. * Brian on how Democrats can use their leverage to insist on compliance with the law and constitution. * Days after saluting just exactly like a Nazi would, Elon Musk tells German neo-Nazi party that Germans should get over their holocaust guilt.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.politix.fm It’s the first Politix podcast of Donald Trump’s second presidency, and it began more or less how we expected: with a lot of bluster and bullshit, but also real demonstrations of lawlessness. Thanks John Roberts? In this episode, Matt and Brian discuss: * Trump’s immigration executive orders, with a special focus on his effort to unilaterally suspend the Constitution’s birthright citizenship guarantee; * Will Trump follow the law if and when this and other orders are enjoined by federal judges? * Why does birthright citizenship make the United States a better country? Then, behind the paywall, where does Trump’s appetite for lawlessness leave things going forward? Will there be any consequence for his day-one decision to pardon over 1,500 January 6 insurrectionists, even exceptionally violent ones? Will Democrats come to the defense of any affected immigrants, or will they remain divided (as they were through the GOP push to pass the Laken Riley Act)? And why did Biden fritter away the lame duck period instead of doing more to protect the country? All that, plus the full Politix archive are available to paid subscribers—just upgrade your subscription and pipe full episodes directly to your favorite podcast app via your own private feed. Further reading: * Brian argues House Democrats should move to impeach Donald Trump over the January 6 pardons, even knowing Republicans will rally to protect him. * Matt on the basic fact that because Trump is so self-serving and dishonest, nobody actually knows what he’s going to do. thinks Democrats can just follow Joe Manchin’s lead. * Greg Sargent on Trump’s executive order to declare illegal crossings an “invasion” and thus justify the deployment of troops to the southwestern border.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.politix.fm It’s the final Politix podcast of Joe Biden’s presidency! Soon Donald Trump will be inaugurated president for a second, non-consecutive term. Inflation and crime and border crossings will fall, wages will rise, and America will be great again. Except…all those things already happened. In this episode, Matt and Brian discuss: * Why did the Biden presidency end in political failure, given the rosy macro picture? * What connectivity is there between the Biden administration’s conception of itself—and its ensuing approach to policy—and its unpopularity? * Would a younger president (even a younger version of Biden) operating under otherwise identical material circumstances have been able to spin the outputs of this administration into political gold? Then, behind the paywall, what if anything have Democrats taken from Biden’s struggles, and are they applying those lessons to their early opposition? Why are they poised to help Republicans pass the Laken Riley Act? Do they really think holding Trump to bad-faith campaign promises will hurt him when, e.g., the cost of eggs doesn’t go down? Or is it likelier that, with Trump claiming credit for Biden’s economy, voters will stop citing the cost of living as their top political concern? All that, plus the full Politix archive are available to paid subscribers—just upgrade your subscription and pipe full episodes directly to your favorite podcast app via your own private feed. Further reading: * Brian can’t pronounce Baudrillard, but he did write about how Democrats should rethink the idea that delivering good macroeconomic conditions is the key to winning elections, and rethink their political strategies from scratch. * Matt thinks Democrats can just follow Joe Manchin’s lead. * Dylan Matthews argues that Biden did himself in by refusing to make hard-nosed decisions.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.politix.fm Multiple developments over the holiday break raise real questions about who will call the shots in Donald Trump’s still-forming administration. Elon Musk seemed to commandeer aspects of legislative strategy, immigration, and foreign policy. Republicans in Congress seemed to heed Musk over Trump, while leaving Trump wide berth to enrich himself and crack down on his enemies. In this episode, Matt and Brian discuss: * How Musk, an unelected immigrant oligarch, built so much sway over the GOP, and why he might be interested in Trump administration policy outside of DOGE and government contracts. * Is Musk too rich and influential for Republicans too control, or is Trump simply too diminished to head the government and his party simultaneously? * Whether a MAGA coalition comprising tech billionaires (who support certain categories of immigration) and grassroots nativists (who do not) can long endure. Then, behind the paywall, what will this mean when it’s time for Republicans to fund the government, increase the debt limit, or enact substantive. Will Republicans, with a historically tiny House margin, be able to pass any meaningful legislation at all? Do they feel they have leeway over the details of policy, so long as they let Trump’s corruption run rampant? What are the tail risks of a corrupt executive branch with no clear leader, checked only by a paralyzed Congress? All that, plus the full Politix archive are available to paid subscribers—just upgrade your subscription and pipe full episodes directly to your favorite podcast app via your own private feed. Further reading: * Brian on Trump, tech weirdos, and the GOP’s seemingly successful quest for cultural dominance. * Matt on the menace of Trump’s unapologetic political renaissance. * Norm Ornstein on the mess Trump is preparing to dump on Mike Johnson and the congressional GOP.

The mailbag episode is here! Thanks to all who sent questions, and apologies to those who didn’t get answers. We hoped to get through more, but brevity isn’t our strong suit and we ran out of time. But the answers we DID deliver are choice, in our opinion. We touch on: * Ezra Klein’s terribly wrong ideas about the political impact of blue-state and blue-city misgovernance; * What Donald Trump’s attempt at an unconstitutional third term will look like IF he tries; * How Biden could go out with a bang, even without relying on presidential immunity (but probably won’t); * Matt’s candid thoughts about Pod Save America (as Brian demurs). This episode is free to all, a small token of gratitude to all of our subscribers this holiday season for making this podcast possible. We’ll do more of these in the coming year, and if you want your questions answered (or at least included in a lengthy Google document that we might not get through in the allotted time) you know what to do: Further reading: * Brian offers a new, important reason people should reset their relationships with social media. * Michelle Goldberg on this great capitulation. * Greg Sargent discusses the challenges of rebuilding in this climate with Ben and other DNC candidates, Ken Martin, and Martin O’Malley. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.politix.fm/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.politix.fm The mailbag episode will have to wait, but for good reason! An opportunity arose for us to interview Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair (and DNC chair candidate) Ben Wikler. So we jumped on it—and warmly extend an invitation to other DNC chair candidates to join us in the new year. In this episode, Matt and Brian ask Ben: * What he thinks happened in the election, and whether the lessons are actionable for a DNC chairman; * What does the DNC and its chairman actually do; * How to tell a good, effective political operative from placeholders and check cashers; * If he’s prepared the dirty tricks and abuses of power that Donald Trump might direct at Democratic Party leaders, including him. Then, behind the paywall, a lengthy exploration of and primal scream about Nancy Pelosi’s decision to whip votes against Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, blocking her from becoming the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, in favor of 74-year old, cancer-stricken Gerry Connolly. Why would AOC have been a better opposition leader on this committee? What does the episode portend for Democratic infighting and grand strategery going forward? And most importantly, wtf was Pelosi thinking?! All that, plus the full Politix archive are available to paid subscribers—just upgrade your subscription and pipe full episodes directly to your favorite podcast app via your own private feed. Further reading: * Brian argues that reprising the strategy that just lost Democrats the election (including sidelining more dynamic messengers) makes capitulating to Trump the path of least resistance for other people and institutions. * Michelle Goldberg on this great capitulation. * Greg Sargent discusses the challenges of rebuilding in this climate with Ben and other DNC candidates, Ken Martin, and Martin O’Malley.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.politix.fm Last week, a big public uproar forced the health-insurance carrier Anthem to backtrack on a plan to cut reimbursements for anesthesia. Then, an assassin—suspected to be a 26 year old ivy league graduate named Luigi Mangiano—murdered Brian Thompson, the CEO of United Healthcare. In this episode, Matt and Brian discuss: * Why there such widespread progressive interest in both of these stories; * How the progressive backlash against Anthem, driven by the American Society of Anesthesiologists, underscores just how thorny the politics of Medicare for all would be in practice; * Whether either of these developments would have played out differently under a better-conceived health-care finance system. Then, behind the paywall, why the differences between public and private health insurance really do matter, both in policy terms and as lightning rods for public anger. Would people left of center have been angry at Medicare for cutting payments to anesthesiologists? (Spoiler: Medicare already did this.) How badly do the profit and brand-management motives private insurers operate under warp patient care, relative to public payers like Medicare? Is it fair to be angrier at private health insurance companies than public providers for rationing services? All that, plus the full Politix archive are available to paid subscribers—just upgrade your subscription and pipe full episodes directly to your favorite podcast app via your own private feed. Further reading: * Lisa Beutler, from the archive, on the solidarity-based case for Medicare for all. * Matt Bruenig on why private health insurers actually are the worst bad guys in the health-care system, despite being middle men. * Noah Smith on why, actually, no, it’s the doctors and hospitals and such.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.politix.fm Donald Trump and Joe Biden marked the weekend after thanksgiving with two big news developments that look a lot like chess moves in a high-stakes match between the revenge-obsessed far right and the outgoing liberal establishment. First, Trump nominated Kash Patel, an aggrieved loyalist with a literal enemies list, to run the FBI. Second, Biden pardoned his son Hunter. In this episode, Matt and Brian discuss: * Who is Kash Patel and why is his “nomination” to a vacancy that doesn’t exist so chilling? * Does it justify a blanket pardon for Biden’s son, who really did engage in illegal activity, but who’s been the target of a years-long Republican harassment campaign? * Should Democrats in Congress, caught off guard by Biden’s move, challenge Republicans to reform the pardon power? Then, behind the paywall, what should Democrats do about nominees like Patel? Should Biden offer pardons to his full enemies list? Is strategic silence and working the inside game really the best way to guard against the corruption of the so-called “power ministries”? Should Democrats really concern themselves with insisting on the kinds of guardrails that protected Trump from the political consequences of his own corruption in his first term? All that, plus the full Politix archive are available to paid subscribers—just upgrade your subscription and pipe full episodes directly to your favorite podcast app via your own private feed. Further reading: * Brian’s 19 thoughts on the Hunter Biden pardon, and why there was a better option. * Josh Marshall on the merits the YOLO, DGAF Biden pardon. * An August Atlantic profile of Kash Patel. * Jane Mayer’s bombshell investigative report on Pete Hegseth’s secret history.