Episodes

  • 57-43

    57-43
    Feb 17 2021
    Democrats made a strong case against Donald Trump. Republicans are being punished for supporting it. Vox’s Zack Beauchamp explains. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    24 mins
  • Capitol punishment

    Capitol punishment
    Feb 9 2021
    Vox’s Andrew Prokop previews the historic second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump. Law professor Alan Rozenshtein explains what the Justice Department can and cannot do to prosecute insurrectionists. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    26 mins
  • A step past impeachment

    A step past impeachment
    Jan 12 2021
    Impeachment won’t stop the United States’ slide towards authoritarianism. Voter reform might. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    23 mins
  • Weeds 2020: The Bernie electability debate

    Weeds 2020: The Bernie electability debate
    Feb 29 2020
    Welcome to Weeds 2020! Every other Saturday Ezra and Matt will be exploring a wide range of topics related to the 2020 race.  Since the Nevada caucuses, Bernie Sanders has become the clear frontrunner in the 2020 Democratic primary, spurring lots of debate over whether he could win in the general election. We discuss where the electability conversation often goes off-the-rails, why discussing electability in 2020 is so different than 1964 or 1972, the case for and against Bernie’s electability prospects, and the strongest attacks that Trump could make against Sanders and Joe Biden.  Then, we discuss Ezra’s favorite topic of all time: the filibuster. Ezra gives a brief history of this weird procedural tool, and we discuss why so many current Senators are against eliminating it. Resources: "Bernie Sanders can unify Democrats and beat Trump in 2020" by Matthew Yglesias, Vox "The case for Elizabeth Warren" by Ezra Klein, Vox "How the filibuster broke the US Senate" by Alvin Chang, Vox "Running Bernie Sanders Against Trump Would Be an Act of Insanity" by Jonathan Chait, Intelligencer "The Sixty Trillion Dollar Man" by Ronald brownstein, Atlantic "The Day One Agenda" by David Dayen, American Prospect Hosts: Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Senior correspondent, Vox Ezra Klein (@ezraklein), Editor-at-large, Vox About Vox Vox is a news network that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines. Follow Us: Vox.com Facebook group: The Weeds Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    56 mins
  • Jill Lepore on what I get wrong

    Jill Lepore on what I get wrong
    Feb 20 2020
    Jill Lepore is a Harvard historian, a New Yorker contributor, the author of These Truths, and one of my favorite past guests on this show. But in this episode, the tables are turned: I’m in the hot seat, and Lepore has some questions. Hard ones. This is, easily, the toughest interview on my book so far. Lepore isn’t quibbling over my solutions or pointing out a contrary study — what she challenges are the premises, epistemology, and meta-structure that form the foundation of my book, and much of my work. Her question, in short, is: What if social science itself is too crude to be a useful way of understanding the political world? But that’s what makes this conversation great. We discuss whether all political science research on polarization might be completely wrong, why (and whether) my book is devoid of individual or institutional “villains,” and whether I am morally obliged to delete my Twitter account, in addition to the missing party in American politics, why I mistrust historical narratives, media polarization, and much more. This is, on one level, a conversation about Why We’re Polarized. But on a deeper level, it’s about different modes of knowledge and whether we can trust them. New to the show? Want to listen to Ezra's favorite episodes? Check out The Ezra Klein Show beginner's guide. My book is available at www.EzraKlein.com. The “Why We’re Polarized” tour continues, with events in Portland, Seattle, Austin, Nashville, Chicago, and Greenville. Go to WhyWerePolarized.com for the full schedule! Want to contact the show? Reach out at ezrakleinshow@vox.com Credits: Producer - Jeff Geld Researcher - Roge Karma Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 hr and 22 mins
  • The impeachment trial convicted American politics

    The impeachment trial convicted American politics
    Feb 1 2020
    This episode, likely the final episode of this podcast, is a bit different: It’s a look not just at what happened this week, but at the deep lessons of impeachment, and the unresolved conflicts and contradictions we’re left with. Put simply, the Senate will acquit Donald Trump. But in refusing to even hear witnesses, they have convicted American politics. Want to contact the show? Reach out at ezrakleinshow@vox.com Ezra's book is available for pre-order! You can find it at www.EzraKlein.com You can subscribe to Ezra's other podcast The Ezra Klein Show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever you get your podcasts Credits: Host - Ezra Klein Producer/Editor - Jeff Geld Researcher - Roge Karma Theme Music - Jon Natchez EP - Liz Nelson Special thanks to Andrew Prokop and Matt Yglesias Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    22 mins
  • The McConnell effect

    The McConnell effect
    Jan 25 2020
    The Senate trial is officially underway. What’s happened so far? How will the trial proceed from here on out? And will any Republicans defect? Vox’s Li Zhou has the answers. Then Andrew Prokop and I talk Mitch McConnell: who he is, what motivates him, how he amassed so much power, and what his actions reveal about the underlying forces driving American politics. Contrary to much of the rhetoric on the left, McConnell is not the source of our political dysfunction; he is merely a manifestation of the dysfunction that already exists.  References: Andrew Prokop's profile of Mitch McConnell Host(s): Ezra Klein (@ezraklein), Editor-at-large, Vox Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Senior politics correspondent, Vox Guests:  Li Zhou (@lizhou), Politics and policy reporter, Vox Andrew Prokop (@awprokop), Senior politics correspondent, Vox  Want to contact the show? Reach out at ezrakleinshow@vox.com Ezra's book is available for pre-order! You can find it at www.EzraKlein.com You can subscribe to Ezra's other podcast The Ezra Klein Show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever you get your podcasts Credits: Producer, Engineer, Editor - Jeff Geld Researcher - Roge Karma EP - Liz Nelson Theme music composed by Jon Natchez Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    42 mins
  • "Constitutional decay" in the US Senate

    "Constitutional decay" in the US Senate
    Jan 18 2020
    This week, Chief Justice John Roberts was sworn in to preside over the third presidential impeachment trial in US history. What happens next? What’s Mitch McConnell’s game plan? And who the hell is Lev Parnas? Andrew Prokop breaks it all down.  Then, a Senate impeachment trial is one of the rarest and least understood events in American politics. Constitutional expert Jeffrey Tulis explains how the trial works, what the founders envisioned when they designed it, and why things should look very, very different from the Senate per usual.  And, at the end, the new evidence released by Lev Parnas was damning, but, then again, all of the evidence so far has been incredibly damning. The problem we face in this impeachment trial is not that we lack damning testimony, it’s that we lack Republican senators who are willing to put country over party. Host: Ezra Klein (@ezraklein), Editor-at-large, Vox Guests:  Andrew Prokop (@awprokop), Senior politics correspondent, Vox  Jeffrey Tulis, Professor of Government, University of Texas at Austin Want to contact the show? Reach out at ezrakleinshow@vox.com Ezra's book is available for pre-order! You can find it at www.EzraKlein.com. You can subscribe to Ezra's other podcast The Ezra Klein Show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever you get your podcasts Credits: Producer, Engineer, Editor - Jeff Geld Researcher - Roge Karma EP - Liz Nelson Theme music composed by Jon Natchez  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    50 mins