Impolitic with John Heilemann

John welcomes New York Times scribe Robert Draper and Atlantic staff writer and podcast host David Frum to discuss the political reverberations from the fatal shooting of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk. Draper joins the show from Kirk’s home base in Arizona, and assesses the impact of the shooting on those who revered him in the MAGA movement and the future of the organization he founded, Turning Point USA. Meanwhile, From takes stock of how the Trump administration is moving aggressively to advance its broader agenda in the wake of Kirk’s assassination, and of FBI Director Kash Patel’s contentious back-to-back appearances before oversight committees in the Senate and House this week. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John welcomes world-renowned epidemiologist Dr. Michael Osterholm to discuss the threats to America’s public health system under Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Osterholm catalogues the damage Donald Trump’s Secretary of Health & Human Services has inflicted in just seven months in office; the misstatements and misinformation he put forward in his recent appearance before the Senate; and his especially dangerous and scientifically baseless views regarding vaccines. Osterholm also discusses his new book, “The Big One: How We Must Prepare for Future Deadly Pandemics”—arguing that America is doing worse than nothing to ready itself for the all but certain eventuality of an outbreak far more deadly than Covid. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John welcomes former FBI assistant director Frank Figliuzzi back to the show to discuss the murder of Charlie Kirk. Figliuzzi assesses the state of the investigation into the apparent assassination and manhunt for the killer; what we know and don’t know on the basis of the evidence that's been made public; what’s driving thecross-partisan epidemic of political violence in America; and what, if anything, can be done to break the vicious cycle. Figliuzzi also takes the measure of the first half-year of Kash Patel’s leadership of the FBI and the bureau's current capacity to handle the escalating crisis now before it. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John welcomes writer, director, and actor Rob Reiner to the show to discuss the release of the sequel to his genre-defining 1984 mockumentary “This Is Spinal Tap” — “Spinal Tap II: The End Continues". Reiner explains why it took 30 years for the follow-up to get made; how the original film went from box-office dud to cultural landmark; and its influence on a generation of comics, from Ricky Gervais to Ben Stiller to Jack Black, and movies and TV shows, from “Best In Show" to "The Office" to "Parks & Rec." Reiner also reflects on his extraordinary post-Tap career as a director and his relationships with his father, the legendary Carl Reiner, and his childhood friend, Albert Brooks. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John welcomes Puck’s chief Washington correspondent, Leigh Ann Caldwell, back to the show to discuss Congress’s return to work after its August recess. Leigh Ann assesses the political potency (and limitations) of the public display of solidarity by a phalanx of Jeffrey Epstein survivors in the face of Donald Trump’s continued insistence that the story is a “Democrat hoax”; the potential implications of the Senate Finance Committee’s bipartisan laceration of RFK, Jr. over his tenure thus far at HHS; and the odds that John Thune and his “pocket rocket” can help avert a government shutdown later this month. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John welcomes Jonathan Mahler, New York Times Magazine staff writer and bestselling author of “The Bronx Is Burning,” to discuss his new book, “The Gods of New York: Egotists, Idealists, Opportunists, and the Birth of the Modern City: 1986-1990.” Mahler unpacks the reinvention of the Big Apple in the second half of the Eighties; riffs on the outsized characters (from Ed Koch and Rudy Giuliani to Larry Kramer, Al Sharpton, and, of course, Donald Trump) who played key roles in it; and argues that the rise of Zohran Mamdani signals an end to the 40-year era spawned by that transformation. He and Heilemann also reminisce about crossing paths as undergrads in 1987—first as teammates and then as cellmates. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With every episode, Lena Dunham and Alissa Bennett take you on a historical deep dive into the life of a woman society dismissed by calling her mad, sad, or just plain bad: Lindsay Lohan, Judy Garland, Winona Ryder, Mariah Carey, Lil Kim and many more. Join them for a rich, hilarious, and heartbreaking look into exactly what it means when we call a woman “crazy.” The C-Word was originally published behind a paywall from 2019 - 2022. This is the first time it’s being released to all major podcast platforms. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John welcomes legendary music and pop culture writer, thinker, and theoretician Chuck Klosterman to talk about the runaway success of the Oasis reunion tour and why America is suddenly gaga for the band 30 years after its peak. For those too young to remember the Britpop era or too addled to recall it clearly, Klosterman explains just how huge Oasis was back then; how the Internet and social media conspired to keep the perpetually feuding Noel and Liam Gallagher relevant even after the band broke up in 2009; and why, though the Oasis renaissance is surely being fueled by nostalgia for the 1990s—a decade about which Klosterman wrote the bestselling cultural history “The Nineties”—it’s also about something deeper and more ineffable. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John welcomes Democratic Texas state representative James Talarico to discuss the escalating war over redistricting kicked off by Lone Star State Republicans. In the wake of Texas's enactment of a new congressional map sought by Donald Trump and designed to deliver five House seats to the GOP in next year’s midterms, Talarico explains why the two-week walkout by him and 56 of his colleagues succeeded despite the map’s adoption—by spurring blue states such as California to strike back with gerrymanders of their own. Talarico, a 36-year-old pastor and former sixth-grade teacher, also discusses his star-making recent turn on Joe Rogan’s podcast, the possibility he’ll soon be running for Senate, and the need for Democrats to start “flipping tables” (like Jesus in the Temple) to save American democracy from Trump and MAGA. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John welcomes Michael McFaul, former U.S. ambassador to Russia, back to the show to discuss the past week’s flurry of diplomatic efforts to bring an end to the war in Ukraine. McFaul analyzes the meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in Alaska; the subsequent visit of Volodymyr Zelensky and a phalanx of European leaders to the White House; the signals emanating from Russia that Putin’s maximalist war aims remain unchanged; and the grim options facing Zelensky if the spate of summitry, as seems increasingly likely, results in nothing more than a return to the status quo ante. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John welcomes Pod Save America cohost, Message Box author, and former top Obama adviser Dan Pfeiffer back to the show to discuss the burgeoning competition to be the face of the Democratic Party’s future. Pfeiffer assesses the risks and rewards of California governor Gavin Newsom’s redistricting gambit for his presidential ambitions; the efforts of Illinois governor J.B. Pritzker to make his billionaire status tolerable to the populist base of his party; and the communication skills of thirtysomething rising stars Zohran Mamdani and James Talarico. Dan also answers the question on the lips of Democrats everywhere: Seven months into Trump 2.0, just how fucked are we? To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John welcomes USA Today sports columnist Christine Brennan to discuss her runaway bestseller “On Her Game: Caitlin Clark and the Revolution in Women's Sports.” Brennan lays out the formative experiences that turned Clark into a national sensation; the WNBA’s lack of preparation to capitalize on the surge in popularity, income and impact that her arrival has unleashed; the troubling outbreaks of jealousy and resentment sparked by a white player becoming the face of a predominantly Black league; and how the Clark saga has been appropriated by both sides in America’s culture wars. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John welcomes second-term Democratic congressman and former mayor of Long Beach, CA, Robert Garcia to talk about the imperative for his party to move away from “respectability politics” to combat the Trump 2.0 agenda. Garcia explains why the Texas redistricting fight transcends the particulars of the Lone Star State as a central part of Donald Trump’s plan not just to steal the 2026 midterm elections but to stay in office past 2028—and the Jefrey Epstein scandal, far from subsiding during the congressional recess, is only gathering steam. Garcia also waxes poetic about his love for Superman, what the character means to many gay Americans such as himself, and why, for all of David Corenswet’s swagger in the role on the big screen this summer, Christopher Reeve remains (now and forever) the gold standard Man of Steel. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John welcomes Atlantic staff writer Anne Applebaum back to the show to discuss her new cover story in The Atlantic on the devastating civil war in Sudan. Applebaum—whose 2004 tome “Gulag: A History” won the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for general nonfiction and whose most recent book, “Autocracy, Inc.” comes out in paperback this month—explains how anarchy, greed, and nihilism have replaced the liberal world order in Sudan; the role that Donald Trump and Elon Musk played in the country’s downward spiral; and why the same forces are coming for the countries of the rich world next. She also lays out the evidence that Trump is bent on turning the U.S. into a bigger, badder, more authoritarian version of Viktor Orban’s Hungary. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John is joined by Adam Pritzker and Daniel Squadron, co-founders of a pair of increasingly influential Democratic groups trying to cure what ails their party by looking WAY beyond Washington, D.C.—to the nation’s state legislatures. Pritzker and Squadron explain the genesis of the States Project, which they formed eight years ago and is already the largest Democratic donor to state legislative races (to the tune of $130 million in 2022 and 2024), and the just-launched States Forum, which is focused on germinating, cross-pollinating, and exporting state-level Democratic policy innovations to the national level; the degree to which the party’s brand is a drag on down ballot candidates; and why the party would do well to look to its deep bench of governors for its presidential nominee in 2028. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John welcomes David Remnick, editor of The New Yorker, and David Miliband, head of the International Rescue Committee, to discuss Israel’s war with Hamas and the humanitarian horror show unfolding in Gaza. Having just authored his fourth major reported piece on the conflict since October 7, 2023, Remnick explains Israel’s sense of “national euphoria” after the Twelve-Day War launched by Benjamin Netanyahu against Iran to cripple its nuclear capabilities—and why Israelis have largely ignored the devastation the campaign against Hamas has inflicted on Gaza and the political, diplomatic, and moral crises it has unleashed for the Jewish state. Miliband attests to the scale and severity of the food emergency in Gaza due to what seems to be a calculated starvation strategy embraced by Netanyahu to bring “total victory” against Hamas. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John welcomes legendary Democratic strategist Bob Shrum to discuss Donald Trump’s inability to extricate himself from the Jeffrey Epstein quagmire and the opportunity for Democrats to weave the story into a broader political narrative. The Los Angeles-based Shrum, who rose to prominence as Ted Kennedy’s speechwriter and played a central role on both Al Gore’s and John Kerry's presidential campaigns, also offers his take on his state’s governor, Gavin Newsom; his city’s mayor, Karen Bass; Texas state legislator and rising star James Talarico; and what it will take to make the Democratic Party great again. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John welcomes Maggie Haberman, New York Times White House Correspondent and author of the bestselling “Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump & The Breaking of America,” to discuss the ongoing Jeffrey Epstein imbroglio and why Trump has thus far been entirely unsuccessful in his efforts to stanch the bleeding from what may prove to be the most damaging of his many self-inflicted political wounds. Plus: Maggie’s take on Stephen Colbert’s cancellation, Jon Stewart’s defense of his friend and profane broadside against their shared corporate parent, and Bruce Springsteen as the most eloquent and powerful voice of the Trump 2.0 resistance. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John welcomes legendary former New York Timesman Todd Purdum to the show to discuss his new book, “Desi Arnaz: The Man Who Invented Television.” Purdum tells the story of Arnaz's rise to become the most powerful and influential Latino executive in Hollywood history: from his arrival in America as a Cuban refugee in the 1930s to his first taste of fame as a nightclub bandleader (and instigator of the Conga dance craze) in the 1940s; and from his culture-shifting roles as co-star (with his wife, Lucille Ball) of the country's most-watched TV show and cofounder of its most prolific TV production company in the 1950s to the raft of innovations he unleashed that gave birth to the rerun, the syndication market, and thus the business model on which the industry thrived for more than half a century. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John welcomes Democratic communications wizard Lis Smith—whose clients have run the gamut from Pete Buttigieg and Mallory McMorrow to Andrew Cuomo and Eliot Spitzer—to discuss the unprecedented political crisis Donald Trump is facing among his supporters over his handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices