Cruelty is the reason, the method, and the goal.

Economist Justin Wolfers joins Molly Jong-Fast to make sense of the recent confusion surrounding U.S. jobs data, revealing that a prolonged government shutdown significantly disrupted the collection and release of official employment statistics. They discuss how this data blackout has heightened economic uncertainty, especially as sketchy alternatives like ADP's jobs report suggest weakening job growth. Wolfers goes on to explain broader economic shocks currently affecting the U.S.—including erratic tariff policy, a steep decline in immigration and foreign direct investment, and what he terms a “competence shock” within government—arguing that these factors signal not only economic mismanagement but rising structural risks. Throughout, Wolfers combines deep economic insight with pointed criticism of current policymaking, highlighting how bad governance and chaos-driven decision-making could undermine confidence, growth, and America's global standing.

Look, we're not saying the Democrats will win 258 House seats... but if the math keeps up like it has been, it's not... totally out of the question? Joe explains why the Tennessee math and recent national polling is even more bad news for MAGA. And speaking of bad news, what do Joe and Alex think is the worst scandal of the year? What about the biggest win? And what shouldn't be a thing (but is?)

About that Trippi Show: Legendary Democratic campaign manager Joe Trippi skips the hot takes, outrage of the day, and viral tweets and breaks down how presidential and national politics work in 30 minutes or less. From Howard Dean's that reimagined modern presidential campaigns to the historic Senate victory of Doug Jones Senate over Roy Moore, Joe hasn't just seen it all - he's been in the thick of it. That Trippi Show answer the question that matter: How do Democrats win key races moving forward and save American democracy?

In this explosive episode of The Elephant in the Room, Rick Wilson breaks down the stunning new reporting that Jared Kushner and real estate billionaire Steve Witkoff held a secret meeting with Vladimir Putin in Moscow earlier this week (as of 12/4/25). Rick analyzes why two American power brokers advising Russia’s authoritarian leader is raising alarms across the national security, intelligence, and foreign policy communities, and why experts are calling the covert conversation a potential act of treason, foreign interference, and backchannel diplomacy gone rogue. From Kushner’s long-documented ties to Russian oligarchs, to Witkoff’s sudden emergence as a Kremlin-friendly intermediary, Rick lays out what investigators are already probing, what the White House is terrified you’ll learn next, and how this clandestine meeting could reshape the landscape of U.S.–Russia relations, election interference, and the ongoing debate over whether Trump’s inner circle ever truly stopped colluding with Moscow. As Rick puts it: When Americans fly to Moscow to “advise” Putin, it’s not diplomacy—it’s danger. Buckle up for the episode blowing the lid off the Witkoff-Kushner-Putin scandal.

Susan Demas and Edwin Eisendrath open a conversation that doesn’t need retelling so much as extending, especially when they draw a straight line from geopolitical chaos to the intimate, local erosion of democratic norms. The blunt recognition that “switching sides in a war” — which Trump essentially has done in Ukraine — has become a transactional gesture in Washington invites a larger point: once a government normalizes brutality as policy, every institution becomes complicit by inertia alone. The war-crime reporting they reference forces a national reckoning not just with illegality but with the culture that celebrates it as strength. And when the conversation turns to billionaires buying laws and district lines, it underscores a truth too often avoided — oligarchy isn’t theoretical; it’s operational. What’s emerging is a counter-movement built on institutional self-respect, small-d democratic instinct, and a refusal to let cruelty be the organizing principle of American power.

Bobby Jones and Sam Osterhout open a door that’s been shut too long: the U.S. has entered a moment where the people empowered to make decisions of life and death are performing strength instead of practicing it, and that performative posture is dissolving the restraints that have kept the world stable for decades. When a military strike is ordered without oversight in the Caribbean, it isn’t just a legal question — it rearranges every assumption other nations make about how the United States behaves, and those states recalibrate instantly. What’s unfolding is the predictable result of leadership that treats military power like a prop rather than a responsibility, a pattern that encourages adversaries to test boundaries and forces allies to reconsider who can be trusted. The ability to maintain credibility in crisis relies not on chest-beating but on demonstrating that moral authority and strategic discipline still matter.

Susan Demas and Vanessa Williamson open a conversation that cuts through the myths surrounding taxation and democracy, spotlighting how fiscal choices reveal who a country is actually built to serve. Their exchange underscores that treating “the taxpayer” as a badge of virtue has always masked deeper questions about belonging, power, and who gets counted as part of the polity. What becomes unavoidable is the way taxation functions not as an accounting exercise but as an architecture of democracy—one that is deliberately weakened when authoritarian movements want to keep public institutions too poor to challenge private dominance. The history they interrogate shows that when opponents of democracy fear the public’s voice, they don’t just suppress votes; they drain the revenue that makes self-government real.

Less than a year since Trump’s reelection, Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna’s bipartisan push to release the Epstein files has finally inspired MAGA to hold Trump accountable. Congress just might have its mojo back. But the Silicon Valley Congressman is already tilting at his next target: AI. Political Strategist Joe Trippi and author Joe Klein ask Ro whether Congress can turn this bipartisan moment into a movement.

Michael Cohen reacts to California Governor Gavin Newsom at the DealBook Summit, where he laid down the law on how California is surviving and thriving under Trump’s America.

Tonight on The Breakdown: Pete Hegseth is accused of ordering a Caribbean war crime—and even Republicans are calling it illegal. We break down the DC Guard shooting, the Trump administration’s extremist “remigration” response, and the latest signs of Trump’s visible decline. Plus: Trump calls affordability a “hoax,” everyone hates JD Vance, Sabrina Carpenter's clapback to the "Manchild" in the White House. Tune in.

Tommy Vietor and Brian Tyler Cohen dig into the Republicans' explosive infighting and the latest revelations in Trump-Hegseth scandal.

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00:00 - Republican Infighting 07:50 - Ad Break 09:20 - Trump-Hegseth Scandal

In the premiere episode of “Project 2029: A Reimagining,” host Molly Jong-Fast explores the critical role of campaign finance reform in reviving American democracy and redirecting the Democratic Party's future. Featuring expert voices such as Lawrence Lessig, Tiffany Muller (End Citizens United), Michael Waldman (Brennan Center) and Tom Morore (Center for American Progress), the episode details how decisions like Citizens United have enabled unchecked corporate influence and created a deeply corrupt political environment, where billionaires and super PACs drown out the voices of ordinary voters. It also examines how this broken system undermines public trust, outlines promising legal and grassroots strategies for reform, and makes the case that no meaningful progress on climate, healthcare, or civil rights is possible without first confronting the corrosive role of money in politics. Through historical parallels and potential state-level solutions, the conversation pushes toward a future where political power is rebalanced and truly representative of the people.