Radio Atlantic

Former Clinton aide Jennifer Palmieri discusses the South Carolina primary, how 2020 is different than 2016, and how sexism still shapes American politics. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As Democrats slugged it out in Nevada this week, the president undermined the Justice Department in Washington. News anchor Katy Tur—and everyone else covering politics—has had to constantly switch gears between two stories: a crowded primary of challengers working to overtake one another, and a post-impeachment White House emboldened to break yet more democratic norms. But when the general election arrives, and the two stories merge, will the news media be up to the task? Tur grew up around television news and covered the Trump campaign. Now an anchor on MSNBC, she joins Isaac Dovere to discuss 2020 coverage. They sat down on NBC’s set in Las Vegas, where the network hosted this week’s Democratic debate ahead of the Nevada caucuses. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Thursday, Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton presided over debate on a bill to advance the Equal Rights Amendment. After the bill passed, she sat down in her office with Isaac Dovere to discuss the historic ERA vote and how she thinks Congress can take action on gun violence. Also on the show: thoughts on New Hampshire and an exclusive exchange with Andrew Yang, recorded as he prepared to announce the end of his candidacy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After the chaos of Iowa, New Hampshire is set to deliver the first clear results of the 2020 presidential race. And on the show to preview the first primary vote is New Hampshire Congressman Chris Pappas. The freshman Democrat is new to Washington, but he's been around Granite State politics his entire life. He was elected state representative at 22, but has been meeting presidential candidates since he was 7. His family's Manchester restaurant has been a waypoint on the trail to the White House for decades. He discusses New Hampshire politics, his state's fight against the opioid crisis, and his choice next Tuesday (both who he's voting for, and whether to do a ballot selfie.) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Isaac Dovere previews the Iowa caucuses with congressional candidate J.D. Scholten. A former baseball player running to represent the state’s most rural district, Scholten offers an on-the-ground view as Iowans gather to pick a president. He discusses his race against Rep. Steve King (who he nearly unseated in 2018), what Iowans care about as they go to the caucuses, and whether the state should keep its first-in-the-nation vote. Like many of his fellow Iowans, he’s had presidential candidates personally courting him for months — enough so that, during taping, his phone buzzed with a call from Sen. Elizabeth Warren. (He sent her to voicemail.) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Thursday, Radio Atlantic is becoming The Ticket: Politics from The Atlantic. As the 2020 voting begins, this show will relaunch with a new name and new look — but you’ll still get the same important conversations each week. Keep listening for interviews with the people defining this incredible moment in American history. Same show. Same feed. New name. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The new mayor of Chicago, Lori Lightfoot, won all fifty of Chicago’s wards in a landslide last year. A lawyer with experience in government oversight, Lightfoot ran on an anti-corruption and police reform platform. She campaigned as a political outsider in a city long run by dynasties. And she represents a lot of firsts: the first African-American woman to lead the city, its first openly gay mayor, and for her, the first time running for higher office. Lightfoot came into the job with a big opportunity to remake America’s third largest city. She joins the show to talk about her upbringing, her motivation to enter politics, and what she hopes Chicago can show the rest of the country. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The governator discusses the Republican party, his commitment to the environment, and the Democratic candidates (his review: "such bad actors"). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ruben Gallego says President Trump doesn’t understand war, but the situation with Iran could soon escalate to one. Gallego is a progressive congressman from Arizona and a combat veteran who served in Iraq — stationed at one point at one of the bases struck by Iranian missiles this week. He discusses his experience of war, his insights on the developing crisis, and what he worries about most. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the day President Trump is impeached, Isaac Dovere visits the Nixon Library with Tom Steyer. The billionaire presidential candidate has spent two years (and millions of dollars) to keep impeachment in the headlines. As the House of Representatives prepares for the historic vote, they reflect on Nixon's legacy, Trump's future, and Steyer's unique family history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Steve Chabot, a House Republican who helped lead his party's impeachment fight against Bill Clinton, explains why he’s unconvinced by the Democrats’ case against Trump. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Donald Trump wasn’t the only election surprise of 2016. Three months before he won the presidency, the United Kingdom also shocked observers by voting to leave the European Union. Ever since, Brexit has dominated British politics. But while Americans may have to wait another eleven months to see Trump’s name back on the ballot, British elections arrive much faster (and of late, much more frequently). Britain may not be terribly enthusiastic about heading back to the polls, but the stakes couldn’t be higher. Will the UK have another referendum? Will it endorse a ‘hard’ Brexit? And how are British voters actually making up their minds? Staff writer Helen Lewis joins Isaac Dovere from London to preview the election. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

During an impeachment hearing this week, President Trump's former top Russia adviser accused Republicans of peddling Russian propaganda. Anne Applebaum is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and historian who will join The Atlantic as a staff writer in January. As one of the world’s leading experts on pre- and post-Communist Europe, disinformation and propaganda, and the future of democracy, she joins Isaac Dovere to discuss impeachment through a global lens. How did a conspiracy theory concocted by Russian intelligence officers become a Republican defense of President Trump? And what future does Applebaum see for NATO and Western democracy if the president is in office for another four years? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The special December issue of The Atlantic focuses on a single theme: “How to Stop a Civil War.” Two contributors to the issue, Harvard professor Danielle Allen and staff writer Adam Serwer, join Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg to discuss their arguments in the magazine. Allen’s piece, “The Road From Serfdom,” asserts that unity must be made a priority again and offers prescriptive steps for how it can be achieved. In “Against Reconciliation,” Serwer argues that the nation’s pursuits of compromise have often led it to abandon its promises of freedom and equality for all its citizens—that Americans have been content to sacrifice civil rights for civil discourse. The three sat down to discuss where they agree, where they disagree, and how optimistic they are that world’s oldest democracy can survive its bitter divisions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Senator Tim Kaine discusses Democrats' historic win in Virginia and what it means for 2020. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mayor Pete Buttigieg discusses his unlikely presidential run. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

James Fallows spent decades covering national politics for The Atlantic. For the last four years though, he’s traveled the parts of America typically left out of the national conversation. And he comes back with good news. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The fourth Democratic debate this week highlighted Elizabeth Warren’s new front-runner status. It also marked the return to public events for Bernie Sanders, who showcased his energy following a heart attack and touted a key new endorsement from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The two progressive candidates haven’t gone after each other thus far. How much longer will that last? And where does the race go from here? Joining Isaac Dovere this week is Elaine Godfrey, who reports on progressive politics for The Atlantic. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Staff writer Mike Giglio has been reporting on ISIS since before Americans knew what to call it. He documents his five years in the region for a new book, Shatter the Nations: ISIS and the War for the Caliphate. He joins Isaac Dovere to discuss the abrupt changes happening in Syria. How did a phone call upend American policy towards its Kurdish allies? What’s happening on the ground now? And where will this new cycle of violence lead? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As a CIA officer detailed to the White House, Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin is one of the few people to have done the same work as the whistle-blower. She joins Isaac Dovere to discuss that experience, how it led her to play a key role in starting the impeachment inquiry, and how she’s now explaining that decision of conscience to the pro-Trump district she represents. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As impeachment news comes in by the minute, The Atlantic hosts its annual festival in our nation’s capital. Minnesota senator and presidential candidate Amy Klobuchar joins Isaac Dovere on stage for a live taping of Radio Atlantic. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Montana governor talks about his presidential campaign, his personal connection to the gun control debate, and why running his home state has uniquely prepared him to run a divided country. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Begun with a gold-rush brothel in the Yukon, the Trump empire has long been passed down through generations. Donald Trump inherited a business from his father, who inherited it from his father. Now following in those footsteps are Donald Trump Jr, Ivanka Trump, and Eric Trump — all brought into the family business, whatever that happened to be at the moment. When it was real estate, they worked at the Trump Organization. When it became television, they were in the cast of The Apprentice. And with politics the new family business, they’ve acted as key figures in his administration and campaign. The question of which Trump will succeed their father is no longer just a family matter though. Having remade the Republican Party in his image, the president has given his eventual successor a key role in shaping the future of American politics.In his October cover story, McKay Coppins tells the story of how the next generation of Trumps have competed for power — and how the move from midtown Manhattan to 1600 Pennsylvania may have established an unexpected frontrunner. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, Beto O'Rourke took a bus out of New York. Not a campaign bus, just a regular old bus. Isaac Dovere joined for the trip and they talked about how the presidential candidate has been changed by the recent mass shootings in West Texas. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In December, Defense Secretary James Mattis resigned in protest after President Trump announced plans to withdraw troops from Syria. As the last "adult in the room" at the White House, critics worried his departure would loosen the president’s behavior even further. Days after the news broke though, Christmas and the government shutdown pushed Mattis’ resignation into the background. Now, nine months later, he’s beginning to speak publicly again. For the latest issue of the magazine, Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg had a series of conversations with Mattis following his resignation. He re-joins Radio Atlantic with host Edward-Isaac Dovere. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week showed increasing signs that a recession could be on the horizon. Manufacturing is shrinking. Job growth is slowing. The markets are spooked — and now so is the president. But what exactly is happening? Annie Lowrey joins Isaac Dovere to make sense of the recession news. (What exactly is the yield curve and why does it matter?) They discuss what a downturn would do to the 2020 race. And they explore why many voters don’t feel economically secure despite record growth. This June marked the longest economic expansion in U.S. history, but also the one decade anniversary of the Great Recession ending. How did that experience remake the political landscape? Have most Americans really recovered? And what would a new recession mean for them? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Andrew Yang joins Isaac Dovere on the trail in Iowa. Yang’s campaign started as a long-shot from a first-time politician, but he’s found a following. His message about the bleak future technology’s bringing to America (and his plan to give everyone $1000 a month) has led to an enormous online fandom — one that’s actually translating into poll numbers and dollars. Unlike many more traditional candidates, he’s already qualified for the next Democratic debates. So, what does his campaign say about today’s politics? Is it fatalistic or just realistic? And what does success look like for him? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Wednesday, Senator Cory Booker gave a speech on gun violence and white nationalism at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, the same church that lost nine of its members to a white supremacist gunman four years ago. Following his speech, the presidential hopeful sat down with Isaac Dovere in the pastor's office to discuss his plans for ending gun violence in America and why he believes that "we can't let these conversations devolve into the impotent simplicity of who is or isn't a racist." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

While in Detroit covering the Democratic debates, Isaac Dovere sits down with Dana Nessel, Michigan’s new Democratic attorney general and the state’s first openly gay statewide officeholder. Last year, Nessel was part of an all-women executive slate that many said couldn’t win. But every single woman candidate did and Nessel now holds a job that Republican men had controlled for 16 years. What lessons does Nessel’s victory have for Democrats trying to retake Michigan and other crucial states in the industrial midwest? The candidates on stage in Detroit argued over a choice between appealing to progressives or moderates to win. But is that a false choice? And is Joe Biden the safe bet many voters think he is? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Seth Moulton, the Massachusetts congressman and presidential candidate, joins Isaac Dovere this week. Moulton shares his thoughts on Nancy Pelosi, ‘the squad,’ and the direction of the Democratic Party. Speaking soon after Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s hearings on Capitol Hill, Moulton gives his reaction as an early proponent of impeachment. And the decorated Marine veteran discusses his campaign’s focus on national security issues and why the current commander-in-chief is “putting American lives at risk.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Sunday, President Trump told four members of Congress to “go back” to the countries “from which they came.” Journalists have spent the week working through how to discuss what is a textbook racist statement aimed at four congresswomen who—besides all being American citizens—are all women of color. Newsrooms faced hard questions: Do you call the president a racist? How do you not call the president a racist? Do you give him the attention he wants, and how do you modulate that, contextualize it, explain it? Margaret Brennan, moderator of CBS’s Face the Nation, joins Isaac Dovere on this week’s Radio Atlantic to discuss how journalists are faring with these questions and what we can expect going into 2020. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, the British ambassador to the United States resigned after private cables leaked with his frank assessment of the White House and its occupant. Sir Kim Darroch described the administration as “clumsy” and "inept" and said President Trump "radiates insecurity." In response, the president called Darroch “wacky,” a “very stupid guy,” and a “pompous fool.” The episode is another in a long string of public feuds for Trump. But the departure of the ambassador from America's closest ally is no small matter—and one that ripples far outside Washington. So, what consequences could this have for the country and the world? And how do diplomats deal with this president when, as a current ambassador told the Times, "it could have been any one of us?" To discuss, Isaac Dovere is joined by Thomas Pickering, a Career Ambassador for the United States whose seven ambassadorships span decades of Republican and Democratic administrations. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld has experience taking down a Republican president. He began his career in politics as one of the first lawyers hired to investigate Watergate for the House. Working alongside another low-level staffer named Hillary Clinton, his job was to define what constituted an impeachable offense for a president. Now, he’s one of the rare Republicans who thinks Donald Trump’s actions have met that definition. He’s called for the president to be impeached, and even to resign his office. He joined Isaac Dovere on this week’s Radio Atlantic to discuss his time investigating Watergate, the state of the Republican Party, and why he thinks his candidacy isn’t such a longshot. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Wednesday—for the first time in a decade—Congress held a hearing on reparations for slavery. It was a crystallizing moment for an issue that has gained prominence since Ta-Nehisi Coates’s 2014 Atlantic essay. Coates and others testified before a House committee on June 19th—Juneteenth—a day the nation celebrates emancipation from slavery. Every year, Atlantic staff writer Vann R. Newkirk II writes a Juneteenth essay. He joins Isaac Dovere to discuss the history of the holiday, the importance of the hearing, and where the fight for reparations stands now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The 2020 race is on. Staff writer Edward-Isaac Dovere, who covers Democratic politics, was in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, for the unofficial kick-off of the fight to replace Donald Trump. Elaina Plott, who covers the White House, will be in Orlando on Tuesday when the president officially announces his re-election campaign. On this week’s Radio Atlantic: two reporters inhabiting two very different universes discuss what the coming months have in store. Who does President Trump want to face? Who has the best shot of beating him? And now that he’s running as President of the United States, what will be different this time around? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the coming days, the Supreme Court will announce its decisions on two cases that ask the same basic question: how far should partisan politics go? One will determine whether a citizenship question will appear on the 2020 census. The other asks whether partisan gerrymandering is constitutional. With these decisions imminent, that same question about partisanship in non-partisan institutions hangs over the court itself. Still wounded by Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation battle, the nation’s highest court has a “virus of illegitimacy.” And with Democratic candidates endorsing proposals to pack the court, that virus could remake the third branch of American government. On this week’s Radio Atlantic, Isaac Dovere discusses the court with lawyer and Slate writer Mark Joseph Stern. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Recent weeks have seen unprecedented anti-abortion bills pass in states across the country. In Alabama, abortion is now banned under state law, without any exceptions for rape or incest. Georgia, Ohio, and Kentucky have all passed so-called ‘heartbeat’ bills making abortion illegal six to eight weeks into pregnancy. On Wednesday, Louisiana's legislature passed its own heartbeat bill without any exceptions for rape or incest. In Missouri, abortion has been outlawed after eight weeks. And on Friday, it may become the first state without any access to abortion, as a clinic may be pressured to close. These bills have been challenged in court as conflicting with Roe v. Wade, but of course, that conflict is the point. Will a conservative Supreme Court use one of these state laws to overturn Roe? And will this new attention to abortion change how Americans vote in 2020? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Privacy is now the most important idea on the internet—so what exactly is it? And if we care about our privacy, why aren’t we willing to pay to keep it? This week’s Radio Atlantic is a preview of the new season of Crazy/Genius, The Atlantic’s podcast about technology and culture. Staff writer Derek Thompson joins Isaac Dovere to discuss Season 3, which kicks off with an episode about privacy. Subscribe to Crazy/Genius: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | Google Play Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Trump isn’t like most Republican presidents, but his views on trade have been an unusually firm departure from his party. Despite long championing free trade, the GOP is now led by a man who seems deeply skeptical of it. Last week, he upended trade negotiations with China by levying tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese goods, carrying out a threat he’d issued just before a Chinese delegation visited the White House. On Monday, China retaliated with tariffs on $60 billion in U.S. goods. A trade war between the world’s two largest economies seems to be here. And the risks are dire. Financial institutions have warned that "a trade war could cause a global recession," but, as the president infamously tweeted last year, he thinks “trade wars are good, and easy to win.” On this week’s Radio Atlantic, staff writer Isaac Dovere sits down with Colin Grabow, a trade expert from the libertarian Cato Institute, to discuss the two trade battles at hand: one between the U.S. and China, and the other within the Republican party. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Franklin Foer joins Isaac Dovere to discuss his story in the June issue of The Atlantic about Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. Orbán described his vision of Hungary as an "alternative to liberal democracy," and, in recent years, cemented his power by undermining civil society. When Orbán’s party won a majority last year, it rewrote parts of the constitution, redrew parliamentary districts, and stacked courts. Foer details how one of the last independent institutions—a university in Budapest founded by George Soros—has fought back on Orbán’s efforts to expel it from Hungary. These efforts have not been met with condemnation from the Trump administration. To the contrary, when he spoke with Foer, the U.S. Ambassador to Hungary said: "I can tell you, knowing the president for a good 25 or 30 years, that he would love to have the situation that Viktor Orbán has." Next week, President Trump will welcome Orbán to the White House. How has Hungary found itself losing its democracy? What does it mean for the future of Europe? And what role does the U.S. have in all of this? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last weekend’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner was the first one in years without a comedian. In the Trump era, comedians have struggled to adjust — are things too serious? Too biased? Too absurd? Is any of it funny anymore? Jordan Klepper has been on three very different political comedy shows in three years. He was a fake news correspondent on The Daily Show, then a parody conspiracy theorist on The Opposition, to now playing himself in a new documentary series called simply: Klepper. He joins staff writer Isaac Dovere to discuss the state of political comedy (and why he went from parodying Alex Jones to getting strip-searched in Georgia). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Atlantic Ideas Editor Yoni Appelbaum and Vox editor-at-large Ezra Klein have both deeply researched the question of impeachment — and each came to a different conclusion. Appelbaum argued in The Atlantic’s March cover story that the House of Representatives “must immediately open a formal impeachment inquiry into President Trump, and bring the debate out of the court of public opinion and into Congress, where it belongs.” Klein argues that “impeachment will be a partisan war over the president’s removal, and anyone who thinks otherwise is fooling themselves. The fact-finding potential within the process will be overwhelmed by the question of whether impeachment is merited.” With that question pressing in the wake of the Mueller report, they sit down with Isaac Dovere to discuss the history of impeachment and make their cases: should Congress move ahead with impeachment? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Tuesday, Attorney General William Barr ordered immigration judges to stop releasing asylum seekers on bail. The move signals an even fiercer immigration policy that could include the return of family separations. A few weeks ago, the president threatened to close the southern border. Days later, he fired his Homeland Security chief, who reportedly lost out to hardliners in the White House. Isaac Dovere interviews Taylor Levy, the Legal Coordinator at Annunciation House, a Catholic charity based in El Paso that provides shelter to immigrants on both sides of the southern border. El Paso has emerged as a hot spot for migration recently. It’s drawn national attention for the number of people crossing there and for the conditions in which those people have been held. Levy shares the harrowing stories of migrants she works with every day. What are these families escaping when they seek asylum in the U.S.? Why are they being held outside under bridges? And does the Trump administration’s new “Remain in Mexico” policy endanger them? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The crowded race for the Democratic nomination includes both frontrunners and long-shots, but how do we know which is which? Some big names have trailed in fundraising and polls. And some written off early have found surprising support. On this week’s Radio Atlantic, Isaac Dovere is joined by one of the biggest long-shot successes in recent Democratic politics: Howard Dean. The former Vermont governor was an unlikely frontrunner for the presidency, but for a time in the 2004 race, he was the man to beat. Dean talks about what it was like to go from long-shot to frontrunner—and what it’s like to have it all fall apart. He recalls how his 2004 campaign was animated (and perhaps limited) by anger at President Bush. Now, Dean warns Democrats against falling into the same trap with Donald Trump. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In recent days, three women have accused former Vice President Joe Biden of inappropriate contact. On Wednesday, Biden announced in a video that he is going to be “mindful” about personal space going forward, that he hears what these women are saying, and that he "gets it." While a number of prominent women have come to Biden's defense, there are plenty of critics who have said he has no place representing a diverse, empowered, progressive electorate in the coming presidential race. When it comes to gender, have the politics of the Democratic party passed Joe Biden by? What happens now to the Biden proto-candidacy? And what does it mean for the Democratic party of 2020? Alex Wagner sits down with Jennifer Palmieri, former Communications Director for Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign and for the Obama White House from 2013 to 2015. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last week, the special counsel submitted his report to Attorney General Bill Barr. And this week, Barr shared his brief summary of the big conclusions: there was no collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign. As for obstruction of justice, Mueller left that question unresolved. In his letter, Barr said the DOJ had decided the evidence presented didn’t merit criminal charges. More could change with the release of the actual report. In fact, six House committee chairs have demanded it by next Tuesday. But the Mueller chapter of this presidency is now essentially closed. What does the post-Mueller landscape look like? Does the end of his investigation — with no bombshells detonated as yet — hurt Democrats in 2020? Or might it actually help them? Staff writers McKay Coppins and Isaac Dovere join Alex Wagner to discuss. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When elected, most presidents either sell their assets or put them in a blind trust. Isolating a president’s financial interests from their time in office has been a norm for decades: from Jimmy Carter giving up his peanut farm to Barack Obama liquidating his assets. But Donald Trump is not like most presidents. He’s said he won’t divest from his businesses, even though his real estate deals around the world open up countless opportunities for conflicts of interest. His unprecedented decision may violate the “emoluments clause” of the Constitution — a rule that’s existed longer than the American republic, but has never before faced scrutiny in the courts. On Tuesday, a panel of Fourth Circuit judges heard an emoluments case and their decision appears likely to send the fight to Supreme Court. Alex Wagner talks to Joshua Matz, a lawyer for the plaintiffs in that case, a Georgetown law professor, and co-author of the January 2017 Atlantic story: ”Why Trump Will Violate the Foreign Emoluments Clause” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort will spend around seven years in federal prison — far less than the nineteen to twenty-four years recommended by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. The sentences prompted a backlash when a federal judge in Virginia said Manafort deserved leniency for his “otherwise blameless life.” But it’s not just the punishment that has people talking. Manafort’s crimes only came to light after the unlikely events that led to the Mueller investigation. Manafort’s own lawyer said as much this week: “but for” the 2016 election, his client wouldn’t have been in court. The episode has renewed questions that have been asked — if not answered — since the the 2008 financial crisis: Why are white-collar criminals so rarely prosecuted? And when they are, why do they seem to get off with lighter punishment? Alex Wagner puts those questions to attorney and former federal prosecutor Ken White. White is the person behind @popehat on Twitter and the author of the recent Atlantic article: “6 Reasons Paul Manafort Got Off So Lightly.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Democratic party is in a battle with itself. After devastating losses in 2016, the party was resurgent in 2018, but the lessons from both elections remain unclear: should the Democratic party be one of progressive grassroots activism or should it try to win back suburban and moderate voters? Dan Pfeiffer — former senior advisor to President Obama and co-host of Pod Save America — thinks the choice is a false one. He joins Alex Wagner to discuss what lessons Democrats should carry into 2020. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Wednesday before the House Oversight Committee, Michael Cohen called the president a racist, a conman, and a cheat. He also brought documents. Trump’s onetime confidant testified for seven hours. He laid a trail of legal breadcrumbs that are likely to be followed by House Democrats and federal investigators, among others—long after Robert Mueller hands in his report to the Attorney General. Fordham Law Professor Jed Shugerman joins Alex Wagner to explain the legal problems President Trump now faces. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices