The Commentary Magazine Podcast

Is wokeness creating anew the force Richard Nixon called the "silent majority"? And why are fully vaccinated people still wearing masks after the CDC said they don't have to? And what about Andrew Yang? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

According to Joe Biden, wearing a mask even if you’re fully vaccinated and everyone around you is fully vaccinated, is now patriotic. But is patriotism so conditional? Also, how Republicans become culture warriors when they notice Democratic culture-warring, and the effort to disenfranchise minority children in the name of “equity.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Joe Biden made a lot of promises in last night’s semi-State of the Union address, most of which involved spending vast sums of money. But will this promissory note that is unlikely to materialize in the real world energize Democratic voters as much as it drives Republicans to the polls in opposition? Also, Sen. Tim Scott’s clever and impressive rebuttal. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released their long-anticipated masking guidelines for the fully vaccinated and it turns out that your privileges are… functionally indistinct from those afforded the unvaccinated. If anyone is still listening to this agency, it isn’t the people public health officials need to reach. Also, Human Rights Watch’s embarrassingly unconvincing allegations against Israel. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The podcast discusses a heartening display of defiance in France to protest the unjust verdict rendered in the anti-Semitic murder of Sarah Halimi, which further reinforces the case for Zionism. Also, the racial condescension on display among progressives who heap scorn on white vaccine holdouts but handle skeptical minorities with kid gloves. And finally, countering the narrative that Joe Biden is no culture warrior. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's podcast discusses what it means that the Oscars were so badly executed, whether we're about to be released from having to wear masks outside, and what John Kerry told the Iranians that should have him hauled up before the Senate Intelligence Committee. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The podcast takes up Joe Biden's determination to cut carbon emissions in half in nine years and what such a ludicrous promise means politically. What does it tell us about what he thinks his job as president is and what he wants the history books to say about him? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The COMMENTARY gang expresses its shock and disbelief at the ability of liberals and the Biden White House to disregard the unmistakable evidence in the police shooting in Columbus, Ohio in favor of their preferred narrative about how cops are systemically racist—and how they might be giving birth to an "Enough Already" Party. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A jury of 12 peers listened to the evidence and rendered a verdict. Before the verdict, the jury's impartiality was questioned by the Left. After, it's being questioned by the Right. And what of the efforts to turn a shooting in Columbus, Ohio, into a new George Floyd case? And what of the vaccination numbers slowing way down? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The first COMMENTARY podcast in 14 months with three regulars in our podcast studio at our New York offices! Is normalcy returning? Ehhh.... not really. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why does Rep. Maxine Waters get to call for "confrontation" in case the verdict in the George Floyd case doesn't go the way she wants? Shouldn't she be named and shamed? Or is that just to be left to liberal reporters who get to pick and choose who's named and shamed? And here's one for you: Why aren't Fauci et. al. naming and shaming the Americans who won't get the vaccine? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is inflation coming? The answer is "yes," but the experts are saying not to panic. Really? Ever lived through an inflationary spiral? We discuss that, the refusal to distribute conservative books, and the media's refusal to hold itself accountable for false stories about "Russian bounties on American soldiers." Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our friend Yuval Levin joins the podcast today to talk about Democratic House members moving to pack the Supreme Court and pushing an extreme agenda in general—what's going on there? And what on earth is happening with a United States Ambassador to the United Nations attacking... the United States? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bloomberg View columnist Eli Lake joins the podcast today to discuss Joe Biden’s plan for withdrawing all NATO forces from Afghanistan on, of all dates, the twentieth anniversary of the September 11th attacks. What are they thinking? Also, the fallout from the decision to pause the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

James B. Meigs joins the podcast today to discuss the news that the FDA and CDC have "paused" the Johnson & Johnson vaccine and what it might mean. We also discuss infrastructure bills and polling misses. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Eliana Johnson of the Washington Free Beacon joins the podcast today to discuss the recent shooting near her hometown of Minneapolis, the worry about the South African variant, and how liberals are reacting to the degrading of the Iran nuclear program. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's podcast looks at the media coverage of the murder trial of police officer Derek Chauvin in Minneapolis with the clear suggestion that the full story of what is going on in the courtroom is not being made clear enough to the American people. And will moderate Democrats hold Joe Biden accountable for moving farther to the Left than he suggested he would during the campaign? