Jonathan Gruber on the broken American health-care system, Obamacare, the Trump administration’s war on vaccines and science, and being on the wrong end of Republican outrage. Plus: David on Donald Trump’s Ukraine “peace plan,” recent scandals, and They Thought They Were Free, by Milton Mayer.
Sam Tanenhaus on William F. Buckley Jr., his legacy, and his impact on the modern American conservative movement. Plus: David on the end of DOGE and the novel Alice Adams by Booth Tarkington.
The historian Margaret MacMillan on the impact of the Trump-led American withdrawal from world leadership. Plus: David on the corrupting effects of lavish foreign gifts to Trump, and Charles Dickens’s The Old Curiosity Shop.
Sarah Longwell on the growing voting divide between the sexes, the 2025 elections, and how Donald Trump remade electoral politics. Plus: David Frum discusses the deal to end the government shutdown and “The Emergency,” by The Atlantic’s George Packer.
Quico Toro on the Trump administration’s dangerous game of brinksmanship with Venezuela, and why a conflict in the Caribbean could be a disaster for everyone involved. Plus: Trump’s newest attempt at a constitutional coup, and a discussion of The Oppermanns, by Lion Feuchtwanger.
Tom Nichols on Trump, the military, and what happens when loyalty replaces law. Plus: the Trump administration’s “politicized stupidity” and a discussion of Eugène Ionesco’s play Rhinoceros.
Ken Burns joins David Frum to discuss how his new documentary captures both the triumphs and the tragedies of the nation’s founding. Plus: Donald Trump’s TikTok giveaway and Benjamin Nathans’s To the Success of Our Hopeless Cause.
The biographer Charles Moore on Margaret Thatcher’s legacy, the soul of conservatism, and what today’s right has forgotten. Plus: David Frum on the current government shutdown and Stefan Zweig’s The World of Yesterday.
Former Education Secretary Margaret Spellings on testing, accountability, and how to reverse the decade-long decline in U.S. student achievement. Plus: David Frum on Donald Trump’s cult of sycophancy.
Sam Harris on Silicon Valley’s turn toward authoritarian politics and the collapse of the information commons. Plus: Donald Trump’s politicization of prosecutions and Robert Proctor’s The Nazi War on Cancer.