Impolitic with John Heilemann

Latest Episodes:

Dan Harris: Meditation, Mental Health, Six-Peckered Goats & The 2024 Election Sep 13, 2024

Show notes

John is joined by Dan Harris, former ABC News anchor of Nightline, World News Sunday, and Good Morning America’s weekend edition, to discuss Dan's transformation into a full-time meditation and mental health guru and entrepreneur — and accidental social media influencer. The longtime pals discuss strategies for staying sane in the face of the flood of anxiety and agitation unleashed by the 2024 election; why failure is often more productive and profitable (mentally, emotionally, spiritually) than success; how to maintain a sense of calm and balance while working harder than, in Dan’s phrase, a “six-peckered goat;” and some big changes happening in Harris’s 10 Percent Happier empire.

Slaughterhouse 45: Puck Superfriends Assess Kamala's Decimation of The Donald Sep 11, 2024

Show notes

John is joined by his Puck partners Dylan Byers and Peter Hamby to discuss the first (and maybe only) 2024 general election debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump—a mirror image and diametric opposite of Joe Biden’s debate debacle versus Trump in June. The Puck Superfriends analyze Harris's command of the sphere of battle, Trump's inability to avoid being triggered, baited, rattled, and enraged through much of the night; how ABC News’s David Muir and Linsey Davis handled the task of keeping the debate more or less on the rails; and how much, in the end, last night's round of Mortal Kombat in Killadelphia will impact the outcome of the election.

Jordan Klepper: Equal Oppty B.S.-Calling & The Daily Show Renaissance Sep 06, 2024

Show notes

John is joined by The Daily Show’s Jordan Klepper to discuss the return of Jon Stewart to the show, the challenges of covering the RNC and DNC live, and his signature forays into the dark, savage, achingly comical heart of the MAGA-sphere at Donald Trump’s rallies. The two pals—who worked together when John dragooned Jordan into guest hosting his Showtime series The Circus—also debate the merits of Chicago’s iconic but disgusting local liqueur Malort (and even more iconic and appalling style of deep dish pizza), whether Klepper has a crush on former Estonian prime minister Kaja Kallas, and his resemblance to Gregor Samsa, the man-turned-cockroach protagonist in Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis.

Dan Pfeiffer: No Sleep Till … Thanksgiving? Sep 04, 2024

Show notes

John is joined by Pod Save America co-host, New York Times bestselling author, must-read Substacker, and former Obama campaign and White House communications whiz Dan Pfeiffer to discuss the state of the presidential race as we enter the post-Labor Day home stretch: from Kamala Harris’s performance in her first post-nomination sit-down interview to Donald Trump’s ridiculously desperate shape-shifting on abortion and desperately ridiculous pandering on IVF, Barack Obama’s pearls of wisdom at the DNC, Joe Biden’s place in history—and why no polling lead for Harris will be big enough for Dan sleep soundly on Election Eve.

Nicholas Kristof: The DNC, Darfur Revisited, & The Pig-Dog Conundrum Aug 30, 2024

Show notes

John is joined by two-time Pulitzer-prize-winning New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof to chew over the presidential race: from Joe Biden’s decision to bow out and the wave of enthusiasm that has greeted Kamala Harris to Bill Clinton’s and Barack Obama’s speeches at the Democratic convention. They also discuss Kristof's recently published memoir, Chasing Hope: A Reporter’s Life, the work that Nick is proudest of—on Darfur, global health, and international sex trafficking—and a thought-provoking recent Kristof column arguing that our disparate treatment of dogs and farm animals has no moral basis.

Alex Edelman: On Comedy, Politics & The Emmys at The DNC Aug 28, 2024

Show notes

John hooks up with his pal Alex Edelman—the young genius behind last year’s sold-out Broadway sensation and this year’s Emmy-nominated HBO comedy special Just For Us—at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago to discuss his discovery that lobbyists bum him out but a roomful of Democratic delegates sets his heart aflutter; the bit of his about Joe Biden's age that some found unfunny but cracked Biden up; what professional joke-peddlers can do to help Kamala Harris's cause; and why, even though Alex has already won an Obie and a Tony by the age of 35, he really (really) wants to snag that Emmy.

Sweet Home Chicago Pt. 2: Kamala In Command Aug 23, 2024

Show notes

John is joined by CEO of the Center for American Progress Action Fund, Patrick Gaspard, and Politico senior political columnist Jonathan Martin to discuss the second two days of the Democratic National Convention. From the rat-a-tat succession of star turns by Bill Clinton, Tim Walz, and Oprah Winfrey on Wednesday to Kamala Harris sticking the landing on Thursday, the three friends chop up what worked and what didn’t, where the Harris-Walz ticket stands coming out of Chicago, and if exultant Democrats need to worry about trap doors as they race off toward November.

Sweet Home Chicago Pt. 1: Obamalamentum & Biden’s Bon Voyage Aug 21, 2024

Show notes

John is joined by James Bennet—Lexington columnist for The Economist and former editor-in-chief of The Atlantic and editorial page editor of The New York Times—to discuss the first two days of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago: from Hillary Clinton’s roof-raising revisitation of that highest, hardest glass ceiling she cracked but failed to shatter and Joe Biden’s way-past-prime-time political valedictory to Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff’s reminiscences of courting Kamala and forming their very own modern family to the Obamas' back-to-back oratorical tours de force touting Harris and torching Donald Trump.

Doug Sosnik: How Kamala Is Reframing the Race & Redrawing the Map Aug 16, 2024

Show notes

John is joined by veteran Democratic strategist and former Clinton White House political director Doug Sosnik, who helped guide his boss against the odds to a landslide reelection in 1996, to assess the state of this year’s campaign on the eve of the Democratic convention. Having concluded a month ago that Joe Biden no longer had a viable path to victory, Sosnik discusses the top-to-bottom transformation of the race in the weeks since then, why Kamala Harris is (so far) winning the battle to define her public imagine, and wisdom of her efforts to reframe the race as being about the future—while Trump remains stuck in the past.

Ezra Klein: Trump’s Broken Brain, Pelosi’s Bluff-Calling & Harris’s Ideological Rebirth Aug 14, 2024

Show notes

John is joined by Ezra Klein—pioneering blogger in his twenties, founder and editor-in-chief of Vox in his thirties, and now columnist and host of a popular, eponymous podcast at New York Times—to discuss Donald Trump’s round-the-bend behavior in reaction to Kamala Harris’s ascent, Nancy Pelosi’s preternatural intuition and how it fuels her political mastery, and why the Democratic Party didn’t flinch from the break-glass moment presented by Joe Biden’s faltering candidacy. Ezra also offers his theory as to Harris’s true political identity, and reveals (after John cites photographic evidence) that his body is festooned with not one but two tattoos.

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Impolitic with John Heilemann

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected