Impolitic with John Heilemann

Latest Episodes:

Nitasha Tiku: Self-Regulation, Rogue Agents & Mainstreaming the AI Apocalypse Oct 02, 2026

Show notes

John welcomes Washington Post tech culture reporter Nitasha Tiku to discuss this mind-blowing, deeply unnerving moment in the evolution of AI. Tiku explains the genesis of the fears that the systems being developed by the AI frontier labs could ultimately end the human race; how AI extinction scenarios migrated from fringe Bay Area subcultures into the labs themselves, then into elite institutions, and now to the center of the mainstream political and cultural discourse; how the labs are confronting the ethical and moral implications of what they’re building; and why, when it comes to the debate over AI regulation, we should focus less on what industry leaders are saying and more on what they’re doing.

Mark Hertling: Trump on the World Stage is WAY Beyond Embarrassing Sep 28, 2026

Show notes

John welcomes retired three-star general and former U.S. Army Europe commander Mark Hertling to discuss Donald Trump’s turns on the world stage at the United Nations General Assembly and China summit with Xi Jinping. Hertling argues that, contrary to Trump’s claim that the Iran war will end after the midterm elections, it's more likely to go on for years; that his U.N. speech was “anti-American” and his handling of the Xi meeting, deeply unserious; and that America's military leaders saw his performances in both venues as “beyond embarrassing.” Hertling also explains why it will take “generations to rebuild” the armed forces after the damage being done to them by Pete Hegseth.

Naomi Klein: Let the End Times Roll Sep 25, 2026

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John welcomes Naomi Klein, arguably the left’s most prominent and influential public intellectual, to discuss her new best-selling book, “End Times Fascism,” co-authored with Astra Taylor. Klein—whose 2000 book, “No Logo,” became a manifesto for the turn-of-the-millennium anti-globalization movement, and whose 2008 tome, "The Shock Doctrine," introduced the concept of “disaster capitalism”—explains that “End Times Fascism” is the apotheosis of all her work to date; how an unlikely coalition of religious fundamentalists, Silicon Valley tech barons, and far right ethno-nationalists has embraced varying forms of apocalypticism and taken center stage in our politics; and how that alliance can be defeated.

Platypus Economics Sep 23, 2026

Show notes

From world events to everyday decisions, economics explains it all. Platypus Economics makes it clear, useful, and actually fun. Available now: link.pscrb.fm/f0281/PE_IMPOL

Alex Wagner: Trump’s AI Hallucinations & Reagan’s Court Burglars Sep 21, 2026

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John welcomes back Alex Wagner, host of Runaway Country for Crooked Media and senior political analyst at MS Now, to discuss her new book, “The Steal: Four Right-Wing Hard-Liners, One Republican Presidency, and the Raid on America's Courts.” Alex examines the half-century genesis of the conservative takeover of the federal judiciary, its resemblance to a heist movie, and the quartet of thieves—Paul Weyrich, the mastermind; Ed Meese, the inside man; Robert Bork, the public face; and Joe Coors, the money—central to the caper. She also assesses a raft of recent developments: James Talarico’s trolling of Ken Paxton in Texas, Hasan Piker’s ongoing bedevilment of Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan, and Donald Trump’s blithe reaction to the rampant fears in the AI industry that its products may kill us all.

Jacob Weisberg: Bonfire of the Enablers Sep 18, 2026

Show notes

John welcomes Jacob Weisberg, co-founder of Pushkin Industries and former editor of Slate, to discuss his new book, “Profiles in Cowardice: A Study of Collaboration in the Trump Era.” Weisberg explains how he took the format and framing of “Profiles in Courage,” John F. Kennedy’s classic examination of moral leadership in politics, and turned it inside out, focusing not on the admirable but the culpable; and why some of America’s best-known and most powerful public figures—from Jeff Bezos and Stephen Schwarzman to John Roberts, Megyn Kelly, and Mitch McConnell—became complicit in a signal feature of Donald Trump’s second term: the remarkable degree of capitulation to a president few of them like or respect and many once resisted.

Adam Jentleson: Senate Battleground Update + The Case for Big Tent Populism Sep 14, 2026

Show notes

John welcomes back Searchlight Institute president Adam Jentleson to discuss the post-Labor Day Senate battleground map and his new book, “Supermajority: How Democrats Can Build Lasting Power.” Jentleson explains why cautious optimism is in order about his party’s prospects of retaking the upper chamber; how the strength of James Talarico and Rob Sand (in the Texas Senate and Iowa governor’s races, respectively) are rooted in the sort of ideological heterodoxy Jentleson champions in his book; why the razor-thin margins and slim majorities of our time are historical anomalies; and the degree of compromise Democrats will need to accommodate to build governing coalitions broad enough to last.

Lawrence Wright: 25 Years Later, Remembering 9/11 Sep 11, 2026

Show notes

John is joined by Lawrence Wright, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11,” to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Wright explains what we understand today about 9/11 that we didn't understand at the time, and what we still don’t know; how the war on terror waged in its aftermath changed America, the world, and us; and the terrible possibility that, in the end, Osama bin Laden achieved more of his goals than we care to admit.

Sarah Longwell: Vox Populi, Vox Dei Sep 08, 2026

Show notes

John is joined by publisher of The Bulwark and apostate Republican strategist Sarah Longwell to discuss the midterm elections, 2028, and her new book, “How to Eat an Elephant: One Voter at a Time.” Longwell explains how large an albatross Donald Trump has become for GOP candidates up and down the ballot; why Democrats’ strong position in the polls may not be a summertime “sugar high;” and why Gavin Newsom is merely engaging in “performance art” while Jon Ossoff is “president-maxxing." She also lays out what she's learned about the electorate from conducting more than 400 focus groups in the past decade—and how it informs her new book's argument about how to permanently dismantle MAGA.

Dave Regan: Will California Kick Its Billionaires in the Bollocks? Sep 04, 2026

Show notes

John is joined by combative California union boss Dave Regan to discuss Proposition 40, his state’s controversial ballot measure to levy a one-time, 5 percent wealth tax on its resident billionaires. Regan, Prop 40's principal architect and advocate, explains its economic benefits, political challenges, and prospects for passage. He also disses the initiative's opponents—from Silicon Valley billionaires such as Sergey Brin to Governor Gavin Newsom and his likely successor, Xavier Becerra—arguing that “they think the rest of us are stupid.”

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