Trumpcast

Virginia Heffernan welcomes David Enrich, a reporter for the New York Times and author of the book Dark Towers: Deutsche Bank, Donald Trump, and an Epic Trail of Destruction. Only Slate Plus members get to listen to every Trumpcast episode in full. Sign up now to get access to every Trumpcast episode and support the show. Podcast production by Phil Surkis and Melissa Kaplan. Engineering help from Merritt Jacob. Follow @realTrumpcast on Twitter / https://www.twitter.com/realTrumpcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Virginia Heffernan welcomes back author and leading cult expert, Steven Hassan, to talk about his latest book, The Cult of Trump, and about his own experience being lured into and then recovering from a cult.  Only Slate Plus members get to listen to every Trumpcast episode in full. Sign up now to get access to every Trumpcast episode and support the show. Follow @realTrumpcast on Twitter. Podcast production by Phil Surkis and Melissa Kaplan. Engineering help from Merritt Jacob. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Virginia Heffernan talks to Dr. Greg Dworkin, a Daily Kos contributing editor and the Chief of Pediatric Pulmonology and Medical Director of the Pediatric Inpatient Unit at Danbury Hospital in Danbury, CT. They discuss pandemic preparedness, where to find facts, and how the eerily similar the Coronavirus and the Democratic primary election are reported.  Only Slate Plus members get to listen to every Trumpcast episode in full. Sign up now to get access to every Trumpcast episode and support the show. Follow @realTrumpcast on Twitter Podcast production by Phil Surkis and Melissa Kaplan. Engineering help from Merritt Jacob. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Virginia Heffernan talks to Natasha Bertrand, national security correspondent at Politico, about Trump’s move to temporarily hire loyalist Richard Grenell—who has no intelligence experience—as the top U.S. intelligence official, replacing acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this Trumpcast Plus preview, Virginia Heffernan talks to Mormon writer and activist Sharlee Mullins Glenn about the use of fear to manipulate politics, mistaken conflations of Mormons and Evangelicals when talking about conservative Christians, wedge issues that put Republicans in a hard position, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Virginia Heffernan talks to Windsor Mann (USA Today, The Week) about his penchant for epigrams, Neo-conservatism, more on the relationship between Republicans and Russia, Mitt Romney, Lindsey Graham, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Virginia Heffernan talks to Bill Kristol about Trump's impact on liberal democracy, the unexamined reward structure of becoming a Trumpist, American conservatism in decades past versus today and conservatives' relationship to Russia, isolationist language creeping into politics, and much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this Plus preview, Virginia Heffernan talks to renowned author Dave Eggers about his new book, The Captain and The Glory, connecting with people at Trump rallies and the arch of Trump’s stump speeches, challenges to the “Trump followers are in a cult” theory, and whether Trumpites' minds can be changed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Virginia Heffernan talks to political analyst Rachel Bitecofer about her new electoral theory sweeping the forecasting world, the outlook for 2020, swing voters, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the day he dropped his campaign to be the Republican presidential nominee, Virginia Heffernan talks to former Illinois congressman Joe Walsh about facing Trumpites, the pressure to please conservative advertisers, when the Tea Party became populist, his now-infamous "grabbing my musket" tweet, and his pledge to support the 2020 Democratic nominee for president. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Virginia Heffernan talks to Joel Stein, author of the book In Defense of Elitism, about the different kinds of elites and the people who both love and hate them, connections between crafting and populism, and how to avoid taking the low road in politics. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Virginia Heffernan talks to Michael Rothfeld, New York Times reporter and co-author of The Fixers, about the special cadre of supporters and enablers that allowed Trump to rise to power. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Virginia Heffernan talks to ex-evangelical writer Chrissy Stroop, co-editor of “Empty the Pews: Stories of Leaving the Church,” about being raised in—and leaving—a fundamentalist discipline, what she learned in her religious school, Christian apologetics, where fundamentalism and authoritarianism intersect, and how she lost her visceral fear of Hell. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this Trumpcast Plus preview, Virginia Heffernan talks to writer Karen Schwartz about her recent piece in NBC News about Ken Starr and Alan Dershowitz, then dives deeper into Dershowitz’s former clients and the overall creepiness factor of it all. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Virginia Heffernan talks to Dr. Jennifer Mercieca, professor of rhetoric and author of Demagogue for President: The Rhetorical Genius of Donald Trump, breaking down how he uses language to control his audience, philosophical explorations of Hobbes and Descartes, the unexamined rhetorical life of Hillary Clinton, and rhetorical devices to watch in the 2020 presidential campaigns. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Virginia Heffernan talks to Susan Hennessey and Ben Wittes of Lawfare about their new book, Unmaking the Presidency, which explores Trump’s impact on the presidency and asks how his successor might be able to revive the role. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Virginia Heffernan talks to longtime GOP strategist Rick Wilson about evangelical political issues, media pundits, and stirring the ire of Rush Limbaugh. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Virginia Heffernan talks to Steven Hassan, author of The Cult of Trump, about why we fall for cults, Trump’s brainwashing, and stories of his own deprogramming from a political cult in the 1970s. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Virginia Heffernan talks to Kate Brannen, editorial director of Just Security, about her story uncovering the unredacted version of emails, mostly between Michael Duffey, associate director of national security programs at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and Elaine McCusker, the acting Pentagon comptroller. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Virginia Heffernan talks to Daily Beast White House reporter Asawin Suebsaeng about Jenna Ellis, Vanilla Ice, and reporting in the age of distraction and misinformation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices