Category: Briefings

What the VP Pick Tim Walz Brings to the Electoral Map

We begin with an analysis of what Governor Tim Walz brings to the Harris/Walz ticket and speak with Jonathan Alter, an analyst and contributing correspondent for NBC News and MSNBC. He is a former senior editor and columnist for Newsweek and the author of The Promise: President Obama, Year One and The Defining Moment: FDR’s Hundred Days and the Triumph of Hope, both New York Times bestsellers. His latest books are The Center Holds: Obama and His Enemies and His Very Best: Jimmy Carter, A Life. His forthcoming book is American Reckoning: Inside Trump’s Trial—and My Own and he runs the Substack newsletter Old Goats and we discuss his article at The New York Times, “Why the Electoral Math on Tim Walz Makes Sense.”

The Global Menace of Elon Musk Stoking Racial Unrest in the UK

Then we look into how much Elon Musk is turning into a global menace as he stokes racial unrest in the UK, predicting the country will soon be engulfed in a civil war. Joining us is Quinn Slobodian, a Professor of International History at Boston University where he teaches histories of modern Europe, international history, social movements and the intellectual history of neoliberalism. He is the author of Globalists: The End of Empire and the Birth of Neoliberalism, Crack-Up Capitalism: Market Radicals and the Dream of a World Without Democracy, and his forthcoming book is Hayek’s Bastards: Race, Gold, IQ and the Capitalism of the Far Right. We discuss his article at The New Statesman, “Elon Musk wants us to have more children: Is demography the new front line of the culture wars?”

How to Save Government Oversight and Expertise From the Ravages of SCOTUS

Then finally we assess what can be done to save government oversight and expertise after the Supreme Court gutted the regulatory state with its recent Chevron decision. Joining us is K. Sabeel Rahman, a Professor of Law at Cornell Law School who, from 2021-2023, served in the Biden-Harris Administration where he led the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, oversaw the policy review and approval of all significant federal regulations and played a lead role in the Administration’s efforts on equity, data and information policy, and reforming regulatory analysis. His books include Democracy Against Domination and Civic Power, and he’s the co-founder of the Law and Political Economy Project at Yale University where he has a new article, “After Chevron: Political Economy and the Future of the Administrative State.”