Impolitic with John Heilemann

John welcomes Tim Miller, host of The Bulwark Podcast, back to the show to discuss the signs this week that Donald Trump’s fabled base — and broader political coalition — may be starting to unravel. Tim dissects the two main stressors creating fissures within MAGA: Trump's efforts to deep six the Epstein files in the face of his coalition's concerns about pedophilia among the political and financial elite; and the normalization of anti-Semitism on the right as personified by Groyper godfather Nick Fuentes. Tim and John also wax lyrical about the band of this moment, Geese, and ponder the possibility of a previously unreported anatomical commonality between Trump and Epstein. 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 congressman Pat Ryan—a 43-year-old West Point grad and Iraq War vet whose 14-point victory in his deep purple upstate New York district in 2024 elevated him to national rising-star status—to discuss the lessons of his party’s off-year election gains and signs that Donald Trump’s lame duck era is at hand. Ryan also explains his crusade to end the scourge of sports TV blackouts in the age of streaming, and why it’s not merely good policy and good politics, but the kind of effort that could help Democrats regain entry into the manosphere. 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 four-time Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter Carol Leonnig to discuss her new book with Aaron C. Davis, “Injustice: How Politics and Fear Vanquished America’s Justice Department.” Leonnig, a 25-year Washington Post veteran now serving as a senior MSNBC correspondent, explains how Donald Trump’s first-term impairment of the DOJ, followed by Merrick Garland’s failure to meet the moment after January 6, not only let Trump evade legal accountability but set the stage for his radical second-term subversion of the department’s role and the rule of law itself. She also weighs in on Trump’s recent spate of pardons and maladroit handling of the Epstein files, as well her own scoop regarding Tom Homan and his cash-filled Cava bag. 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 the longtime host of Hardball—for 23 years on MSNBC, now on Substack—Chris Matthews to discuss his new book, "Lessons From Bobby: Ten Reasons Robert F. Kennedy Still Matters." The author of three previous bestsellers on the Kennedy clan, Matthews lays out the qualities that made RFK so special and today's Democrats should emulate as they seek to rebuild the party's national brand and majority status. He also assesses last week's election results, especially as they relate to next year's midterms and the nascent 2028 Democratic nomination contest. 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

Otherworld tells real stories of people who have experienced something paranormal or unexplainable. Host Jack Wagner takes an open minded and journalistic approach to the subject matter and aims to uncover some of the biggest mysteries of the world and how people react to 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 Morning Joe co-host and Atlantic staff writer Jonathan Lemire to discuss the resounding triumphs this week of two very different Blue Teams: the Democratic Party and the LA Dodgers. Lemire assesses the key factors driving the Democratic drubbing of Donald Trump’s Republican Party in Tuesday's off-year elections; what comes next for the day’s big winners, from Zohran Mamdani in New York City to Gavin Newsom in California; and the reaction to the rout by Trump and the GOP. Then, once John finishes pimping the Dodgers second straight World Series win, Lemire lays out the argument in his recent Atlantic piece, “Don’t Blow This, Baseball,” as to why the grand old game is suddenly resurgent—and how a looming labor-management tussle could well lead to a calamitous work stoppage in 2027. 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 his pal and Hacks On Tap co-host David Axelrod to preview November 4's marquee contests. The former Obama chief strategist, current CNN chief political analyst, and bestselling author of "Believer: My Forty Years in Politics" explains why he’s confident Democrats will run the table in tomorrow's off-year elections — with victories for Zohran Mamdani in the New York mayor’s race, Abigail Spanberger and Mikie Sherrill in the Virginia and New Jersey gubernatorial campaigns, and Gavin Newsom’s redistricting initiative in California — but thinks his party should be cautious about drawing any grand conclusions from its impending clean sweep. 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 conservative legal eminence and former U.S. Court of Appeals judge J. Michael Luttig to discuss his new piece in The Atlantic about the prospect of Donald Trump remaining in office after his second term ends. Luttig argues that Trump isn’t joking or trolling when he floats the notion of running for president again in 2028, despite the Constitution’s clear proscription against him doing so; that in the past nine months he has already amassed enough executive power to “subvert or even cancel both the midterms next year and the 2028 election;” and that we dismiss or ignore those possibilities “at our peril.” 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

