The Political Scene | The New Yorker

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Will Donald Trump’s Corruption Matter in November? Oct 10, 2026

Show notes

The Washington Roundtable weighs in on how Donald Trump’s rampant corruption will play out at the polls. Although conventional wisdom in Washington suggests that graft doesn’t move voters, Democrats have nonetheless spent more than three hundred million dollars on ads that portray the President’s self-enrichment as a tax on everyone else. They are joined by a former commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission, Rebecca Slaughter, who discusses what, if anything, can be done about corruption in the federal government, and why criminal prosecution may not be the most effective tool to combat it. Slaughter argues that officials must find ways to make corruption costly for those who engage in it. And though few Americans expect the powerful to face consequences, Slaughter says, “the only way to change that impression . . . is to start making people pay.”

This week’s reading:

“The Dumocrats Are Coming for Trump, and All He Can Do Is Call Them Names,” by Susan B. Glasser
“The Battle for the Post-Trump Right,” by Emma Green
“The Battle to Pass a Billionaire Tax,” by Nicholas Lemann
“In ‘Musk,’ Alex Gibney Punctures Elon’s Self-Mythology,” by Sheelah Kolhatkar
“ICE Is Everywhere and Acting with Impunity,” by Jonathan Blitzer
“Will Netanyahu Escape His Reckoning?,” by David Remnick

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.

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Why Trump Is Pausing His Crackdown on Salvadoran Immigrants Oct 08, 2026

Show notes

The New Yorker staff writer Jonathan Blitzer joins Tyler Foggatt to talk about Donald Trump’s decision to delay the cancellation of Temporary Protected Status for Salvadoran immigrants. They discuss why the Administration, which has already terminated the T.P.S. designations of fourteen other countries, effectively opening up those communities to deportations, has yet to follow through on its promise to do the same for immigrants from El Salvador, and whether the decision was influenced by lobbyists from industries that rely on immigrant labor. They also discuss the tensions between the nativist wing of the Trump Administration and the pro-industry wing, and what Trump’s handling of T.P.S. reveals about how he makes decisions and exercises power in his second term. Does Trump’s unpredictability—and his susceptibility to being influenced even on his most deeply held beliefs—make his agenda more vulnerable to challenge?

Further reading and listening:

“The Russian Prisoner Who Didn’t Want to Be Freed,” by Joshua Yaffa
“Evan Gershkovich Is Finally Coming Home,” by Joshua Yaffa
“The Unimaginable Horror of a Friend’s Arrest in Moscow,” by Joshua Yaffa

This segment was recorded live at the Temple Emanu-El Streicker Centers, in New York City.

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Can Europe Still Trust America? Oct 03, 2026

Show notes

The Washington Roundtable is joined by the Polish Foreign Minister, Radosław Sikorski, to discuss the war in Ukraine and Russia’s brazen tests of the NATO alliance, including drone incursions in Poland and a campaign of gray-zone tactics. “They are boiling the frog and watching what we will do,” Sikorski says. He weighs how much Europe can still count on the United States under President Trump, and whether the trust between America and its allies can be restored. The panel also reflects on how Poland pulled back from its own authoritarian slide, and what that history might say for Americans worried about the future of our democracy.

This week’s reading:

“Pete Hegseth Just Declared Victory in the Wrong War,” by Susan B. Glasser
“Why the War in Iran Is Likely to Heat Up Again,” by Isaac Chotiner
“Why Trump Delayed Cancelling Legal Status for Salvadorans,” by Jonathan Blitzer
“The President vs. the Press,” by Jelani Cobb

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Why Susan Collins Has Lasted So Long Oct 01, 2026

Show notes

The New Yorker staff writer Emma Green joins Tyler Foggatt to discuss the Senate race in Maine, where the Republican Susan Collins, who has served in the Senate for nearly thirty years, is facing off against the former state senator Troy Jackson. They discuss how Collins has leveraged her seniority—and her chairmanship of the Senate Appropriations Committee—to bring considerable federal funding to Maine, helping her fend off Democratic challengers in the purple state. They also explore Collins’s reputation as a moderate Republican willing to break with her party on high-profile votes, despite siding with President Donald Trump roughly ninety-five per cent of the time, and ask what the results of the Maine race may suggest about two competing visions of a senator’s job. Will Collins’s focus on Maine-specific projects and bringing federal money home win out over Jackson’s focus on national issues such as abolishing ICE, Medicare for All, and protecting national abortion rights?