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On guns, illegal immigration, and schooling, Democrats from Joe Biden to Stacey Abrams to Andrew Cuomo to Randi Weingarten are pushing policy prescriptions and spending that seem entirely out of whatever the political center is. Will they pay a price? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's podcast takes up the moves by the Biden administration to reopen talks with Iran, as well as the evidence that the crime spike of 2020 was not about economic hardship but rather an offshoot of the war on the police. Also, what is the difference between voter depression and voter suppression? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The gang engages in a series of generalized rants about the class-based COVID theatrics to which some are more committed than others and Joe Biden’s transformative agenda, which he did not run on and for which no one voted. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s podcast takes up the outrageous “60 Minutes” effort to defame Gov. Ron DeSantis and the vaccine rollout in Florida before we go on extended rants about the way the success with the COVID vaccine is being twisted into a new crisis in general by a media determined to continue to force us into lockdown life. Give a listen. Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Noah Rothman returns from vacation to help us make sense of the Biden administration’s claim we need trillions in “infrastructure” spending at a time when job creation is going through the roof and the American economy is about to soar. Also, what on earth is going on with Matt Gaetz? Give a listen. Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wilfred Reilly, author of this month’s COMMENTARY cover article, joins us to talk about “The Good News They Won’t Tell You About Race in America.” Give a listen! Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’re joined today by Israeli journalist Ruthie Blum to discuss the bizarre phenomenon of Israel likely heading toward a fifth election in two years despite the multiple triumphs in the past year attributable to the leadership of embattled Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Why hasn’t Israel’s success in national vaccination carried Netanyahu to new heights? And we continue to discuss vaccine... Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Matthew Continetti joins the podcast today to discuss the interesting decision of the Biden administration to go apocalyptic about the COVID threat even as vaccinations accelerate—and we discuss the objections by listeners to the idea that they should get vaccinated. And a whole lot more. Give a listen. Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we take up the dangers posed by the trial of Derek Chauvin, charged with the murder of George Floyd, and the controversy over so-called “vaccine passports.” Give a listen. Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How did President Biden do at his press conference? What went on at the Journal of the American Medical Association that will horrify you? Most important, how abjectly did John apologize for criticizing his colleagues wrongly the other day? Give a listen. Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A press conference is coming. How will the media try to shield the new president? What questions will they ask—and won’t they ask? Give a listen. Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The news that former Trump campaign attorney Sidney Powell is arguing that no one should have taken her claims regarding election fraud seriously suggests an interesting crisis of confidence is upon us. Both parties are beholden to exculpatory narratives for their own failures that are, in essence, lies, but do any of them possess the capacity for shame? Also, progressives with an ingrained hatred... Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Should we feel sorry for the poor Biden people who find themselves on the knife’s edge when it comes to border security? And should we feel sorry for ourselves that our path out of COVID is being blocked by those with social anxiety? And should we care about cancel culture canceling liberals when liberals don’t care about conservatives getting canceled? Give a listen. Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The podcast today takes up the alarming spectacle of the first major diplomatic meeting of the Biden administration, at which senior Chinese officials lambasted the United States and our shocked senior diplomats found themselves at a loss. Why were they at a loss? We explain. And talk about a bunch of other stuff. Give a listen. Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today’s COMMENTARY podcast: The mass murder of Asian-American women in an attack in Georgia, the apparently sexual motive behind those killings, and the sources of racial tension in America. Also, the Biden administration’s endorsement of a “three-foot rule” in schools and the conflict between educators and their union representatives. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After yesterday's podcast highlighted Biden's homeland security secretary all but inviting illegal aliens to cross the border—but later on–George Stephanopoulos helped the president fix the problem his underling had created. But is this really a fix, or just a dodge? And why would Biden endorse making the filibuster a "talking filibuster"? And why did he sort of say and not say that Andrew Cuomo should resign? And more. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Biden administration's homeland security secretary went on Good Morning America and suggested to those streaming across the border and the parents who are sending their kids across that they might want to wait until the administration sets up a better system. Are they kidding? No. Meanwhile, the Washington Post corrects itself on Trump and Dr. Fauci offers praise for his own supposed truth-telling. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Christine goes to a demonstration. Liberals act like the Biden administration has brought Christmas every day. Andrew Cuomo sends his sub-goon to scare New York state politicians. And the Oscars are still kinda white. Today's podcast is a smorgasbord of delights. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's podcast analyzes Joe Biden's speech to the nation regarding the pandemic and asks whether he's remaining funereal about the present and immediate future in order to be able to claim victory after victory because of underpromising or out of a desire to keep people under control until we can be sure the virus is fading away. And what's this about New York Democrats in the House wanting Andrew Cuomo to resign? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's podcast reflects on how the purpose of social media is increasingly as a forum for cruelty–and why that is so seductive to so many people. Also, the reinvention of Joe Biden as the second coming of FDR: will it stick? We warn about the possibility of violence surrounding the trial of Derek Chauvin, and wonder who hasn't been molested by Andrew Cuomo. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The popular "relief" bill and the vaccine rollout accelerations put Joe Biden in the catbird seat, setting himself up to take credit both for our emergence from the pandemic and a roaring economic recovery. Will it work? Also, what did Dr. Fauci mean when he said the CDC would be liberalizing its guidance over the next few weeks—was this an implicit admission it was slowing the roll until the relief bill is signed into law? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's podcast takes up the question of whether Bernie Sanders could have been as functionally left-wing as president as Joe Biden is being. And what is this game in which liberals create culture wars and then say conservatives are crazy for reacting to them? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The $1.9 trillion relief and stimulus bill returns us to the era of big government, as we discuss today on the podcast. We also talk about the problems of royal families both real (the Sussexes) and imaginary (the Zamundans in Coming 2 America) and, yes, Andrew Cuomo. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The news just keeps getting worse for New York's governor, with state officials saying they feared for their jobs if they did not participate in a cover-up of COVID death data and a powerful and credible interview with a woman whom he allegedly harassed. And what's this: Connecticut opening up? Is its Democratic governor a Neanderthal in Joe Biden's eyes? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A day of confusion in Washington as the Biden administration says it wants schools reopened but then also seems to implicitly agree with the teachers' unions that schools can't reopen until everyone is vaccinated by insisting on "prioritizing" teachers. How to make sense out of this? And what's this huge story out of Israel about a mammoth oil spill? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's podcast looks at the decision of Texas Gov. Abbott to loosen all state-level mandates relating to the coronavirus and asks whether this is a worthy experiment or a dangerous threat. And what about what's going on with American policy toward Iran and Saudi Arabia? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's podcast wonders at the possibility of Andrew Cuomo being destroyed not by his nursing-home scandal but because of sexual harassment. What's a bigger problem? And we take up the phenomenon of elite panic deepening even as the vaccine news gets better and better. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's podcast expresses optimism and relief at the continuing good news on the vaccine front and expresses schadenfreude at the continuing troubles of Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Also, Trump returns to CPAC. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The podcasters end the week arguing over the meaning of the Biden administration's decision to strike Iranian targets even as they attempt to reenter Obama's Iran nuclear deal. And wonder as well at the bribery and fecklessness in the $1.9 trillion relief/stimulus bill and what it portends. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's podcast takes up the consequences of Andrew Cuomo's unambiguously repellent sexual harassment of an Albany aide as well as the nightmarish false accusations of racism against workers at Smith College. Oh, and Trump at CPAC. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With the good news about the vaccine, the question that faces us (and the podcast crew today) is how will the politicians who have exercised such extraordinary powers over the past year behave now that they should no longer be used or necessary? Once they've tasted the sweet ambrosia of control, can they give it up? And hey, notice that Biden now has "kids in cages" too? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's podcast examines the latest blowup in the Cultural Revolution overtaking journalism, as Slate defenestrates a staffer who actually did something woke—but thought it over first. Should we care, or does this mean no one is safe from this marauding band of cancellers? How about the Biden people trying to use ethnicity and gender to protect and advance the cause of a controversial appointee's confirmation? And how did Biden do in commemorating the horror of half a million American lives lost to COVID? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The vaccine news, especially out of Israel, is startlingly good—especially as regards the transmissibility of the coronavirus. So why, the podcast crew asks, are the elites focusing on the bad, bad, very bad? Is this just a matter of habit, or is there something political going on? And why did Biden even nominate Neera Tanden, who is almost certainly not going to get confirmed as OMB director? And why do liberals think there's no dignity in work? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices