Founding father Noah Rothman joins us today to discuss the day's news before we offer a brief history of the birth, evolution, and growth of the COMMENTARY podcast as we note our tenth anniversary (and fifth anniversary of going daily). Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices…

Liel Leibovitz joins us today to discuss the ongoing controversy over the immigration and speech status of Columbia extremist Mahmoud Khalil and how he, as someone who has been through the immigration process, views these incendiary matters. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices…

Today's podcast is an effort to help me find my bearings in a world in which Ukraine agrees to a cease-fire, RFK Jr. is doing an ad for Steak'n'Shake, Donald Trump is selling Teslas on the White House lawn, and Democrats are siding with a terror-supporting activist. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices…

The question we ask on today's podcast about the Trump administration is simple: "Can't anybody here play this game?" What game? We explain and you should give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesAv Commentary Magazine

Tough times at Columbia University as hundreds of millions of dollars in federal money are revoked and a leader of the pro-Hamas protests is taken into custody by ICE. It's a huge development. Not so good: The antics of "hostage negotiator" Adam Boehler. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices…

We take an offbeat tack today, jumping off from a landmark achievement in the world of AI to ask just how close we are to the "singularity," and what that means for the future of humanity. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesAv Commentary Magazine

What does Donald Trump's new threat against Hamas mean for the next phase of the hostage deal? And what options does the administration have for cracking down on campus anti-Semitism? Also, where do things stand between Trump and Zelenskyy at the moment? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices…

The not-really-a-State-of-the-Union on Tuesday night was notable more for the self-destructive shenanigans of the Democrats in the Capitol than it was for the rhetoric of Donald Trump. We break it all down. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesAv Commentary Magazine

The tariffs now imposed on Mexico, Canada, and China threaten to hit Americans in the pocketbook, and given the results of the last election, we discuss why the president would be pursuing this policy when he should be doing what he can to lower prices. And where should "honor" enter into it when talking about American commitments and American alli…

What's with all the "sex worker" talk at the Oscars? Why couldn't Adrien Brody just condemn anti-Semitism in his acceptance speech for a role in which he plays a Holocaust survivor? Who was to blame for the fight in the Oval Office? And what is the "Witkoff framework"? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices…

The jaw-dropping Oval Office set-to between Trump, Vance, and Zelenskyy is the subject of this emergency podcast. A grave moment for the United States. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesAv Commentary Magazine

Rob Long joins us today to discuss Trump's gaslighting on Ukraine, the fight over the Jeffrey Epstein documents, and whether the Oscars might go Hamas. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesAv Commentary Magazine

A media-centric show today, as we examine Jeff Bezos's announcement of changes to the opinion policies of the Washington Post, the complaints of the White House press corps about access to the president, and whether the new book on covering up for Biden's infirmities will cover up the press's complicity. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choi…

Republicans get done what they needed to get done in the House of Representatives. And in Israel, hostages are buried and painful eulogies delivered, which we read in full. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesAv Commentary Magazine

The courts are balking, Macron is correcting, the vote on Ukraine was shameful, and appointing a podcaster to be #2 at the FBI is dumb. It's 35 days in; maybe the president needs to start focusing on doing things well? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesAv Commentary Magazine

Today's podcast asks: Are Trump officials finding it necessary to echo the boss's "Ukraine started the war" in the same way Trump officials in the first month of the first administration were forced to say his inaugural crowd size was the biggest in history? And is Elon Musk off the chain? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit mega…

Jonathan Schanzer joins us after the monstrous day in which Gazans danced around the coffins of a baby and a toddler who, we learned, had both been shot in the head more than a year ago—and around the coffin in which, as it turned out, their mother's body had not been placed. What will the rage and horror inside Israel mean for the continuation of …

Today we discuss Hamas's killing of the Bibas children and the choices facing Israel as the next phase of the hostage/cease-fire deal approaches. We then move on to Donald Trump's allergy to allies and his view of global security. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices…

The podcast analyzes Donald Trump and Elon Musk's joint interview with Sean Hannity before trying to figure out what's going on with Trump accusing Ukraine of starting the war. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesAv Commentary Magazine

If you want to move fast and break things, the problem is that you may break things you want—and you'll look sloppy, careless, and incompetent in the process. Is that what's happening with DOGE and Elon Musk? And what on earth is New York state Kathy Hochul doing with this idea she should "remove" the duly elected mayor of New York City? Give a lis…

Dan Senor joins the podcast today to discuss his remarkable conversation with former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on his Call Me Back podcast and its eye-opening detail about the war that erupted on October 7, 2023. Then we talk about the Justice Department, the "constitutional crisis" that isn't, and the controversy in Europe that is. Giv…

Eli Lake joins the podcast to discuss the resignation of the interim U.S. attorney in New York and her argument that she could not in good conscience carry out the order to ask a court to drop charges against Mayor Eric Adams. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices…

Donald Trump's moves to end the war between Russia and Ukraine suggests he is pursuing a kind of foreign policy we haven't seen in the United States since the 1920s and 1930s. What are the consequences of that? And what of Hamas announcing it will free three hostages this weekend after "suspending" the release earlier this week? Give a listen. Lear…

As liberals continue to criticize and make fun of Donald Trump's Gaza clearance plan, it still stands as the only proposal on the table—so it's more likely to constitute a roadmap for the future than anything else is right now. The inability of Trump's enemies even to answer his ideas is the overarching theme of today's podcast. Give a listen. Lear…

Today Ruthie Blum joins the podcast to discuss Donald Trump's demand for Hamas to release all hostages by Saturday at noon. What happens next and what choices does Benjamin Netanyahu face? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesAv Commentary Magazine

How does the president's appearance at the Super Bowl connect to his aggressive moves against the federal government's overspending? It does in ways you wouldn't expect, and we try to explain. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesAv Commentary Magazine

Mark Halperin joins the podcast today to provide an overview on what he believes is an unprecedented and overwhelming beginning to Trump 2—and why Trump's opposition continually misunderstands his appeal and his own political savvy. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices…

What happened to the liberal ideal of speaking for and about common sense? How did America's liberals become advocates for wildly radical ideas? Is there a path back to sanity for them? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesAv Commentary Magazine

Donald Trump says America will take "an ownership position" in a Gaza that is emptied, cleared, and rebuilt. This epochal proposal, with no precedent and no antecedent, makes this a new Day One in the Middle East. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesAv Commentary Magazine

In the morning, a tariff war; in the evening, a declaration of a truce in the tariff war. If there's no tariff war, was there ever going to be a tariff war? Were we silly for taking it seriously? And what does this portend for the talks with Israel on its war with Hamas, now currently quiescent? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visi…

As Donald Trump attempts to impose a foreign and economic policy regime that has been in the doghouse for eight decades now, he is staking his presidency on ideas that seem to have been discredited by history and elementary logic. But who knows? Maybe he'll succeed. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices…

James B. Meigs joins the podcast to talk about the DC plane-helicopter collision and what it tells us about disasters, after which we examine the RFK-Gabbard-Patel confirmation hearings and what they tell us about the state of conspiracy theorizing in the United States. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices…

Will RFK Jr. make it through after his contentious confirmation hearing? How will Tulsi Gabbard fare, and what is behind the MAGA intellectual passion for her nomination. Could it be hatred of...us? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesAv Commentary Magazine

The executive orders and proposals over the past couple of days on buying out federal workers, transsexual surgery, and anti-Semitism are stunning alterations in the course of recent American history. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesAv Commentary Magazine

Eliana Johnson joins us today to discuss the president's firings of Justice Department prosecutors who worked on his case during the Biden years and the dismissal of inspectors general throughout the federal government. And what's this about the guy playing Captain America saying that Captain America doesn't represent America? Give a listen. Learn …

Donald Trump dispatched a challenge from Colombia in record time this weekend on his immigration policies, just after successful visits to North Carolina and Los Angeles to survey disaster damage. What does all this portend for his presidency? We break it down. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices…

Chris Stirewalt joins the podcast today to discuss Donald Trump's efforts to dominate the news and whether they are simply his way or a canny strategy to advance his interests. And we talk about the revelatory conversation between two reporters about how Politico killed stories that might have been injurious to Joe Biden's chances in 2020. Give a l…

The shocked impotence with which liberals and Democrats have greeted the aggressive Trump moves on immigration is the key subject of today's discussion, along with efforts in the Senate to delay, pointlessly, Trump's cabinet nominees. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices…

Day Three is the same as Days 1 and 2—actions that are revolutionary in a good way and actions that are disturbing or actively bad. Which ones? Why? We break it down. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesAv Commentary Magazine

Eli Lake joins the podcast today to talk about the flurry of Trump activity on Day 1 of his administration and the two disgraceful sets of pardons, Trump's and Biden's. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesAv Commentary Magazine

We lied! We said there would be no podcast today but we just couldn't stay away. Too much news. The inaugural, the pardons, and the hostage deal. So give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesAv Commentary Magazine

The deal having been struck, the hostage question now goes to which hostages emerge first and in what condition and what this will do to the Israeli people. As Trump prepares for his second inaugural, what is his moral framework going to be, if there will be any? And what is this nonsense Chuck Schumer is telling the New York Times about how brave …

Dan Senor joins us today as we review the Biden farewell address and try to make sense out of the ceasefire-hostage deal. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesAv Commentary Magazine

Noah Rothman joins us today to discuss his landmark piece in the February issue of COMMENTARY, "A Clockwork Blue." But first we talk about the hostage deal and the Democratic failure to "get" Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices…

The details of the ceasefire/hostage negotiations in Doha between Israel and Hamas are not viewed favorably on today's podcast, to put it mildly, and suggest there may be danger ahead when it comes to the Trump administration and what it's willing to do to claim successes. And we also view unfavorably Jack Smith's report on how, yeah, he woulda got…

The ongoing disaster in California has exposed the failures of the dominant ideology of the American left just as the moment that its transmission vector, the mainstream media, is going the way of the dodo. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesAv Commentary Magazine

What is the connection between the policy failures in California, the fires that continue to rage, and progressive ideology dating back a century? We break it down. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesAv Commentary Magazine

The Los Angeles fires might prove a hinge moment in 21st century political history depending on how California's progressive leaders respond to the calamity and how to rebuild after the crisis is over. We discuss this and Trump's response. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices…

The incoming president gave a press conference yesterday, and what a press conference it was, from Greenland to Panama to Canada to NATO to Ukraine, and the threat of unleashed hell in the Middle East should the hostages remain in Hamas captivity upon his inauguration. We break it down. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megapho…

Why did Justin Trudeau step down? Why is Facebook giving up on "content moderation"? Why do people no longer trust "experts" who may not really be experts? Why did Biden give a Medal of Freedom to George Soros...and George Romney? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices…