Podcast
Politix
Hosted by Politix · EN
Politix is a weekly podcast about the 2024 election from Brian Beutler, Matthew Yglesias, and some occasional guests. We’ll have some good-faith disagreement, some points of consensus, and an overall effort to focus on what’s really at stake in November. Subscribe for new episodes each Wednesday and listen wherever you get your podcasts.
www.politix.fm
www.politix.fm
47episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Woke Two: Cancellation Boogaloo?!
Yesterday00:45:10Tap to summarizeThis is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.politix.fmAlexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders have conceded to the excesses of what we must all now call Woke One. But the concession, and that characterization of it, raise some obvious questions.In this episode, Matt and Brian discuss: * What was Woke One;* Which aspects of it do progressive leaders now concede were “crazy”;* Why did it happen in the first place?Then, how relevant is any of this for near-term politics so long as Donald Trump is in power wrecking the economy? The country keeps losing jobs (or putting up extremely week monthly jobs numbers). Congress is about to give Trump more power to impose tariffs. And there’s no clear offramp to the war in Iran. Are Republicans simply fucked? If so, why hasn’t the war been a bigger political disaster for Trump? Could Democratic leaders forge a factional truce around a midterm-campaign promise to end the war next year? Or is it going to be 2007 all over again?Answers are available in full to listeners and viewers on YouTube. Check out our new channel, or upgrade your subscription and pipe full episodes directly to your favorite podcast app via your own private feed.Further reading:* Matt on how the high cost of living is tearing Republicans apart. * Brian takes a stab at a Woke One origin story.* Why are Democrats voting to give Trump more tariff power?* The doctor advising Republicans on how to lose weight says his miracle diet gives him orgasmic, wipe-free poops.
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Nobody Wants To Fight Trump
1w ago00:45:29Tap to summarizeThis is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.politix.fmDemocratic leaders have been delivered a thrashing from the left this primary season. So naturally, the lesson they took from it is that they should…fund Trump’s crooked government before the election he’s trying to steal?In this episode, Matt and Brian discuss: * The deal Democrats struck with Susan Collins to avoid a pre-midterms government shutdown;* What Democrats could have demanded that might have won back respect from their voters while either a) making the election more secure, or drawing national attention to the GOP’s intent to cheat;* Why establishment Democrats didn’t want this fight; but neither, apparently, did leaders of the left-insurgent faction.Then, if after all this, there’s such little appetite in the party for procedural hardball, should we have any hope at all? Would a Democratic trifecta in 2029 simply not make any structural changes to U.S. democracy? If so, would progressives be better off trying to work with GOP extremists now to abolish the filibuster while Republicans are still in power? Will a mainline figure emerge who unites the party, holds Republicans accountable, and leads the country back to normalish politics? Or is it horseshoes all the way down?Answers are available in full to listeners and viewers on YouTube. Check out our new channel, or upgrade your subscription and pipe full episodes directly to your favorite podcast app via your own private feed.Further reading:* WE HAVE A YOUTUBE PAGE NOW! You can watch this episode in full there, and we’ll be rolling out new subscription options over the coming weeks. Hit like, subscribe, and all the other buttons.* Brian on Democrats squandering their last pre-election chance to fight Trump. * Matt’s plan to swap voter ID for filibuster abolition.* Carlos Odio and Rachel Stein on the rightward lean of unmobilized Latino voters.
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Just Ken
2w ago00:39:55Tap to summarizeThis is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.politix.fmThe Iran war’s back on, oil prices are back up, the Republican election outlook is back down. But…it’s not playing out as an existential political crisis for Donald Trump. In this episode, Matt and Brian discuss: * Why Trump was unable to make surrender stick;* The peculiar case of the missing oil crisis;* Whether Trump’s untrustworthiness, and Iran’s experience exploiting U.S. election deadlines, means he’ll be unable to get another ceasefire on the books before November.Then, why aren’t Trump’s horrifying failures triggering a flight to safety among his political allies? Is it because the Democratic Party is in shambles? Or because Trump loyalists control too much of the media? A bit of both? What do Ken Martin’s failures as DNC chair tell us about the state of Democratic opposition politics? And should we take heart in the fact that Democratic pushback against an oligarchic takeover of Warner Bros. seems to be working?Answers are available in full to listeners and viewers on YouTube. Check out our new channel, or upgrade your subscription and pipe full episodes directly to your favorite podcast app via your own private feed.Further reading:* WE HAVE A YOUTUBE PAGE NOW! You can watch this episode in full there, and we’ll be rolling out new subscription options over the coming weeks. Hit like, subscribe, and all the other buttons.* Matt on the difficulty defining class in the U.S. * Brian on how to divide and conquer the billionaire class.
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Medicare For Kumbay'all
3w ago00:45:06Tap to summarizeThis is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.politix.fmWhat if the Democratic establishment could take the wind out of the sails of the left wing insurgency by…giving in to progressives on their most morally resonant and popular issue?In this episode, Matt and Brian discuss: * The moral and political advantages of Medicare for All as an abstract concept, and how health care had become the motive force driving the growth of the Sanders movement;* Why no plan to open up Medicare to all beneficiaries has ever become law, and who’s principally responsible;* How the Bernie Sanders plan came into existence, and what it would take to get a version of it enacted without accidentally blowing up the health care system.Then, even if this is a good idea on the merits, would it serve the political purpose of dialing down the factional war? Do progressive insurgents want single payer health care or do they want the issue to run on? Do they want policy wins or do they want to take over the Democratic Party? Is another truce, like the one Joe Biden forged in 2020 with Sanders and his allies possible? And would it hold even if a consensus left-center agenda didn’t drive Democrats back into full control of government?Answers are available in full to listeners—just upgrade your subscription and pipe full episodes directly to your favorite podcast app via your own private feed.Further reading:* WE HAVE A YOUTUBE PAGE NOW! You can watch this episode in full there, and we’ll be rolling out new subscription options over the coming weeks. Hit like, subscribe, and all the other buttons.* Brian’s original case: Why the Democratic establishment should surrender to the left on Medicare for all. * Matt’s blueprint for a center-left counterinsurgency. * Greg Casar: “In the past, there were some progressives, including people I’ve been friends with for a long time who used to say, I’d rather see you lose righteously than win politically and strategically. And I’ve learned to respectfully disagree with those people. We can’t afford to lose anymore because the cost of losing is just so high.”
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Lindsey Graham Platner (Hardly Knew... 'Em?)
4w ago00:57:27Tap to summarizeThis is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.politix.fmWhile Brian was away, Graham Platner’s campaign imploded, rumors circulated that Republicans were playing Weekend At Bernie’s with Mitch McConnell’s corpse. And then Lindsey Graham went and actually died.In this episode: * Matt gives an on-the-ground rundown of how the Maine Democratic Party is going about choosing Platner’s replacement on the Senate ballot;* Brian tries to sniff out whether Maine Democratic voters feel burnt by the Sanders operation, and thus may insist on a nominee from a different faction;* Matt and Brian talk about Monday’s ICE murder in Maine, and how it’s shaken up the race even further.Then, why did Lindsey Graham succeed where other’s failed to use flattery to get what he wanted out of Donald Trump? How will McConnell’s absence, and the fact that the South Carolina governor appointed Graham’s sister as his interim replacement, affect the GOP’s ability to advance its agenda, including Todd Blanche’s attorney general nomination? And was Graham secretly a hero of American democracy? Answers are available in full to paid subscribers—just upgrade your subscription and pipe full episodes directly to your favorite podcast app via your own private feed.Further reading:* Brian on how to eulogize dead fascism enablers.* Matt on the Trump GOP’s authoritarian approach to immigration enforcement.* Halina Bennet’s rundown of the Maine convention process.
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Tarheels and fish fans
Jul 800:41:21Tap to summarizeThis is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.politix.fmBrian’s vacation continues for a second week, so Matt is joined by Caitlin Legacki, a Democratic strategist and Third Way fellow, to talk about some of the less-covered but more-successful 2026 senate recruits starting with former North Carolina governor Roy Cooper. In this episode Matt and Caitlin discuss: * Why objectively successful red state governors struggle to obtain national attention. * The constraints and upsides of dealing with an opposition legislature.* The New South tradition of business-friendly pro-growth Democrats. * Applications of these points to Alaska, Michigan, and other states that lack the underlying economic strength of California or New York. Paid subscribers also get to hear about the left’s misguided attacks on former Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and a brief update on events in Maine. Further reading:* Roy Cooper’s tough on crime ad campaign.* What Mary Peltola means when she says she’s “pro-fish.”* The American Prospect complains that the Commerce Secretary met with commercial enterprises.
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Mainely Politics
Jul 100:38:56Tap to summarizeThis is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.politix.fmWith Brian out on vacation, Matt is joined by Alex Seitz-Wald of the Midcoast Village to discuss Graham Platner and the shifting political tides of Vacationland more broadly. In this episode, Matt and Alex discuss:* Troy Jackson, the man who really is the thing Platner sort of pretends to be.* Paul Le Page, the “Trump before Trump” figure likely to replace Jared Golden in the House. * How a pedophile brought ranked-choice voting to Maine. * Why Susan Collins is probably toast. * Lifestyle businesses and downward mobility. Plus paid subscribers will get an exacting level of detail on the political geography of Maine, Platner’s specific appeal in Washington County and on working waterfronts, and the clash between what made him so fascinating as a primary candidate and what’s objectively the easiest path to win a general election. Further reading: * Susan Collins touts her pork barrel achievements. * ICE detains a small town general store owner.* How Maine’s two most recent governors changed the state. * Refugee resettlement in Lewiston, ME.
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LET A THOUSAND ALGAES BLOOM!!!
Jun 2400:43:55Tap to summarizeThis is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.politix.fmDonald Trump, in his haste and corruption, has wrecked the historic reflecting pool that spans the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial.In this episode, Matt and Brian discuss:* How this lazy and corrupt endeavor went to shit so quickly;* Why it serves as a useful metaphor for Trump’s Iran war, and just about every initiative he’s undertaken autocratically;* Whether this should also be a cautionary tale for Abundists, who often see the appeal of sweeping aside red tape and process to Get Things Done Fast.Then, Brian briefly ventures into amateur architecture and engineering with some proposals for fixing the reflecting pool for all time. (Surely no one’s thought of THIS before!) But we mostly assess the damage done by Jewish-American Iran hawks, via their effort to make Israel an appendage of the GOP (currently controlled by a corrupt con artist) and steer the U.S. into a losing war. Will they ever reflect on the harm they’ve caused? Is schadenfreude the order of the day? Or is that just whistling past the graveyard? And are there lessons here for leftists who are now tempted to make common cause with Trump against Israel?Answers are available in full to paid subscribers—just upgrade your subscription and pipe full episodes directly to your favorite podcast app via your own private feed.Further reading:* Brian on the self-righteous, right-wing American Jews who were being cavalier with Jewish lives all along. * Matt on how Trump’s (autocratic) war on state capacity is coming home to roost.* Brian again, on how Trump switching sides in the war he lost doesn’t make him a Palestinian liberationist. * Matt, again, on how Trump’s “reflecting pool” foreign policy is “violent and cynical and bad.”
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Yes Retreat, Baby, Yes Surrender
Jun 1700:53:14Tap to summarizeThis is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.politix.fmDonald Trump will either surrender to Iran on Friday in Switzerland, or scuttle the deal—sorry, “memorandum of understanding”—in the face of overwhelming opprobrium and humiliation. Who can say!In this episode, Matt and Brian discuss:* Why the terms of the peace deal, such as we understand them, are so unacceptable to the Iran hawks who made strategic alliance with Trump because they thought they could manipulate him into war;* How a deal that’s both weaker than JCPOA and leaves Iran with de facto control over the Strait of Hormuz changes geopolitics—and is likely unacceptable to Israel;* Whether Democrats should rub Trump’s defeat in his face, or let him pretend he won to reduce the risk that he goes back to war. Then, Elon Musk became a trillionaire last week, after taking SpaceX public. And he did so thanks in large part to Nasdaq, which changed its own rules to require Nasdaq index funds to buy SpaceX stock, and bid up its price, despite the fact that the company lacks any near-term path to profitability. Is this a reasonable evolution in Wall Street’s treatment of mature companies when they go public? Or was Nasdaq snookered by Musk’s many grandiose promises of future growth and technological development? Should passive investors really have no recourse to scrutinize and challenge these companies when they change rules governing how our money is invested? And what should happen if it turns out Musk is just exploiting laws, rules, and markets to turn our IRAs and 401ks into piggy banks to bail out his failing companies?Answers are available in full to paid subscribers—just upgrade your subscription and pipe full episodes directly to your favorite podcast app via your own private feed.Further reading:* Catherine Rampell on the SpaceX IPO.* Vanguard urges calm on the SpaceX IPO.* Former AIPAC spox can’t believe the leopard ate his face.
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Pride Before The Prattfall
Jun 1000:28:19Tap to summarizeThis is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.politix.fmThe results from California are (mostly? almost completely?) in. They are mixed, and extremely consistent with pre-election polling. Naturally, Republicans are subjecting the country to a blizzard of lies. In this episode, Matt and Brian discuss:* The results, and the merits of the California election system, which maximizes ballot access, but at the expense of quick ballot counting.* What should California Democrats, and the national party, do about the scourge of GOP election lies?* Would Democrats really have been better off if they’d managed to lock Steve Hilton out of the governor’s race, like they locked Spencer Pratt out of the LA mayor’s race?Then, how do you solve a problem like Graham Platner? How do you catch an oyster, and snarf it down? How embellished is his self-depiction as a blue-collar outsider? How consistent is a clear, chronological recitation of his checkered past with his redemption story? Are we even anywhere near the point where it would make sense for Democratic voters in Maine to stay home or vote for Susan Collins, rather than Vote Blue No Matter Who as a harm-reduction strategy? The answer to the last question is “no,” but the answers to the rest are available in full to paid subscribers—just upgrade your subscription and pipe full episodes directly to your favorite podcast app via your own private feed.Further reading:* Matt’s 17 thoughts about Graham Platner, from before the latest developments. * Brian argues California Dems should streamline their election process and simultaneously disqualify proven election liars from ballots in the state. * Andrew Weissmann’s Liar’s Kingdom.* Brian’s 2017 piece on the pitfall of embracing “believe all women” as a political standard (tl;dr, some women are committed Trump loyalists with MAGA ethics).
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