The Dispatch Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Trump Rising Oct 27, 2023

Show notes

Disclaimer: In this episode, which was recorded Thursday morning, we speculated about the delay in U.S. military response to provocations from Iran. By the time the episode released, news broke that the U.S. forces had struck Iranian targets in Syria.

The House finally has a speaker ... and he’s one of the architects of Trump’s attempt to steal the 2020 election. Sarah is joined by Steve and Mike Warren to explain who Rep. Mike Johnson is and what his speakership means for Trump’s hold on our politics. Also:

-Plea deals for Trump associates

-Joe Biden has a challenger?

-Pro-Hamas Democrats

-Jewish students harassed at Cooper Union

-“Reproductive freedom means Palestinian freedom”

-Qatar’s influence on college campuses

-Why institutions matter

-Iran’s real escalation

Show notes:

-Collision newsletter

-Betrayal: The Final Act of the Trump Show

-Video of Jewish students harassed at Cooper Union

-The Free Press: Qatar’s War for Young American Minds

-Twitter thread on Jake Sullivan's Foreign Affairs essay

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The Old Rules Don't Apply: Israel at War Oct 25, 2023

Show notes

How did the 10/7 massacre change the Middle East? What's Israel hoping to achieve in a ground invasion of Gaza? Are the Israel-Saudi normalization talks dead? Are we giving enough thought to the day after the war? Dr. Robert Satloff, executive director of the Washington Institute and its Howard P. Berkowitz chair in U.S. Middle East Policy, joins Dispatch senior producer Adaam to talk Middle East geopolitics. Also: an aside on "from the river to the sea."

Show Notes:

-Dr. Robert Satloff on Twitter/X (highly recommended to all you geopolitics fiends)

-Satloff: Regime Change, Israeli Style

-Satloff: thoughts on a post-Hamas Gaza

-Hamas' from-the-river-to-the-sea "solution" (MEMRI)

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McKay Coppins on Mitt Romney Oct 23, 2023

Show notes

Steve and Sarah sit down at Dispatch HQ with McKay Coppins, a staff writer at The Atlantic and author of the forthcoming Romney: A Reckoning, a biography of Mitt Romney's political career. Coppin's unique access to the soon-to-be-retired Senator turns a traditional political biography into a near-psychological thriller covering Romney's torment after losing the 2012 presidential election, the psychic currency of a senate seat, and his vote to convict Donald Trump.

Show notes:

-Get The Skiff feed to listen to Steve's extra question

-Steve's extra question

-McKay Coppins profile at The Atlantic

-Romney: A Reckoning

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War In Israel: Hamas Took Her Sister Oct 20, 2023

Show notes

Adva's sister, Tamar, was at the Nova music festival in southern Israel. Tamar is still missing after the 7/10 massacre. Adva generously spoke to The Dispatch about her efforts to get more information, the shock, and life after the horror.

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War and Lies in Gaza Oct 19, 2023

Show notes

Sarah, Steve, Chris, and David French discuss the war an Israel as a ground invasion of Gaza seems imminent and Western media spreads disinformation about a deadly blast in a Gaza hospital. The roundtable then turns to the House speaker race, this time giving the topic appropriately-lengthed shrift. Also:

-Illusion of Israel’s invincibility

-Information warfare

-The power of confirmation bias

-Trump's praise of Hezbollah

-Can Republicans be united?

-Matt Gaetz and the Seven Dwarves

-Worth Your Time (?): Zero-turn lawnmowers

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The Doug Burgum Candidacy Oct 16, 2023

Show notes

Economy, energy, and national security are the three major platforms Governor Doug Burgum is running on for his GOP presidential bid. Burgum joins David on The Dispatch Podcast to talk about the state of his campaign and:

-Israel-Hamas war

-Regimes going nuclear

-World War III prospects

-Pulling out of Afghanistan

-Containing China and US policy to help Taiwan

-Energy policy

-State of Burgum’s campaign

-Ignore national polls?

-Trump lost the election

-January 6th outlook

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Axis of A-Holes Oct 13, 2023

Show notes

It's day six since the massacre in Israel and Sarah, Steve, Jonah, and David French are in it for a somber episode. They discuss:

-Bad allies

-Two-state solutionism

-What is Hamas' goal?

-Biden's Iran hostage deal

-Anti-zionism vs. antisemitism

-The left's cultural credibility

-America's role

-The ethics of sharing snuff videos

-The House is a mess

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Rep. Buck: No Moral Fortitude in Speaker’s Race Oct 11, 2023

Show notes

In between voting for House speaker, Representative Ken Buck joins Steve and Declan to talk about House politics, GOP reluctance to acknowledge who won the 2020 election, and whether an honest speaker can yet be found. Plus:

-Buck’s relationship with GOP colleagues

-Scalise not wanting to bring wrath of MAGA base

-Jordan and Scalise voted to decertify elections

-Why Buck voted for McCarthy in the 15-round melee in January

-Will colleagues support reform? (Spoiler: no)

Show Notes:

-Watch this episode on YouTube

-Sarah Isgur: It's Time to Amend the Constitution

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Worried About Inequality? Fix Marriage. Oct 09, 2023

Show notes

Melissa Kearney, a professor of economics at the University of Maryland joins Assistant Editor Luis Parrales to talk about her new book, The Two-Parent Privilege: How Americans Stopped Getting Married and Started Falling Behind. The two discuss the decline in married households over the past decades, how that decline has exacerbated inequality and negatively impacted parents and children, and why it’s so controversial to talk about marriage as a policy matter in the first place.

Show notes:

-Melissa’s profile at the University of Maryland

-Melissa’s profile at Brookings

-A Driver of Inequality That Not Enough People Are Talking About

-Male Earnings, Marriageable Men, and Nonmarital Fertility: Evidence from the Fracking Boom

-The Puzzle of Falling US Birth Rates Since the Great Recession

-Race and Economic Opportunity in the United States: An Intergenerational Perspective

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Bad Vibes at the Border Oct 06, 2023

Show notes

Sarah left The Dispatch Podcast and now there's no speaker of the House. What went wrong? Steve and Jonah join the flagship host's return to discuss the speakership battle, Joe Biden's Trump-era border wall, and corruption writ large. Also:

-Small dollar donor problems

-Democratic blame game

-Anti-transparency in government

-There's a secret speaker??

-Trump and Menendez corruption inquiries

-The return of Not Worth Your Time

Show notes:

-Jonah's G-File on government transparency

-Rep. Matt Gaetz on ABC This Week

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