The DSR Network

Texas is a state that keeps breaking the hearts of Democrats everywhere. But hopes are rising again this week, after Representative Colin Allred, a former NFL player and civil rights lawyer, captured the Democratic nomination to unseat Senator Ted Cruz. Six years after Beto O’Rourke fell three points short of beating Cruz, what will be different this time? We chatted with Allred about his path forward, how Democrats can compete in rural America, and why Republicans have turned the border into a fantasy zone. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

While the state of the union is ordinarily focused on domestic policy, nothing about this year has been ordinary. On the eve of the State of the Union address, Kori Schake, Ed Luce, and Alon Pinkas join David Rothkopf to predict how large of a role that foreign policy will play in President Biden’s speech. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the Wednesday edition of the DSR Daily, we cover the big results from Super Tuesday, faltering ceasefire talks in Cairo, the hunger crisis in Sudan, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Earlier this week, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico signed a handful of gun control bills in the face of a terrible spate of gun violence in her state that has drawn national attention. Lujan Grisham is smack in the middle of some big trends in our politics right now: The transformation of the southwest, the success of Democrats in border states, and the rise of the female Democratic governor in the era of Donald Trump. We chatted with Lujan Grisham about all these things—and a whole lot more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the Tuesday edition of the DSR Daily, we cover the continuing Gaza ceasefire talks in Cairo, the Supreme Court’s decision to keep Trump on the ballot, Germany’s response to an intelligence leak, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Monday, the Supreme Court ruled 9 to zero that Donald Trump will not be disqualified from appearing on the ballot in Colorado, despite having engaged in insurrection. Coupled with the court’s willingness to hear Trump’s demand for full immunity from prosecution for insurrection-related crimes, all this raises serious questions about whether it is functionally placing Trump beyond accountability. We chatted with New Republic writer Matt Ford, author of a new piece eviscerating the court’s latest ruling, about the deeper falsehoods about Trump and the MAGA movement that the court is advancing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

New York Times award winning journalist Adam Entous joins Marc Polymeropoulos to discuss Adam’s latest NY Times article chronicling the extraordinary evolution between 2014 until today of the partnership between US and Ukrainian intelligence. From initial efforts by the US to “put in the plumbing,” building personal ties and basic intelligence exchanges, to the CIA remaining on the ground during the Russian invasion and an admission from Ukrainian intelligence that without CIA’s targeting help, Kyiv would have fallen, it is an intelligence success story for the ages. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the Monday edition of the DSR daily, we cover Kamala Harris’s scheduled meeting with Benny Gantz, the US airdropping food into Gaza, France preparing to enshrine abortion rights in the constitution, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With Donald Trump set to host Viktor Orban at his Mar-a-Lago retreat this week, it's time to get serious about the rise of the global far right and why its worldview poses such a dire threat. This week, Donald Trump will host Hungarian leader Viktor Orban at his Mar-a-Lago resort. Meanwhile, Congress is on the verge of abandoning Ukraine to Vladimir Putin. Trump’s romance with Orban—and the opposition of MAGA Republicans to helping Ukraine—are part of the same story, in which the American right has grown besotted with international strongmen. We chatted with Jacob Heilbrunn, author of “America Last: The Right’s Century-Long Romance with Foreign Dictators,” about the rise of the global far right and the deeper threats posed by this perilous moment. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Original Air Date: March 24, 2023 Trump might finally be indicted but what impact will that have on the political landscape? Kavita and Norm seek to answer that question during this engaging conversation. Members get a bonus conversation about COVID and the recent UN Climate Report. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Original Air Date: January 18, 2023 Davos may attract some of the world's wealthiest people but DSR continues to attract the best foreign policy and national security thinkers and analysis. David Rothkopf talks with David Sanger of the New York Times and Rosa Brooks of Georgetown University about Kissinger's remarks at Davos and other foreign policy issues cropping up around the world. Should Ukraine join NATO? Will Sweden and Finland actually join NATO? How should the U.S. handle the new (old) government in Israel? Find out in this wide-ranging conversation. Don't miss it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Climate change is scary enough on its own. But what about the effect of climate change on our nuclear weapons? Expert Jamie Kwong joins Jon Wolfsthal and Heather Williams to break down the recent incident at Pantex, and the increasing risk that effects of climate change poses to our nuclear installations. This episode is best enjoyed with a cocktail in hand. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Donald Trump is the healthiest, most successful, and most innocent man in America — according to Donald Trump. The grifts and lies show no signs of slowing even as the walls close in around the former president. Norm and Kavita go over the many machinations of the former president, including the New York criminal trial, his efforts to turn the RNC into his personal piggy bank, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the Friday edition of the DSR Daily, we cover the Senate approving a stopgap funding bill, Joe Biden and Donald Trump visiting the border, Alabama passing legislation to protect IVF, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, former MSNBC journalist Mehdi Hasan launched a new digital media company called “Zeteo,” which is Greek for “to seek.” Hasan intends this as an answer to the failings of the mainstream media, which he says is enabling Donald Trump’s effort to “usher in a new era of fascism in the United States.” We chatted with Hasan about his new project’s goals, his belief that the conventions of political reporting are failing to meet this moment, and why the far-right information space is flourishing while the small-L liberal media is in crisis. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’re not just disappointed — we’re mad. The Supreme Court’s decision to hear Trump’s immunity claims has dealt another blow to efforts to hold Trump accountable for his numerous misdeeds in office. Experts Norm Eisen and Allison Gill join David Rothkopf to break down the implications of the decision. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

American society is more polarized than ever before, and disinformation is pouring gasoline on the fire. As we head into an existentially important election, this issue becomes even more pronounced. Barb McQuade joins David Rothkopf to discuss her new book, “Attack from Within,” and how we can fight back against the flood of disinformation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the Thursday edition of the DSR Daily, we discuss Mitch McConnell stepping down from GOP leadership, the Supreme Court agreeing to consider Trump’s immunity claims, Putin threatening nuclear war, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The news that Mitch McConnell will step down as GOP senate leader later this year has led many to argue that he was fundamentally a foe of Donald Trump who is no longer welcome in the party of MAGA. But the story is more complicated than that: In crucial ways, McConnell’s own career trajectory helped bring about the descent of our politics into its current disastrous mess. We chatted with Congressional scholar Norman Ornstein, who was among the first to identify McConnell as key to the GOP slide into dysfunction and extremism. He helped us assess McConnell’s real legacy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Friends don’t let friends drive drunk, and friends don’t let friends support Russia. The increasingly erratic Republican Party has the US’s allies in Europe worried, especially as Russia gains momentum in its assault on Ukraine and Election Day draws near. Rosa Brooks, David Sanger, and Ed Luce join David Rothkopf to break it all down. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the Wednesday edition of the DSR Daily, we discuss plans for Navalny’s funeral on Friday, the results of the Michigan primary, skepticism about a Gaza ceasefire, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In recent days we’ve learned that Stephen Miller is drawing up plans for a shockingly cruel second-term immigration agenda, complete with mass deportations and huge detention camps. Meanwhile, President Biden is set to visit the southern border—and is mulling a new asylum crackdown of his own. We chatted with Jason Houser, a former senior official at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement under Biden, who explained how operationally absurd Miller’s fantasies truly are—and why new asylum restrictions are a very bad idea. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Joe Biden brought an a-team of talent with him to the White House in 2021. Between repairing America’s damaged reputation and adapting to crises in Ukraine and Afghanistan, the administration has had its work cut out for it since day one. Alexander Ward joins David Rothkopf to discuss all this and more in his new book, the “Internationalists.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the Tuesday edition of the DSR Daily, we break down the self-immolation of a US airman, Biden’s optimism that a temporary ceasefire could be coming soon, declining attacks by Iranian proxies, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Donald Trump’s victory over Nikki Haley in the South Carolina GOP primary has sparked another round of punditry about his supposed political dominance. Yet the primaries have revealed his weaknesses with independents, and he clearly fears his legal travails are a major liability that will get worse. So what if Trump is weaker than he appears? We chatted about this with political scientist Julia Azari, co-author of a new piece arguing that the long shadow of his 2016 victory is still badly distorting our understanding of the present and the majority coalition that continues handing him and the MAGA movement defeat after defeat. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alexander Smirnov has showed us that Russian ‘active measures’ are even more active than we thought. An FBI informant working with Russian intelligence is no small feat, but the extent of the Kremlin’s efforts is even greater. Former CIA officer Alex Finley joins Marc Polymeropoulos to break down how the Russian security threat at home and abroad. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the Monday edition of the DSR Daily, we cover the resignation of the Palestinian Prime Minister, Biden summoning Congressional leaders to avoid a government shutdown, Hungary ratifying Swedish NATO accession, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For the first time in months, a pair of new polls has found that election-denier Kari Lake is trailing in the Arizona Senate race to the Democratic candidate, Representative Ruben Gallego. But she remains a MAGA celebrity phenomenon who cannot be counted out, making this race highly unpredictable with Independent Sinema Kyrsten Sinema also in the mix. So we chatted with Gallego about how he hopes to defeat Lake and Sinema, why Democrats should level with voters about the border, and what’s really driving the southwest’s evolution in a Democratic direction. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Original Air Date: March 2, 2022 British journalist John Sweeney reports from Ukraine's besieged capital. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Original Air Date: February 24, 2022 In the late hours of Wednesday, Vladimir Putin began a war of choice in Ukraine. On Thursday, President Biden detailed a variety of harsh sanctions that the United States, our allies, and partners will place upon Russia for his actions. To make sense of these developments, David Rothkopf spoke with David Sanger of the New York Times, Andrea Kendall-Taylor of the Center for a New American Security, and Joe Cirincione of the Quincy Institute. What comes next for Ukraine? Is Putin a rational actor? What more can the United States do to push back? All these questions and more answered on this episode. Don't miss it! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the 21st century, we should all know that putting nukes in space is a bad idea. Yet intelligence reports suggest that Russia is attempting to do just that. What does that actually look like, and what are the implications ranging from bad to worse? Experts Laura Grego and David Sanger join Heather Williams and Jon Wolfsthal to discuss all this and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Republican crusade against families continues. The Alabama Supreme Court ruling equating embryos with babies makes clear the fact that they won’t stop any time soon. So what comes next? Norm and Kavita break down the ruling and the political fallout. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the Friday edition of the DSR Daily, we discuss Netanyahu’s plans for a post-war Gaza, the US sanctioning 500 new Russian targets, a measles outbreak in Florida, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fox News and other right wing media are currently engaged in absurdities that are as bad as anything they’ve attempted in recent memory. They are struggling to spin away everything from the collapse of an informant’s claims about President Biden to the GOP’s killing of a border security deal that Republicans themselves demanded. Yet in a darker sense, right wing media is also flourishing. We talked to Matt Gertz of Media Matters, who helped us unravel the tangled web those sources are weaving. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Right-wing Christian extremists want to roll back the clock on your rights. If the Alabama Supreme Court ruling is any indication, they’re succeeding. Legal expert Dahlia Lithwick joins David Rothkopf to discuss the carefully crafted assault on fundamental rights in America, and why the fight isn’t over yet. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the Thursday edition of the DSR Daily, we cover the worsening state of Ukraine’s military shortages, NY Attorney General Letitia James threatening to seize Trump’s properties if he doesn’t pay his fraud penalty, Japan’s soaring stock market, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s the question that won’t die among D.C. elites: Should President Biden step aside so another Democrat can run instead? Democrats have engaged in some remarkably public handwringing about Biden’s age that just won’t let up. One Democrat who has insistently sounded the alarm is veteran strategist David Axelrod. So we invited him on the show, where he allowed that an alternative is unlikely—while explaining how Biden can address the issue and why he’s still the favorite against Donald Trump. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The unimaginable human cost of Israel’s invasion of Gaza may be about to rise to unprecedented levels. International organizations agree that a famine is looming as Israel continues to impede foreign aid from entering the area. President of Refugees International Jeremy Konyndyk joins David Rothkopf, Ed Luce, and Rosa Brooks to shed light on the coming crisis, and what can be done to prevent disaster. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the Wednesday edition of the DSR Daily, we cover the Alabama ruling that says that frozen embryos are children, the US vetoing the security council ceasefire resolution, the EU’s new round of Russia sanctions, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers signed a new set of maps for legislative districts in the state—an important and overlooked victory that came after a long struggle dating back well over a decade. We talked to Greta Neubauer, the 32-year-old Minority Leader of Wisconsin Assembly Democrats, who explained what Democrats did to prevail, why this was such a significant achievement, and how it shows that reviving democracy is a grueling game of inches. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alexei Navalny’s influence cannot be overstated, and the impact of his death has sent shockwaves across Russia, and around the world. As Putin’s regime grows bolder by the day, we turn to journalist Julia Ioffe at the Munich Security Conference for her insight into Putin’s Russia, and how the country has continued to transform for the worse. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the Tuesday edition of the DSR Daily, we discuss the US proposing a temporary ceasefire resolution at the UN, Russia withholding the return of Alexei Navalny’s body, Julian Assange’s case returning to court, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The stunning news that Donald Trump has been hit by a $355 million penalty in his civil fraud case in New York deals a big blow to his mystique as master of “the deal.” But Justice Arthur Engoron’s ruling also exposes a deeper undercurrent of scamming that Trump has been surfing on for decades and hopes to ride right back into the White House. We chatted with journalist David Cay Johnston, author of a new piece in The New Republic about the ruling, who helped us plumb the depths of the dark ethos of grift that has driven Trump throughout his career. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the Monday edition of the DSR Daily, we cover Trump’s colossal fine in the NY fraud case, the ICJ’s hearings on Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories, Iran’s warnings to it’s proxies, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Original Air Date: 07/08/2022 On this week's episode, we talk about the first, second, ninth, and tenth amendments and for members we talk about disinformation and Twitter. We ground all of our analysis in the words of the Bill of Rights. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Original Air Date: 08/17/2023 With yet another indictment against Donald Trump, his 2024 chances have taken another serious blow. David is joined by the host of the Amicus podcast Dahlia Lithwick and political strategist Simon Rosenberg to analyze how the deluge of legal drama will impact the 2024 race and why the Republicans' problems go beyond Trump. Join us. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Donald Trump loves to portray fellow NATO members as free-loaders. In reality, NATO is invaluable for the US and has been since its inception. Former US Ambassador to NATO Douglas Lute joins Heather and Jon to shine a light on the enormous, and increasing, importance of NATO to US interests around the world and how the alliance will continue to evolve in the coming years. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the Friday edition of the DSR Daily, we discuss the death of Alexei Navalny, VP Harris’s trip to the Munich Security Conference, the latest from Rafah, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, Donald Trump announced that he wants Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel replaced with a loyalist: Michael Whatley, the head of the North Carolina Republican Party. Behind the jockeying looms a very big story: The Trump-MAGA takeover of the GOP, and the challenges the party faces as it nominates someone facing multiple criminal indictments. We talked to Marc Caputo, a reporter for The Bulwark and author of a great new piece on McDaniel’s ouster, who helped us unravel the mysteries of GOP politics in the MAGA era. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Democrats’ win in the New York special election is yet another example of over performing the polls. So why does this keep happening, and what does it mean for November? Expert Simon Rosenberg is back with David Rothkopf to give us another dose of Hopium and discuss the path forward for a Biden victory. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices