The Political Scene | The New Yorker

The Washington Roundtable discusses President Donald Trump’s health and the signs of his age-related decline: a noticeably reduced work schedule, fewer public appearances, and more rambling, profanity-laden outbursts. The panel examines how this undermines Trump’s self-styled image of strength and vigor, what lessons about aging Presidents can be drawn from the Biden and Reagan Administrations, and why America may be facing what scholars refer to as the “Bad Emperor” problem in Chinese history. “When strongmen get weak, watch out,” the staff writer Jane Mayer says. This week’s reading: “War Is Peace, the Dozing Don Edition,” by Susan B. Glasser “The Dishonorable Strikes on Venezuelan Boats,” by Ruth Marcus “Mikie Sherrill Intends to Move Fast,” by Gabriel Debenedetti “The Undermining of the C.D.C.,” by Dhruv Khullar “The Legal Consequences of Pete Hegseth’s ‘Kill Them All’ Order,” by Isaac Chotiner “In the Line of Fire,” by Benjamin Wallace-Wells “What Can Economists Agree on These Days? ” by John Cassidy  The Political Scene draws on the reporting and analysis found in The New Yorker for lively conversations about the big questions in American politics. Join the magazine’s writers and editors as they put into context the latest news—about elections, the economy, the White House, the Supreme Court, and much more. New episodes are available three times a week. Tune in wherever you get your podcasts. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The New Yorker staff writer Jon Lee Anderson joins Tyler Foggatt to talk about the Trump Administration’s military strikes on alleged Venezuelan drug boats in the Caribbean. They discuss the questionable intelligence and rationale behind the operation, the legal concerns raised by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s alleged order to leave no survivors in a September strike, and whether the attacks feels more performative than strategic. They also explore how Trump’s framing of the issue as a drug war intersects with his broader ambitions—from pressuring the Venezuelan President, Nicolás Maduro, to reasserting American dominance in the hemisphere—and how other Latin American countries may respond to further military action in the region.This week’s reading: “Can Trump’s Peace Initiative Stop the Congo’s Thirty-Year War?,” by Jon Lee Anderson “The Dishonorable Strikes on Venezuelan Boats,” by Ruth Marcus “The Legal Consequences of Pete Hegseth’s ‘Kill Them All’ Order,” by Isaac Chotiner “The Undermining of the C.D.C.,” by Dhruv Khullar “In the Line of Fire,” by Benjamin Wallace-Wells  The Political Scene draws on the reporting and analysis found in The New Yorker for lively conversations about the big questions in American politics. Join the magazine’s writers and editors as they put into context the latest news—about elections, the economy, the White House, the Supreme Court, and much more. New episodes are available three times a week.Tune in to The Political Scene wherever you get your podcasts.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Only thirty per cent of the American public identifies with the MAGA movement, according to a recent NBC poll, but that coalition remains intensely loyal to Donald Trump in the face of scandals and authoritarian measures. Defections seem rare and come with the risk of reprisal, even from the President himself. Rich Logis is trying to make them less rare with his advocacy organization, Leaving MAGA. The nonprofit’s  website features testimonials from former adherents, and offers advice for how friends and family can reconnect after ruptures over politics. Logis himself had been a true believer: he worked on Trump’s campaign, wrote articles, released a podcast, and called Democrats “the most dangerous group in the history of our Republic, foreign or domestic—more than Islamic supremacists, more than the Nazis.” He didn’t view MAGA as reactionary, but “very progressive and forward facing.” But somewhere along the way, Logis hung up his red hat. “Even today, talking about my past, the feelings are conjured—those feelings of being welcomed and feeling like you’re part of something, and the exhilaration that comes from that,” he tells the New Yorker Radio Hour’s Adam Howard. Logis emphasizes that leaving MAGA is difficult because, as much as it’s a political ideology, it’s also an identity that meets emotional needs. “I think that there’s a lot of trauma within the MAGA base, whether it’s political or economic. . . . I’m not qualified to make any kind of diagnosis. I’m not a therapist or a clinician, but there’s a lot of pain within MAGA. And I think that a better question [instead] of asking ‘What’s wrong with you?’ is ‘What happened to you?’” The Political Scene draws on the reporting and analysis found in The New Yorker for lively conversations about the big questions in American politics. Join the magazine’s writers and editors as they put into context the latest news—about elections, the economy, the White House, the Supreme Court, and much more. New episodes are available three times a week.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The “Jeopardy!” host and former contestant Ken Jennings joins Tyler Foggatt to talk about America’s favorite game show. The wide-ranging conversation took place before a live audience onstage at the annual New Yorker Festival, on October 25th. Jennings discussed his historic seventy-four-game winning streak, how contestants’ game strategies have changed over the years, his relationship with the former longtime host Alex Trebek, and why a political career was not for him. Related reading: “Ken Jennings Has Some Questions About Death,” by Sarah Larson “The Rare Authority of Alex Trebek,” by Doreen St. Félix “The Hidden Depths of Alex Trebek’s Banter with ‘Jeopardy!’ Contestants,” by Beth Blum Tune in to The Political Scene wherever you get your podcasts. The Political Scene draws on the reporting and analysis found in The New Yorker for lively conversations about the big questions in American politics. Join the magazine’s writers and editors as they put into context the latest news—about elections, the economy, the White House, the Supreme Court, and much more. New episodes are available three times a week.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Both major parties are experiencing a crisis of leadership in Washington. President Trump’s flip-flopping on the Epstein files acknowledges that, on this issue, at least, he has lost control of MAGA. For the Democrats, the collapse of their consensus on the government shutdown deepens a sense that the current leadership is ineffective. For all the talk of unity, the Party is profoundly divided on what message to convey to voters. “Some people argue that we should just—no matter what Donald Trump does or says—just always come back to the economy and prices,” Senator Chris Van Hollen, of Maryland, tells David Remnick. “And, of course, we should be very focussed on the economy and prices and rising health-care costs, as we have been. But to suggest that we should look the other way in the face of all these other outrages is, I think, a mistake, because I think the American people are tiring of Donald Trump. I think the polls indicate that.” Van Hollen is trying to pave a path between his party’s left and the establishment. He’s used the word “spineless” to describe colleagues in Congress who refused to endorse Zohran Mamdani in his mayoral campaign, but he has not called for Chuck Schumer to step down from leadership, as others have. Van Hollen wants “to be very much part of the debate as to where the Democratic Party goes.” Would that extend, Remnick wonders, to running for President? “My goal at this moment really is to stiffen the spine of the Democratic Party. But that means not just resistance to Trump. It also means taking on very powerful special interests that I think have had too much sway in both the Republican Party for sure, but also in the Democratic Party.” Remnick replies, “I’ve heard firmer nos in my time.” The Political Scene draws on the reporting and analysis found in The New Yorker for lively conversations about the big questions in American politics. Join the magazine’s writers and editors as they put into context the latest news—about elections, the economy, the White House, the Supreme Court, and much more. New episodes are available three times a week.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The Washington Roundtable reflects on the first year since Donald Trump’s second win before a live audience at Harvard University’s Institute of Politics, on November 20th. The panel considers how cracks in the MAGA firmament may shape what’s next for the President and the Republican party. “American politics the last ten years have been dominated by this very singular disruptive figure of Donald Trump,” the staff writer Susan B. Glasser. “So what we define as the new abnormal, for a whole generation of Americans is, in fact, the new normal.” This week’s reading: “Dick Cheney’s Long, Strange Goodbye,” by Susan B. Glasser “The Darkest Thread in the Epstein E-mails,” by Jessica Winter “The Meaning of Trump’s Presidential Pardons,” by Benjamin Wallace-Wells “Kash Patel’s Acts of Service,” by Marc Fisher “How M.B.S. Won Back Washington,” by Isaac Chotiner “Donald Trump Can’t Dodge the Costly K-Shaped Economy,” by John Cassidy  Tune in wherever you get your podcasts. The Political Scene draws on the reporting and analysis found in The New Yorker for lively conversations about the big questions in American politics. Join the magazine’s writers and editors as they put into context the latest news—about elections, the economy, the White House, the Supreme Court, and much more. New episodes are available three times a week.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The New Yorker contributing writer Anna Russell joins Tyler Foggatt to discuss the rise of family estrangement in mainstream culture. Recent studies have found that more than a quarter of all Americans are currently estranged from a relative. They talk about how the idea of going “no contact” has gained traction in mainstream culture, the personal and generational shifts that can lead people to distance themselves from relatives, and why family bonds feel less inviolable than they once did. They also look at the political disagreements that can lead to decisions to cut off contact, whether close family relationships can survive deep ideological divides, and what therapists and researchers say about the prospects for reconciliation following estrangement. This week’s reading: “Why So Many People Are Going ‘No Contact’ with Their Parents,” by Anna Russell “The Meaning of Trump’s Presidential Pardons,” by Benjamin Wallace-Wells “Nick Fuentes Is Not Just Another Alt-Right Boogeyman,” by Jay Caspian Kang “The Darkest Thread in the Epstein E-mails,” by Jessica Winter “Kash Patel’s Acts of Service,” by Marc Fisher  Tune in to The Political Scene wherever you get your podcasts.The Political Scene draws on the reporting and analysis found in The New Yorker for lively conversations about the big questions in American politics. Join the magazine’s writers and editors as they put into context the latest news—about elections, the economy, the White House, the Supreme Court, and much more. New episodes are available three times a week.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

When President Donald Trump began his tariff rollout, the business world predicted that his unprecedented attempt to reshape the economy would lead to a major recession, if Trump went through with it all. But the markets stabilized and, in recent months, have continued to surge. That has some people worried about an even bigger threat: that overinvestment in artificial intelligence is creating a bubble. Andrew Ross Sorkin, one of today’s preëminent financial journalists, is well versed in what’s happening; his début book, “Too Big to Fail,” was an account of the 2008 financial crash, and this year he released “1929: Inside the Greatest Crash in Wall Street History—and How It Shattered a Nation.” He tells David Remnick that the concern lies in the massive borrowing to build the infrastructure for a future A.I. economy, without the sufficient revenue, currently, to pay off the loans. “If I learned anything from covering 1929, [and] covering 2008, it is leverage,” Sorkin says, “people borrowing to make all of this happen. And right now we are beginning to see a remarkable period of borrowing to make the economics of A.I. work.” Sorkin is the co-anchor of “Squawk Box” on CNBC, and he also founded the New York Times’ business section, DealBook. The Political Scene draws on the reporting and analysis found in The New Yorker for lively conversations about the big questions in American politics. Join the magazine’s writers and editors as they put into context the latest news—about elections, the economy, the White House, the Supreme Court, and much more. New episodes are available three times a week.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The Washington Roundtable discusses the trove of Jeffrey Epstein correspondence released by Congress this week, the fractures it has caused in the Republican Party, and the potential political ramifications for President Trump. Their guest is the investigative reporter Michael Isikoff, who has spent decades reporting on major scandals in American politics, including the affair between President Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky, and Russian interference in the 2016 election. The panel considers the factors that made other scandals in the past, such as Watergate, break through the public consciousness and change the course of Presidencies. This week’s reading: “The Epstein Scandal Is Now a Chronic Disease of the Trump Presidency,” by Susan B. Glasser “Did Democrats Win the Shutdown After All?,” by Jon Allsop “Socialism, But Make It Trump,” by John Cassidy “Governments and Billionaires Retreat Ahead of COP30 Climate Talks,” by Elizabeth Kolbert “Laura Loomer’s Endless Payback,” by Antonia Hitchens “J. B. Pritzker Sounds the Alarm,” by Peter Slevin  Tune in wherever you get your podcasts. The Political Scene draws on the reporting and analysis found in The New Yorker for lively conversations about the big questions in American politics. Join the magazine’s writers and editors as they put into context the latest news—about elections, the economy, the White House, the Supreme Court, and much more. New episodes are available three times a week.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The New Yorker staff writer Eric Lach joins Tyler Foggatt to discuss Zohran Mamdani’s victory in the New York City mayoral race, and what his time in office might look like. They talk about some of his early appointments to his administration and how his ambitious agenda may be at odds with other wings of the Democratic Party. They also look at how members of both parties are interpreting Mamdani’s win, and how the new mayor might respond to President Donald Trump’s threats to withhold federal funds from the city. This week’s reading: “The Mamdani Era Begins,” by Eric Lach “Did Democrats Win the Shutdown After All?,” by Jon Allsop “Laura Loomer’s Endless Payback,” by Antonia Hitchens “In Gaza, Home Is Just a Memory,” by Mohammed R. Mhawish “The Mess at the BBC Will Never End,” by Sam Knight Tune in to The Political Scene wherever you get your podcasts. The Political Scene draws on the reporting and analysis found in The New Yorker for lively conversations about the big questions in American politics. Join the magazine’s writers and editors as they put into context the latest news—about elections, the economy, the White House, the Supreme Court, and much more. New episodes are available three times a week.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Few Democratic officials have been more outspoken in opposition to the Trump Administration than J. B. Pritzker, the governor of Illinois. He seems almost to relish antagonizing Trump, who has suggested Pritzker should be in jail. Meanwhile, ICE and Border Patrol have targeted Chicago, and elsewhere in Illinois, with immigration sweeps more aggressive than what Los Angeles experienced earlier this year; they refused to pause the raids even on Halloween. The President has called Chicago a “hell hole,” but, in Pritzker’s view, immigration sweeps do nothing to reduce crime. “He’s literally taking F.B.I., D.E.A., and A.T.F.—which we work with all the time—he’s taking them out of their departments and moving them over to ICE, and they’re not . . .  helping us catch bad guys,” Pritzker says in an interview with the reporter Peter Slevin. “He’s creating mayhem on the ground because you know what he wants? He wants troops on the ground in American cities, and the only way he can get that done is by proving that there’s some sort of insurrection or revolution or rebellion.” And yet, as Slevin tells David Remnick, a governor’s power to resist the federal government depends largely on the courts. Thus far, “the district courts have acted quite favorably toward the plaintiffs in various lawsuits against these actions by the federal government.” The Political Scene draws on the reporting and analysis found in The New Yorker for lively conversations about the big questions in American politics. Join the magazine’s writers and editors as they put into context the latest news—about elections, the economy, the White House, the Supreme Court, and much more. New episodes are available three times a week.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The Washington Roundtable kicks off the 2026 election season by answering  questions from listeners about the forces most likely to shape next year’s midterm elections. They discuss the ascendancy of Zohran Mamdani in New York City, bitter redistricting battles in the states, the high number of elected officials retiring, and much more. Plus, the hosts reflect on the legacy of former Vice-President Dick Cheney, who died on Monday. This week’s reading: “America Begins Clapping Back at Donald Trump,” by Susan B. Glasser “California Strikes Back in the Redistricting War,” by Jon Allsop “How Far Can Donald Trump Take Emergency Power?,” by Jeannie Suk Gersen “A Next-Generation Victory for Democrats,” by Benjamin Wallace-Wells “The N.Y.C. Mayoral Election, as Processed in Therapy,” by Tyler Foggatt “What Zohran Mamdani’s Bid for Mayor Reveals About Being Muslim in America,” by Rozina Ali “Voting Rights and Immigration Under Attack,” by Jelani Cobb Tune in wherever you get your podcasts.The Political Scene draws on the reporting and analysis found in The New Yorker for lively conversations about the big questions in American politics. Join the magazine’s writers and editors as they put into context the latest news—about elections, the economy, the White House, the Supreme Court, and much more. New episodes are available three times a week.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The New Yorker staff writer Benjamin Wallace-Wells joins Tyler Foggatt to discuss Democrats’ sweeping victories in the first major elections of Donald Trump’s second term. They talk about what the results—from Zohran Mamdani’s record-turnout win in New York City to victories in the Virginia and New Jersey gubernatorial races—reveal about Trump’s weakening hold on voters and a generational shift inside the Democratic Party. They also explore how a focus on affordability and economic anxiety fuelled Democrats’ success, and how these outcomes may shape the strategies of both parties heading into next year’s midterms. This week’s reading: “A Next-Generation Victory for Democrats,” by Benjamin Wallace-Wells “What the Democrats’ Good Night Means for 2026 and Beyond,” by Isaac Chotiner “California Strikes Back in the Redistricting War,” by Jon Allsop “The Mamdani Era Begins,” by Eric Lach “The N.Y.C. Mayoral Election, as Processed in Therapy,” by Tyler Foggatt Tune in to The Political Scene wherever you get your podcasts. The Political Scene draws on the reporting and analysis found in The New Yorker for lively conversations about the big questions in American politics. Join the magazine’s writers and editors as they put into context the latest news—about elections, the economy, the White House, the Supreme Court, and much more. New episodes are available three times a week.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Jon Stewart has been a leading figure in political comedy since before the turn of the millennium. But compared to his early years on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show”—when Stewart was merciless in his attacks on George W. Bush’s Administration—these are much more challenging times for late-night comedians. Jimmy Kimmel nearly lost his job over a remark about MAGA supporters of Charlie Kirk, after the head of the F.C.C. threatened ABC. CBS recently announced the cancellation of Stephen Colbert’s program. And Stewart now finds himself very near the hot seat: Comedy Central is controlled by David Ellison, the Trump-friendly C.E.O. of the recently merged Paramount Skydance. Stewart’s contract comes up in December. “You’re going to sign another one?” David Remnick asked him, in a live interview at The New Yorker Festival. “We’re working on staying,” Stewart said. “You don’t compromise on what you do. You do it till they tell you to leave. That’s all you can do.”  Stewart, moreover, doesn’t blame solely Donald Trump for recent attacks on the independence of the media, universities, and other institutions. “This is the hardest truth for us to get at, is that [these] institutions . . . have problems. They do. And, if we don’t address those problems in a forthright way, then those institutions become vulnerable to this kind of assault. Credibility is not something that was just taken. It was also lost.” In fact, Stewart also directs his ire at “the Democratic Party, [which] thinks it’s O.K. for their Senate to be an assisted-living facility.” “In the general-populace mind, government no longer serves the interests of the people it purports to represent. That’s a broad-based, deep feeling. And that helps when someone comes along and goes, ‘The system is rigged,’ and people go, ‘Yeah, it is rigged.’ Now, he’s a good diagnostician. I don’t particularly care for his remedy.”This episode was recorded live at The New Yorker Festival, on October 26, 2025. The Political Scene draws on the reporting and analysis found in The New Yorker for lively conversations about the big questions in American politics. Join the magazine’s writers and editors as they put into context the latest news—about elections, the economy, the White House, the Supreme Court, and much more. New episodes are available three times a week.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On August 7, 1985, five family members were shot dead in their English country manor, Whitehouse Farm. It looked like an open-and-shut case. But the New Yorker staff writer Heidi Blake finds that almost nothing about this story is as it seems. New Yorker subscribers get early, ad-free access to “Blood Relatives.” In Apple Podcasts, tap the link at the top of the feed to subscribe or link an existing subscription. Or visit newyorker.com/dark to subscribe and listen in the New Yorker app.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The New Yorker staff writer Andrew Marantz joins Tyler Foggatt for the latest installment of “How Bad Is It?,” a regular checkup on the health of American democracy. Their guests are the Rutgers historians Mark Bray and Yesenia Barragan, a married couple who recently left the United States after Bray became the target of a right-wing doxing campaign. Bray and Barragan share the events leading up to their decision to leave the country with their family, including the death threats that followed Bray’s addition to a right-wing “professor watch list” and the portrayal of his work in conservative media as promoting political violence. Bray, who is the author of “Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook,” also speaks with Tyler and Andrew about his research into militant antifascism and how those ideas resonate in Donald Trump’s second Presidential term. They discuss the debates his work has sparked over political violence, free speech, and how his arguments about antifascism challenge conventional ideas of liberalism and academic freedom. This week’s reading: “When the Government Stops Defending Civil Rights,” by Eyal Press “What if the Big Law Firms Hadn’t Caved to Trump?,” by Fabio Bertoni  “Trump and the Presidency That Wouldn’t Shut Up,” by Jill Lepore “Why Biden’s White House Press Secretary Is Leaving the Democratic Party,” by Isaac Chotiner “Why Trump Tore Down the East Wing,” by Adam Gopnik Tune in to The Political Scene wherever you get your podcasts. The Political Scene draws on the reporting and analysis found in The New Yorker for lively conversations about the big questions in American politics. Join the magazine’s writers and editors as they put into context the latest news—about elections, the economy, the White House, the Supreme Court, and much more. New episodes are available three times a week.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Since Zadie Smith published her début novel, “White Teeth,” twenty-five years ago, she has been a bold and original voice in literature. But those who aren’t familiar with Smith’s work outside of fiction are missing out. As an essayist, in The New Yorker and other publications, Smith writes with great nuance about culture, technology, gentrification, politics; “There’s really not a topic that wouldn’t benefit from her insight,” David Remnick says. He spoke with Smith about her new collection of essays, “Dead and Alive.” “The one thing about talking about essays,” she notes, ruefully, “is you find yourself saying the same thing, but worse—without the commas.” One of the concerns in the book is the role of our devices, and social media in particular, in shaping our thoughts and our political discourse. “Everybody has a different emphasis on [Donald] Trump and what’s going on. My emphasis has been on, to put it baldly, mind control. I think what’s been interesting about the manipulations of a digital age is that it is absolutely natural and normal for people to be offended at the idea that they are being manipulated. None of us like to feel that way. And I think we wasted about—whatever it’s been since the invention of the Iphone—trying to bat away that idea, calling it a moral panic, blaming each other, [and] talking about it as if it were an individual act of will.” In fact, she notes, “we are all being manipulated. Me, too. . . . Once we can all admit that, on the left and the right, then we can direct our attention to who’s been doing this and to what advantage.” The Political Scene draws on the reporting and analysis found in The New Yorker for lively conversations about the big questions in American politics. Join the magazine’s writers and editors as they put into context the latest news—about elections, the economy, the White House, the Supreme Court, and much more. New episodes are available three times a week.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The swiftness and severity with which the Trump Administration has tried to impose its will on higher education came as a shock to many, not least university presidents and faculties from Harvard to U.C.L.A. But for conservatives this arena of cultural conflict has been a long time coming. The staff writer Emma Green has been speaking with influential figures in the current Administration as well as in the larger conservative movement about how they mapped out this battle for Donald Trump’s return to power. “There’s a recognition among the people that I interviewed,” Green tells David Remnick, “that the Administration cannot come in and script to universities: this is what you will teach and this is the degrees that you will offer, and just script it from top to bottom. First of all, that would be not legally possible. And it also, I think in some ways, violates core instincts that conservatives have around academic freedom, because a lot of these people have been on élite campuses and had the experience of being told that their views weren’t acceptable.” Green also speaks with James Kvaal, an education official who served in both the Biden and Obama Administrations, and May Mailman, a conservative education-policy activist who worked in the Trump White House and coördinated its attacks against universities. “When you have federal grants, you do not need to be funding racism and racial hierarchies and violence and harassment,” Mailman told Green. “I think that line is: do what you wanna do, but we don’t want to have to fund it.” Emma Green’s “Inside the Trump Administration’s Assault on Higher Education” was published on October 13, 2025. The Political Scene draws on the reporting and analysis found in The New Yorker for lively conversations about the big questions in American politics. Join the magazine’s writers and editors as they put into context the latest news—about elections, the economy, the White House, the Supreme Court, and much more. New episodes are available three times a week.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The Washington Roundtable examines the fragile Israel-Hamas ceasefire and the uncertain road ahead, asking to what degree the Trump family’s business interests in the Middle East are shaping American foreign policy. The panel discusses the financial relationships between Qatar, the U.A.E., and Jared Kushner’s private-equity firm, and analyzes the intertwinement of personal profit and global dealmaking in the President’s approach. “The cliché about Trump is that he’s a transactional President,” the staff writer Evan Osnos says. “He’s basically putting that at the center of the diplomatic discussion.” This week’s reading: “The End of Israel’s Hostage Ordeal,” by Ruth Margalit “Donald Trump’s Dream Palace of Puffery,” by Susan B. Glasser “How Will Americans Remember the War in Gaza?,” by Jay Caspian Kang “Donald Trump’s Deep-State Wrecking Ball,” by Andy Kroll “The Last Columbia Protester in ICE Detention,” by Aida Alami Tune in wherever you get your podcasts. The Political Scene draws on the reporting and analysis found in The New Yorker for lively conversations about the big questions in American politics. Join the magazine’s writers and editors as they put into context the latest news—about elections, the economy, the White House, the Supreme Court, and much more. New episodes are available three times a week.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The New Yorker staff writer E. Tammy Kim joins Tyler Foggatt to discuss how the government shutdown is affecting the federal workforce. They talk about how the shutdown began and what it means for hundreds of thousands of civil servants who have been furloughed, laid off, or required to work without pay. They also examine the Administration’s new “reductions in force,” or mass layoffs across key agencies, and how those cuts are being used in the effort to shrink and politicize federal agencies—and how those efforts could weaken not just essential public services but the long-term stability and nonpartisan functioning of the federal government itself. This week’s reading: “Inside the Trump Administration’s Assault on Higher Education,” by Emma Green “The Indictment of Letitia James and the Collapse of Impartial Justice,” by Ruth Marcus “The Real Problem Is How Trump Can Legally Use the Military,” by Jeannie Suk Gersen “The End of Israel’s Hostage Ordeal,” by Ruth Margalit “What Zohran Mamdani Knows About Power,” by Eric Lach Tune in to The Political Scene wherever you get your podcasts. The Political Scene draws on the reporting and analysis found in The New Yorker for lively conversations about the big questions in American politics. Join the magazine’s writers and editors as they put into context the latest news—about elections, the economy, the White House, the Supreme Court, and much more. New episodes are available three times a week.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices