Ezra Klein invites you into a conversation on something that matters. How do we address climate change if the political system fails to act? Has the logic of markets infiltrated too many aspects of our lives? What is the future of the Republican Party? What do psychedelics teach us about consciousness? What does sci-fi understand about our present that we miss? Can our food system be just to humans and animals alike? Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher.
The collapse of Graham Platner’s Maine Senate campaign following credible rape allegations exposes deep fractures within the Democratic Party regarding candidate recruitment and vetting. Political strategist Morris Katz, who managed the campaign, acknowledges failures in vetting but defends the broader strategy of seek...
Art functions as a form of "grown-up play," enabling humans to explore and attune to their feelings rather than serving as a purely moral or spiritual endeavor. Creativity often involves "gardening"—creating systems that allow works to evolve—rather than the rigid architectural planning of a final product. While genera...
Xi Jinping’s leadership represents a fundamental shift toward Marxist-Leninist nationalism, where the Chinese Communist Party acts as an accelerator of historical change. Driven by a dialectical worldview, Xi prioritizes state-led industrial dominance and internal control over private economic growth, aiming to secure ...
Clean energy has reached a tipping point where solar and wind power are now the most cost-effective methods for electricity generation, effectively functioning as the "Costco of energy." While technological advancements in battery storage, heat pumps, and electric vehicles provide a clear path toward decarbonization, t...
The "Land for All" confederation model offers a transformative approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by moving beyond the binary of total separation or a single unified state. Co-directors Rula Hardal and May Pundak propose two sovereign, independent nations with open borders, shared institutions, and freedom of...
The 250th anniversary of America serves as a focal point for examining the nation’s history through a lens of both triumph and tragedy. Bryan Stevenson, founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, argues that true national greatness requires a "complete" history that unflinchingly confronts the horrors of slavery, lynchin...
The American Right is undergoing a fundamental transformation, shifting from an institutionally-based movement to one centered on charismatic, autocratic leadership and digital-first activism. Chris Rufo, a central strategist in the counter-DEI movement, argues that institutions are never neutral and that conservatives...
Modern life increasingly mirrors the dystopian, metric-obsessed world of Gary Shteyngart’s 2010 novel, Super Sad True Love Story. Digital platforms have commodified human existence, forcing individuals to constantly rank themselves through metrics, which erodes genuine interiority and the capacity for spontaneous joy. ...
Attention has replaced traditional institutional credentials as the primary substrate of American political success. Candidates now rise by mastering the attentional economy, using charisma, viral content, and high-risk strategies to bypass conventional party gatekeepers. This shift favors figures who project authentic...
The Democratic Party faces a significant foreign policy reckoning, particularly regarding its approach to Israel and the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Matt Duss, executive vice president at the Center for International Policy, argues that the party must move beyond the Biden administration’s failed policies, whi...
The New Right is increasingly unified by "masculinism," an ideology that rejects modern liberal gender equality in favor of traditional, patriarchal hierarchies. This movement, fueled by online subcultures and figures like the "Bronze Age Pervert," frames modernity as a hollow, feminized state that suppresses male vita...
Donald Trump functions as a symptom of deep-seated domestic dissatisfaction rather than a primary cause of global instability, yet his presidency has introduced unprecedented incoherence into American foreign policy. The conflict with Iran and the summit with China reveal a pattern of overconfidence followed by strateg...
Donald Trump prioritizes absolute control over the Republican Party over electoral success in the midterms, viewing the party as his primary power base and protection. Rather than pivoting to the center to secure congressional majorities, he actively purges dissenters and forces candidates to demonstrate personal fealt...
Human progress relies on the capacity for large-scale cooperation, yet the modern liberal order faces a critical challenge from ideologies prioritizing brute force, hierarchy, and dominance. Historian Yuval Noah Harari argues that while nationalism can foster community cohesion, contemporary political movements often d...
Gerrymandering has transformed American House elections into a system of "maximum warfare," where political parties prioritize seat maximization over competitive representation. The Supreme Court’s 2019 Rucho decision effectively removed federal guardrails, allowing states to manipulate district lines with unprecedente...
Uncertainty and discomfort are inevitable threads of the human experience, requiring a shift from avoidance to active engagement. Rather than attempting to eradicate negative feelings, growth stems from developing an intimate, unconditional warmth toward one’s physical sensations, such as the contraction often felt in ...
California’s housing crisis stems from a complex intersection of high construction costs, restrictive local zoning, and bureaucratic inefficiency. To accelerate development, candidates emphasize shifting from reliance on expensive, slow-moving litigation toward state-level incentives and standardized permitting process...
GLP-1 receptor agonists have transformed the landscape of weight management and metabolic health, offering a pharmaceutical intervention that effectively regulates appetite by signaling satiety through the brain. While originally approved for diabetes, these drugs demonstrate significant, weight-independent benefits, i...
Liberalism’s contemporary exhaustion stems from a departure from its historical roots as "liberality," a virtue-based ethic centered on citizen devotion to the common good and mutual connectedness. For centuries, being liberal meant cultivating moral character and fulfilling civic obligations rather than merely maximiz...
The "abundance" movement, a year after the publication of the book Abundance, faces a critical transition from intellectual discourse to tangible policy outcomes. While the concept has achieved significant memetic strength and influenced political rhetoric, actual progress in housing and clean energy remains hindered b...
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