🎙️ Podcasts
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New episodes
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Yes, Trump could get in trouble for his 'IRS settlement' slush fund scheme
Amid a politically punishing backlash against Donald Trump's flagrant $1.776 billion money grab for his criminal allies, a judge is considering whether to investigation if the "IRS settlement" on which the slush fund is based began as a legitimate court case or was a fraud on the court from the beginning. Former…
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Bonus: This is how a prosecutor of organized crime sees Trump's corruption and how to defeat it
Former federal prosecutor Barbara McQuade talks with Rachel Maddow about her acclaimed new book, "The Fix: Saving America from the Corruption of a Mob-Style Government," in which she draws upon her experience prosecuting fraud and organized crime to understand how to defeat Donald Trump's style of intimidation and…
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Chatbots, MDMA, and Finding Love in the Digital Era
Sonja Lyubomirsky, happiness researcher and author of How to Feel Loved , joins Offline to explain the secret to living a contented life—and why the internet makes it so damn hard. If everyone we love and seek to impress is reachable at all times…why are Americans getting less happy, year after year? Sonja and Jon…
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Pope Warns of AI Apocalypse
Tommy and Ben dig into a week of an “almost” deal, a sweeping AI warning, and a terrifying Ebola outbreak. First up, the Iran deal that was supposedly days away somehow produced new US airstrikes instead, and the guys break down why the path to a permanent ceasefire remains littered with obstacles from Netanyahu…
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Special episode: Rachel Maddow in conversation with Steven J. Ross, author of 'The Secret War Against Hate
A special broadcast of Rachel Maddow's recent live event at the 92nd Street Y: A conversation with Steven J. Ross, author of "The Secret War Against Hate."
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Breaking the Cycle of Political Violence
Does political violence ever help a social cause? Zayd Ayers Dohrn, playwright and host of Crooked's "Mother Country Radicals," joins Offline to discuss the complicated legacy of radical activism in America. In his new book, Dangerous, Dirty, Violent, and Young , Zayd dives even deeper into the morally ambiguous…
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Is Trump Planning to Invade Cuba?
Tommy and Ben dig into a week dominated by ominous signs of regime change, nuclear standoffs, and a “historic” summit that left almost everyone disappointed. First they cover the signs pointing to American intervention in Cuba, including reports of Cuban drones, a possible indictment of 94-year-old Raúl Castro, a…
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'The biggest presidential corruption scandal in U.S. history'; Trump shocks nation with brazen grab
Rachel Maddow looks at Donald Trump's attempt to have $1.8 billion taxpayer dollars handed to him to distribute to his friends and allies, and debunks the notion that this money-grab has anything to do with suing the IRS. Rep. Jamie Raskin, who calls Trump's scheme "nothing but a racket," joins to discuss Trump's…
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This Candidacy Is a Test Case for AI Regulation
Why is Palantir, the former employer of congressional candidate Alex Bores, currently running attack ads against him...for working at Palantir? New York Assemblymember Alex Bores joins Offline to explain why his stance on AI has made him a target for the biggest dark money super PAC in the country. Then, he and Jon…
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Keir Starmer’s Last Stand?
Tommy and Ben survey the wreckage of another week in global politics. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer clings to power after Labour was crushed in local elections. Tommy and Ben debate whether Starmer should step aside or stay and fight. Then they run through the latest with Iran, from the short-lived “Project…
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Trump's corruption of the Justice Department yields embarrassing results
As Donald Trump has tried to use the Department of Justice as his personal tool for petty revenge and political intimidation, the department's track record has been abysmal and its frequent mistakes, mortifying. Rachel Maddow takes a look at the degradation Trump has brought to a once-distinguished facet of American…
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Healing Our Broken Brains
Cal Newport, computer scientist and author of Deep Work, joins Offline to explain why we need a revolution in cognitive fitness, and how AI is going to get in the way. Cal and Jon explore how smartphones and AI are destroying our ability to concentrate, how our attention spans are a third of what they were just twenty…
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Bullsh*t Ceasefires Everywhere
Ben and Tommy break down another chaotic week in foreign policy full of bad ideas and worse outcomes. Trump rolls out—and just as quickly unrolls—a new Pentagon plan—dubbed “Project Freedom”—to “guide” ships through the Strait of Hormuz, leaked intelligence reports show that the war has not changed Iran’s nuclear…
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Introducing WITHpod: The AI End Game
AI – and coverage of it – is everywhere. But what is artificial intelligence, really, beyond the buzzword? Each week, in a special new miniseries - ‘The AI End Game’ - Chris Hayes is joined by preeminent experts on AI and its effects to help make sense of this revolutionary time in history.
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Maddow: Trump is terrible at everything except this one thing
Rachel Maddow makes the case that from the first day of his second term, Donald Trump has been engaged in "a concerted and intense targeting of Black Americans," from firings to executive orders and including his Supreme Court gutting the Voting Rights Act, which will likely largely eliminate Black congressional…
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How Screens Have Warped Morality
Megan Garber, staff writer at The Atlantic and author of the new book Screen People , joins Offline to explain how we’re no longer just an audience for the media we consume; we’re also actors and producers in an endless show of our own creation. She and Jon discuss the corrosive nature of an internet filled with “main…
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King Trump Welcomes King Charles
The US-Iran ceasefire is holding, but the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, the global economy is teetering on the edge of disaster, and America's precision weapons stockpile is badly depleted after repeated conflicts with Iran, with experts warning that it could have grave consequences for US readiness in the event of…
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God In The Machine
With Pope Leo XIV stepping up his criticisms of the Trump administration this month, the president is out for blood...and not the transubstantiated kind. Christopher Hale, author of the Letters from Leo newsletter, joins Offline to explain the real threat this woke offline pope poses to MAGA. He and Jon discuss why…
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All the President’s (Corrupt) Men
Tommy and Ben break down another chaotic and consequential week in global affairs. Trump blinks and extends the ceasefire with Iran, but the Strait of Hormuz remains closed as US-Iran negotiations stall. Meanwhile, an internal power struggle between Iran's elected leaders and military is complicating talks, and the…
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The Revolt of the College Grads
New York Times journalist Noam Scheiber stops by the pod to talk to Jon about his new book Mutiny: The Rise and Revolt of the College-Educated Working Class , in which he argues that stagnant wages and rising student debt have changed the economic promise once offered by a college degree. The two discuss how…
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JD Vance’s Global Humiliation
Tommy and Ben walk through a week of epic failures for the Trump administration, from peace talks with Iran to Viktor Orbán’s historic loss in Hungary. They break down everything that was wrong with the US-Iran peace talks, like both sides coming in with maximalist positions, Vice President JD Vance walking out in a…
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Sam Altman's Big Little Lies
New Yorker journalist Andrew Marantz joins Offline to break down his new investigation into Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT. Over the course of hundreds of interviews, including over a dozen with Altman himself, Andrew and his coauthor Ronan Farrow unveiled a leader who tells people exactly what…
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Trump Threatens Genocide
Tommy and Ben try to make sense of a dark and dizzying day in American history, from President Trump's genocidal threat to destroy the 'whole civilization' of Iran, to the announcement of a two-week ceasefire. They break down what Trump's threats to bomb every power plant and bridge in Iran would actually mean —…
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Big Tech's Big Tobacco Moment
Mark Zuckerberg is finally being held accountable–not by government regulators, board members or shareholders, but by two lawsuits. Tech journalist Casey Newtown, editor of Platformer , joins Offline to explain how a young woman in California beat Meta and Google on the grounds that Instagram and YouTube had destroyed…
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Trump Begs Allies to Clean Up Iran Mess
Ben and guest cohost Alyona Minkovski, PSTW's senior producer, try to make sense of the many contradictions and threats coming from President Trump and his administration on Iran, like reports that he wants to make the Strait of Hormuz everyone else’s problem to solve, and claims that regime change has already…
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Optimism In Our Age of Anxiety
Why fight for a better future if we don't believe one is possible? Why organize, why vote? Dr. Deepika Chopra, the "Optimism Doctor," joins the show to talk about the dangers of cynicism, and to explain how optimism is a more rational and democracy-safeguarding response to this political moment. In her new book, The…
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Trump Goes from Obliteration to Negotiation on Iran
In the past few days, Donald Trump went from threatening to obliterate Iran's power plants to announcing a surprise diplomatic reprieve and declaring that the war has been won. This episode breaks down the whiplash: what actually happened, whether the talks are real, why an agreement between the US and Iran will be…
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What We Lose When We Bet on War
Life or death decisions are being gamified for profit on online prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket. But these platforms may also have the potential to create a modernized—if morally questionable—method of opinion polling. Politico Magazine contributing writer Nancy Scola joins Offline to explain the rise of…
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MAGA’s Iran War Meltdown (and Micropenis)
A MAGA civil war erupts over Trump’s war with Iran, JD Vance tries to distance himself, and Megyn Kelly accuses her former Fox News colleague of having a micropenis. Seriously! On today’s show, Tommy and Ben cover the many ways Trump’s war with Iran is going off the rails. The death toll and economic costs keep…
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Trump's Memeification of War
Journalist and historian Anne Applebaum joins Offline to discuss America’s slide towards autocracy, as illustrated through Trump's war of choice in Iran. Anne is a staff writer at The Atlantic, an authoritarianism expert, and the host of the "Autocracy in America" podcast. She and Jon discuss how Trump and the White…
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