Six Questions with Steven Beschloss

Charlie Sykes spent years wondering whether America still had a “coalition of the decent.” Last week, he says, it showed up. The co-founder of The Bulwark joins Steven Beschloss to take stock of the midterms, which he calls the most comprehensive repudiation of a president and his party in more than half a century. He says it isn’t the end. Trump hasn’t learned a thing from it, and the next two years could be uglier and more dangerous than the last two. Don’t expect a Republican jailbreak either. They bought the ticket, Sykes says, and now they’re starting to turn on each other. Steven puts six questions to him: whether Trump can still sell a big lie, who Congress should investigate (Sykes’s answer is “all of them”), what policy is now possible, and how the media has to change. His advice to the new Democratic majorities is to be relentless on accountability (“Do not make the Merrick Garland mistake”) and popular on policy, because “they are renting these voters, they did not buy these voters.” Then the lightning round: dogs, German shepherds in the woods, Abraham Lincoln, a mid-answer change of heart, and why this election gave him hope.

This Tuesday saw Democrats deliver big wins up and down the ballot across America. Mary Trump, founder of Mary Trump Media and niece of Donald himself, joins Steven Beschloss to answer Six Questions about where the United States goes from here. Among the topics discussed: what accountability looks like and who needs to lead Democrats into this new era (spoilers: Mary does NOT think it should be Jeffries or Schumer), and next steps in the allegations against Donald Trump and the continued investigation into the Epstein files.

There is only one member of Congress under the age of 30. David Hogg founded Leaders We Deserve to invest in young politicians, and he joins Steven Beschloss to make the case for why a younger government is a more effective government. Put simply: if we want young people to vote with enthusiasm, they need to see the issues that matter to them represented in government. On the issues, David argues the importance of showing voters that affordability and corruption are a single issue when it comes to Republicans running the government. By fighting government corruption and creating more accountability, politicians will be less emboldened to line the pockets of themselves and their wealthy donors.

The election ends in less than two weeks, but its impacts will ripple outward for a long time, whether it goes as we think it will or not. Steven welcomes Frank Figliuzzi, former FBI Assistant Director and host of Lincoln Square's The Frank Figliuzzi Show, to talk about the threats we face and what comes next.

We're in the home stretch of the most consequential elections of our lifetimes, and everything depends on our ability to show up en masse. Nobody knows about showing up better than Ezra Levin, the founder of Indivisible and one of the organizers of the No Kings events that have energized the American opposition to Trump (that's us, btw). He joins Steven Beschloss to discuss the importance of showing up, what he fears about the election, and what we need to do after.

Steven welcomes author Anand Giridharadas, whose new book 'MAN IN THE MIRROR' is an intimate and deeply reported story of what happened when two Americans from dramatically different walks of life met on a subway in New York. The complicated story ends in tragedy, but it is quintessentially American, and reflective of our current moment.

Few on the left have been attacked as viciously and brazenly as President Biden's son, Hunter Biden. He joins Steven Beschloss to talk about the attacks, his sobriety, and this current moment in American politics (and what comes next).

Author and journalist David Corn joins Steven to talk about his latest book and dispel the 'Russia Hoax' hoax. Is Trump a useful idiot? Well...

Mainstream legacy media is broken at a time when we could really, really use it. But journalists like Scott MacFarlane are proving that good reporting can still exist, and now without pressure from billionaires. MacFarlane joins Steven to talk about how holding power to account depends on a truly independent media ecosystem.

Stuart Stevens came up as one of the most effective strategists in the Republican Party. He helped elect George W. Bush, and worked with candidates like Mitt Romney and many, many others. He was also among the first to jump ship in the Trump years. His book, "It Was All a Lie," remains one of the most essential reads for understanding our current political moment. He joins Steven to talk very candidly about what's at stake and the lengths we need to go to if we want to move past authoritarianism.