Impolitic with John Heilemann

Shannon Watts is the founder of Moms Demand Action For Gun Sense in America — a self-described “accidental activist” who, in less than a decade, went from being a stay-at-home mother in Indiana to the face of a national grassroots movement with more active members than the National Rifle Association. When Watts launched her advocacy group as a simple Facebook page in the wake of the Sandy Hook school shooting in December 2012, she had just 75 friends on the site but grand ambitions, boundless energy, and infinite chutzpah. Today, Moms Demand Action is part of Everytown For Gun Safety and a political juggernaut, deploying tens of thousands of volunteers and tens of millions of dollars to support candidates, legislative campaigns, and corporate reform efforts. Heilemann and Watts discuss the ways her group has changed the game on gun control, the role of women and young people in the movement, the crisis at the NRA, and why Watts believes the Biden administration will be “the strongest gun safety administration in history.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When Jack Black and Kyle Gass formed the mock-rock band Tenacious D in 1994, they were just a pair of unknown members of The Actors' Gang in LA with a spiritual and satirical kinship with Spinal Tap, a penchant for R-rated lyrics about their sexual prowess and prodigious cannabis consumption, and surprisingly serious musical chops. Twenty-six years later, Tenacious D has accumulated a large and passionate following, released three platinum albums and a feature film, and won a Grammy Award — and Black, of course, has become a movie star. In this final 2020 episode of Hell & High Water, Heilemann talks with Black and Gass about the group's turn towards the political following Donald Trump's election, from its "South Park"-flavored album/YouTube series/graphic novel "Post-Apocalypto" to its viral, celebrity-studded, get-out-the-vote video cover of "Time Warp" from "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" (which included Heilemann) ... as well as Black's breakout role in "High Fidelity," his wildly popular quarantine videos on TikTok, and Tenacious D's top five records for celebrating the end of the Trump era. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Over the past three decades, Aaron Sorkin has staked a claim as America’s most renowned film and television writer. With a list of credits that runs from "A Few Good Men," "The American President, "The Social Network," and "Moneyball" on the big screen to "Sports Night," "The Newsroom," and his crowning achievement, "The West Wing," on TV, Sorkin's work has achieved vast popular success, critical acclaim, and cultural resonance. On this week’s episode, Hell & High Water continues its year-end review, with Heilemann and Sorkin discussing how COVID-19, Trump's final year in office, and the racial justice movement affected Hollywood in general and three of Sorkin's projects in particular: his stage version of "To Kill a Mockingbird," the reunion episode of "The West Wing," and his film "The Trial of the Chicago 7." Sorkin also offers his lists of top TV shows and movies of the year — and his favorite political films of all time. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rich Eisen has been a fixture in the sports media firmament for a quarter century. Sharp and funny, as well-versed in pop culture as in the prevent defense or the pick-and-roll, Eisen was still in his twenties when he first lit up ESPN during its heyday in the 1990s, before becoming the face of the NFL Network and his eponymous talk show and podcast. But what sets Eisen apart from many of his peers is his comfort in the place where top-flight athletics collide with broader social and political dynamics — which set him up perfectly to cover the traumas and dramas of 2020, as the sports world was shaken by a raging pandemic and the upheaval spawned by the killing of George Floyd. With our annus horribilis finally coming to a close, Heilemann and Eisen reflect on the lessons that players, owners, and leagues have learned from grappling with COVID-19, the unprecedented wave of sports activism unleashed by Black Lives Matter, and the media's response to it all. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Joe Scarborough is a rare figure in the news business: a broadcaster who has known both Donald Trump and Joe Biden well for years and will be as influential in the political era now dawning as the one quickly coming to a close. Though he first came to prominence in the 1990s as a firebrand Republican congressman from Florida, Scarborough is best known as the co-host and namesake of MSNBC's "Morning Joe" — and an outspoken GOP refugee and relentless critic of President Trump. On this week's episode of Hell & High Water, Heilemann, a regular "Morning Joe" panelist since its launch in 2007, invites Scarborough to assess the 2020 election, Trump's efforts to overturn its results, and the future of the Republican Party. They also discuss Scarborough's new book, “Saving Freedom: Truman, the Cold War, and the Fight for Western Civilization," and what Biden can learn from Truman's presidency. Le Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Michael Santiago Render, aka Killer Mike, is one of the most vital figures in the worlds of both hip hop and progressive activism. Best known as one half of the acclaimed rap duo Run The Jewels, Render gained notoriety in the political realm as a prominent backer of Bernie Sanders and a fierce advocate for Black economic empowerment. In the wake of George Floyd’s killing, Render delivered a tearful televised plea to protestors not to torch his beloved home city of Atlanta; the video went viral and earned him a new legion of admirers around the country. A few days later, Run the Jewels released its fourth album, “RTJ4”, which captured the anger, despair, and calls for racial justice echoing from coast to coast and was widely hailed as the dystopian soundtrack of 2020. In this first-ever two-part episode of Hell & High Water, Heilemann and Render discuss race and police violence, Donald Trump and Joe Biden, Georgia's outsized role in the 2020 election, Ice Cube, Kanye West, Dave Chappelle, and much, much more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Michael Santiago Render, aka Killer Mike, is one of the most vital figures in the worlds of both hip hop and progressive activism. Best known as one half of the acclaimed rap duo Run The Jewels, Render gained notoriety in the political realm as a prominent backer of Bernie Sanders and a fierce advocate for Black economic empowerment. In the wake of George Floyd’s killing, Render delivered a tearful televised plea to protestors not to torch his beloved home city of Atlanta; the video went viral and earned him a new legion of admirers around the country. A few days later, Run the Jewels released its fourth album, “RTJ4”, which captured the anger, despair, and calls for racial justice echoing from coast to coast and was widely hailed as the dystopian soundtrack of 2020. In this first-ever two-part episode of Hell & High Water, Heilemann and Render discuss race and police violence, Donald Trump and Joe Biden, Georgia's outsized role in the 2020 election, Ice Cube, Kanye West, Dave Chappelle, and much, much more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Lawrence Lessig and Laurence Tribe are among the most important and influential legal minds of this or any era. Lessig, a pioneer in the field of cyber-law, is the Roy L. Furman Professor of Law and Leadership at Harvard Law School and founder of Equal Citizens, a non-profit focused on the cause of electoral reform. Tribe, the Carl M. Loeb University Professor Emeritus at Harvard, is arguably the preeminent constitutional scholar of his generation, has argued 35 cases before the US Supreme Court, and was a key member of Al Gore's legal team in the 2000 Florida recount. Heilemann invites the Legal Larrys, as he calls them, to discuss Donald Trump's attempts to overturn the results of the presidential election, how his efforts have revealed serious weaknesses in our democratic processes, and the increasingly urgent arguments for scrapping the Electoral College. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Laurie Garrett has been tracking epidemics and outbreaks since the early 1990's. She is the author of The Coming Plague, Betrayal of Trust, and I Heard the Sirens Scream and has won a Pulitzer Prize, a George Polk Award (twice), and a Peabody Award. With Thanksgiving approaching, and Covid-19 infection rates shooting up in all 50 states, Heilemann turns to Garrett, one of the foremost science journalists in the world, for her incisive and unflinching look at the pandemic. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Maya Wiley is a nationally recognized racial justice and equity advocate. She is the former Counsel to the Mayor in New York City, the former Chair of the NYPD Civilian Complaint Review Board, and she founded the Digital Equity Laboratory on universal and inclusive broadband at The New School. Jon Meacham is a Pulitzer Prize–winning biographer, a contributing writer for The New York Times Book Review and a contributing editor of Time magazine, and he holds the Rogers Chair in the American Presidency at Vanderbilt University, lives in Nashville. Heilemann brings these two brilliant mind together in order to step back and look at Joe Biden and Kamala Harris election victory through the lens of history, civil rights, and the upcoming fights to keep America democratic. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For the first time ever, all four of The Recount podcast hosts team up for a bonus episode. Jennifer Palmieri, host of "Just Something About Her," David Plouffe and Steve Schmidt, hosts of "Battleground," and John Heilemann, Executive Editor of The Recount and host of "Hell & High Water," discuss the collision of expectations and reality, poll trouble, what may have held Democrats back from bigger wins, and what's next for the country. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nicolle Wallace is a journalist, author, and the host of "Deadline: White House" on MSNBC. But, most importantly for the purposes of this podcast, she’s a dear friend of Heilemann’s. Their friendship began when Nicolle was the White House Communications Chief to George W. Bush and deepened after Heilemann published "Game Change." The book chronicles the 2008 Presidential campaign and, with it, Nicolle's role as a senior advisor to Senator John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign. In this episode of Hell & High Water, Heilemann and Nicolle discuss the Biden campaign, how Sarah Palin was a harbinger of what was to come for the GOP, and what America might look like after the election. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As former President Barack Obama hits the campaign trail, Heilemann chats with the crew that helped Obama get elected: David Axelrod, chief strategist for the '08 and '12 Obama campaigns and currently Director of the University of Chicago's Institute of Politics; David Plouffe, the '08 Obama campaign manager, former Senior Advisor to the President, and host of the podcasts Battleground (also from The Recount) and Campaign HQ; and Alyssa Mastromonaco, Director of Scheduling and Advance for the Obama '08 campaign and former White House Deputy Chief of Staff. Or, as Heilemann calls them, "the Obama Brain Trust." The three of them discuss the state of the race and President Obama's role in it, before taking a trip down memory lane and reliving some of the most emotional moments from Obama’s ’08 and ’12 campaigns. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mike Murphy and Stuart Stevens are two of the most storied consultants in Republican history. Before 2016, they competed against Democrats in races and against each other for clients. Their combined list of clients includes all three Bushes, Mitt Romney, Arnold Schwarzenegger, John McCain, Bob Dole, and many more. But for these Republican stalwarts, Donald J. Trump was a bridge too far. Both are actively involved in the fight to defeat him – Murphy with the group Republican Voters Against Trump and Stevens with The Lincoln Project. They join Heilemann to discuss their take on the state of the race, and use Stuart's new book, It Was All a Lie: How the Republican Party Became Donald Trump, as a jumping-off point for exploring what happened to the GOP. Finally, the two look forward and imagine what a post-Trump party looks like – and what Trump may do as he fights to hold onto power. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

James Carville is one of the most famous political strategists of all time. Known around the world as the "Ragin' Cajun," Carville came to national attention in 1992 as the presiding guru behind the campaign of Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton. Since then, his hot temper, southern-fried charisma, and theatrical squalls of fury at the media have turned him into a cable news celebrity. Carville has never been shy about expressing his opinion, and in this episode of Hell & High Water, he expounds on his theory that Trump is running to stay out of jail, discusses his disdain for activists, and predicts a Biden landslide. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ashley Parker is a Pulitzer Prize-winning White House reporter for The Washington Post. Jennifer Palmieri is a best-selling author and the former White House Communications Director for President Obama and Director of Communications for Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign. Heilemann, Parker, and Palmieri discuss the unsurprising – nonetheless, jaw-dropping – news that President Donald J. Trump has contracted COVID-19 and its implications for the election. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Neal Katyal is the former Acting Solicitor General of the United States under Barack Obama, a distinguished lawyer who has argued 41 cases before the Supreme Court and the Paul Saunders Professor of National Security Law at Georgetown University. In this episode, Heilemann and Katyal explore all things SCOTUS. They discuss the late RBG, the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett, the high stakes at play and why Neal is still optimistic about the future of the Supreme Court. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jeff Daniels is a celebrated film, television, and stage actor, who stars as former FBI director James Comey in the forthcoming Showtime mini-series “The Comey Rule.” Heilemann and Daniels discuss how the actor approached playing the controversial Comey, a rare public figure despised equally by the left and the right. They explore the motivations of the man who presided over the FBI's investigations of both Hillary Clinton's email and Russia's interference in the 2016 election and its ties to Donald Trump – and was later fired by Trump after refusing his demands of loyalty. Finally, they turn to Daniels's assessment of the existential stakes of the election, and his predictions of a bleak and dark future should Trump be reelected. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dave Chang is one of the most influential restaurateurs of the 21st century. He's the presiding genius behind the Momofuku empire, the star of “Ugly Delicious” and “Breakfast, Lunch, & Dinner” on Netflix, the host of The Dave Chang Show podcast, and the author of a new memoir called Eat a Peach. John talks to Dave about the new role he’s taken during the course of the pandemic, as a leading voice talking about the restaurant apocalypse brought on by COVID-19. They discuss how the industry is threatened with extinction, not just because of the virus and its implications, but because of structural flaws that existed even before the pandemic. Dave also tells John about his fears and motivations around the writing of a bracingly, brutally honest memoir about his mental health struggles and addiction to rage, and what he hopes people take away from the book. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the first episode of Hell & High Water, Heilemann talks to Marques Johnson, legendary point forward for UCLA and the Milwaukee Bucks in the seventies and eighties, now a broadcaster for the Bucks. They talk about race, sports, and the NBA playoff boycott, led by the Bucks, in the wake of the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, WI. Johnson discusses his experiences with racism growing up in Louisiana and Los Angeles, how a new generation of players is embracing social activism, and Donald Trump's efforts to politicize sports with his attacks on LeBron James and Colin Kaepernick. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices