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The Political Scene | The New Yorker: Daily Summaries Delivered
by The New Yorker
Join The New Yorker’s writers and editors for reporting, insight, and analysis of the most pressing political issues of our time. David Remnick, the editor of The New Yorker, presents conversations and feature stories about current events. The senior editor Tyler Foggatt goes deep on a consequential political story via far-reaching interviews with staff writers and outside experts. The staff writers Susan B. Glasser, Jane Mayer, and Evan Osnos discuss the latest developments in Washington and beyond, offering an encompassing understanding of this moment in American politics.
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- Yesterdaynarrative53 min6-min read
One Refugee’s Journey Through ICE Detention
This episode of The New Yorker Radio Hour examines the radical transformation of U.S. immigration policy under Donald Trump’s second term, centering on the story of Alsainy, a Guinean asylum seeker arrested after a court hearing and detained for nine months despite winning legal protection from deportation. The episode reveals how systemic sabotage of due process, courthouse arrests, and inhumane detention conditions have made the U.S. a hostile place for immigrants, even those with strong legal claims.
- 4 days agoroundtable50 min6-min read
Congress Used to Work. What Happened?
The Washington Roundtable is joined by Carl Hulse, the New York Times’ chief Washington correspondent, to discuss Congress’s dwindling role in the American political system. Why are Congress members passing fewer bills than their predecessors? Why can the institution no longer complete basic tasks of governing, such as passing a budget on time? Are representatives more interested in being social-media stars than crafting legislation? The panel analyzes why Congress has increasingly surrendered its power to the President, in areas as diverse as tariffs and the war in Iran. “Once you give up power, you never get it back in Washington,” Hulse says. This week’s reading: “The White House Press Corps in the Second Trump Era,” by Katy Waldman “The Complications of Graham Platner’s Veteran Identity,” by Jasper Craven “Maine’s Mad Scramble to Replace Graham Platner,” by Jason Zengerle “Trump’s War on Journalists,” by Ruth Marcus The Political Scene draws on the reporting and analysis found in The New Yorker for lively conversations about the big questions in American politics. Join the magazine’s writers and editors as they put into context the latest news—about elections, the economy, the White House, the Supreme Court, and much more. New episodes are available three times a week. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
- 1 weeks agointerview38 min6-min read
What Biden Officials Wish They Had Done Differently in Gaza
The Biden administration, despite private efforts to influence Israel’s conduct in Gaza, failed to use its leverage effectively due to a self-imposed policy of avoiding public criticism, which many former officials now regret. Their hope for an imminent ceasefire and fear of a regional war with Iran led to a pattern of delayed action, allowing extensive civilian casualties and humanitarian deterioration.
- 1 weeks agoconversational39 min6-min read
Rahm Emanuel Says Israel’s Path Is “Not Sustainable Politically”
In a wide-ranging interview on The New Yorker Radio Hour, Rahm Emanuel, former Clinton adviser, Obama chief of staff, and mayor of Chicago, delivers a blunt critique of both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s policies and the Democratic Party’s political direction. He argues that Israel’s current trajectory, particularly in Gaza and the West Bank, is leading it toward global isolation and that U.S. support must become conditional. Domestically, Emanuel criticizes the Democratic Party for losing focus on core economic and educational issues in favor of identity politics, warning that such distractions risk electoral irrelevance.
- 1 weeks agoroundtable46 min6-min read
Donald Trump Can’t Quit the 2020 Election
Donald Trump's primetime address on election integrity was a reheated collection of debunked 2020 fraud claims, lacking new evidence but strategically aimed at undermining trust in the 2026 midterm elections. The speech served less as policy and more as a pre-emptive narrative to blame election losses on fraud, while distracting from unpopular issues like the Iran war and economic anxiety. By invoking foreign interference—especially from China—and dissolving key election oversight bodies, Trump is laying the groundwork for a post-election crisis, not to reveal truth but to delegitimize any unfavorable outcome. The episode underscores how his rhetoric, amplified by loyalist appointees and compliant media, poses a systemic threat to democratic norms.
- 1 weeks agoconversational47 min6-min read
Can California Actually Make Billionaires Pay?
Proposition 40, a California ballot measure championed by SEIU United Healthcare Workers West president Dave Regan, proposes a one-time 5% tax on the net worth of billionaires residing in the state as of January 1, 2026, aiming to raise $100 billion to counteract devastating healthcare cuts enacted under a federal law signed by Donald Trump. The tax bypasses the legislature via direct democracy, marking a novel political strategy in the face of entrenched opposition from Silicon Valley elites and Governor Gavin Newsom.
- 2 weeks agoconversational34 min5-min read
How an Estimated Seven Hundred Thousand People Have Died from DOGE’s U.S.A.I.D. Cuts
The podcast examines the catastrophic consequences of the Trump administration and Elon Musk's dismantling of USAID under the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), which led to an estimated 700,000 deaths in the first year alone. Former USAID official Atul Gawande details how cuts to global health programs have reversed decades of progress in fighting diseases like HIV, TB, and malnutrition, while also exposing a broader ideological shift away from international cooperation and toward transactional, dominance-based foreign policy.
- 2 weeks agoroundtable46 min5-min read
The Platner Implosion, and What It Means for Democrats
The abrupt collapse of Graham Platner's Senate campaign in Maine following sexual assault allegations has exposed deep fractures within the Democratic Party over ideology, electability, and character. The fallout underscores a broader struggle: how to channel voter anger at Donald Trump without embracing flawed outsider candidates, while maintaining credibility on issues like accountability and integrity. Despite Platner’s initial landslide win in the Democratic primary—garnering over 70% of the vote—his campaign unraveled under scrutiny of his past, including a Nazi-adjacent tattoo and newly surfaced rape allegations, forcing Democrats to confront whether their base’s hunger for anti-establishment figures compromises their ability to win general elections. The episode uses this implosion as a lens to examine parallel tensions in Michigan’s Senate race and the party’s existential reckoning ahead of the 2024 election.
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About The Political Scene | The New Yorker
Join The New Yorker’s writers and editors for reporting, insight, and analysis of the most pressing political issues of our time. David Remnick, the editor of The New Yorker, presents conversations and feature stories about current events. The senior editor Tyler Foggatt goes deep on a consequential political story via far-reaching interviews with staff writers and outside experts. The staff writers Susan B. Glasser, Jane Mayer, and Evan Osnos discuss the latest developments in Washington and beyond, offering an encompassing understanding of this moment in American politics.
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