In the second installment of John’s conversation with Cameron Crowe about his new memoir, “The Uncool,” the Oscar-winning writer-director explores his relationship with legendary rock critic Lester Bangs (and casting Philip Seymour Hoffman to play him in “Almost Famous”); the previously unacknowledged teenage suicide of his elder sister and how it fed into the complex family dynamics that compelled him to spend much of his adolescence on the road with rock stars; the end of his career as a music journalist at age 21; how writing “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” helped Crowe reclaim his lost youth and opened the door to Hollywood; and how Tom Cruise convinced him not to cut the most famous line in "Jerry Maguire." 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 sits down for an epic conversation with Oscar-winning writer-director Cameron Crowe about his new memoir, “The Uncool,” which covers his years as a teenaged rock music writer for Rolling Stone in the 1970s — years that served as the inspiration for his classic movie, “Almost Famous.” In the first installment of this special two-part episode, Crowe details his seminal experiences on the road with The Eagles, The Allman Brothers, Led Zeppelin, and other defining bands of the era, which shaped his unusual adolescence and turned him into a magazine journalism wunderkind, as well as the unique relationship he forged with Bob Dylan, which ultimately paid dividends for another of his hit films, “Jerry Maguire.” 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 California Democratic congressman Ro Khanna to discuss a raft of headlines this week—from Donald Trump seeking $230 million in compensation from the Justice Department for its past investigations of him to his demolition of the East Wing of the White House to make space for a 90,000 square foot ballroom—that bolster Khanna’s argument that Trump and the GOP majority are running a government “of, by, and for the billionaires.” Khanna explains why focusing on MAGA corruption is his party's best path back to power; why he endorsed Zohran Mamdani when so many elected New York Democrats didn't; why he’s sticking with insurgent Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner despite the controversies swirling around him; and his unlikely (albeit limited) kinship with Marjorie Taylor Greene and Steve Bannon. 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 CNN primetime anchor and current YouTube prospector Don Lemon to discuss Trump 2.0 and life after cable news. Lemon offers his take on the No Kings Day protests, Donald Trump’s efforts to prosecute his perceived political foes, the situation on the ground in Chicago, and the pros and cons of Zohran Mamdani. Lemon also discusses his testy interview with Elon Musk last year, which killed his nascent partnership with X in the crib; how he’s finding YouTube as a home for his brand of coverage; and whether he ever misses CNN. 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 Dennis Ross, the longtime diplomat sometimes referred to as the Zelig of Middle East peace talks, to discuss the deal brokered by Donald Trump to end the war in Gaza. Ross—whose career at the center of U.S. foreign policy included stints in the Carter, Reagan, Bush 41, Clinton, and Obama administrations—explains why the significance of Trump's achievement shouldn’t be diminished, even if his claim of delivering “the historic dawn of a new Middle East" is wildly premature; what will be required to build on this week’s momentum and lay the foundation of a lasting peace between Israel and Palestine; and what lessons can be learned from the last time a breakthrough in the region seemed to be at hand—the failed Camp David Summit 25 years ago, in which Ross played a pivotal role. 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 the host of Pablo Torre Finds Out back to the show to discuss a pair of freak-outs at the intersection of sports, politics, and commerce: the Republican outrage over Bad Bunny being chosen to headline next year's Super Bowl halftime show, and the NBA's panic over the unfolding scandal, exposed by Pablo's exclusive reporting, involving billionaire LA Clippers owner Steve Ballmer and the team's superstar forward, Kawhi Leonard. Pablo explains why the NFL's increasing financial and cultural dominance make it impervious to partisan controversies; what drove Ballmer to engineer an egregious scheme to circumvent the NBA salary cap; and why the former Microsoft CEO's status as the league's richest owner (indeed, the richest in all of sports) presents a vexing quandary for Commissioner Adam Silver and the NBA's investigation of Ballmergate. 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 Republican National Committee chairman and current MSNBC host Michael Steele to the show to discuss the government shutdown, Pam Bondi’s appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Donald Trump’s militarization of law enforcement in America’s cities. Steele argues that Democrats have the upper hand in Washington’s fiscal standoff, Bondi beclowned herself on Capitol Hill, and Illinois governor J.B. Pritzker is holding his own against Trump’s incursion into Chicago; but in the larger battle over the future of the country, “Team Democracy needs to get its shit together.” 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 master of the media multiverse, Dylan Byers, back to the show to discuss Bari Weiss's elevation to editor-in-chief of CBS News and Jimmy Kimmel's east coast victory lap after the furor around his suspension and reinstatement by Disney and ABC. Byers also weighs in on the panic in Hollywood over OpenAI's Sora and the first signs of the remaking of the Washington Post's op-ed page as directed by Jeff Bezos. 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 Obama White House comms director (and his ersthwile cohost on The Circus) Jennifer Palmieri to discuss the shuttering of the federal government earlier this week. Palmieri argues that Democrats were right to deny Republicans the votes it needed to further operationalize its agenda; that focusing on health care is fighting both the good fight (morally) and the right fight (politically) for her party; and that Donald Trump’s embrace of Russ Vought’s plan to lay off federal workers and cancel programs in blue states is only making it more likely that the GOP ends up being blamed for the shutdown. 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 celebrated First Amendment lawyer Floyd Abrams to discuss Donald Trump’s efforts to stifle and/or prosecute his political opponents. Abrams—who has argued more free-speech cases before the Supreme Court than any attorney and whose clients have ranged from the New York Times in the Pentagon Papers case to Mitch McConnell in Citizens United—explains why Jimmy Kimmel’s reinstatement isn’t likely to end Trump’s legal and regulatory assault on broadcasters and the news media; the indictment of Jim Comey marks a new and dangerous phase in the administration’s weaponization of the legal system; and we are now living in a world where no hypothetical abuse of presidential power is too outlandish to take seriously. 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

Simpsons fans —THE VAULT IS OPEN! I’m Nancy Cartwright, the voice of Bart Simpson for 35+ years, and I’m finally taking you inside Springfield. Simpsons Declassified is your all-access pass to the world’s most iconic, animated series. Each week, we crack open wild predictions, eerie coincidences and fan conspiracies and stories from 36 seasons (that’s 800+ episodes!) behind-the-scenes with writers, directors, the cast and celebrity superfans, PLUS…Simpsons-themed games— play along and test your Springfield IQ. Hear exclusive stories from our guests who were there! Perhaps some scenes that almost never aired, the jokes that died, the ones that lived and the moments that still shock me at the mic. Produced and showrun by Monica Gil-Rodriguez. From Audacy Podcasts and CRE84U Entertainment. Follow now to get new episodes first — and drop your wildest Simpsons’ theory in a review for a chance to be featured on our uniquely unique podcast, Simpsons Declassified. 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 Rahm Emanuel—former Democratic Illinois congressman, White House chief of staff, mayor of Chicago, U.S. ambassador to Japan, and likely 2028 presidential candidate—to discuss the lessons of the Jimmy Kimmel conniption; how the broadcast networks could band together to beat back Donald Trump's regulatory and legal campaign against them; and the strategy and tactics his party should employ in the battle over shutting down the government. Rahm also flays congressional Republicans for putting their "manhood in a lockbox" when it comes to Trump, and challenge Wall Street’s titans to take him on over his efforts to undermine the Fed. 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