The Commentary Magazine Podcast

John Podhoretz is out today enjoying some well-deserved time away from the microphone. The nightmare in Afghanistan continued over the weekend and, despite the administration’s outward displays of confidence, the prospects for a disaster loom larger than ever. But will the emerging domestic political crisis over our disastrous pullout evolve into something that threatens to derail the Democratic... Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Joe Biden’s behavior over the course of the Afghanistan crisis he precipitated is inexplicable. But we do our best to try to explain it anyway. Also, is there anything to be done about the increasingly deadly pandemic of the unvaccinated? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's podcast considers George Stephanopoulos's jaw-dropping interview with the president and his assertions that he knew the chaos in Afghanistan was coming. We also wonder at the words of Joint Chiefs Chair Mark Milley and Defense Secretary Austin and at the COVID behavior of New Zealand prime minister Ardern. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's podcast wonders at the bet Joe Biden has placed on the possibility that the chaos in Afghanistan relating to the exit of Americans will be short-lived and that he will suffer no long-term consequences from it. Is that bet likely to pay off? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The founding editor of National Affairs, Yuval Levin, joins the podcast today to talk about the implosion of Afghanistan and Joe Biden’s shame as well as his article in the September issue of Commentary: “What We Have Gotten Right in the COVID Fight.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Afghan government has fallen to the Taliban, and only over the course of a single weekend. The Commentary podcast on the terrible implications of America’s humiliation in Central Asia. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bloomberg columnist Eli Lake joins the program today to talk about America’s decision to scrap 20 years of work and progress in Afghanistan. Why it didn’t have to be this way, and what comes next for the United States. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Will the so-called “Squad” of House progressives really want to block the Biden administration’s signature achievement, infrastructure, if they can’t get their $3.5 trillion wish list along with it? Also, perplexing COVID numbers and the spiraling disaster in Afghanistan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's podcast brings up the question: Why did Andrew Cuomo date his resignation fourteen days away? What is this Machiavellian schemer up to? And as the infrastructure bill passes the Senate, what will Nancy Pelosi do in the House—and is she any good at her job? And why, oh why, do the data on the Delta variant simply not suggest what the COVID hawks want them to suggest? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We've reconvened today to offer our quick thoughts on the resignation of Andrew Cuomo, the bipartisan nature of sex scandals, the way people try to save themselves from disgrace, and what happens now. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Democrats are placing a big bet on the American voting public’s desire for a radical transformation of the social compact with their $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill. The risk seems far more pronounced than the rewards. Also, Andrew Cuomo seems to be the only person in America who doesn’t know he’s done. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's podcast takes up the desertion of Andrew Cuomo by his closest aide, the unfolding horror in Afghanistan as America bugs out, and the COVID panic. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's surprising podcast doesn't feature the news of the day; instead, we talk about Smokey and the Bandit. And Last Exit to Brooklyn. And 42nd Street. And For All Mankind. And a Woodstock documentary. It's a weird show! Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's podcast takes up the glee with which Democratic legislators greeted Joe Biden's decision to...usurp legislative authority. What's going on here? And what will happen with Andrew Cuomo? And why are we talking about the COVID threat posed by the Sturgis bike rally again? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Karol Markowicz joins us today to discuss the damning report on Andrew Cuomo's behavior toward women, the meaning of the victory of the less radical candidate in an Ohio Democratic primary, and the Biden administration's open embrace of unconstitutional lawlessness with its continuance of the rental moratorium. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

James B. Meigs joins the podcast today to talk about, what else, the bizarre behavior of the CDC in relation to the pandemic. And we have a fun argument about the question of mandating vaccination passes. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's podcast is a threnody of denunciation: Of the CDC, of the Biden administration's haplessness, and of the seemingly deliberate disinformation regarding the Delta variant in the New York Times and on CBS News, among many other places. Plus: Will Democratic leftists kill the infrastructure bill? And how delusional was the Biden negotiating team when it came to dealing with the Iranians on the Iran nuclear deal? Matt Continetti joins us. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There is a bipartisan infrastructure deal, and it looks likely to pass. The smorgasbord of other progressive wish list items that was supposed to follow its passage, however, is more imperiled than ever. Couple this with a disappointing second-quarter GDP number, and you have to wonder if the government spending to which we’ve committed ourselves over the course of the pandemic is the problem. Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s podcast takes up the fulfillment of what we’ve been warning against—the public-health people are lowering the boom again in a self-defeating effort to control the spread of the COVID variant by controlling the behavior of… the already vaccinated. We take apart the reasons proffered by the CDC director for this bizarre guidance. Then we talk about the shame of the attacks on the Capitol... Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

American athletes are having a tough time at the Olympics. On today’s podcast, we suggest various causes, among them that there is no longer a psychic benefit to be gleaned from representing your country in these games. We also wonder at the competency of American politicians and the potential horrors awaiting Afghanistan as we pull out. Give a listen. Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the pressure grows to return America to a condition of mini-lockdown, we examine the words and ideas of the public-health bureaucracy that is horrified by the prospect of America just…governing itself. Plus: transgender athletes and Jackie Mason. Give a listen. Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With municipalities around the country reimposing indoor masking recommendations or even mandates, no one seems to be asking whether the fully vaccinated will welcome much less endure restrictions they shouldn’t have to observe. Is a backlash brewing? Also, California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s recall election is looking more and more like a tossup. Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Did Nancy Pelosi make a mistake by rejecting two more pro-Trump Republicans from the January 6 commission? Or is she once again making a strategic blunder? Also, inflation has become one of voters’ primary concerns, and the threat it represents to Democrats is growing. Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s podcast continues our conversation from yesterday about the Jeff Bezos expedition and the hunger among elite liberals to heap scorn and derision upon it, him, and the very idea of technological progress. Why? And are there really breakthrough infections? And what can we learn from Eric Adams, NYC mayoral candidate, and his commonsensical neocon remarks? Give a listen. Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s passionate podcast features praise for the American people when it comes to vaccination and serious querying why we are turning this amazing national mobilization success into a neurotic failure. And we celebrate Jeff Bezos’s trip into near-space and ask again why it is that we are being told by the liberal establishment that it is a pointless and vainglorious effort. Cheer up, people! Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Michael Brendan Dougherty of National Review joins us today to discuss his controversial NR piece, “Convincing the Skeptics,” which caused a firestorm on Twitter for supposedly showing undue sympathy for those who aren’t getting the vaccines. We also talk about bad polling and the very bad Kenneth Roth of Human Rights Watch. Give a listen. Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s podcast features COMMENTARY columnist Matthew Continetti joining us to ruminate upon the Biden administration’s response to the events in Cuba, the outrageous imposition of an indoor mask mandate in L.A. county, and why liberals seem to think the only way to be properly sexual these days is to be in a throuple. Give a listen. Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The podcast crew expresses skepticism at the notion that Biden and the Democrats have a brilliant strategy to get their $3.5 trillion spending bill passed. And we express skepticism about Joint Chiefs chair Mark Milley’s self-portrait as the man Who Saved America from the New Nazis. And we praise Olivia Rodrigo, who’s great. Give a listen. Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

James B. Meigs joins today’s podcast to discuss the Delta variant surge and the continuing refusal of many on the Right to act to contravene it. We also talk about the weirdness of Democratic senators announcing they had agreed to a $3.5 trillion deal that, in fact, they hadn’t all agreed to—and why on earth the Biden administration is giving in to Iran. Give a listen. Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Washington Free Beacon Editor-in-Chief Elianna Johnson joins the program today in Christine Rosen’s absence to talk about Texas Democrats’ tactical retreat from their jobs, Cuba’s ongoing protests, and troublingly high inflationary signals. Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Noah Rothman is back after a week away from the podcast to offer his two cents on the Delta variant surge and how it’s affecting conservative media and Republican politics. We also discuss the revolt in Cuba and why it’s important to support democratic rebellions abroad… and Black Widow. Give a listen. Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s hodgepodge of a podcast takes up our personal histories of summer camp, Joe Biden’s speech on Afghanistan, the conversion of COVID into a seasonal flu, and bad documentaries. Give a listen. Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We talk about the recent uptick in U.S. COVID cases, the ever-elusive end of the pandemic, and the skepticism around vaccines and lockdowns. We touch on Donald Trump’s move against Big Tech, and we close out with some old sitcom gems. Hint: Chuckles the Clown. Give a listen. Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our friend Steve Kornacki joins the podcast today to talk about the results of the New York City primary in the Democratic party and what they say about the party’s ideological makeup—and about the future of ranked-choice voting. It’s great. Give a listen. Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The leftist attacks on America around July 4 may prove to be the unforced error of all unforced errors, or so we say on today’s (sadly Noah-free) podcast. We also talk about tenure for critical race theorists, who really knows about critical race theory, and who should be talking about the vaccination problem. Give a listen. Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s the Fourth of July weekend and we spend the podcast defending America from the nonsense of NPR, the liberal notion that America is a bad actor on the world stage, and the idea that COVID is some form of rough justice for America’s sins. Have a glorious weekend as you give a listen. Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today’s podcast: What happened in the Bill Cosby case? How best can we discuss the extraordinary life of Donald Rumsfeld, RIP? What is ballot harvesting? Will people believe elections are fair ever again? Give a listen. Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s podcast looks at the disaster of the New York Democratic mayoral primary and what it says about the way liberal cities and states work. And more repulsive blather from Ilhan Omar. Give a listen. Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s podcast concludes with a commemoration of the life and career of 95-year-old Mel Brooks and what they have to teach us—and how we need to restore what he brought to American life and American comedy. Before that, we ask why Democrats and Republicans have such wildly divergent views about the end of the pandemic—and the thickets into which the Biden administration has wandered with Iran. Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Matthew Continetti joins today’s podcast, which features a conversation about aliens and God so deep that you may think we were high or drunk while recording it. We weren’t. Give a listen. Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the final podcast of the week, we try to make sense out of Joe Biden praising bipartisan dealmaking before promising to pass everything left out of the bipartisan infrastructure deal—which will likely destroy that deal. What’s the game here? Is there one? And did Mike Pence just end his Republican political career? Give a listen. Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s podcast takes up the conundrum of the politics within the Democratic Party that led to fantasies of a new New Deal, which have been subjected to various reality tests this week injurious to Joe Biden and his agenda going forward. Also, more reader mail about vaccinations and whether we’re mean about them. Give a listen. Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s podcast tries to make sense out of the apocalyptic rhetoric emanating from Democrats about the failure of their largely unconstitutional voting bill before pointing out that progressives had a setback in the New York City primary on Tuesday and what that might mean. Give a listen. Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

James. B. Meigs joins us again to discuss the important question of just why it was the idea of COVID originating from a lab leak was deemed undiscussable. We also point out that the press has a historical habit of believing that corporations will do all sorts of evil scientific things… but not Communist regimes. Give a listen. Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The evidence is everywhere: An extraordinary number of people seem to prefer living under masks rather than accepting the data that say the pandemic is over. Why? We go into that, and the extraordinary story of the lab leak in the Soviet Union that American “experts” agreed was a naturally occurring phenomenon… because saying so was taking a side in the political-cultural-ideological war of the... Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s podcast discusses the amazing fact that conservative justices on the Supreme Court often go against what people say their political allies demand of them—but this happens far more rarely among liberal justices. Now, why would that be? Also… Donald Trump is running. Give a listen. Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we begin the podcast with talk about Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin before getting to the hot topic of the day—an apology proffered by a showbiz legend for saying something entirely commonsensical and true. Why did Rita Moreno feel it necessary to abase herself before the gods of wokeness? Give a listen. Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s podcast features a response from all of us to a great letter from a listener who believes John is far too harsh about the question of who gets vaccinated. See whom you agree with! And, again, when will they say the pandemic is over when the pandemic… is… over… NOW. Give a listen. Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What did Biden say about the GOP and Vladimir Putin on foreign shores? Attacked one and praised the other? We talk about that on today’s podcast, as well as shameful public pronouncements by columnist Michael Gerson and former Biden COVID guy Andy Slavitt. Give a listen. Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bret Stephens joins the podcast crew today to discuss the change in Israel’s government—and the complex legacy of Benjamin Netanyahu. Then we talk NATO, Biden, and the end of the pandemic. Give a listen. Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices