Newt's World

For 150 years, the price tag was a promise: one price, the same for everyone. That promise is gone. Today, algorithms help landlords set your rent, software tracks your clicks to figure out the most you will pay, and two shoppers can buy the same carton of eggs in the same store on the same day for different prices. Lindsay Owens, president and CEO of the Groundwork Collaborative and author of Gouged: The End of a Fair Price and What That Means for Your Wallet, joins Newt to explain how pricing became a weaponized science. From grocery stores and airline tickets to concert seats and apartment rents, Owens breaks down who changed the rules, how artificial intelligence supercharged the shift, and what her Shopper’s Bill of Rights would do to restore a fair price.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With 27 days until the 2026 midterms, mail-in voting is already underway and the polls are moving. Since September, the generic ballot has shifted toward Democrats, and prediction markets now give them roughly a 90% chance of winning the House. But is the race as settled as it looks? Newt brings together two of the sharpest political strategists in the country, one Republican and one Democrat, to make their case. John McLaughlin, President Trump’s pollster since 2016, and Doug Sosnik, who ran the political operation in the Clinton White House, break down what the polling really shows, where the key inflection points have been, and who they think will control Congress on November 4th. With a month still to go, Newt knows from experience: a wave can build fast, and nothing is decided yet.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nearly half of American voters now call themselves independents, but Adam Brandon argues they are far more than a mushy middle ground between the two parties. In his new book, The Exhausted Majority: Building a Home for the Politically Homeless, Brandon profiles a coherent, center-right bloc of Americans tired of hyper-partisanship who simply want to see Washington get things done. Brandon served as president of FreedomWorks for over a decade and helped lead the Tea Party movement. Now he has co-founded the Independent Leadership Council with former Senator Joe Manchin, backing independent candidates in the 2026 midterms. Newt talks with Brandon to discuss why both parties keep losing ground, who the exhausted majority really is, and whether independents can become the force that finally changes how Washington works.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ukraine has become the most innovative military power in the world, building drones by the millions, fielding ground robots, and wiring the battlefield together with software. Russia is racing to match it. Iran has used $35,000 drones to force the United States to fire interceptors costing millions. And yet, only 8% of Americans are aware that AI is being used in modern warfare. Newt sits down with Jonathan Guyer, program director at the Institute for Global Affairs at the Eurasia Group, to discuss how drones and artificial intelligence are remaking warfare in real time. Drawing on his new report, War President: The Iran Trap, Guyer breaks down what the technology revolution on today's battlefields means for American strategy, public oversight, and whether Washington is paying close enough attention.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Before Trace Gallagher became one of Fox News's most recognizable faces, he was a professional water skier at Six Flags Marine World, where he once taught Jimmy Buffett to ski. A knee injury ended that career and sent him on an unexpected path through announcing, local television, and eventually Fox News, where he has been a fixture since the network's launch in 1996. In his new memoir, Turns Out They Were Right All Along: Life Lessons I Learned Eventually, Gallagher reflects on the detours, setbacks, and unlikely breaks that shaped his life and career. Newt sits down with Gallagher to explore the wisdom that only comes from living it, the moments that tested him, and what three decades in breaking news have taught him about perseverance, purpose, and getting it right.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.