The New Yorker Radio Hour

The prospect of Texas “going blue” was one of the big stories throughout this election—and rightly so. In anticipation of this threat, Republican lawmakers redistricted the state after Donald Trump’s win in 2024, carving out new seats calculated to skew Republican. But that gerrymander seemed to be based on the assumption that Latino voters would continue voting along the same lines they had in 2024. The New Yorker staff writer Jesús Rodríguez, who covered James Talarico’s and Gina Hinojosa’s campaigns, talks with David Remnick about the effects of the gerrymander, and what the race in Texas tells Democrats about 2028. Further reading and listening:  “James Talarico’s Final Sprint,” by Jesús Rodríguez“Texas Democrats Venture Into ‘No Man’s Land,’”  by Jesús Rodríguez“Gina Hinojosa Thinks Texas Is Different this Time,” an episode of The New Yorker Radio “The Well-Funded Fight to Keep Latinos Voting Republican,” by Jesús Rodríguez“Gina Hinojosa’s Populism for Democrats,” by Stephania Taladrid New episodes of The New Yorker Radio Hour drop every Tuesday and Friday. Join host David Remnick as he discusses the latest in politics, news, and current events in conversation with political leaders, newsmakers, innovators, New Yorker staff writers, authors, actors, and musicians.   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Though Pete Buttigieg, the former Secretary of Transportation and Indiana mayor, wasn’t on the midterms ballot, he campaigned for Democrats across the country in this election. Buttigieg’s ability to hold his own with red-state audiences and right-leaning media has made him an important voice for the Democratic Party, and he is a likely contender for the 2028 Presidential nomination. He talks with David Remnick about the Democrats’ historic rout; their mandate for the past two years of Donald Trump’s Presidency; and what potential 2028 candidates need to focus on. Further reading and listening:“A Blue Wave Just Crashed on Trump,” by Benjamin Wallace-Wells “Donald Trump’s Repudiation, America’s Revenge,” by Susan B. Glasser“Can Mayor Pete Be a Democratic Front-Runner?,” an episode of The New Yorker Radio Hour New episodes of The New Yorker Radio Hour drop every Tuesday and Friday. Join host David Remnick as he discusses the latest in politics, news, and current events in conversation with political leaders, newsmakers, innovators, New Yorker staff writers, authors, actors, and musicians.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Amid all the prognostication about which party will emerge triumphant during the midterms, there has also been increasing alarm: Will it be a free and fair election? As soon as Donald Trump returned to office, he began making moves to create disruption—demanding private voter data from states, threatening election officials with jail time, and even seizing ballots from prior elections to investigate alleged fraud. And although, so far, none of the White House’s efforts have threatened to significantly alter the results, the Department of Justice has hinted that there is more to come. The U.S. Attorney General, Todd Blanche, has not ruled out using the force of law to prevent election certifications. Furthermore, a lawsuit from the Trump Administration against the State of Alaska is already under way, before a single vote has even been counted. The reporter Barton Gellman and David Remnick discuss the threats to the midterm elections and Gellman’s new piece, “The State Officials Defending the Midterms from the President.” Further reading: “How ICE Is Targeting the 2026 Midterms,” by Jonathan Blitzer“What the Gerrymandering Wars Mean for the Midterms—and 2028,” by Isaac Chotiner“The G.O.P.’s Latest Voter-Suppression Plan,” by Sue Halpern“Donald Trump Already Knows the 2026 Election Is ‘Rigged,’ ” by Susan B. Glasser New episodes of The New Yorker Radio Hour drop every Tuesday and Friday. Join host David Remnick as he discusses the latest in politics, news, and current events in conversation with political leaders, newsmakers, innovators, New Yorker staff writers, authors, actors, and musicians. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Maryland congressman Jamie Raskin has been relentlessly challenging the Trump Administration in his role as the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee. He was the lead manager in the second impeachment of Donald Trump, after the January 6th insurrection. Throughout the past two years, Raskin and his fellow-Democrats have watched with horror as most of the efforts to secure accountability for conduct during the first Trump Administration have been wiped away. But that could all change if Democrats take back congressional control in the midterm elections. Raskin and David Remnick discuss the unprecedented depths of corruption in the current Administration, the possible avenues for accountability if the Democrats win, and how the Party can gain credibility with the electorate. As Raskin tells Remnick, “This has been a money-making operation from Day One. You got to look at this thing like ‘The Sopranos’—this is a family business. They’ve been making billions of dollars now. Trump, in his first year in office, declared openly 2.2 billion dollars that he made on the side. That’s more than a million dollars an hour, and his official Presidential salary is four hundred thousand dollars. That means that he made double his entire Presidential salary in one hour. And so, of course, the rest of his time he’s focussed on the corruption. That’s where the money is.” Further listening:“The Political Scene Live with Jamie Raskin: January 6th and Accountability for Donald Trump,” an episode of The Political Scene“Congressman Jamie Raskin on Impeaching Donald Trump—Again,” an episode of The New Yorker Radio Hour New episodes of The New Yorker Radio Hour drop every Tuesday and Friday. Join host David Remnick as he discusses the latest in politics, news, and current events in conversation with political leaders, newsmakers, innovators, New Yorker staff writers, authors, actors, and musicians.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This summer, an article came out in The Atlantic called “The End of Reading Is Here,” and it put forward statistics that seem to prove the persistent feeling that new technologies are the death knell of reading books. But, looking into the question, the staff writer Nathan Heller finds a more complicated picture, and he draws a different conclusion in “The New Age of Reading.” Heller talks with David Remnick about the surprising statistics on book sales and bookstores; the influence of BookTok on younger readers; and how the C.E.O. James Daunt turned around Barnes & Noble, a company that once looked bound for extinction.  Further reading: “Why ‘Book-Shaming’ Won’t Solve the Children’s Literacy Crisis,” by Jessica Winter“The Battle for Attention,” by Nathan Heller“The End of the English Major,” by Nathan Heller New episodes of The New Yorker Radio Hour drop every Tuesday and Friday. Join host David Remnick as he discusses the latest in politics, news, and current events in conversation with political leaders, newsmakers, innovators, New Yorker staff writers, authors, actors, and musicians.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Senate race between James Talarico and Ken Paxton dominates the news out of Texas, but, in the race for governor, a Democratic state legislator is also running neck and neck with the longtime Republican incumbent, Greg Abbott. Gina Hinojosa is likely leading among independents by as much as twenty-three per cent, according to one recent poll. She tells David Remnick that opposition to data centers and to Abbott’s school-voucher program could lead to a blue wave in Texas. “Nobody in 2026 in Texas has the luxury of fighting culture wars,” Hinojosa says. “We've been doing that for ten years, and we're all worse off.” But, Remnick notes, she seems to hold her fire when it comes to Donald Trump. “Listen, I have to win Trump voters to win this race,” she replies. “Latinos went for Trump in Texas. . . . I don't think it is helpful to rub their noses in his failures.”Further reading:“The Republicans Are Messing with Texas,” by Peter Slevin“The Astonishing Transformation of Austin,” by Lawrence WrightNew episodes of The New Yorker Radio Hour drop every Tuesday and Friday. Join host David Remnick as he discusses the latest in politics, news, and current events in conversation with political leaders, newsmakers, innovators, New Yorker staff writers, authors, actors, and musicians. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A Waymo offers a unique experience: you ride as a passenger behind or next to an empty driver’s seat, the steering wheel turning as though handled by a ghost. The New Yorker staff writer Molly Fischer has been reporting on Waymo, and she tells David Remnick that though the statistics are hard to parse, Waymos appear to be safer than cars driven by humans. Fans of Waymo prefer not putting themselves in the temporary custody of a stranger, but, Fischer says, this appeal is precisely what makes Waymos’ glitches scariest. Now that her reporting is done, Remnick wants to know: Would she take one of the robot taxis by choice?Further reading:“We’re Learning to Live with Waymos. It’s Going Weird,” by Molly Fischer“Waymo Cars, Honey Bears, and the Future of San Francisco,” by Anna Wiener New episodes of The New Yorker Radio Hour drop every Tuesday and Friday. Join host David Remnick as he discusses the latest in politics, news, and current events in conversation with political leaders, newsmakers, innovators, New Yorker staff writers, authors, actors, and musicians. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A growing portion of the electorate appears to recognize the mayhem President Donald Trump has instigated since returning to the Oval Office. That segment includes some of the people who put him back into office, including Rich Baris, who goes by the People’s Pundit on social media. Baris runs Big Data Poll, and appears regularly on “The Charlie Kirk Show” and other right-wing outlets. But he concurs with nonpartisan pollsters that MAGA is fracturing, and he talks with David Remnick about how the President lost the trust of his base; the contempt MAGA voters have for the old Republican Party; and who might take the reins after Trump. Further reading:“The Week Republicans Finally Panicked About Trump,” by Susan B. Glasser“A Never Trumper and a Democrat on Beating MAGA for Good,” by Isaac Arnsdorf“How the Internet Fringe Infiltrated Republican Politics,” by Antonia Hitchens“Tucker Carlson’s Nationalist Crusade,” by Jason Zengerle“Does MAGA Have Ideas?,” by Joshua Rothman New episodes of The New Yorker Radio Hour drop every Tuesday and Friday. Join host David Remnick as he discusses the latest in politics, news, and current events in conversation with political leaders, newsmakers, innovators, New Yorker staff writers, authors, actors, and musicians. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In California, progressives have crafted a ballot initiative that calls for a wealth tax—a one-time, five-per-cent tax on wealth above a billion dollars, earmarked to shore up the state’s health-care system after drastic federal cuts. Wealth inequality is a vast concern, especially among Democrats, and taxes on substantial wealth are broadly popular. Yet, as the New Yorker staff writer Nicholas Lemann reports in “The Battle to Pass a Billionaire Tax,” many prominent Democratic politicians, including Elizabeth Warren, have declined to support it publicly. Lemann talks with David Remnick about why this bellwether progressive issue faces such an uphill battle. Further reading and listening: “On Not Being a Homeowner,” by Anna Holmes “Can California Actually Make Billionaires Pay?,” an episode of The Political Scene“How a Trump-Endorsed Republican Could Become California’s Next Governor,” an episode of The New Yorker Radio Hour New episodes of The New Yorker Radio Hour drop every Tuesday and Friday. Join host David Remnick as he discusses the latest in politics, news, and current events in conversation with political leaders, newsmakers, innovators, New Yorker staff writers, authors, actors, and musicians. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The economic punishment and threats of aggression that Donald Trump has launched against Canada are so severe that its government has looked at how to prepare for U.S. military action. David Remnick sits down with a former senior Canadian politician, Chrystia Freeland, to talk about the disintegration of a rock-solid partnership. Freeland served as the Deputy Prime Minister under Justin Trudeau, and has also held the roles of Minister of International Trade and Minister of Foreign Affairs; she helped negotiate a trade deal in Trump’s first term, which he subsequently broke. Freeland’s new book about the U.S.-Canada relationship is called “Unreliable Boyfriend,” but that title may soft-pedal it. “The vast majority of Canadians see this as a rupture” that will be permanent, she tells Remnick. “They think America is toxic and broken and can never be trusted again. . . . I actually am an outlier, because I think we shouldn’t write America off quite yet.”  Further reading:“What If Canada Joined the E.U.?,” by Ishaan Tharoor“Canada, the Northern Outpost of Sanity,” by Bill McKibben“The Historical Roots of Donald Trump’s Aggressive Nationalism,” by Isaac Chotiner New episodes of The New Yorker Radio Hour drop every Tuesday and Friday. Join host David Remnick as he discusses the latest in politics, news, and current events in conversation with political leaders, newsmakers, innovators, New Yorker staff writers, authors, actors, and musicians. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.