The Commentary Magazine Podcast

The fallout from the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel continues, with the revelation that, basically, no one watches his show—so why should Disney and ABC keep it on the air if he's more trouble than he's worth? That goes to the question of what to do when a heavy-handed government starts interfering in private business and going after someone who was exercising his free speech. The issue is more complicated than both left and right are willing to acknowledge. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Eliana Johnson joins today's the podcast to talk about the reasons behind Jimmy Kimmel's suspension and the role of government in it before we move on to the frightening and open advocacy of anti-Semitic opinions by the woke right in the wake of Charlie Kirk's assassination. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Andrew C. McCarthy joins us to discuss the developments in the Charlie Kirk assassination case and the murder of health-care executive Brian Thompson, both of which took major steps forward yesterday in surprising and chilling ways. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Israel has gone all in to finish the war Hamas started on October 7. Batten down the hatches and watch for the anti-Semitic content. Speaking of which, watch as the anti-Semites try to claim Charlie Kirk, a prominent Christian Zionist, as one of their own. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The gyrations of people who do not want to deal with the political and ideological implications of the Charlie Kirk assassination are the chief focus of today's podcast. We also take up the question of why, if America is so "mad" at Israel for the Qatar strike, our secretary of state is in Israel praying at the Western Wall. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The changes in American society that will result from the assassination of Charlie Kirk have already been experienced by America's Jews and the ways we've had to change our lives in the wake of the explosion of anti-Semitic violence over the past decade. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Noah Rothman joins us to talk about political violence and the cultural atmosphere that helped lead to the assassination of a 31 year-old man in the open air of a Utah college campus. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Another remarkable historical turn as Israel makes it clear to Hamas leaders outside Gaza that they are not safe from the war they decided to wage against the Jewish state—an example of how Israel is changing the rules of the game in the Middle East and, as Abe says, is "redrawing the map." Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

So now conspiracy thinking is OK, so long as it involves Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein—that seems to be the mainstream media takeaway from the continuing focus on this admittedly compelling and disgusting story. Trump is a conspiracist, and he's made it to the top—so does that make conspiracies true? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The horrifying murder of a young woman on the light rail in Charlotte has cast a new light on the cultural and political divide relating to crime. And Russia may finally have pushed Trump to the limit. Or has it? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We discuss the confrontation between RFK Jr. and senators who tried to call him out on his behavior and views before wondering at the idea of changing the Department of Defense into the Department of War—and what's going on with the real war in Gaza. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We celebrate a triumph for COMMENTARY and for today's guest Naomi Schaefer Riley, whose article "College Board Games" exposed and brought down a program that could have continued to sneak racial preference into college admissions. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

More and more, progressives are not only wishing their enemies dead, but making movies lionizing those who commit violence against authority figures and spreading stories about the virtues of assassination. What is this demonic impulse? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Now that an appeals court has ruled against most of Trump's emergency tariffs, we may get some sense of how the economic future is going to be managed—once the Supreme Court weighs in. But even so, the administration's hunger to take stock positions in U.S. companies poses a different kind of threat. We talk about this and about what's about to happen in Gaza. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Both the American right and the American left are addicted to the idea that we are living in a perpetual series of emergencies that require extraordinary rather than ordinary measures to combat. This is not healthy. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For the second time in two years, a trans person has committed a mass shooting at a Christian school he or she attended. The mainstream media and liberal politicians seem obsessed with protecting the "trans" part of the story, but the trans part of the story may be the whole story. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is there a larger cultural meaning to the engagement of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce? Does it connect somehow to Cracker Barrel ditching its redesign? And what does it all say about American happiness and connection? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We can't overlook the wild swings at American norms being taken by the Trump administration over the past week, from firing someone the president cannot fire at the Federal Reserve Board to sending FBI agents to the home and office of a critic to announcing a new kind of federal police force. So we don't overlook them! Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We dive right into the Cracker Barrel rebranding kerfuffle. Is the new logo woke or just pointless? And what's really at stake? And is the FBI's raid of John Bolton's home legitimate or just a taste of Trumpian revenge? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In one of our chill summer episodes, the COMMENTARY crew offers individual recommendations for the best single book your inbound college freshman should read, and we make our picks of the best board games (and games). Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On another special summer podcast, the crew delves into great works of art that leave us cold or angry or depressed or that we just don't enjoy. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On a special news-less show, the COMMENTARY crew shares with you some of our favorite and surprising historical sites around the world. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this special Summer Recommendations podcast, the crew suggests places to go in America you might not have thought of or even heard of, including a road, a beach, a park, a museum...and some websites. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On a special news-free podcast, we offer you our list of our favorite Broadway musicals—not necessarily the best, but our faves. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The DC crime crackdown is driving Trump critics into fits of insanity and weird criminality; why can't they find a way to oppose and confront him soberly? That's the question for today. And the podcast concludes with a disastrous song performance by yours truly. Stay for the horror. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What do the Kennedy Center Honors and the Smithsonian Institution have in common? They are both expressions of the surprising determination of the Trump administration to challenge liberal orthodoxy on the arts and on the question of American history and who gets to tell the tale. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How to make sense of the goings-on in Anchorage on Friday between the president and Vladimir Putin? We try. Who knows if we succeed. One thing that does seem to be succeeding is the way Trump is dominating the national conversation with his move to take over public safety in the District of Columbia, and how it connects to general feelings about crime and security among citizens nationwide. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

New evidence that New York City's Jews are refusing to conform with liberal propaganda and still disfavor Zohran Mamdani's candidacy by a margin of 4-1 is discussed before we get to the president's decision to use a 1974 law to take over the administration of criminal justice in the District of Columbia—and what the freakout about it says. Also: Should you be allowed to see a movie made by Roman Polanski? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today's mailbag episode, we discuss whether the word "Zionism" should still be in use, what books are good primers for conservatism, and what we think explains the reasons you are a podcast follower. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Israel's decision to adopt a new strategy to win the war in Gaza is wildly controversial—but maybe not as controversial as the people who oppose it (as they oppose all of Benjamin Netanyahu's moves) seem to think. The Israeli public is divided, and world opinion matters less than Trump opinion. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The semi-announcement of a Trump-Putin meeting coming as the deadline for punishing sanctions against Russia approaches raises the question of whether the president will go through with those sanctions or delay them. And the tariffs begin, with unknown consequences—but then, the consequences have thus far been surprising. And are we understanding the Democratic bad poll numbers right? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

News of the possible retirement/firing of Howard Stern, the most important voice in radio of the past 50 years and one of the most transformative figures in American culture (and the culture of business), has us reflecting on his impact and how he laid the groundwork for Donald Trump. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we talk about the radicalism of Zohran Mamdani, his standing among New York Jews in a new poll, and how it is that bad ideas and failed concepts keep coming back. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's podcast notes the deep problems with Donald Trump firing the head of the agency that issues the jobs report every month while also noting that these job numbers reports are horrible and no one is trying to fix them. And we note our deep sadness and anger at those who are conveniently shifting their views on Israel to conform with the liberal blob. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today's podcast, we discuss letters from listeners about Central America and Communism, just and unjust wars, and how Neville Chamberlain was a very complicated figure indeed. Give a listen! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Twenty-seven Democratic senators voted against aid to Israel on Wednesday, a mark of the Jewish state's abandonment by one of the two major parties in America. But wait! What's this? Polling in 1982 that almost perfectly matches the polling today on support for Israel? Maybe be of better cheer if you are an advocate for the Jewish state, or nah? And...the amazing Sydney Sweeney jeans ad and what it says about America. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

David Bahnsen joins us today to talk about the new GDP numbers, the tariff deals, and the Trump growth agenda—are they balancing out, canceling each other out, or at war with each other, and will we know what to make of them before next year? And the continuing disgrace of the New York Times and its coverage of Gaza, with a second fraudulent photo "proving" starvation in two months. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

COMMENTARY contributing editor Jonathan Schanzer joins the podcast to discuss his innovative plan for Israel to stop playing Hamas's game and bring the war in Gaza to a victorious end. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We have to restrain our rage on today's podcast at the now-blanket assertions of a blood libel against Israel—that it is deliberately causing death by hunger in Gaza, conveniently everywhere simultaneous to Hamas tanking a cease-fire negotiation with Israel. The attacks on Israel's immorality are themselves the true immorality. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Are the COMMENTARY podcasters afraid of me? Did Henry II eat a turkey leg? Why won't Trump solve the entitlement crisis? Why don't liberals love America for what it is? We take up these and other questions in a special letters-to-the-podcast episode. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the Trump administration presses a case against the Obamans for pursuing Trump maliciously in 2016 and 2017, liberals and populists are pressing for more and more information on the confusing matter of Jeffrey Epstein. Is there an "omniconspiracy" of the American elites? And we take a look at the remarkable deal struck between the administration and Columbia University. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we bounce from saying goodbye to Ozzy Osbourne to celebrating Billy Joel to talking about Columbia suspending students to the shameful public display of Mahmoud Khalil to Trump's calling Obama a traitor. It's a wild ride. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Protesters are walking around New York City chanting, "Colbert stays! Trump must go!" How did we get here? What in the world happened to comedy? And speaking of comedy, we discuss Hunter Biden's recent interview. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

More false stories about how Israel is killing the very Gazans it's trying to feed are suggestive of a new turn in the information war on the Jewish state—and how the fact that Israel is not finishing up its task in Gaza is having deleterious consequences. Also, a tribute to a great and modest figure who revolutionized the right in the United States. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What are we to make of a supposed 2003 birthday greeting/drawing for Jeffrey Epstein by Donald Trump? And how many different ways can we luxuriate in the decision to put an end to Stephen Colbert's late-night show? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ah, what a grab-bag episode, with one throughline: When Republicans stop paying any heed to the Washington consensus, they can really get things done. And the miracle of Jaws, now 50 years old. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The continuing focus on the "Epstein files" that don't exist is the first bump in the road for Donald Trump with his base. His declaration that people who focus on it are "very bad" demonstrates his frustration with the distraction from his accomplishments—which are revealed in part by the violence with which liberals and leftists are now discussing his victories at the Supreme Court. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we talk about Donald Trump essentially admitting his mistake with Vladimir Putin and deciding to arm Ukraine through NATO. We also get into the Supreme Court allowing Trump to make cuts to the Department of Education and the state of play in Israel over a new proposed draft law. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We begin today's podcast talking about the failure of the latest Gaza cease-fire proposal, move on to the crisis inside MAGA over Jeffrey Epstein, and then get to the heart of the matter: The astonishing New York Times story released Sunday night in which we learn that the Biden administration used the autopen to execute pardons and commutations and clemencies—in clear violation of centuries of common law regarding the use of the pardon power. This is a big deal. We explain why. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's podcast takes on the huge and outrageous New York Times piece about how Prime Minister Netanyahu has allowed the Gaza war to go on too long to help himself domestically. And we do a deep dive into the Democratic Party's troubles as it struggles with its own innate pessimism and the hunger for literal blood among the party's radical base. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices