STEVEN PINKER KNOWS EVERYTHING

Harry sits down with Steven Pinker, who wears many intellectual hats, all well: linguist, psychologist, political philosopher, historian, and social critic, for starters. After some brief discussion of his childhood and background, they dive into Pinker’s best-selling “The Better Angels of Our Nature,” (Bill Gates’s favorite book at the time), “Enlightenment Now,” and Rationality” (Bill Gates’s new favorite book). In those works, Pinker lay out an argument that by and large, in fits and starts, society is advancing incrementally in health, safety, knowledge, and other key benchmarks of Enlightenment values. The two also touch on Pinker’s strong if idiosyncratic views about writing (he rejects much of modern pedantry about correct usage); his original Promethean work in linguistics; and his views about certain human cognitive biases. A wide-ranging and provocative discussion with one of the great public intellectuals of our time.

Harry speaks with Steven Pinker

CLUSTERCHUCK

A roundtable of 3 great commentators--Josh Marshall, Charlie Sykes, and Ali Vitali--assesses the state of play in politics and U.S. society after 2 months of hyper-aggressive moves by Donald Trump. Minority leader Charles Schumer opted to go along with Republican plans to find the government, to the consternation of many Dems. Trump is trying to exercise control in large parts of civil society, including law, media, and the academy. Popular opposition is expanding, but can it make a difference?

Harry speaks with John Marshall, Charlie Sykes and Ali Vitali

THE VIEW FROM NEW JERSEY...AND WASHINGTON DC

Harry talks to Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill, whose extensive experience includes a long stint in the Navy as a helicopter pilot and Russian policy officer, a stretch in the US Attorney’s office, and a current candidacy for New Jersey governor. Sherrill’s cross-cutting resume position her to discuss a series of worrisome maneuvers by the new administration, beginning with the party line budget vote and its immediate and grave implications for New Jersey. The two also discuss the state of morale at the Department of Justice, the Administration’s abandonment of Ukraine and its global implications, and the role for state officials to play as counterweights to monolithic Republican federal power. Sherrill also addresses at length the performance of the democrats in Congress and what more they need to do.

Harry speaks with Rep. Mikie Sherrill

A HOUSE MISGUIDED

Our monthly all-contrarian episode with Norm Eisen, Jen Rubin, & Katie Phang first analyzes Trump’s address to Congress, which clocked in at about 2 hours and featured a series of lies and low blows. We then take up to the Supreme Court’s narrow affirmance of the district court order to walk back the USAID withdrawal before moving to the series of cases, many litigated personally by Norm, in which courts for the main part are calling the Administration out for ignoring the commands of Congress.

Harry speaks with Jen Rubin, Norm Eisen and Katie Phang

TRUMP'S DISASTROUS ASSAULT ON U.S. SOFT POWER

Harry talks with Max Boot about his latest article, “US soft power took decades to build. Trump is dismantling it in weeks.” Boot explains the critical source of U.S. influence in the world, more than military might, is “soft power,” foreign aid and other far-seeing acts of altruism for people around the world. Soft power is the key to the country’s diplomatic, commercial, and cultural success. It was built up painstakingly over decades with programs like the Marshall Plan and in 3 short weeks Trump has taken a battering ram to it, acutely harming our international standing. Allies such as Canada are perplexed at the U.S.’s bullying tactics, and people around the world dependent on U.S. aid have been gravely harmed. The chief beneficiary of this short-sighted abandonment of longstanding U.S. policy is China, which will aim to fill the void left by the end of U.S. aid programs. Boot concludes, “[i]t is staggering to see how much damage Trump has done to U.S. soft power in just two weeks and painful to imagine how much ore he could do in the next 206 weeks.”

Harry speaks with Max Boot

"ANYONE UNHAPPY WITH ELON?"

The Administration and congressional republicans continued to wreak havoc with the federal workforce, international relations, limited executive power, and the constitution, not necessarily in that order. Tara Setmayer, Bob Shrum, and Jacob Weisberg join Harry to analyze the party-line House budget that seems DOA in the Senate; tension within the Executive Branch over Elon Musk; growing popular opposition to the Administration and especially to Musk’s untethered and unaccounted role; and more.

Harry speaks with Tara Setmayer, Bob Shrum and Jacob Weisberg

JAMIE RASKIN AND THE CONSTITUTIONAL CAVALRY

Harry talks once again with constitutional patriot and House Oversight Committee member Jamie Raskin about the tight spot we are in after just one month of Trump rule. Harry presses the Congressman for thoughts about communicating to the country the perils to the rule of law and constitutional scheme themselves. Raskin sets out a short range, mid-range, and long-range agenda for clawing the country back and restoring the rule of law. They go over the most promising and the most worrisome of the 60+ lawsuits against the Administration. They focus at length on the mischief and illegality of the Elon Musk DOGE operation and how that seems to be hitting home with more people daily. And they end with detailed discussion about the terrible perversions at the Department of Justice and what it will take to return the Department to its full institutional footing in the future.

Harry speaks with Rep. Jamie Raskin

TRUMP BREAKS THE WORLD

It’s time for our periodic episode on foreign policy, in fact the nick of time, b/c while we’ve been chiefly focused on the damage Trump has done to domestic constitutional rules, he’s been taking as big a sledgehammer to longstanding foreign policy relationships. A superb panel of Anne Applebaum, Michael McFaul, & Stephen Sestanovich breaks it all down and, with special focus on Ukraine, Russia, Europe, & China, details the enormous risks for the country and the world of Trump’s abrupt reversals.

Harry speaks with Anne Applebaum, Michael McFaul, & Stephen Sestanovich

THE POLITICS OF DOJ AND THE LAW OF DOGE

It’s our regular mash-up with none other than Molly Jong-Fast, in which Molly fires legal question that have been occupying her at Harry, and Harry reciprocates with political questions for Molly. This mash-up is in the middle of the burgeoning Department of Justice scandal over the Eric Adams prosecution, and Harry presses Molly on whether the scandal will have political legs. Molly meanwhile seeks to understand whether some of Musk’s crazier antics are legal and how they could be challenged. And that’s just the beginning! Always a lively and informative back-and-forth when these two interrogate each other!

Harry speaks with Molly Jong-Fast

THURSDAY NIGHT MASSACRE AT THE DOJ

Harry talks to Kristy Greenberg, former Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division in the Southern District of New York, about the burgeoning scandal involving the resignation of the acting United States Attorney and multiple other officials in her office and at Main Justice. The resignations all come in response to an improper command by the acting deputy Attorney General, Emile Bove, to dismiss charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams, notwithstanding that there is no question about the righteousness – i.e. the solid facts and law –that undergird the prosecution. Through Greenberg’s experience in the Southern District and Harry’s at Main Justice, they are able to piece together what has happened behind the scenes to date and what may transpire in the future, and all of it pits Bove, Bondi and Trump on the wrong side of the rule of law and Sassoon and Company on the right side. This is not going away.

Harry speaks with Kristy Greenberg