Trumpcast

Hey Trumpcast listeners! Your host Virginia has some big news. Her next podcast—After Trump—is a guidebook alongside legal scholars Jack Goldsmith and Bob Bauer—both former Trumpcast guests—to reforming our laws, norms, and ethical codes so we never get in that fix again. After Trump is coming soon to a podcast app near you. To learn more, go to AfterTrumpPod.com.   But first, Virginia is here to introduce an episode of a show she hopes you'll check out: What Next, a daily news podcast from Slate. In this episode, host Mary Harris talks to guest Colorado Rep. Tom Sullivan, who counts the number of Fridays since his son was killed in the Aurora theater shooting in 2012. The latest mass shooting in Boulder, which left 10 people dead, was yet another reason Sullivan says he’s continuing his quest to curb gun violence in the state. If you like what you hear, subscribe to What Next. You'll get a short episode every weekday taking on ONE story, and going deep, behind the headlines. What Next is news you’re not goi

Hey Trumpcast listeners! Your host Virginia has some big news. Her next podcast—After Trump—is a guidebook alongside legal scholars Jack Goldsmith and Bob Bauer—both former Trumpcast guests—to reforming our laws, norms, and ethical codes so we never get in that fix again. After Trump is coming soon to a podcast app near you. To learn more, go to AfterTrumpPod.com.   But first, Virginia is here to introduce an episode of a show she hopes you'll check out: What Next, a daily news podcast from Slate. In this episode, host Mary Harris talks to guest Jimmy Vielkind, Wall Street Journal reporter covering New York politics & government, as New York Governor Andrew Cuomo faces calls to resign over accusations of sexual harassment and allowing a toxic workplace culture to persist. To the people who know him best, it’s unlikely the governor will ever bow to those demands.  If you like what you hear, subscribe to What Next. You'll get a short episode every weekday taking on ONE story, and going deep, behind the headlin

Hey Trumpcast listeners! Your host Virginia has some big news. Her next podcast—After Trump—is a guidebook alongside legal scholars Jack Goldsmith and Bob Bauer—both former Trumpcast guests—to reforming our laws, norms, and ethical codes so we never get in that fix again.  After Trump is coming soon to a podcast app near you. To learn more, go to AfterTrumpPod.com.   But first, Virginia is here to introduce an episode of a new show from Slate: A Word, with Jason Johnson.    You’ve heard Jason on Trumpcast several times. Now, every Friday he’ll bring his sharp analysis to discussions with policy-makers, journalists, entertainers, and other experts about America’s challenges around race, and ideas on the way forward. You’re about to hear the second episode, in which Jason discusses cancel culture with Professor. Loretta Ross. They talk about the role cancel culture plays in society and politics, and if there’s a better way to hold powerful people accountable. If you enjoy this episode, make sure to subscribe to

For our series finale, Virginia Heffernan kicks off the show with Jay Rosen, a professor of journalism at NYU, who talks about why and how journalists came to normalize the extreme wrongs of the Trump presidency. Trumpcast producer Melissa Kaplan then joins Virginia for a series wrap, or Trumpcast cast, remembering some of our best shows and lessons learned. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For the penultimate episode of Trumpcast, Virginia Heffernan welcomes back Dr. Ibram Kendi, director of the Center for Antiracist Research at Boston University, to talk about his anti-racist work, the Biden era ahead, and a question that’s been on Virginia’s mind since Dr. Kendi came on the show four years ago. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Virginia Heffernan talks to former Trump troll David Weissman about his experiences overcoming trauma as a war veteran, his relationship with white supremacist personality Baked Alaska, the right-wing calls for civil war, the different factions of MAGA, and what’s going on in the minds of the insurgents. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For this emergency episode reviewing today’s violence against Congress, we reached out to historian Joanne Freeman, author of The Field of Blood: Violence in Congress & the Road to Civil War. Dr. Freeman and Virginia Heffernan review the history of political violence in Congress and why these events had a different implication. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Virginia Heffernan talks to cyberwarfare expert Molly McKew, author of the Great Power newsletter, about the Russian SolarWinds attacks, digital spies, 5G, lizard people, and other conspiracy theories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this Trumpcast Plus preview, Virginia Heffernan talks to comedian Kathy Griffin about the beheading performance art piece seen round the world, which spiraled into a nightmare scenario of harassment, the cancellation of her comedy tour, subsequent Hollywood blacklisting, and frequent check-ins with the FBI. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Virginia Heffernan welcomes back Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) to talk about how Trump champions cheating and has a sour response to empathy, and why Schiff’s colleagues are so afraid to speak out against Trump’s misdeeds and behavior. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As his presidential term draws to a close, Virginia Heffernan does an overview of Donald Trump’s impact on U.S. foreign policy with Mieke Eoyang, senior vice president for Third Way’s National Security Program. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Virginia Heffernan talks to former FBI special agent and CNN analyst Asha Rangappa about the case for Federalism and why even with pardons, Trump won’t get off completely scot-free. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this Trumpcast Plus preview, Virginia Heffernan talks to Princeton University professor Eddie Glaude Jr. about why she thinks Trumpism will fizzle out after Trump leaves office—and why he thinks he won’t, and why it’s also dangerous to call it “Trumpism.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Virginia Heffernan talks to Andy Slavitt, former Acting Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, about public health and the second wave of the pandemic, reviewing New York governor Andrew Cuomo’s handling of COVID, and how Joe Biden will handle the pandemic once he’s in office. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Virginia Heffernan talks to Jonathan Mahler, staff writer at the New York Times Magazine, about the possibilities for prosecuting Trump and the concept of “moving on” or healing from his crimes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Virginia Heffernan talks to Emily Jane Fox, National Correspondent at Vanity Fair and co-host of Inside the Hive, about what will happen to Ivanka after her father’s presidency ends, her art collection and tackiness, who will stay in her social circle and who will snub her, and insights from covering her over the last five years. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this Trumpcast Plus preview, Virginia Heffernan talks to Jack Goldsmith, Harvard Law School professor and co-author of After Trump, about why Donald Trump’s violation of norms come with more social or political penalties than legal ones, where his norm-crushing has potentially endangered us, and what reforms we can adopt to reduce those projected dangers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Virginia Heffernan welcomes back Jacob Weisberg, founder of Trumpcast and CEO of Pushkin Industries, and talks about the outrageousness of Trump’s coup attempt and why we’re still going to be OK, sorting out our feelings after election week, and a bookend to that fateful election night four years ago. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Virginia Heffernan talks to Ekow Yankah, professor of law at Cardozo School of Law, about those wacky Trump election lawsuits, the Republican attempts at voter suppression in the wake of close counts, and about how learning someone else’s language in order to sell them something leads you to become more like them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Virginia Heffernan talks to Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux, senior writer at FiveThirtyEight, about why we’re heading for a record gender gap in our presidential voting, issues for women voters and gender as a political frame, how differently individual voters interpret questions about issues like health care and the economy, and the drop in Trump support among white Christians. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices