The Realignment

Latest Episodes:

567 | Sam D'Amico & Noah Smith: Why Electricity Is Eating the World - How the Electric Tech Stack Will Dominate the 21st Century Aug 14, 2025

Show notes

Noah Smith's Substack: www.noahpinion.blog

Impulse Labs: www.impulselabs.com

Fast Company on Impulse Labs: Innovation by Design 2024: Impulse Labs' new induction cooktop is a step up from your gas stove - Fast Company

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Sam D'Amico, Founder & CEO of Impulse Labs, and Noah Smith, author of the Noahpinion Substack, join The Realignment. Marshall, Noah, and Sam discuss how the "Electric Tech Stack," a combination of advances in batteries, motors, power electronics, and computing, will reshape everything from kitchen appliances to warfare. They argue that electricity will increasingly "eat" the world, that China has seized the lead in the race to electrification, and make the case for a serious industrial policy.

566 | Osita Nwanevu: The Case for a New American Founding: Rethinking Democracy After 2024 Aug 12, 2025

Show notes

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Osita Nwanevu, author of The Right of the People: Democracy and the Case for a New American Founding, joins The Realignment. Marshall and Osita discuss a "re-founding" of America at the level of the post-Civil War Reconstruction Amendments, why the current political system has left many Americans disillusioned with pro-democracy promises and rhetoric, the failure to leverage the 2008 Financial Crisis and 2020 COVID epidemic to force systemic change, and his case for radical reforms to the legislative branch, elections, the workplace, and Supreme Court.

565 | Daniel Squadron: Rebuilding American Liberalism from the States Up Aug 05, 2025

Show notes

NYT: New Democratic Group Says Answer to the Party’s Woes Lies With the States

States Forum Journal: Adam Pritzker & Daniel Squadron - First Principles in the 11th Hour

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Daniel Squadron, former New York legislator and Co-Founder of the States Forum, joins The Realignment. Marshall and Daniel discuss why the center-left and the Democratic Party lack the kind of coherent worldview of the MAGA right, why real political power and the opportunity to build and test new ideas lies in the states, not just D.C., the importance of ideas vs. "messaging," and the case for centering the themes of representative democracy, fair markets, effective government, and personal freedom at the center of the left-liberal project.

564 | Steve Teles: What Democrats Can Learn from the GOP's Trump-Era Upheaval Jul 31, 2025

Show notes

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The Niskanen Center's Steve Teles returns to The Realignment for a wide-ranging discussion about the Democratic Party's evolution during the Trump-era and what lessons it can and can't take from the GOP's experience under Trump. Marshall and Steve unpack how Democratic Party factions - from abundance-focused reformers to the new "Common Sense Democrats" - mirror and diverge from the GOP's 2010s-era "Reform Conservative" movement. They explore the challenge of offering new ideas after rejection at the ballot box, the role of candidates like NYC's Zohran Mamdani, and why signaling change requires taking on your own side.

563 | Sam Tanenhaus: William F. Buckley Jr. and the Battle for Political Ideas Jul 29, 2025

Show notes

Can the GOP Be a Party of Ideas? https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/06/magazine/can-the-gop-be-a-party-of-ideas.html

REALIGNMENT NEWSLETTER: https://therealignment.substack.com/

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Sam Tanenhaus, author of Buckley: The Life and the Revolution That Changed America, joins The Realignment. Marshall and Sam unpack Buckley's influence on today's political landscape, how his ideas, debates, and style shaped postwar conservatism, the rise of MAGA conservatism after the 2012 election, the ideas vacuum on the left, and why developing a coherent worldview, beyond following the polls and vibes, matters more than ever post-2024.

562 | Oren Cass: American Compass and the Right's Trump-Era Realignment Jul 24, 2025

Show notes

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Oren Cass, Founder and Chief Economist of American Compass and editor of The New Conservatives: Restoring America's Commitment to Family, Community, and Industry, returns to The Realignment. Marshall and Oren discuss the evolution of the conservative movement since the 2016 election, the fifth anniversary of American Compass, and the organization's new volume covering the new right's perspective on trade, immigration, labor, family, industry policy, technology, and more...

561 | Jeff Hauser vs. Paul Williams - Debating What the Abundance Agenda Gets Right and Wrong Jul 15, 2025

Show notes

Abundance 2025

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560 | Nancy Scola: How to Win the New Ideas War in Washington Jul 10, 2025

Show notes

Open Philanthropy Job Posting: Program Associate/Senior Program Associate, Abundance and Growth (Generalist Track) @ Open Philanthropy

Referral Link: https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/openphilanthropy/form/external-referrals

REALIGNMENT NEWSLETTER: https://therealignment.substack.com/

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Nancy Scola, Contributing Writer at Politico Magazine, joins The Realignment. Marshall and Nancy discuss the varied factors that determine which new ideas win out in Washington, the role of the mainstream and alternative media ecosystems in shaping politics and policy, the case study of former Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan and the revival of the antitrust movement, and which ideas are on the rise in Washington six months into the second Trump administration.

559 | Saagar Enjeti: What's Next for America and Iran? Jun 25, 2025

Show notes

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Back from paternity leave, Saagar Enjeti returns to The Realignment. Marshall and Saagar discuss the aftermath of U.S.-Israeli airstrikes on Iran's nuclear program, how the operation compares to previous interventions, why the non-interventionist MAGA faction lost to interventionists, why alternative media's policy influence relative to its popularity was overstated, and the future of nuclear non-proliferation.

558 | Derek Thompson & Rep. Jake Auchincloss: WelcomeFest 2025 - Can the Abundance Agenda Provide the Center's Missing Vision? Jun 12, 2025

Show notes

REALIGNMENT NEWSLETTER: https://therealignment.substack.com/

PURCHASE BOOKS AT OUR BOOKSHOP: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment

Email Us: realignmentpod@gmail.com

Last week, Marshall interviewed Abundance co-author Derek Thompson and Representative Jake Auchincloss at WelcomeFest 2025. Marshall, Derek, and Jake's panel focused on the abundance agenda's place in debates about the future of the Democratic Party, the center-left's lack of a defining vision in contrast to the populist left and right's clarity, their reaction to polls indicating populism polls stronger than abundance, the importance of "telling stories" vs. articulating plans for the country, and the need to expand the abundance agenda debate beyond housing to the role of technology and progress in America.

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