This week’s reading:

“Susan Collins’s Maine Money Machine,” by Emma Green
“Troy Jackson Is Still Surprised That He’s Running for Senate,” by Jesús Rodríguez

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Ari Emanuel on Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and Mixing Business with Politics Sep 28, 2026

Show notes

Ari Emanuel is the executive chairman of W.M.E., one of the biggest talent agencies in Hollywood. He has overseen the careers of Oprah Winfrey, Taylor Swift, Meghan Markle, Martin Scorsese, Dwayne (the Rock) Johnson, and Donald Trump. His entertainment machine now includes the W.W.E., the U.F.C., live theatres, ticketing operations, and more. In a new memoir, “Roll the Calls,” Emanuel charts his rise from working in the mailroom to global power. He talks with David Remnick about his disappointment with Donald Trump’s self-enrichment during his Presidency; his close relationship with Elon Musk, whom he calls an “incredible human being”; and doing business within “shades of gray” with the de-facto Saudi leader Mohammed bin Salman.

Further reading:

“Ari Emanuel Takes on the World,” by Connie Bruck

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The Washington Roundtable Live: Can D.C. Get a Grip on A.I.? Sep 25, 2026

Show notes

The Washington Roundtable travels to Madison, Wisconsin, for a conversation about the politics of artificial intelligence before a live audience at the Cap Times Idea Fest. The group discusses the stakes of Xi Jinping’s visit to Washington, D.C.; the potential for coöperation between the U.S. and China on A.I., which the staff writer Evan Osnos likens to “private nuclear weapons”; and whether American policymakers can even agree amongst themselves on how to approach regulating the technology. “The executive branch is approaching this not as an existential-level threat to our society,” the staff writer Susan B. Glasser says, “but as a pot of gold that our wealthy business leaders, and presumably the politicians who support them, win if they get to the end of the race first.”

This week's reading:

“Our A.I. Problem,” by Gideon Lewis-Kraus
“Is A.I. Above the Law?,” by Jill Lepore
“There Is No A.I. ‘Race,’” by Chang Che
“What China’s Vibe-Coding Capital Can Tell Us About the A.I. Boom,” by Afra Wang

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How MAHA Tore One Family Apart Sep 24, 2026

Show notes

The New Yorker staff writer Ruby Cramer joins Tyler Foggatt to discuss how the Make America Healthy Again movement is influencing debates within families over vaccines and medical care. They talk about the rise of vaccine skepticism, fuelled by Donald Trump and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and how measles cases have surged across the country, reaching their highest level in three decades. They also explore what happens when parents disagree over their children’s medical care, especially as concerns about parental rights and America’s worsening health, alongside growing distrust of the medical and pharmaceutical establishments, draw more people into the MAHA movement.

This week’s reading:

“The MAHA Custody Battle,” by Ruby Cramer
“Is R.F.K., Jr., Winning or Losing?,” by Dhruv Khullar
“One Vaccine-Schedule Change That Actually Makes Sense,” by Rivka Galchen

Tune in to The Political Scene wherever you get your podcasts.

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Malcolm Gladwell on “The American Way of Killing” Sep 21, 2026

Show notes

Malcolm Gladwell, a longtime staff writer at The New Yorker, often uses ideas from the social sciences and epidemiology and applies them to surprising topics. But his new book tackles an issue that’s in the headlines every day. The book is called “The American Way of Killing,” and the subject is America’s unique association with gun violence. Death statistics, he says, fail to convey the scale of the problem because advances in medical care save countless lives that are nevertheless scarred by violence. Gladwell talks with David Remnick about how gun-control advocates have got the problem wrong, and why he thinks that a persistent dynamic of under-policing and over-incarcerating is at the root of America’s problem. “I can’t even utter the phrase ‘defund the police,’ ” Gladwell says, “without nearly blowing a gasket.”

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