The Daily Beast Podcast

The odds of Donald Trump actually showing up to testify under oath at the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 attacks are not great, according to Andy Levy on this week’s episode of political podcast The New Abnormal. “Less than zero,” says cohost Kali Holloway, a columnist at The Daily Beast and The Nation. “I think that the panel’s probably aware that he’s not gonna show up, but I think this is the kind of thing that they have to do just to sort of, for lack of a better phrase, show they mean business.” Matt Fuller, senior politics editor at The Daily Beast echoes concerns Trump won’t show up.“He probably won’t do anything with [the subpoena], and I can’t imagine he’s going to sit down for the January 6th committee,” he said. “It could be a court fight, but more likely than not, it’ll just be a nothing burger.” Also on the podcast, Justin Baragona, media reporter at The Daily Beast, reveals how Fox News management and Tucker Carlson are very interested in finding out who leaked the deleted Kanye West interview footage to Vice. “They definitely want to know who it is and, and there will be repercussions, is what I would assume,” Baragona said. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Amie Parnes, senior correspondent for The Hill newspaper, covering the Biden White House and national politics, joined The New Abnormal podcast to talk with host Andy Levy through the list of Democratic contenders who could become the next Bernie Sanders—why they would or wouldn’t be fit for the job, and why New York Congresswoman AOC made the list, with a grain of salt. We're also joined by freelance journalist, Eve Peyser who weighs in on the latest with Ye & Donald Trump's poor decision-making. Then, filmmaker Andy Ostroy, who hosts the podcast The Back Room, joins the pod and plays a little game of Sophie’s Choice with Andy Levy: Would people rather see Trump in jail for the rest of his life or see Fox News shut down forever? Plus, he shares what it felt like to interview the killer of his deceased wife, actress Adrienne Shelly, who was murdered in her apartment in 2006, as well as his take on said killer being an undocumented immigrant. It’s not what you expect. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Writer and trans activist Parker Molloy joins host Andy Levy on this bonus episode of The New Abnormal pod to talk about Tucker Carlson’s awful obsession with making trans people look absolutely batshit—and the serious implications of that which are already happening around us. Plus! Molloy and Andy discuss the GOP’s hypocrisy when it comes to anti-trans legislation, why the right’s outrage with pronouns is “fake,” and the latest in the Elon Musk Twitter saga. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Daily Beast reporter who broke the story of Herschel Walker paying for a girlfriend’s abortion has provided behind-the-scenes details and thoughts on the case. Politics reporter Roger Sollenberger pointed to the key detail in the cobweb of Walker stories to host Andy Levy on this week’s episode of political podcast The New Abnormal: the woman behind the allegations. Speaking of the potential political ramifications for Walker, guest podcast host Josie Duffy Rice, who writes about prisons and prosecution at The Unnamed, told Levy that while the abortion bombshell could swing the vote, it is unlikely to make Republicans switch. Then, Mark Joseph Stern, senior writer at Slate Magazine who covers court and law, describes how the Supreme Court is blowing up Law School too. “The court has become, in many ways, corrupted by the political process and so just delivers these decisions that fall perfectly in line with the platform,” he says. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Trump can hold a grudge, Daily Beast reporter Corbin Bolies tells Andy Levy on this episode of The New Abnormal podcast, and he’s not wrong. “Donald Trump knows how to hold a grudge and he will, and we've seen that continue throughout the last year and a half, because Donald Trump has consistently attacked Mitch McConnell,” Bolies says, discussing the most recent verbal harassment levied at the former Majority Leader’s wife, Elaine Chao, in the form of blatantly racist name-calling on his Truth Social platform. Also on this episode: Hannah Gais, a senior research analyst at the Southern Poverty Law Center, joins this episode to co-host with Andy, touching upon the intense violent threats against Dems and Marjorie Taylor Green’s try-hard effort to get Republicans to think the threats are for them. Plus! Daily Beast far-right reporter and Fever Dreams podcast co-host Kelly Weill breaks down a huge schism happening within the libertarian party, including how the old Libertarians totally over these new Libertarians’ toxicity. Like, beyond Trumpy toxic. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

HuffPost reporter Andy Campbell and author of the brand new book on the group called We Are Proud Boys joins New Abnormal host Andy Levy for a riveting interview about what the far-right group is up to these days after many members have been charged with sedition for Jan. 6, how Trump and GOP officials came to know about the group, and back them, and what we have to fear about these guys the most. Plus! In this episode, actor Paul F. Tompkins explains why he stays away from politics in comedy and that the MAGA-aligned actors who complain about being blackmailed aren’t being shut out, they just suck. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Is Tucker Carlson really a true believer in the MAGA world? Has he taken a dive too deep in the Republican rabbit hole? Or is this all just a performance for the ratings? For the money? For the clout? It’s a vexing question, according to host Andy Levy on this week’s episode of political podcast The New Abnormal. “We’ve had many conversations about the performative aspect of this and trying to figure out who we think are true believers,” Levy says to guest, the author and CNN political commentator S.E. Cupp. Also on the podcast, Levy talks to guest podcast host Maura Quint, co-founder of Tax March and the campaign director for Americans for Tax Fairness, about a recent Gallup poll finding that trust in the Supreme Court is at a record low. Then Levy tells Daily Beast politics reporter Zachary Petrizzo that the only surprising part of that New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman’s new Trump book was that Trump aides were apparently taken aback by his crude, transphobic behavior. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s a new era for The New Abnormal! But things are still pretty abnormal. Co-host Andy Levy is back with guest co-host Danielle Moodie, co-host the Democrayish podcast, to hilariously unpack the last few days’ worth of politics news, including the “terrifying” and fascist woman who won Italy’s election and what that means for us here in the United States. Hint: Nothing good. Also, their joint hope that New York AG Leticia James will finally be able to “burst” Trump’s billionaire bubble. Then! Mississippi Today reporter Anna Wolfe breaks down for Andy the Brett Favre Mississippi welfare scheme, in which Favre and other state officials are accused of funneling $77 million worth of welfare funds to their own personal projects—none of which had anything to do with where the funds needed to go. But a former WWE wrestler is now getting in the mix with major allegations that Wolfe shares with Andy. Plus, Daily Beast reporter Jake Lahut, who focuses on Republican campaigns, joins to talk what he’s seeing in the field, and the time he cornered J.D. Vance with a question about abortion. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jan. 6 may not be the last time people get violent over an election. Election experts CBS Chief Washington Correspondent Major Garrett and David Becker, co-authors of the new book The Big Truth: Upholding Democracy and the Age of the Big Lie, came on this bonus episode of The New Abnormal to share their biggest fear when it comes to the upcoming midterm elections: political violence. They also share what poll workers have been dealing with since 2020—spoiler alert: a whole lot—and what, if anything, we can do about it. Plus! Hosts Andy Levy and Molly Jong-Fast mark Molly’s last ever TNA episode as host with a round of Tucker Carlson and Trump clips. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

New Abnormal hosts Molly Jong-Fast and Andy Levy reveal who is really taking on Trump and talk to politics reporter Asawin Suebsaeng for the scoop on Dr. Oz’s latest fight. Despite continued allegations of fraud and obstruction of justice claims against Donald Trump, somehow, there are still only two people continuing to call the former president out—and neither on is a man. Also on the podcast, Matt Fuller, senior politics editor at The Daily Beast, explains how Democrats have something to push voters to the polls: abortion. “That’s the big animating factor for Democrats,” Fuller says. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell was going through a Hardee’s drive-thru after ordering a burger and chocolate shake when he was approached by the FBI. That’s according to Daily Beast politics reporter Zachary Petrizzo, who has more details of the FBI’s seizure of Lindell’s phone while he was at a Hardee’s restaurant last week. “I had heard from Mike that he ended up ordering a Swiss burger with a chocolate shake,” Petrizzo tells hosts Molly Jong-Fast and Andy Levy on this episode of political podcast The New Abnormal. Also on the podcast, Iuliia Mendel, former press secretary to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and author of the new book The Fight of Our Lives, discusses what it was like meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin for the first time. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the ‘80s Justine Bateman was one of TVs most recognizable faces thanks to her role on Family Ties. Now, she tells The New Abnormal’s Molly Jong-Fast how online chatter about her looks left her reeling. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As his legal woes pile up, it’s no secret that former President Donald Trump has employed more than a handful of lawyers in his time. David Enrich, a business investigations editor at The New York Times and author of the new book, Servants of the Damned: Giant Law Firms, Donald Trump, and the Corruption of Justice, tells hosts Molly Jong-Fast and Andy Levy on this episode of The New Abnormal that it’s certainly a pattern. Also on the podcast, G. Elliot Morris, data-driven journalist and author of the book, Strength in Numbers: How Polls Work and Why We Need Them, describes the “pretty complex” world of polling and sampling. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Just when you thought Donald Trump couldn’t get any worse, new revelations prove Trump was even worse than we thought, according to hosts Molly Jong-Fast and Andy Levy on this episode of The New Abnormal. Also on the podcast, Michael Tomasky, editor of The New Republic as well as Democracy Journal and author of the new book, The Middle Out: The Rise of Progressive Economics and a Return to Shared Prosperity, talks about how the Democrats can shape their message around progressive politics to win. (Tomasky is also a former special correspondent and editor at the Daily Beast.) Then, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) talks about her reelection bid and her wacky opponent, Adam Laxalt. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Donald Trump often gets credit for his Rumpelstiltskin-like ability to spin the most demented parts of the American psyche into political gold. But in his new book, American Psychosis: A Historical Investigation of How The Republican Party Went Crazy, David Corn traces the lineage of the GOP’s love of lunatics all the way back to the 1950s and says Trump is just the latest in a long line of morally bankrupt politicians willing to use the chaotic crazy generated by the darkest parts of society to fuel their ambitions. “Far Right extremism, including paranoia, racism, tribalism, conspiracy theories, … what we’ve seen under Donald Trump is nothing new. It might be the culmination, it’s not an aberration,” Corn said. Corn, a veteran journalist, author and Washington bureau chief of Mother Jones, joined the political podcast The New Abnormal to explain just how American brains became so broken. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Queen Elizabeth is an important cultural mascot in a way that Americans can’t understand and her death will have more implications for Great Britain and the world than simply who will take over the monarchy. That’s according to Ian Dunt, columnist at the ‘i’ newspaper and host of the podcasts, Oh God, What Now? and Origin Story, who tells hosts Molly Jong-Fast and Andy Levy on this episode of political podcast The New Abnormal that the country faces multiple crises as it deals with the queen’s death. Also on the podcast Douglas Rushkoff, author of the new book, Survival of the Richest: Escape Fantasies of the Tech Billionaires, describes his experience talking to some very rich people about the “event.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Donald Trump and Rudy Giuliani’s buddy-buddy, and complicated, relationship goes way back according to writer Andrew Kirtzman. Kirtzman covered Giuliani’s political career for over 30 years and is also the author of Giuliani: The Rise and Tragic Fall of America’s Mayor. He came on this episode of The New Abnormal to give us an insight into New York’s fallen angel and his pal Trump—from anecdotes that one of his ex-wives told him to why Trump felt he was too much of a “liability” to be his Secretary of State. Plus! Fever Dreams podcast host Will Sommer, who is the expert on all things far-right, joins this podcast episode to talk about the up-and-coming ultra-conservative, QAnon-type candidates a la Marjorie Taylor Green and Lauren Boebert running in the midterms. And also, what the Proud Boys think of their founder Gavin McInnes and his fake arrest prank. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Donald Trump’s way of speaking is hard to mistake for anyone else’s. On this bonus episode of The New Abnormal, video essayist Evan Puschak, owner of the 3M subscriber YouTube channel Nerdwriter1 and author of “Escape Into Meaning”, joins Molly Jong-Fast to break down how the former president and reality show star came to speak how he does, and the one thing that he doesn’t do while speaking that makes the way he talks so effective. Plus! Molly and Evan discuss whether or not Trump is intentionally speaking this way to manipulate. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this week’s episode of The New Abnormal, hosts Molly Jong-Fast and Andy Levy discuss Trump’s legal jeopardy with George Conway and whether he will ever be sent to prison, and then check in to discuss the infamous Mar-a-Lago carpet documents. The ultimate question remains, according to Jong-Fast; will Trump ever go to jail? “I can’t guarantee it, but there’s a reasonable likelihood of it,” Washington Post contributing columnist George Conway told Jong-Fast. Then, Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) , who represents Virginia's seventh congressional district and who is a former CIA case officer, delves into the image of Mar-a-Lago carpet documents. “I can’t make predictions on what comes next, but certainly as a former Intel officer, I can say that if anyone I ever worked with had a collection of documents like this at their home, there’s no question of what would've happened to them.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Lindsay Graham said on Sunday that if former President Trump is prosecuted there will be “riots in the streets.” Some call it a prediction. New Abnormal podcast host Andy Levy is calling it a threat. In this latest TNA episode, Andy uses some more descriptive language to describe how he really feels to co-host Molly Jong-Fast who has her own theory for diehard Trump apologists, which includes a spaghetti reference. Then Maxwell Alejandro Frost, the 25-year–old running for Florida’s 10th Congressional District, joins the show. He fills Molly in on why age is nothing but an asset to him—“I went through more mass shooting drills than fire drills. That perspective is important in Congress”—and why you should not ever compare him to Madison Cawthorn. Plus! Rhode Island Congressman David Cicilline, author of House on Fire: Fighting for Democracy in the Age of Political Arson, gets real with Molly on the reason that rich white guys have gotten away with criming for so long—and the Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg-sized elephant in the room. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Florida Governor went full on Donald Trump during his “Keep Florida Free Tour” last week after saying he wants to “chuck” the “little elf” Dr. Anthony Fauci across the Potomac. Will it help him gain traction ahead for a 2024 presidential run? The New Abnormal co-host Andy Levy shares his hot take on how well this is gonna work for DeSantis on this episode. And this conversation is before he and MollyJong-Fast listen to a clip of DeSantis talking about the woke crowd. Plus! NBC’s Capitol Hill Correspondent Ali Vitali joins to share some of the reporting she writes about in her new book, Electable: Why America Hasn’t Put a Woman in the White House . . . Yet, including why Everyone Hates Kamala. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The upcoming midterms will depend on the voices and votes of those in the suburbs, according to hosts Molly Jong-Fast and Andy Levy on this episode of The New Abnormal. After a key win for Democrats in New York’s 19th Congressional District, where Pat Ryan defeated Republican Marc Molinaro in Tuesday’s special election, Levy says that despite the bad news for the party, the Dems still need the suburban vote to get them across the line. Then, Dahlia Lithwick, who writes about the courts and the law for Slate and hosts the podcast Amicus, talks former President Donald Trump’s little dust-up with the National Archives. This week, Politico revealed that the Archives had recovered more than 700 pages of classified documents from Mar-a-Lago in January and that federal investigators were concerned “by Trump’s resistance to sharing them with the FBI.” Also, Max Fisher, who writes The Interpreter column for The New York Times and is the author of The Chaos Machine: The Inside Story of How Social Media Rewired Our Minds and Our World, discusses how social media “is distorting you in ways that you are probably not quite aware of.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dr. Oz is failing the unofficial Twitter war against PA Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, the loss coming after Fetterman dunked on Oz for using the term crudite in an April video. But his campaign has a problem that goes deeper than veggie platters and NBC’s Jonathan Allen joins the pod to explain why (and tells host Molly Jong-Fast about his encounter with Dennis Rodman in a cigar lounge.) Plus! Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA), frequent flyer on the pod, joins this episode to talk midterm candidates he’s excited about in California and holds no punches when it comes to calling out MAGA Republicans. Of course, hosts Andy Levy and Molly also discuss a very interesting (and bad, in Molly’s opinion) take that involves some sort of bargain where President Biden pardons Trump with the caveat he never runs for president again. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Author and war veteran Elliot Ackerman holds a very unpopular opinion about the draft: he supports it, but only because he thinks it could be a good thing for Americans. He joins this bonus episode of The New Abnormal to explain why he holds this take and how he sees it ultimately helping create more peace and less war. Plus, he shares his experience trying to evacuate people, including the Afghan girls’ robotics team, out of Afghanistan and what his new book The Fifth Act: America’s End in Afghanistan is all about. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As the polls closed in Wyoming, the focus over Rep. Liz Cheney became not if she would win the Republican primary for Wyoming’s sole congressional seat, but by how much she would lose. And that loss was colossal. On this episode of The New Abnormal, hosts Molly Jong-Fast and Andy Levy discuss whether the left loves Cheney and why she has no chance at becoming president. Then, Jeet Heer, a national affairs correspondent for The Nation magazine and host of the Time of Monsters podcast, joins the discussion to explain why he thinks we need more Republicans like Cheney. Also, Cristina Tzintzun Ramirez, executive director of NextGen America, the country’s largest organization mobilizing young voters, discusses how she’s inspiring the next generation to get involved. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Democratic strategist James Carville has a message for people who are doubting Merrick Garland: Just wait. On this episode of The New Abnormal, he explains why Dems should have more faith in Merrick Garland—and also shares the long list of GOP candidates across the country that makes Molly Jong-Fast crack up. Then, Matt Castelli, a former CIA officer and Director for Counterterrorism at the National Security Council who is currently running for Congress against Trumpy Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), joins the pod to share his plan for taking Stefanik down and calls her an opportunist. Plus! Hosts Andy Levy and Molly dissect Trump’s latest Truth Social admissions, including that he has multiple passports. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The seed of cruelty that the GOP has fully adopted, and nurtured, had been planted long before Trump took office, says Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank. Instead, he says on this bonus episode of The New Abnormal, someone else is to blame: Newt Gringrich. He explains why to co-host Molly Jong-Fast, along with more reporting on the GOP’s evolution that’s included in his new book, The Destructionists: The Twenty-Five Year Crack-Up of the Republican Party. Plus! Co-hosts Andy Levy and Molly listen to more clips of politicians saying dumb things, this time starring Fox News’ Jesse Watters and sad son Eric Trump. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As former President Donald Trump endured one of his worst weeks yet, Republicans have been on our TV screens taking aim at everyone else—but themselves. On this episode of The New Abnormal, hosts Molly Jong-Fast and Andy Levy talk Trump and the sentence Republicans need to stop repeating. Then, Tim O’Brien, senior executive editor of opinion at Bloomberg, joins the show and reveals what he finds most compelling in the “ridiculous sideshow” that’s emerged in the wake of the search: “which is that he’s being unfairly targeted and that this is political. Also, Dr. Iman Alsaden, chief medical officer for Planned Parenthood Great Plains, talks about what it’s like in post-Roe America. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer got fellow Senator Joe Manchin to do something few have done before: convinced him to vote along Democratic party lines. Some are calling it The Manchin-Schumer bill, and even Schumer wasn’t sure it would happen until the end. Chuck tells Molly how he made it happen on the latest episode of The New Abnormal as well as why his flip phone is his secret weapon, how he is the opposite of Sen. Mitch McConnell, and his plans to bring back an insulin cap bill in September. Plus! Daily Beast Politics Editor Matt Fuller also breaks down the new “Dark Brandon” meme about Joe Biden that the White House has even embraced. Plus! Molly and co-host Andy Levy go after Republicans like Marjorie Taylor Greene for crying about Alex Jones being a victim and why the current behavior of former President Donald Trump is actually pretty scary. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Actor and former White House adviser Kal Penn recalls the moment he spectacularly failed to outsmart the former president and how he was humiliated in front of the first lady. 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, Levy, along with host Molly Jong-Fast, discuss the conservative state’s rejection of the anti-abortion measure after nearly 60 per cent of voters dismissed the move. Then, Angelo Carusone, president and CEO of Media Matters, debunks a study by Nielsen media research claiming that the top rated news show among Democrats between 25 and 54 is Tucker Carlson. The study says that in total debut viewership, Fox news grabs 42% of Democrats. Also, The Daily Beast’s congressional reporter Sam Brodey discusses how the Senate and Congressional map is changing to a more optimistic map for Dems. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Missouri Senate candidate Lucas Kunce is not going to knock on a voter’s door and ask them to vote for him because he will lower the cost of prescription drugs. But the former Marine tells co-host Molly Jong-Fast what he will do in this episode of The New Abnormal—including being completely blunt when it comes to calling BS on Republicans. Speaking of which, Rep. Eric Swalwell also joins the pod and talks about the major wins Democrats have had lately and why he thinks the GOP “clowns” don’t stand a chance in taking the House in the midterms. Plus! Molly and co-host Andy Levy talk more about that burn pit bill and pose a major Jan 6 question: Where in the world are those missing text messages? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The New Yorker’s Ken Auletta tells Molly Jong-Fast about the conversation he had with Ronan Farrow ahead of his bombshell piece and shares stories about Harvey Weinstein’s enablers that are in his new book, Hollywood Ending: Harvey Weinstein and the Culture of Silence, which paints an even more detailed picture of Weinstein, and the enablers around him. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If you’ve surfed the internet over the course of the last few years, there’s no doubt you may have stumbled across at least one viral clip of U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg on Fox News. For Buttigieg, going on Fox News is “a no-brainer", Lis Smith, author of Any Given Tuesday: A Political Love Story, and senior advisor for Buttigieg's 2020 presidential campaign, told Molly Jong-Fast on this week’s episode of The New Abnormal. Then, Olivia Julianna, a 19-year-old activist and strategist for Gen Z For Change, reflects on her work as a fundraising powerhouse and her reaction to Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz’s attempts to humiliate her after arguing that overweight and unattractive women don't need to worry about getting pregnant or needing abortions. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Is Ron DeSantis going to run for president in 2024? If he is, New Abnormal co-hosts Andy Levy and Molly Jong-Fast are of the opinion that he’ll be a scarier candidate than Donald Trump if the former president chooses to run again. Then, New York Governor Kathy Hochul talks to Molly about what she and her administration are doing to prevent ugly fallout from the Supreme Court ruling on guns in the state and her opinion on Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg not prosecuting Trump. Plus! James Obergefell, the plaintiff in the historic Obergefell v Hodges Supreme Court ruling that legalized same-sex marriage, shares the events that led to his case and why he’s “disgusted” today. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Aftershock directors Tonya Lewis Lee and Paula Eiselt talk to Molly Jong-Fast about why Black women are more likely to die than their white counterparts after giving birth. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The news from Thursday night’s Jan. 6 committee hearing that really struck Molly Jong-Fast was that instead of trying to stop the violence, Trump wanted to call senators and pressure them to throw out the election results or delay the certification. And of course he talked to Rudy Giuliani.“Rudy's always the first call you make because you gotta get the bad ideas from someone,” says co-host Andy Levy. “I would not let Rudy Giuliani pick a pair of shoelaces for me. And this, the president of the United States, is turning to him for advice on elections.” Also on the show NBC's senior reporter Jon Allen & Mark Lobovitch on his new book Thank You For Your Servitude: Donald Trump's Washington and the Price of Submission. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After four years of Donald Trump and the ultimate hangover that ensued, has the Republican Party learned from its mistakes? Far from it, Molly Jong-Fast says on this episode of The New Abnormal podcast. “Trump definitely did something in the Republican Party. Right?” Molly asks. “They were always bad. They would do terrible things, but they would pretend not to be terrible. And now there’s like an incentive to be terrible. Like the people who are terrible actually raise the most money.” Still, Democratic Rep. Mondaire Jones, who represents New York’s 17th District, says that while he faces an uphill battle against the Republicans and despite the disappointments of recent events, including the repeal of Roe v. Wade, there is hope on the horizon. Then, Tim Miller, MSNBC analyst and the author of Why We Did It: A Travelogue from the Republican Road to Hell, reflects on what he learned about the Republican Party. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Filmmakers behind the new documentary “Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down,” Julie Cohen and Betsy West, tell New Abnormal co-host Molly Jong-Fast in this bonus episode about the former Congresswoman’s RBG socks, music she loves, and what she’s up to now—including some of the things Gabby has taken up recently, like playing the French horn, as well as the adorable scenes in the documentary that show Gabby support her husband, Mark Kelly, and how she has worked to overcome her aphasia to give nearly flawless speeches. Plus! Molly and Andy Levy listen to clips of more dumb Republicans like “walking Facebook post” Sarah Palin and John Bolton, who recently told on himself in a CNN clip. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's been a big week in politics with revelations galore from the Jan. 6 House committee. Former President Donald Trump's attempts at stopping the peaceful transfer of power has been the talk of the town and this week's admissions at the committee are a "pretty big deal", notes Molly Jong-Fast on this episode of The New Abnormal podcast. But it's not all bad news. Speaking with Jong-Fast, former presidential candidate and independent candidate for the Utah Senate, Evan McMullin, reveals that he is seeing "a weakening in Trump support across the country". Then, Mary Trump, host of the Mary Trump show and the author of Too Much and Never Enough, revealed she found the revelations surrounding the "vast web of people" covering for her Uncle...."at times difficult to process". Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Things are going super over in the United Kingdom, jokes Molly Jong-Fast to British journalist Ian Dunt on this episode of The New Abnormal podcast. Dunt broke down the events that led to the U.K. Prime Minister’s resignation as well as whether or not he thinks Boris Johnson will still hold the title by the fall and the state of U.K. politics—and whether there’s a chance to actually reverse Brexit. Then, CNBC Fast Money contributor Dan Nathan explains why a recession might actually be a good thing, and that it’s what the federal government likely wants. “Sadly they need the economy almost to go in a recession for inflation to come down meaningfully,” he says. Plus! Molly and co-host Andy Levy shoot the shit about Elon Musk hurting Trump’s feelings, Biden’s dumb move to swing “left,” and the one thing that’ll actually maybe get Steve Bannon to testify in front of the Jan. 6 committee. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Former Secretary of State of Missouri Jason Kander, and author of Invisible Storm: A Soldier’s Memoir of Politics and PTSD, talks to TNA co-host Andy Levy about living with PTSD, his post-traumatic growth phase when it comes to trauma and how others can get there, too—and a VA tale to beat all VA tales. Plus! Molly Jong-Fast and Andy Levy discuss McCarthy’s huge Jan. 6 mistake, which they’re so thankful for. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Gretchen Carlson joins The New Abnormal along with her Lift Our Voices co-founder Julie Roginsky to talk about her lawsuit against former Fox CEO and Chairman Roger Ailes and the work she’s doing to fix predatory NDAs. Then Mike Collier, the Democrat running for Lieutenant Governor of Texas against Dan Patrick, breaks down the true issues with the Texas power grid, including that it was designed by Enron, and the other ticking time bomb in the state: water. Plus! Hosts Molly Jong-Fast and Andy Levy do a Q&A speed round, sharing who they think are the best and worst accounts on Twitter, what the next QAnon level conspiracy is, and a definitive ranking of the Supreme Court judges from the worst to mildly idiotic. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As the Supreme Court limits the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, David Roberts, author of climate newsletter, Volts, tells Molly Jong-Fast why America is about to see a rise in “green fascism.” Also on this episode: Climate change writer and author Kate Aronoff explores why politicians are unwilling to act on global warming despite a majority of Americans being in favor of action. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Author Jerry Stahl didn’t know what his experience visiting Auschwitz would be like, but taking selfies with teenage strangers who had mistaken him for actor Michael Richards, who played Cosmo ‘Kramer’ on Seinfeld, was definitely not on the list. On this bonus episode of The New Abnormal, the writer tells Molly Jong-Fast about the trip, and his conflicting thoughts while there, which are also part of his new book “Nein, Nein, Nein: One Man’s Tale of Depression, Psychic Torment and a Bus Tour of the Holocaust.” Plus! The one person Stahl has spent his life trying not to become. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The time for being squeamish about abortion is over. That’s what pro-choice advocate and author Ilyse Hogue tells The New Abnormal’s intrepid co-hosts Molly Jong-Fast and Andy Levy: “Roe is actually a fire-alarm fire,” and it’s time to “talk loudly and proudly about what we stand for.” (That goes for you, too, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland—Levy knows you’re listening, and he dares you to prosecute someone based on the explosive testimony coming out of the Jan. 6 hearings.) Speaking of which: what does the testimony of Cassidy Hutchinson, who for the current moment has “brought Trumpworld to its knees,” as Jong-Fast puts it, mean for where the Jan. 6 Committee is heading? What’s left to prove? That assessment comes courtesy of the Daily Beast’s hometown hero, politics editor Matt Fuller. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of The New Abnormal, Leah Litman, an assistant professor at Michigan law school, breaks down one of AOC post-Roe ideas and co-host Andy Levy tears into Nancy Pelosi and her poem. Plus, Robin Marty, director of operations for West Alabama Women’s Center, tells co-host Molly Jong-Fast what she’s already seeing in her state, including reports that hospitals are already refusing to treat women whose lives are in danger, and are bleeding out, because they admitted they had an abortion. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this bonus episode of The New Abnormal, actor David Duchovny talks about his book, The Reservoir, what it was like playing a jerk version of himself alongside Sandra Oh in Netflix’s ‘The Chair’, and discloses a solid theory on aliens. Plus! Co-hosts Molly Jong-Fast and Andy Levy listen to more bizarre clips of GOP politicians, including “single biggest asshole’ in America, Ted Cruz, and everyone’s favorite Fox News host, Tucker Carlson, who is still obsessed with testicles. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade on Friday, June 24, 2024, eliminating the decades-long protected right to an abortion. New Abnormal co-host Molly Jong-Fast could not wait until the next episode to address this far-reaching decision, so she recorded an “emergency” episode and interviewed Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold. Secretary Griswold explains to Molly and listeners what it would take to impeach a Supreme Court Justice, why she believes the conservative justices lied under oath and what states can do ASAP to protect the women there. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Former President Donald Trump was not lacking in pardon requests in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 riots, according to new information revealed during the hearings on Thursday. Among those who asked for pardons: Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and Mo Brooks (R-AL). That in itself proves that Brooks knew Trump’s “Big Lie” was a load of BS, says New Abnormal co-host Andy Levy on the latest post-hearing episode. Also in this episode, Jay Willis, editor in chief of Balls & Strikes, breaks down two Supreme Court rulings, including the rejection of gun control legislation in New York, loudly proclaimed in an opinion by Justice Clarence Thomas. “Thomas’ opinion basically freezes firearm regulation as it existed [in the Constitution],” Willis says of Thomas’ mind-boggling explanation. Last but not least, Greg Sargent, author of The Washington Post’s The Plum Line blog, makes the case that the Jan. 6 hearings are absolutely making an impact. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices