The Daily Beast Podcast

Daily Beast contributing editor Diana Falzone walks co-host Andy Levy through a piece she published this week which uncovers who actually caused a Donald Trump phone call with a religious group to be hacked. The former president blamed the troll-takeover of the call on the “radical left,” but as Falzone recounts, it was because Michael Flynn did something dumb. She also gives Andy, fellow Fox News alum, insight into the life of Fox News staffers trying to get the hell out and find another job. Plus! Dr. Céline Gounder, a clinician, epidemiologist and editor at large for public health at KFF Health News, breaks down the ruling in Texas to withdraw FDA-approved abortion drug Mifepristone. She tells co-host Danielle Moodie how this move has much scarier, and more far-reaching, implications than we think, especially for cancer patients or someone with a chronic illness who relies on FDA-approved meds. And the top cause of gun deaths for kids these days is not what you’d expect. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Timothy Egan, author of A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan’s Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them, joins Danielle on this bonus episode of The New Abnormal to talk about his work and research on the KKK, how the group was able to maintain power, and all the ways that Trump mirrors one of the group’s most grotesque members Grand Dragon D.C. Stephenson. He also shares the most Trumpian thing about the convicted rapist and murderer and the reason he believes that everyone stood behind this person, despite knowing he was a monster. Plus, Danielle and co-host Andy Levy watch react to this week’s Sunday clips. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Elie Honig joins this episode of The New Abnormal politics podcast to explain how the 2024 election could impact the timeline for a Trump trial more than we think. There are a few different ways things can go, and neither is that great if you want to see Trump held accountable. Plus! WSJ’s Robbie Whelan, who covers all things Walt Disney Co., shares with co-host @DeeTwoCents a reason that DeSantis is hellbent on controlling the Mouse, and how Disney’s old board quietly stuck it to him—for now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

No one knows what the future holds for Donald Trump and this indictment, but The Bulwark’s Amanda Carpenter has a few ideas and came on the latest episode of The New Abnormal politics podcast—along with MSNBC legal analyst Glenn Kirschner—to share them. And there’s good and bad news. Kirschner takes the opportunity to go in on the Department of Justice for its failure to hold Trump accountable for, well, everything, and leaving it up to the states instead. And in true lawyer fashion, he pinpoints the moment that Trump revealed his motive for keeping those classified documents on Sean Hannity. Plus! TNA hosts Andy Levy and Danielle Moodie issue a warning about MAGA Trump defense money scams. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Betsy DeVos is no longer wreaking havoc as former President Donald Trump’s Secretary of Education, but even without the title, the Republican donor is still actively making moves to “destroy” the public school system. Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, came on this bonus episode of The New Abnormal podcast to share exactly how DeVos, “one of Michigan’s least popular people,” is doing so as well as her take on mass shootings in schools (“They’ll ban a book before they’ll even talk about what to do with assault weapons.“) and the state of teaching in America because of it all. Plus! Hosts Danielle Moodie and Andy Levy listen to clips of Lauren Boebert getting owned over “public urination” and Trump saying truly dumb things, including that he may not love his children. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this week’s episode of The New Abnormal, hosts Andy Levy and Danielle Moodie discuss the latest in Donald Trump’s New York indictment. Plus! The Atlantic’s Adam Serwer stops by to talk about what Republicans really mean when they say the word woke and Hunter College’s Basil Smikle talks all about gun violence in America and what it’ll take for something to change. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Will Ron DeSantis be as popular among the rest of the country as he is in Florida? Charlie Sykes, editor at large at The Bulwark, thinks not. But that isn’t stopping the governor for going for it anyway, it being the 2024 presidency. He tells New Abnormal co-host Andy Levy why in this episode, including a few things that he believes DeSantis is banking on to win. (And why this won’t work). Also in this episode: Jared Yates Sexton, host of The Muckrake Podcast and author of The Midnight Kingdom, has proof that Trump’s religious pandering will lead to violence and tells co-host Danielle Moodie why liberal white Democrats in media are embarrassed of Trump, but just won’t quit him. Plus! Andy and Danielle reflect on Trump’s rally in Waco, and how Trump has gone full “vengeful” old testament. They also discuss the state state of the country after the latest school shooting in Nashville and reminisce on the very recent time Republicans swapped the American flag pins for ones of AR-15s. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The world of pro wrestling used to be sold as real. Viewers were told that the fights, the rivalries, and the storylines were all real-life, otherwise known as a phenomenon called kayfabe. Then, former World Wrestling Entertainment CEO Vince McMahon turned that on its head. In this episode, author Abraham Josephine Riesman, who recently wrote a biography on McMahon titled Ringmaster: Vince McMahon and the Unmaking of America, tells The New Abnormal co-host Andy Levy how a manipulation strategy McMahon used made WWE what it is today (and help to deregulate it) and how Trump came to use that same technique to keep his fanbase coming back. Also in this episode: Riesman goes deeper into how McMahon’s strategy was able to leak into the world of politics, the history of McMahon and Trump’s friendship, and if there’s truth behind one of the biggest quote from her book: “Vince McMahon is the closest thing to a friend Trump has.” Plus! Andy and co-host Danielle Moodie talk about the Republican war on oat and almond milk and make the case that if TikTok goes down, Meta and Twitter should go with it. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this week’s episode of The New Abnormal, hosts Andy Levy and Danielle Moddie discuss the latest in Donald Trump’s possible indictment. Plus! The Daily Beast’s Senior Media Reporter, Justin Baragona, joins the show along with Jade Magnus Ogunnaike, the Vice President of Corporate Power at Color of Change. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

MSNBC legal analyst Katie Phang joins the show and gives co-host Danielle Moodie insight into why Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s indictment against Trump for a Stormy Daniels case, and not Jan. 6, is the first one to catch up to him. She also shares why this indictment is the “beginning of the fall” and her prediction for what’s next, or in her words, the indictment that will really “break the dam.” Also on this episode, co-host Andy Levy predicts whether or not Trump will have a perp walk and surmises whether House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in love with Trump, or afraid of him. Plus! Jeff Sharlet, author of The Undertow: Scenes from a Slow Civil War, tells Andy what he learned while writing about the post-Trump world—like how right-wing grandmas have nasty things to say about Hillary Clinton—and why he doesn’t actually care about Trump like other Trump-era writers. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The right and the left seemed to have gotten super worked up about the classified documents found in the private homes of both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, but NSA and surveillance writer Kerry Howley, also the author of Bottoms Up and the Devil Laughs: A Journey Through the Deep State, saw the findings differently. She joins Andy Levy on this bonus episode of The New Abnormal to talk about what classified docs really mean—the bad and the-not-so-bad but still bad. Plus! She shares with Andy what whistleblowers like Edward Snowden and Chelsea Manning have in common and shares the story of a whistleblower named “Reality Winner,” a woman not a horse, whose story will infuriate you. And, as always, Danielle Moodie and Andy listen and make fun of clips of “racist” and really dumb Republicans. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this week’s episode of The New Abnormal, MSNBC's Mehdi Hasan talk to us about this week’s viral moment surrounding conservative “woke” critic, Bethany Mandel. Plus, New York Times bestselling author and policy advocate Heather McGee talks about the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and how we got here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY), a congressman representing New York’s 10th district and former lead counsel during Trump impeachment hearings, spells out the link between Trump and the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank—and what frustrates him the most when it comes to the GOP attacks on Hunter Biden. Also on the podcast: Dan Primack, business editor at Axios, breaks down the Silicon Valley bank collapse from a logistical standpoint, including the biggest difference between this SVB situation and the 2008 bank bailout. Plus! Primark shares a Taylor Swift analogy that’ll help you understand what makes bank runs unavoidable. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Just add Kimberly Guilfoyle to the long list of MAGA Republican grifters. Donald Trump Jr.’s fiance has a grift so bizarre that it’s funny, and hosts of The New Abnormal podcast, Danielle Moodie and Andy Levy, had the pleasure of listening to her pitch the gift in this new episode and they have a lot to say about it. Plus! Don Jr. makes an astronomically hypocritical comment and then, later, things get serious later in this episode when Danielle Campoamor, reporter for Today Parents, tells co-host Danielle how Texas anti-abortion laws are driving women close to death—literally. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this episode of The New Abnormal, Senior Fellow at Media Matters for America, Matt Gertz talks about Tucker Carlson and the latest leaks in the Dominion versus Fox News lawsuit. Plus, columnist Kurt Bardella talks about Kevin McCarthy’s role in all this drama. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It might take a little while longer (it’s already taking a while), but, according to Daily Beast investigations reporter Jose Pagliery on this episode of The New Abnormal podcast, we may be moving closer to former President Trump being held accountable for inciting the Jan. 6 riots. He tells co-host Danielle Moodie why he thinks so along with an explanation of the civil suits against the former president that may also get him indicted. Plus! The Bulwark’s Tim Miller tells co-host Andy Levy what it was like to attend CPAC, in person, what he thought was the most “chilling” part of Trump’s “deranged” speech during the event, and theorizes the likely reason Ron DeSantis avoided Trump and CPAC altogether. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Former President Jimmy Carter wasn’t the most bubbly member of the government, a bit “prickly,” says Jonathan Alter, author of His Very Best Jimmy Carter, a Life, on this bonus episode of The New Abnormal politics podcast. And while this I-do-what-I-want attitude didn’t make him the most loved at the time, it did allow him to follow his morals—and troll the hell out of white supremacists. Alter joins the show to tell TNA co-host Andy Levy this story along with more of Carter’s most under-appreciated accomplishments. Plus, Andy and co-host Danielle Moodie expose what they think is Ron DeSantis’ biggest kink. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this week’s episode of The New Abnormal, NPR media correspondent David Folkenflik talks about Rupert Murdoch's recent deposition and the possible repercussions it could have for Fox News going forward. Plus, MSNBC’s Ayman Mohyeldin talks about the recent happenings in Tunisia. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Fox News’ Tucker Carlson hinted at a new conspiracy theory to explain the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, and Andy Levy and Danielle Moodie, co-hosts of The New Abnormal politics podcast, poke as many holes in it as they can (and with humor to boot). Plus, Shay Khatiri, Senior Policy Analyst at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America, and Danielle debate whether the attacks on Nikki Haley’s name are valid based on Shay’s recent opinion piece for The Daily Beast “Stop Being a Jerk About Nikki Haley’s Name”—one of the first TNA debates. And Jennifer Wright, author of the book Madame Restell: The Life, Death, and Resurrection of Old New York’s Most Fabulous, Fearless, and Infamous Abortionist, tells Andy all about the badass woman from the 1800s who got rich—and infamous—helping women have abortions without killing them in the process. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

TNA hosts Danielle Moodie and Andy Levy listen to a clip of Sean Hannity interviewing with Marjorie Taylor Greene on this Sunday’s episode of the show and have questions. And not just because Greene says that our American forefathers would have wanted a “national divorce,” but because Hannity, a New Yorker, supports it. “Does Sean not realize that he lives and works in New York” asks Andy Levy. “All of Fox News would have to relocate….” The two dissect this clip, and others like it, in this episode, along with comments Trump made while visiting an East Palestine, Ohio McDonald’s that he knows the menu better than anyone. Plus! Writer Bryn Nelson, PhD, and author of Flush: The Remarkable Science of an Unlikely Treasure, explains the underrated source of future cancer cases in East Palestine, Ohio. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this week’s episode of The New Abnormal, Adam Frisch, who lost to Lauren Boebert in the 2022 midterms, explains how he will beat her next time. Plus, Balls and strikes editor Jay Willis talks about the Supreme Court's latest case. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this week’s episode of The New Abnormal, Mini Timmaraju, who is the president of NARAL Pro-Choice America talks about a court case that has implications for the nation. Plus, The Lever’s Julia Rock gives us some less discussed details of the Ohio train derailment. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Daily Beast’s Will Sommer takes Andy Levy from The New Abnormal through how QAnon has managed to evolve from a fringe group to now being more popular than many major religions in the U.S. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this week’s episode of The New Abnormal, MSNBC legal analyst Glenn Kirschner talks about Trump's latest legal jeopardy. Plus, The Lever’s Julia Rock gives us some less discussed details of the Ohio train derailment. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this week’s episode of The New Abnormal, Daniel Lippman, a reporter at Politico, tells us all about the ‘CEO of Anti Woke Inc.’, who has his eyes on the presidency. Plus, Dr. Peter Hotez, co-director of the Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, talks to us about the triple threat of illness, anti-science, and anti-Semitism. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Republicans on Capitol Hill last week were keen to score points against Democrats by pushing the narrative that the federal government was working with Twitter to censor a New York Post story about Hunter Biden’s laptop. Techdirt’s Mike Masnick tells Andy Levy why they conceded a spectacular own goal. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this week’s episode of The New Abnormal, CNN Analyst and New York Daily News columnist S. E. Cupp describes what she saw at the State of the Union. Plus! The Daily Beast Political Investigations reporter Jose Pagliery talks all of Trump’s latest legal jeopardies. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this week’s episode of The New Abnormal, David Rothkopf, CEO of the Rothkopf Group and the host of the podcast Deep State Radio talks Trump and Putin. Then, a look at China’s spy balloon and the ensuing hysteria with Spencer Ackerman. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When former federal and state prosecutor Elie Honig says Donald Trump acts just like a mob boss, he’s not using hyperbole. Honig just released his new book Untouchable: How Powerful People Get Away With It and came out the show to talk to co-host Andy Levy all about it, including the one trick bosses use on those closely involved in their crimes that makes it “harder for those people to flip” and another tactic that has helped the former president avoid charges, at least it did back when Michael Cohen flipped. Plus! He and Andy also talk about the rule that has saved Trump from indictment “over and over” as well as the prosecutor who gave the Trump children, and Harvey Weinstein, a free pass. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this week’s episode of The New Abnormal, The Daily Beast politics editor Matt Fuller talks to us about what could bring down George Santos, then Judd Legum, who writes the Popular Information Newsletter, tells us what’s going on with Ron DeSantis in the schools. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Donald Trump and his former Attorney General Bill Barr were, and still are, out for blood, literally. In this episode of The New Abnormal podcast Rolling Stone reporter Asawin “Swin” Suebsaeng talks with co-host Andy Levy about what a bloodlusty Bill Barr told him and his co-writer about his and Trump’s record-setting death row killing spree in his final months in office, and what we can expect from Trump on capital punishment should he become president again in 2024. Also on this episode: Khalil Gibran Muhammad, professor of history, race and public policy at Harvard Kennedy School and co-host of the Pushkin podcast Some of My Best Friends Are…, tells co-host Danielle Moodie the one thing that needs to happen to stop police brutality, and murder, happening once and for all, and it comes down to this group of people. For better or worse. Plus! Andy and Danielle share their thoughts on Fox News’ “disgusting” coverage of the Tyre Nichols murder and Danielle explains why the race of murderous cops really doesn’t matter. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Can you imagine a Vice President Marjorie Taylor Greene? Hosts of The New Abnormal politics podcast Danielle Moodie and Andy Levy don’t want to, but they give it a shot on the latest episode of the show, addressing hearsay that the Republican may be vying for the position on a President Trump ticket. The two also react to a clip of MTG calling for President Biden’s impeachment over the mishandling of classified documents as well as a clip of Kentucky Republican Rep. James Comer and Fox News’ Sean Hannity totally re-writing the history of Trump’s quid pro quo with Ukraine. Then, The Nation’s Elie Mystal tells Danielle two big reasons that Merrick Garland is a failure, one of which being timing. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this week’s episode of The New Abnormal, Gloria Pan, the Senior Vice President at Mom's Rising, talks about the recent mass shootings and what comes next. Then Radley Balko, an expert on police militarization in America, talks about the danger of no knock warrants. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The New Abnormal co-host Danielle Moodie laughed and then cried when she heard about Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy putting Rep. George Santos on the Science Committee. But Andy has a theory for why that happened in the first place. Somehow Mean Girls is mentioned. Also on this episode: Daily Beast politics reporter and Fever Dreams podcast host Will Sommer joins to talk about the latest weird yet highly entertaining infighting going on between conservatives and this time it involves right wing child actor Steven Crowder’s war on The Daily Wire—and the latest on what Silk is saying about Diamond’s cause of death. Plus! Entertainment Critic Nick Schager also joins the show to talk about the new documentary “Justice” which debuted last-minute at the Sundance Film Festival and is about the sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. According to Schager, there is one big bombshell to come out of the film involving a witness to one of Kavanaugh’s alleged assaults on a female peer. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this bonus episode of The New Abnormal, hosts Andy Levy and Danielle Moodie take jabs at Kyrsten Sinema and Ron DeSantis this week after listening to pretty infuriating clips of them talking. Plus! Daily Beast correspondent Anna Nemstova, who reported on Miss Ukraine’s harrowing experience while competing in the Miss Universe pageant, gives Danielle a behind-the-scenes look at what Miss Ukraine experienced during the contest, including a “shocking” interaction with Miss Russia. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this week’s episode of The New Abnormal, Robert Zimmerman, who lost in the general election to George Santos, describes exactly what happened. Then, Frederick Ingram, secretary-treasurer of the American Federation of Teachers, talks about why Rhon DeSantis is trying to get African studies out of AP classes. Then, Frederick Ingram, secretary-treasurer of the American Federation of Teachers, the nation's second-largest teachers' union, discusses Florida’s ban on an AP African American Studies class. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Pretty much everyone begged Pete Buttigieg to alleviate airline issues and better regulate the airlines like Southwest. He didn’t. David Sirota, founder and editor-in-chief of The Lever news site, joins this episode of The New Abnormal to share his take on the Department of Transportation Secretary’s inaction, everything he could have done to stop the chaos, and all of the ways he could regulate airlines like Southwest if he wanted to. Also in this episode! Jared Yates Sexton, co-host of the Muckrake podcast and author of The Midnight Kingdom: A History of Power Paranoia and The Coming Crisis, joins the podcast to break down how the right became so powerful, and why we need to get angrier about so-called “normal” Kevin McCarthy and Ron DeSantis—or else. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Abraham Riesman, author of Ringmaster: Vince McMahon and the Unmaking of America, finds it totally bonkers that reinstated WWE board member Vince McMahon is so well connected that his business was arguably a national security risk, yet here we are. In this bonus episode of The New Abnormal, Riesman walks show co-host, and wrestling newbie, Andy Levy, through some historical context for WWE and McMahon, along with a look back at his relationship with Trump, his own daughter Stephanie, and what can be said regarding a potential deal to sell the business to Saudi Arabia. Plus! Andy and co-host Danielle Moodie listen to clips of more Republicans and right-wingers talking themselves in circles, including Tucker Carlson on his favorite topic: sexy M&Ms. And this time, one might be a (*whispers*) lesbian. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As 91-year-old Fox News mogul Rupert Murdoch carves his final deals before heading to the big newsroom in the sky, the world’s focus is beginning to turn to his son and heir apparent, Lachlan. And according to The Daily Beast’s Editor At Large Lachlan Cartwright, there’s more to Murdoch junior than meets the eye. He explains on this week’s episode of The New Abnormal: “It's important to note that Lachlan’s politics are far more conservative than his father’s.” Then, Dr. Peter Hotez, co-director of Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development and Dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, tells podcast co-host Andy Levy his worries about the future of the House GOP and its “anti-science aggression” while “trying to create a witch hunt—not only against science, but against the scientists.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Despite Jair Bolsonaro https://www.thedailybeast.com/jair-bolsonaro-flees-brazil-to-hide-out-in-home-of-mma-fighter-in-florida, the former Brazilian president is not there on vacation or to protest his election loss to the country’s new President Luiz Inácio Lula de Silva, says Ruth Ben-Ghiat, author of Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present. Ruth joined this episode of The New Abnormal podcast to talk to show co-host Danielle Moodie about the Brazilian insurrection, what makes people choose fascism instead of a healthy democracy, and why she is sure Bolsonaro’s trip to the States is nothing but a ploy to avoid legal consequences. Plus! Co-host Andy Levy is back and chats with journalist Jeb Lund, who tells him all about his alma mater New College of Florida and all the ways Gov. Ron DeSantis is trying to “destroy” it. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The more Daily Beast politics reporter Roger Sollenberger uncovers about “liar” George Santos—the latest being that his employed sister Tiffany Santos is being evicted from her Queens apartment that Santos recently moved into—the more questions he has. Sollenberger joined The New Abnormal co-host Danielle Moodie on this bonus episode of the show to talk about everything he knows so far about Santos and all the things that don’t add up, including his and Tiffany’s sketchy living situation—and why he is calling this saga surrounding the Congressman “an endless story.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kevin McCarthy is being held hostage. Sorta. Kurt Bardella, a Los Angeles Times columnist and former House Oversights Committee staffer on the Republican side, joins this episode of TNA to chat with Danielle Moodie all about the GOP Speaker of the House shit show happening right now, starting with a big question from Danielle: How the hell did we get here? Bardella has some ideas, including very colorful language to describe the “bunch of ass clowns” leading this charge. Plus, Rep. Mondaire Jones also joins the pod to discuss the so-called “Never Kevin-ers” like Matt Gaetz and Lauren Boebert—and the real reason he thinks that Republicans are embarrassed by George Santos. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week, The New Abnormal is joined by Mary Trump, the author and podcast host who, yes, also happens to be a family member of the twice-impeached ex-commander-in-chief. She’s been sounding the alarm on the dangers of Donald Trump’s actions for years now—and cautions close watchers of the former president’s legal troubles to not get ahead of themselves when it comes to the cases currently brewing. “Although there is some sense of poetic justice that we seem to have reached, you could call it a tipping point—and I said this a long time ago—it's going to be, and I mean this figuratively of course, death by a thousand lashes,’ Mary Trump said. “So even though it looks bad on paper and isn't really having much of an impact—well, I'm sure it's having a lot of an impact on his mood—but it's not having any impact on his ability to roam free in the world.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There are so many examples of revisionist history happening these days, particularly among conservatives, that historian and University of Princeton professor Kevin M. Kruse joins this episode of The New Abnormal politics podcast to set the record straight. He tells co-host Andy Levy about his book Myth America: Historians Take On the Biggest Legends and Lies About Our Past, which is a complication of historians crushing those myths, and shares proof that contrary to Republicans’ denials, the party actively engages in the racist “Southern Strategy.” Plus, Nixon’s role in it all. Also in this episode: TNA co-host Danielle Moodie interviews Jim Freeman, a civil rights lawyer and author of the book, Rich Thanks to Racism: How the Ultra-Wealthy Profit from Racial Injustice, to talk about the Defund the Police movement and the role police unions are playing in stopping it from happening. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Should Supreme Court justices hang out with extremely partisan figures? Such as a holiday party for instance? That’s what The New Abnormal political podcast host Andy Levy and Jay Willis, Editor-in-Chief of Balls & Strikes, explore after Andy heard “noise” that Justice Kavanaugh attending a Christmas party thrown by big conservative operatives Matt and Mercedes Schlapp. Willis also explains to Andy if there’s something that can be done to stop this behavior, if there should be, and whether or not Justice Amy Coney Barrett is going to forever vote as awfully as the left thinks she will. Plus, TNA Co-host Danielle Moodie interviews Dahlia Lithwick, senior editor at Slate and author of Lady Justice: Women, the Law, and the Battle to Save America, who speaks to Democrats’ biggest blind spot when it comes to white women and abortion. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Conservatives get angry over the darnedest things. From Lizzo playing a Founding Father’s flute to a gay PDA in a Disney movie, 2022 was a year full of right-wing outrage that was so dumb, The New Abnormal politics podcast host Andy Levy and Media Matters’ deputy director of Rapid Response Andrew Lawrence decided to round up the most “offensive” instances in the show’s latest episode. Plus! TNA co-host Danielle Moodie interviews Treva Lindsey, professor at The Ohio State University and author of America, Goddamn: Violence, Black Women, And The Struggle For Justice, to talk about just that, and Brittney Griner specifically: “Obviously she is worth something and worth so much more than even one arms dealer for these individuals…” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If you’re an avid listener of The New Abnormal, you might have heard co-host Andy Levy ask his comedian guests a question: What do you think of when you hear the term “cancel culture?” Turns out, they all had a lot to say on the subject and as our holiday gift to you, we compiled all of their answers in this bonus episode. Patton Oswalt talks about political violence, Conan sidekick Andy Richter shares why he loves cancel culture, and Modern Family’s Danny Zuker puts Dave Chappelle on blast. Plus! Dr. Mustafa Santiago Ali from the National Wildlife Fund joins show co-host Danielle Moodie at the end of the show to talk about how the climate crisis is impacting communities of color, and by impacting we mean killing, and the one thing that can be done to solve it all. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to a special year-end crossover episode between The Daily Beast’s The New Abnormal and The Last Laugh. On this show: Elon Musk is being greeted by crowds with a chorus of boos, and Dave Chappelle seems to have overstayed his welcome. Plus, the latest on Marjorie Taylor Greene and her onetime friend Lauren Boebert ‘s beef. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There were two moments that stood out to The New Abnormal host Andy Levy the most while watching the last Jan. 6 committee hearing on December 19, which made four scathing criminal referrals against former President Donald Trump for his alleged involvement in what happened that day. He and co-host Danielle Moodie also discuss other evidence presented during the hearings, the smartest thing the Jan. 6 committee ever did (Shonda Rhimes is brought up in this part of the conversation), and Merrick Garland. Also on this episode: Techdirt founder and CEO of The Copia Institute Mike Masnick tries to answer Andy Levy’s burning Elon Musk questions, such as whether or not the Twitter CEO will step down after a “very scientific” poll on the platform. Last, Brooking Institute’s Angela Stent, author of Putin’s World: Russia Against the West and with the Rest, breaks down the weird infatuation Trump’s Republicans have with Russia, why she thinks former marine Paul Whelan is still in Russian custody and the ways the country was mocking the U.S. for the Brittney Griner trade. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Josh Bivens, director of research at the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), joined as a guest on the latest episode of political podcast, The New Abnormal, to give us an answer to the question that is on a lot of people’s minds: Is a recession on the horizon? There’s good news and not-so-good news. Bivens also explains to TNA co-host Danielle Moodie how we got to this point in the first place and why the American worker is the usual scapegoat for when the economy is turning south. Also in this episode: Danielle and co-host Andy Levy talk about Republicans’ obsession with drag queens, the latest obsessor being Kellyanne Conway. Plus, they name who they think is the most “all-right” Trump kid, if such a kid existed in this family. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices