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© 2019- 2025 The Realignment
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The United States is in the midst of a dramatic political realignment with shifting views on national security, economics, technology, and the role of government in our lives. Saagar Enjeti and Marshall Kosloff explore this with thinkers, policymakers, and more.
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Niskanen Summer Institute: https://www.niskanencenter.org/niskanen-summer-institute-democracy-that-works/The Affordability Framework: https://economicsecurityproject.org/news/introducing-the-affordability-framework-a-tool-for-understanding-americas-affordability-crisis/Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignmentEmail the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.com
Oliver Libby Forbes Profile: https://www.forbes.com/sites/nelldebevoise/2025/11/11/why-americas-next-big-idea-isnt-about-doing-more--its-about-building-smarter/Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignmentEmail the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.comOliver Libby, civic investor and author of Strong Floor, No Ceiling: Building a New Foundation for the American Dream, joins The Realignment. Marshall and Oliver discuss his post-2024 Strong Floor, No Ceiling framework: a strong floor below which Americans shouldn't fall (healthcare, education, work, housing, opportunity), and no ceiling on aspiration and growth (with rules), why Americans are giving up on the American dream, what a successful national service program would look like (and why previous versions failed to meet their promise), how wealth and power stress the social contract, and why an alternative to MAGA hasn't arrived yet.
Hardball Substack: https://thechrismatthews.substack.com/Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignmentEmail the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.comChris Matthews, former host of MSNBC's Hardball (now on Substack) and author of Lessons from Bobby: Ten Reasons Robert F. Kennedy Still Matters, joins The Realignment. Marshall and Chris discuss Robert F. Kennedy's legacy after last month's 100-year centenary of his birth, what his life, career, and assassination meant for American liberalism, the politics of working-class and rural Americans, RFK's ability to surmount racial divisions, and why authenticity matters more than surface-level branding, as demonstrated by the careers of President Trump, Representative AOC, Senator Bernie Sanders, and Senator John Fetterman.
Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignmentEmail the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.comShadi Hamid, Washington Post Columnist and author of The Case for American Power, returns to The Realignment. Marshall and Shadi discuss his case for American power despite one's opposition to the country's past and present misuse of power, his intellectual journey from Iraq War protestor to power advocate, why polls find that Democrats and the left-liberals are increasingly unpatriotic, and why Democratic Party elites lacked the credibility to make the strongest case against Trump in 2024.
Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignmentEmail the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.comThe Quincy Institute's William D. Hartung and Ben Freeman, authors of Trillion Dollar War Machine: How Runaway Military Spending Drives America into Foreign Wars and Bankrupts Us at Home, join The Realignment. Marshall, William, and Ben debate and discuss the origins of America's proposed record trillion-dollar Pentagon budget, why the budget spirals upwards despite every 21st-century president's promise to disengage abroad and invest at home, the role of money and corruption in U.S. foreign policy decisions, the proper use of American power abroad, and the origin of our foreign policy debacles in Afghanistan, Iraq, Gaza, and Ukraine.
The Atlantic | A Post-Literate Age: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/10/journalism-literature-media-trump/684752/Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignmentEmail the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.comGeorge Packer, Staff Writer at The Atlantic and author of The Emergency, returns to The Realignment. Marshall and George discuss his new work of Fiction: The Emergency, his transition back to fiction after works of journalism in an increasingly post-literate society, the resonance of the book's theme of living through imperial collapse, boredom, and a lack of faith, why the American liberal project feels lost today in an era of populist backlash, and why the themes of his previous books, The Unwinding and Blood of the Liberals, are critical to anyone looking to chart America's path forward.
Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignmentEmail the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.comJeffrey Rosen, President of the National Constitution Center and author of The Pursuit of Liberty: How Hamilton vs. Jefferson Ignited the Lasting Battle Over Power in America, returns to The Realignment. Marshall and Jeffrey discuss how debates over Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson's ideas about the power of government has shaped America's political debates since the 18th century, whether our struggle to make government work effectively to accomplish its goals results from too much Jeffersonianism, why political philosophy isn't just an academic interest, and how Presidents Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump's project of attacking the administrative state and the government power will stand the test of time.
Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignmentEmail the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.comJake Tapper, CNN host and author of Race Against Terror: Chasing an Al Qaeda Killer at the Dawn of the Forever War, joins The Realignment. Marshall and Jake discuss the saga of the first and only successful prosecution of an Al Qaeda fighter in American courts, why the Obama administration failed to shut down Guantanamo Bay, whether terrorism is best fought by civilian or military means, and the applicability of the post-9/11 approach to fighting terrorism to the Trump administration's airstrikes against Venezuelan boats that the Pentagon claims traffic drugs and cartel organizations in Mexico.
Deciding to Win Report: Deciding To Win – Toward A Common Sense Renewal of the Democratic PartySemafor: Left-wing ideas have wrecked Democrats’ brand, new report warnsGOP Autopsy Report: RNCreport03182013.pdfRealignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignmentEmail the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.com
Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignmentEmail the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.comLast week, Marshall interviewed Reihan Salam, President of the Manhattan Institute, at Newark's Aspen Ideas Festival: Economy. Marshall and Reihan discussed culture's impact on the economy and politics through the lens of immigration. They cover the struggles of multigenerational working-class immigrants facing a new cultural and economic landscape and the right's increasing turn against H1B visas and high-skilled immigration through the lens of Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy's comments about American children choosing sleepovers over hard work.
Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignmentEmail the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.comFrank DiStefano, author of The Next Realignment: Why America's Parties Are Crumbling and What Happens Next and the Renew the Republic Substack, returns to The Realignment. Marshall and Frank discuss why they were attracted to the idea of a "realignment" before it was cool and obvious, why the breakdown of parties and institutions is fundamentally about a "crisis of legitimacy," the importance of building an ideological movement versus focusing on political parties, and why the abundance agenda, especially in its less wonky versions, is a useful vehicle for forcing institutions to answer the "what are we trying to do here," question.
Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignmentEmail the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.com
https://abundanceelected.com/about-us/https://www.axios.com/2025/09/03/democrats-abundance-movement-groupRealignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignmentEmail the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.comGiselle Hale, Managing Partner at the Abundance Network and former Mayor of Redwood City, CA, joins The Realignment. Marshall and Giselle discuss Abundance Network's newly announced Abundance Elected Network, a community of local elected officials in city and county government interested in abundance and state capacity. They discuss why the local government version of the abundance discourse is completely different than the national level, think tank and pundit debate, how local officials are operationalizing abundance ideas, and what an outcomes-centered politics could look like.
Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignmentEmail the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.comDoug Most, author of Launching Liberty: The Epic Race to Build the Ships That Took America to War, joins The Realignment. Marshall and Doug discuss the untold story of the construction of Liberty Ships, the massive cargo vessels that carried tanks, jeeps, food, and ammunition to allied forces in World War II. The conversation explores the parallels between World War II problem-solving and contemporary debates about infrastructure, industrial policy, and the private sector's role in government, the importance of bringing a "problem-solving" approach to government, and how the pragmatic choice of emphasizing "ugly duckling" ships over Hitler's obsession with engineering marvels made all the difference.
Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignmentEmail the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.comNancy Scola, reporter and journalist focused on the battle of ideas in Washington, returns to The Realignment. Marshall and Nancy discuss the three big ideas-focused conferences in DC in September: The new right National Conservatism Conference, Abundance 2025, and this week's Anti-Monopoly Summit. They cover the competing stories and ideas discussed at these events, the degree to which each convening contradicts the others, the difficult task of holding bipartisan gatherings during a time of polarization and factionalism, and how politicians can use ideas to build their political brands during an era of anti-establishment and voter skepticism.
1Failure to Communicate Substack: https://failuretocommunicate.substack.com/Danielle Lee Tomson: https://failuretocommunicate.substack.com/p/beyond-messagingDanielle Lee Tomson: https://failuretocommunicate.substack.com/p/the-authenticity-gapRealignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignmentEmail the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.comDanielle Lee Tomson, author of the forthcoming Under the Influence: What's Real When America Feels Fake, joins The Realignment. Marshall and Danielle discuss the right's multi-decade project of participatory, oppositional media, and why the effort culminated in President Trump's 2024 election victory. They unfavorably contrast the center-left's post-2024 response, with its focus on top-down marketing, "ideas" disconnected from a broader story and understanding of the country, highlight the importance of storytelling when it comes to creating the "common sense" that oppositional movements require, and compare and contrast the worldviews and stories of the left, right, and center.
Must-Read on Political Violence in America: Days of Rage: America's Radical Underground, the FBI, and the Forgotten Age of Revolutionary ViolenceJerusalem Demsas in The Argument on Abundance vs. National Conservatism: A Tale of Two Ballrooms Steve Teles on "The Varieties of Abundance: Varieties of Abundance - Niskanen CenterNew Cascadian Abundance Substack: What is Cascadian Abundance? - by Kelly JiangRealignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignmentEmail the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.comSteve Teles, Niskanen Senior Fellow and Johns Hopkins University Professor, returns to The Realignment. After a brief note on Charlie Kirk's assassination yesterday in Utah, Marshall and Steve discuss their takeaways from last week's Abundance 2025 Conference in DC, tensions between the left-liberal wings of the Abundance project and the right-wing, "Dark Abundance" crew, the contrast between the dueling Abundance and National Conservatism conferences, and where the broader effort goes next after the previous week's events.
Varieties of Abundance: https://www.niskanencenter.org/abundance-varieties/PDF Version: https://www.niskanencenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Varieties-of-Abundance.pdfRealignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignmentEmail the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.comSteve Teles, Senior Fellow at the Niskanen Center, returns to The Realignment. Ahead of next week's 2025 Abundance in DC, Marshall and Steve discuss his new Niskanen Center paper on "The Varieties of Abundance." In Steve's telling, despite broad agreement within the Abundance movement on the need to increase supply, challenge existing incumbents who benefit from scarcity, and the critical role of enhanced state capacity in addressing America's challenges, there are existing and potential varieties of Abundance across the ideological and geographic spectrums. Just as the late 19th- and early 20th-century Progressive Movement held a shared critique of the industrial-era American state, different actors took the project in different directions. Theodore Roosevelt, Herbert Hoover, and Woodrow Wilson were all progressives, but operated in separate camps. In Steve's telling, abundance is already operating accordingly. In the paper, he identifies six varieties of Abundance: Red Plenty, Cascadian Abundance, Liberal Abundance, Moderate-Abundance Synthesis, Abundance Dynamism, and Dark Abundance. The aim of the paper is not to be overly inside-baseball, but to offer readers and listeners a framework for understanding the diversity of actors, institutions, and ideologies that have positively engaged with the Abundance framework.
Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignmentEmail the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.comDan Wang, Research Fellow at Stanford University's Hoover History Lab and author of Breakneck: China's Quest to Engineer the Future, joins The Realignment. Marshall and Dan discuss China's quest to become a techno-industrial superpower, how China's "engineering state" contrasts with America's "lawyerly society," why China has successfully built megaprojects vs. America's stalled efforts at industrial policy, high speed rail, and electrification, whether both countries have entered into a cold war, and the downsides of the engineering states top-down control.
REALIGNMENT NEWSLETTER: https://therealignment.substack.com/PURCHASE BOOKS AT OUR BOOKSHOP: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignmentEmail Us: realignmentpod@gmail.comScott Anderson, author of King of Kings: The Iranian Revolution: A Story of Hubris, Delusion, and Catastrophic Miscalculation, joins The Realignment. Marshall and Scott discuss the historical legacy of the rise and fall of the Shah of Iran, how the rise of religious fundamentalism reshaped America's relationship with Iran and the broader Middle East, President Carter's misread of the Iranian Revolution in the context of the Cold War, and survey the aftermath of the joint U.S.-Israel strikes on Iran's nuclear program this past June.
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What happened to the theme song? 🥺
this episode was a whole load of nothing.
has san francisco decrimnalzed drugs? did california?
This guy is just rambling. He doesn't sound like he knows much of anything
Thanks for clarifying the Lincoln logo. The logos for the Lincoln Project and the Lincoln Network are so similar that at first glance it was confusing and created apprehension.
The Realignment is my favourite podcast out there! I religiously follow it every week! Love the brilliant discussions Saagar and Marshall have with all the guests!
this ladies verbal tics are killing my ears it's so annoying
this guy is just rude and they dont really push on anything he says they seem to just take him at his word
what a shit podcast. another hypocritical GOP podcast. they cry about the crackdown china took on honk kong and what china is doing to the Muslims. yet, ignore America's anti protest laws and physical voilence and child separations and are full in support of isreal and their open air prison and crimes against the Palestinians.
amazing episode
good pod bred Weinstein where do I start we need more democracy no less giving 2 guy 1 from the left 1 form that we got now that the problem
A podcast devoted to soft core facism. Add another to the list.
so so so wrong on this drug crisis. the CDC made up the opioid crisis. Please read twitter accounts from these two doctors. Dr. Thomas Kline has videos that take you step by step on YouTube, but the highlights are: the OD problem is fentanyl in illegal heroin. But the CDC is trying to control heroin OD by cutting opioid meds to chronic pain patients like me. The Twitter accounts of these two Docs are the men who can set out the ACTUAL facts @thomasklinemd and @danlairdmd. Opioid meds are not like meth or coke. They addict only through a genetic mutation. Heroin addiction rate is consistent for the thousands of years that opioids have been used. The problem is that millions of chronic pain patients are being thrown off their meds for no medical reason. The problem is NOT from doctors or chronic pain patients. We are throwing people who are in severe pain out on the streets or unfortunately to commit suicide. The suicide spikes are where the opioid fight has been the most intense. So Cri