Runaway Country with Alex Wagner

How can we make sense of America’s senseless war with Iran? This week, Alex asks if President Trump’s web of corruption extends to his foreign policy. First she speaks to Sarah Leah Whitson, the former Executive Director of DAWN (Democracy for the Arab World Now), to see how much sway Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman holds over Trump. Then, PSA co-host Jon Lovett joins the pod to talk about how America will claw its way back once this administration is done extracting from it for profit.

Leave it to travel delays during Spring Break to turn America’s focus to immigration again. This week, as Congress debates over funding and reforms to ICE, and Markwayne Mullin is sworn in as new Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Alex brings our attention back to the ongoing tactics the Trump administration is using to target immigrants and tear families apart. First she speaks to Stephanie Villarreal, whose husband has been detained despite being a DACA recipient. Then Alex speaks to Jonathan V. Last, editor of The Bulwark, about how to keep a spotlight on immigration, especially when they employ bureaucratic tactics to change someone's status, and why Trump is trying to force a voting rights bill into the debate.To support Stephanie and her family: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-keep-baby-and-father-together

With the war against Iran now in its third week, it has become devastatingly clear that President Trump and his administration have no strategy for the conflict. This week, Alex speaks to Retired Master Sgt. Wes Bryant, a former senior advisor in the Pentagon’s Civilian Protection Center of Excellence, about how Secretary of War Pete Hegseth gutted the team responsible for limiting civilian deaths prior to the attacks on Iran. Then Alex speaks to former Senator and MS Now analyst Claire McCaskill about the political ramifications of the war. From rising gas prices and MAGA revolt, to the rejection by international allies to help secure the Strait of Hormuz….none of this is looking good for Trump.

Over a week into the war with Iran, the casualties, global economic fallout, and incoherence of the Trump administration are all growing. This week Alex speaks to Senator Adam Schiff about Democrats’ attempts to put Congress back into the decision maker’s seat and how to bring transparency to a conflict costing American lives. Then, she speaks to Rachel Maddow, NYT Bestselling author and host at MS Now, about what a political and moral catastrophe the war is, how we got here, and why the only winner so far seems to be Vladimir Putin.

While the Trump administration wages war against Iran and broadens their military scope in the northern hemisphere, there are more subtle campaigns being pushed here at home – like the one to convince women to do nothing more than have babies and stay at home. This week, Alex speaks to former trad wife and host of “The Wake Her Up Podcast”, Sharon Johnson, about her upbringing in the Mormon Church, what it was like to discover she could have agency and choice in her late thirties, and how she feels about trad wives trending. Then Alex is joined by host of Crooked’s “Hysteria” podcast, Erin Ryan, to talk about the broader political goals behind the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2026 plan, and how it attempts to punish women who don’t fit their ideals.

Rightwing billionaire takeovers, journalists getting arrested, and endless misinformation. Welcome to the current state of American journalism. This week, Alex speaks to former CNN correspondent Jim Acosta about how legacy news organizations caved to President Trump and the critical role of independent media.She’s also joined by Jason Zengerle, author of “Hated By All the Right People: Tucker Carlson and the Unraveling of the Conservative Mind”, to analyze how Carlson brought fringe ideas into mainstream discourse.Order Jason Zengerle's book here and use the code ALEX.

President Trump has torn down the East Wing of the White House, re-named the Kennedy Center, and proposed an “Independence Arch”. This week, Alex speaks to architect Neil Flanagan about the damage being done to Washington’s historic buildings, as well as the feasibility of his future projects. Then, she’s joined by Heather Cox Richardson, historian and author of the Substack, “Letters from an American” to analyze how the remaking of America’s capitol lines up with the tried and true methods of authoritarian leaders.

The latest release of more than three million Epstein files has exposed the vast network of powerful and ultra-rich elites who were part of Jeffrey Epstein’s social and business circle. This week, Alex speaks to journalist Kurt Andersen about the way people at the highest echelons of politics, business, academia, and beyond co-mingle. Then, she’s joined by The Bulwark’s Sarah Longwell to discuss whether or not this issue might finally bring about some political consequences for President Trump and his administration.

From a raid on an election office in Fulton County, Georgia, to a call to nationalize federal elections…President Trump is making it clear that his next target is our Democracy itself. This week, Alex speaks to Fulton County Commissioner Marvin Arrington about why he’s challenging the FBI’s seizure of voting records. Then, she’s joined by Faiz Shakir, founder of More Perfect Union, to break down the significance of a flipped seat in Texas, and what the Democrats’ prospects are in this fall’s midterm elections.

This week Alex travels to Minneapolis to see first hand how the community is responding to the terrorizing presence of ICE and the killing of ICU nurse Alex Pretti. She shines a light on the grassroots efforts of mothers mobilizing to help both students and teachers who fear being targeted, and speaks to Reverend Dan Johnson about how his congregation has been impacted as well the very un-Christian nature of this administration’s tactics. Then Alex sits down with Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison to talk about how President Trump’s rhetoric contributed to the attack on Rep. Ilhan Omar, whether judicial interference can stop the federal government’s overreach, and why access to voter rolls is an issue at the center of this crisis.

Even police chiefs in Minnesota are calling out ICE tactics as race-based and out of line. This week, Alex focuses on what comes next — from conditions at ICE detention centers, to the long-term impacts this lawless use of force will have on communities. First Alex speaks to David Wilson, an immigration attorney in Minneapolis about the horrible treatment and lack of medical care his clients are facing. Then she’s joined by MS NOW Political and National Correspondent, Jacob Soboroff, to talk about what he’s seeing on the ground in Minneapolis, how Trump 2.0 immigration enforcement compares to the family separation policy he covered during the first term, and his new book “Firestorm: The Great Los Angeles Fires and America’s New Age of Disaster”.

Since an ICE agent shot and killed Renee Good in Minneapolis, President Trump and MAGA have labeled her a “domestic terrorist” and come up with one reason after another to justify her death. This week Alex interviews Michel Moore, the former Chief of Police for the Los Angeles Police Department, to hear how law enforcement is interpreting the event. Then she speaks to The Bulwark’s Tim Miller to question the parallel realities Americans seem to be living in, despite ample video footage, and even in cases of life and death.

2026 has started off with strikes on Venezuela, the kidnapping of President Nicolas Maduro, and a brazen slew of threats from President Trump against Greenland, Colombia, Cuba, Mexico, and Iran. This week, Alex speaks to Venezuelans about what their hopes and fears are for the future of their country. Then she's joined by Pod Save America's Jon Favreau and Pod Save the World's Ben Rhodes to break down the absolute insanity of Trump’s imperial ambitions.

Are President Trump’s tariffs illegal? Will the independence of federal agencies be a thing of the past? Is birthright citizenship about to be taken away? These are just a few of the consequential questions before a Supreme Court that's hell-bent on destroying obstacles to President Trump's executive power. Alex talks to two plaintiffs at the center of of these cases, Toymaker Rick Woldenberg and former FTC Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter. Then, she sits down with NYU Professor and Strict Scrutiny host Melissa Murray to put it all into context and talk about what the long term impacts will be of a Supreme Court where corruption and partisanship are now out in the open.