Deep State Radio

In Ohio over the weekend, Donald Trump delivered one of his most unhinged and dangerous rally speeches yet: He used appallingly dehumanizing language about migrants, saluted the Jan. 6 rioters as patriots and heroes, and predicted a “bloodbath” if he loses the election. We talked to New Yorker staff writer Susan Glasser, the author of an excellent new piece about Trump’s use of violent and authoritarian language at rallies like this one, about why the media urgently needs to do better at conveying the full threat to democracy that Trump poses. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Original Air Date: April 14, 2023 On this week’s episode of Words Matter, Norm and Kavita discuss a number of judiciary issues, including reproductive health. In a special extended bonus section, Norm and Kavita tackle Clarence Thomas and Diane Feinstein. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Original Air Date: April 4, 2023 All friends are not allies and all allies are not friends. Sometimes countries that start out as allies stop behaving in an ally like way. And sometimes allies become annoying because their prime minister is too good looking. We list some of America's most annoying allies...and discuss why we're a pretty annoying ally ourselves. Join Rosa Brooks, Kori Schake, Ed Luce and David Sanger for this lively, timely discussion. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Recent reporting has suggested that Russia began preparations for a nuclear strike in Ukraine in 2022. But how close did they actually get to pressing the big red button? Security analyst Michael Kofman joins Heather Williams to get to the heart of why Russia would deploy one or more nuclear weapons, and what's keeping Putin away from the brink. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the Friday edition of the DSR Daily, we discuss Senator Schumer’s surprising speech on Israel, Kamala Harris visiting a Minnesota abortion clinic, the UK’s new policy on extremism, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On March 13, 2020, COVID was declared a national emergency. Four years on, Norm Ornstein and Kavita Patel reflect on fallout of the COVID pandemic, what we learned, and why we're more prepared than ever for the next pandemic. Members get exclusive access to a discussion on the chaos around Representative Ken Buck's surprise early departure from Congress. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer gave an extraordinary speech lacerating Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel over the horrific civilian toll in Gaza. This is an important moment in U.S. politics: The highest ranking Jewish Democrat stood strongly for Palestinian rights at a time when the war in Gaza is badly dividing the Democratic coalition. To navigate these complexities, we talked to Randi Weingarten of the American Federation of Teachers, which is promoting a peace effort called Standing Together, and Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne, who writes regularly about intra-coalitional tensions among Democrats. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

To the surprise of no one, Donald Trump and Joe Biden have officially secured their party's nomination for president. But while President Biden’s campaign is on a roll, Donald Trump’s is self-destructing. Veteran political strategists Simon Rosenberg and Tara McGowan join David Rothkopf to bring us the latest news from the 2024 campaigns. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the Thursday edition of the DSR Daily, we cover Ken Buck's surprise departure from Congress, Israel saying that it will ‘flood’ Gaza with aid, a report that Trump started a CIA influence operation against China, and more Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Democratic strategist Simon Rosenberg has prominently argued that it’s premature to freak out about Donald Trump’s lead in the polls. Rosenberg’s case is partly that the Democratic Party is strong and has been winning lots of elections lately, as readers of his “Hopium Chronicles” well know. But there’s another, less-appreciated side to his analysis: That the people who make ads and run campaigns and do politics for a living know that Trump’s unfathomably high pile-up of negatives is, in the end, probably insurmountable for him. So we chatted with Rosenberg about this side of his theory — and about why the Biden team appears quietly confident of victory. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mehdi Hasan, founder of the new media company Zeteo, joins Ed Luce, Kori Schake, and David Rothkopf to break down he ever-present threat of a global authoritarian-right alliance, continued destruction in Gaza and Ukraine, and the disturbingly real possibility of a Trump second term. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the Thursday edition of the DSR Daily, we cover Russia’s firing of a top naval commander, Congress considering a potential ban on TikTok, AI regulation in India, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, a group of prominent “Never Trump” Republicans and conservatives announced that they will spend $50 million to defeat Donald Trump this fall. The group, Republican Voters against Trump, hopes to appeal to independents and moderate Republicans who backed him in 2020 and might be persuaded not to in 2024. But how big is this pool of voters, and what’s the best way to reach them? We chatted with strategist Sarah Longwell, who runs the group and regularly conducts focus groups to figure out what really makes these elusive voters tick. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The great power competition between the US and China and Russia poses an enormous challenge to US leadership. But this is not the first time the US has been faced with such a task. Jim Sciutto joins David Rothkopf to discuss his new book, “The Return of Great Powers,” and why we’re currently living in a “1939 moment.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On our Tuesday edition of the DSR Daily, we cover the resignation of Haiti’s Prime Minister, a aid ship carrying 200 tons of food to Gaza, Robert Hur’s impending testimony in front of Congress, and more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Over the weekend, The New York Times published a news analysis entitled, “The Biden-Trump rerun: A nation craving change gets more of the same.” This has become a constant refrain in the press: One of the candidates is running on an explicit set of promises to destroy American democracy, yet the press keeps calling this a “rerun” of 2020, almost as if it’s all a sporting event. We chatted with Mark Jacob, a former veteran journalist who writes the “Stop the Presses” newsletter, about all the insidious ways that press coverage is sanitizing the threat posed by Donald Trump and MAGA. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With such a heavy focus on the situations in Gaza and Ukraine, other foreign policy priorities have taken a back seat. Syria is one priority that is likely to get worse before it gets better. Director of the Middle East Institute’s Syria program Charles Lister joins Marc Polymeropoulos to outline the need for a coherent strategy to deal with Syria, and how the country is primed to explode.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the Monday edition of the DSR Daily, we discuss Donald Trump’s meeting with Viktor Orban, the US evacuating nonessential personnel amid escalating violence in Haiti, Joe Biden’s new budget proposal, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Have you heard of Bridget Ziegler? A co-founder of the far right Moms for Liberty, she is embroiled in a three-way sex scandal involving her husband, Florida GOP chair Christian Ziegler. Now some Florida parents are running brutal ads attacking her, even as the Moms for Liberty movement is unexpectedly losing ground everywhere. We chatted with journalist Jennifer Berkshire, the author of a forthcoming book on our cultural battles over education, who explained the bigger, deeper story here: The right are the ones now on the defensive in the school wars. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Original Air Date: March 22, 2021 Johns Hopkins scholar and “Active Measures” author Thomas Rid on the DNI report on Russian meddling and how 2020 is different from 2016. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices