The Commentary Magazine Podcast

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

The podcast crew enjoys watching Andrew Cuomo's halo turn into a shackle, and wonders at the larger meaning of Ted Cruz's self-inflicted disaster of a trip to a beach while his constituents freeze in their homes. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Congressional Democrats haven’t even passed their proposed $2 trillion COVID relief package and they’re already talking about teeing up a multi-trillion-dollar infrastructure bill. Are Democrats repeating the mistakes of Barack Obama’s first term? Also, the delusions of Ben Rhodes and Rush Limbaugh’s legacy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why are Andrew Cuomo's poll numbers still strong? Why is Joe Biden making anti-Israel personnel moves at the State Department and refusing to talk to Benjamin Netanyahu? Why is Nancy Pelosi forming a commission to investigate the January 6 storming of the Capitol? And why is a 16-year-old's mental health fodder for a reality show? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The podcast achieves new heights, or lows, of crushing morosity today as we contemplate the botched impeachment trial—botched by Democrats!—and the new "how to open schools" guidance from the CDC that seems not to follow the science but rather the desires of liberal and leftist "stakeholders." Oh, and some interesting Democratic appointments round it all out. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's podcast looks at the third day of the impeachment trial and raises questions about the effectiveness of the Democratic case. Then we talk about the admission of guilt by Andrew Cuomo's top aide relating to the undercounting of nursing-home deaths. And Christine Rosen's brilliant new article. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's podcast looks at the narrative presented at the impeachment trial and how it reveals the disturbing nature of a riot whose participants seemed to have themselves taken on the roles of avenging angels and villains in a dark superhero movie. What does this say about us? And what does it say about us that a doctor trying to find willing arms into which he could inject a rapidly expiring vile of COVID vaccine was fired and charged with a crime for not pursuing "equity"? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How bad were Trump's lawyers? Does it matter? How good were the House managers? Does it matter? Does anything matter? How about opening schools—and why are John's kids' schools open while yours are closed? And what does Philip Larkin have to tell us about the world under COVID? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The podcast today takes note of the Democratic hunger to get the Senate impeachment trial over with as quickly as possible so they can hand out $2 trillion worth of goodies to the public and what this says about the seriousness of the liberal conviction about Trump being a threat to the republic. And what on earth is going on at the New York Times? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Can we ever enjoy ourselves again? That's the question the podcast crew says was raised by the lame commercials at last night's Super Bowl—and by the continuing efforts of the public-health bureaucracy to tell us we will never emerge from the COVID regime. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Commentary podcast on the risks in the new stimulus, Ben Sasse’s admonition of his state’s Republicans, and warmth of the spotlight on public health officials. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Here’s the good news: The House Republican conference voted overwhelmingly against punishing Rep. Liz Cheney for her vote to impeach Donald Trump in defiance of the GOP’s populist wing. Here’s the bad news: That same conference also gave Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene a standing ovation and is disinclined to anathematize her conspiratorial paranoia. So, is everything completely terrible or just really bad? The COMMENTARY podcast debates the proper level of despair. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Have liberals finally had enough? Are they going to break discipline once they get the vaccine and stop insisting everyone wear three masks? And why does the Biden administration not want to participate in legal action against racial discrimination? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The podcast says Joe Biden's choice of negotiating with Republicans or ramming his own COVID deal through represents a hinge moment for his presidency only 13 days in! And the impeachment trial and what Donald Trump will require of Senate Republicans may be the historical hinge moment for the GOP. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's podcast raises the specter of a negotiation between the new president and ten Republicans who offer the possibility of a bipartisan deal on COVID relief. Will he take it as an opportunity to prove he can work across the aisle or view it as a political trap? Also, more on Andrew Cuomo's perfidy and Donald Trump's GOP blackmail. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The podcast goes at Andrew Cuomo hammer and tong as the whistle is blown by a fellow Democrat in New York state on his handling of the coronavirus. But that's not all! What about Trump and Kevin McCarthy? What about Nancy Pelosi's enemies list? What about hedge fund guys yelling on TV about people who have no right to invest the way they invest? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The COMMENTARY Podcast is not the place you want to turn for stock market tips but we do have something to say about the political and cultural meaning of the extraordinary events surrounding the Gamestop stock and the runup in its value. And we wonder at the Biden administration's foot-in-mouth disease when it comes to job-destroying executive orders. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's podcast takes up the executive order frenzy of the new administration and Biden's embrace of critical race theory and the teachers' unions' view of how no school should reopen (watch this jaw-dropping video from the teachers union in Chicago) until they decide it's safe. And, of course, the looming Senate trial in the Trump impeachment. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s podcast asks whether the Democrats are both overplaying their hand politically and setting themselves up to seem like extremists in 2022 or whether Republicans in places like Oregon are setting up the GOP for disaster because of their embrace of conspiracy theory and lies. And what does this mean for the politicians who like to straddle fences? Give a listen. Source Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's podcast gets into the COVID confusion of the moment and the continuing refusal of elected officials and public-health people to speak the simple truth about what they know and what they don't—and the fact that tradeoffs are difficult and painful and horrible. Also, the Biden administration gets tested abroad and the GOP continues to eat its own. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's podcast features the gang playing psychiatrist as we try to analyze the claim of a New York Times columnist that she has been in an emotional prison since the election of 2016. How will they get over their addiction to Trump hatred? And how will we be able to deal with the fact that our leaders in Washington now insist everyone wear masks but take theirs off at the least opportunity? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's podcast takes up Joe Biden's early executive actions and the complaints by his COVID czar that they've been left no plan to implement, which is a falsehood but politically very much in keeping with the way incoming administrations try to lower expectations. The question is: Will Biden go woke when his entire candidacy was a feint toward the non-woke? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Host of ABC’s “The View,” Meghan McCain, joins the podcast today to talk about Joe Biden’s inauguration as president, the fallout from the January 6 Capitol Building riots, and what it will be like to host a daytime talk show without President Trump. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's podcast takes up the surreal fact that Joe Biden will be president, and Donald Trump will not be president—and yet it still feels like Trump is the only news game in town and nobody cares what Biden will say or do. Also some football talk! Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices