Trumpcast

Virginia Heffernan welcomes back Fordham law professor Jed Shugerman to get into the weeds about AG Bill Barr, Michael Flynn’s story up until this point, Geoffrey Berman of the Southern District of New York, and the Unitary Executive Theory. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Virginia Heffernan talks to author Jared Yates Sexton about evangelical mythology, Bill Barr, rural understandings of globalism, the Confederacy, the coming Trump rally in Tulsa, how some Christian Trumpists may view COVID, and the “cult of the shining city.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Virginia Heffernan talks to CNN legal analyst Elliot Williams about Cooper vs. Cooper, how white people apologize for and are now confronting systemic racism, the legality around questioning the actions of police officers, and the “Yanny versus Laurel” disconnect some white viewers will have watching viral police brutality videos. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this Trumpcast Plus preview, Virginia Heffernan talks to Wired columnist Siva Viadhyanathan about his piece on Mark Zuckerberg; and, later in the show, she speaks with New York Times Magazine writer Matthatias Schwartz about his profile of William Barr.  Only Slate Plus members get to listen to every Trumpcast episode in full. Sign up now to access every Trumpcast episode and support the show.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Virginia Heffernan talks to MSNBC and theGrio contributor Dr. Jason Johnson about Christian Cooper, George Floyd, who in society is allowed to scold in public, COVID’s impact on black lives, why the protests are rebellions and not riots, and deeper implications behind names like "Karen" and "Becky." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Virginia Heffernan talks to analyst and Fordham professor Dr. Christina Greer about white supremacy, the case for Stacey Abrams as Joe Biden’s running mate, whether black voters care less about policy than representation on the presidential ticket, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Virginia Heffernan talks to writer Scott Sayare about Didier Raoult, the man behind Trump’s favorite unproven treatment for COVID-19, exploring his successes as a French microbiologist, his big personality, and how we got to this point where hydroxychloroquine made headlines during the coronavirus pandemic. Only Slate Plus members get to listen to every Trumpcast episode in full. Sign up now to access every Trumpcast episode and support the show. (edited)  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Virginia Heffernan talks to Rolling Stone D.C. Bureau Chief Andy Kroll about the specifics around Jared Kushner’s mishandling of the coronavirus crisis, the role of Oscar Health, the group of Bush-era doctors and epidemiologists calling themselves “Red Dawn,” and the collective amnesia in Washington, D.C. that prevents us from tackling sizable problems. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Virginia Heffernan talks to CNN national security analyst Juliette Kayyem about what it really means—and what it takes— to safely re-open the country and heal from the coronavirus pandemic, the Waffle House Index, and how this crisis may affect our values. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How did Mitch McConnell become Trump’s enabler-in-chief? Virginia Heffernan talks to Jane Mayer, staff writer at The New Yorker, about McConnell’s mishandling of the coronavirus crisis, his connections to Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska and Rusal’s Kentucky investment, the business endeavors of wife Elaine Chao, and his feelings about the nickname Moscow Mitch. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Virginia Heffernan talks to Mike Pesca, host of Slate podcast The Gist, about all things coronavirus, the leadership of Governor Andrew Cuomo, and what it might take to approach something that looks like normal. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this Trumpcast Plus preview, Virginia Heffernan talks to Laurie Garrett, a Pulitzer Prize-winning science journalist covering pandemics, about the typical multi-tiered responses of politicians to viruses, epidemics and the climate crisis, covering Ebola, and how religion still ties into the way some epidemics are managed. To hear the full episode now, sign up for Slate Plus. Go to Slate.com/TrumpcastPlus. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Virginia Heffernan talks to Mother Jones senior reporter Ari Berman about the 2020 presidential primary vote in Wisconsin, disenfranchised voters and a glance back at Jim Crow laws, why there’s ever any argument against mail-in votes, risks of the coronavirus negatively impacting the process of voting in the presidential election, and ways this could impact the process for the better. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Virginia Heffernan talks to New York Times op-ed writer Jennifer Senior about her latest piece exploring the effect of Trump’s narcissism on the coronavirus crisis, a profile of narcissists’ weaknesses, and the strategy of using “yes, and” on the president in order to sneak actual facts in. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Virginia Heffernan talks to Tablet Magazine writer Carly Pildis about the tools some have used to cope while stuck in abusive situations at home during the coronavirus pandemic—also acknowledging a known abuser in the White House. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this Trumpcast Plus preview, Virginia Heffernan talks to former FBI Assistant Director Frank Figliuzzi about how Drs. Deborah Birx and Anthony Fauci are using hostage-negotiating tactics to buy time and help all of us survive during the coronavirus crisis. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Virginia Heffernan talks to history professor and disaster expert Dr. Scott Knowles about how care is rationed in U.S. society, how the elite respond to panic, meditations on Albert Camus’s The Plague and Edgar Allan Poe’s The Masque of the Red Death, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Virginia Heffernan talks to Elie Mystal of The Nation about continuing to commit to political issues even in the wake of biological troubles, freeing prisoners and caged children during the health crisis, patriarchy problems, the upcoming presidential election, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Virginia Heffernan talks to Washington Post reporter Sarah Ellison about Fox News’ evolving thinking on the coronavirus crisis, some of the more dangerous pundit downplays of the virus, their view that Trump is doing well handling it, and the need to bring back local news. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this Plus preview, Virginia Heffernan talks to psychology professor Dan McAdams about how Trump builds his internal narrative identity, and McAdams’ book The Strange Case of Donald J. Trump. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices