The Commentary Magazine Podcast

Episode: The Shutdown Comedy

Date: October 1, 2025

Episode Overview

In this lively episode, John Podhoretz is joined by Abe Greenwald, Seth Mandel, and Matthew Continetti as they tackle the politics and spectacle of the latest government shutdown in Washington. The panel also dissects the current infighting between Democrats and Republicans, the peculiarities of media coverage, the shifting fault lines among Jewish American voters, and even finds time for a lengthy, affectionate discussion of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and its comedic genius.
The tone is sharp, witty, and intellectually engaged, with an undercurrent of political exasperation and a healthy dose of Jewish humor.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Government Shutdown: What Happened and Why

• Republicans' "clean CR" was rejected: The Trump administration and Congressional Republicans offered a "clean continuing resolution" (CR) to fund the government at current levels, which the majority of Democrats in the Senate rejected. Three Democrats (Fetterman, Cortez Masto, and Angus King) voted with Republicans, but not enough to break a filibuster. [04:23]

  • Quote, Matt: "A clean CR is what I think is kind of silly jargon to just describe a bill that would keep the government running at current spending levels." [07:13]
  • Democrats are demanding a continuation of expanded Affordable Care Act subsidies, the reversal of some Trump administration spending cuts (notably to USAID and Medicaid), and other concessions.
  • The panel notes the irony of Democrats relying on the filibuster—something they often decry—to block the resolution.

• Chuck Schumer and Democratic politics: Continetti suggests Schumer is making these demands out of fear of a primary challenge from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

  • Quote, Matt: "Chuck Schumer is afraid of a girl. He's afraid of Alexandria Ocasio Cortez..." [09:45]

• The political dynamic: The panelists agree that shutdowns have become less effective as political weapons compared to the 1990s, with the American public becoming somewhat numb to the spectacle.

  • Quote, Abe: "At this point, the voters, the country, have been through so many bigger fights, so many more spectacular crises... this has now happened with a kind of regularity, such that it just doesn't have the impact either way that some people seem to think it does at this point." [18:27]

2. How Media Framing and Partisan Roles Have Flipped

• Comparisons with past shutdowns: The panel references the 1995 shutdown and how the media reliably placed the blame on Republicans. They note a lack of such symmetry now, and a lingering conventional wisdom that shutdowns hurt Republicans.

  • Quote, Matt: "I don't see a similar symmetry in the media coverage of the two shutdowns, do you? ... this shutdown being covered very differently..." [11:37]

• Party of Government: The group points out that government-employee-heavy Democratic constituencies are more directly affected by a shutdown, and Republicans may suffer less long-term political pain than is generally supposed.

  • Quote, Matt: "All of the government programs that the media is saying may be affected by this... are Democratic programs. They're funded by Democratic votes. They support Democratic constituencies..." [16:12]

3. The Growing Size of the Federal Government & Budget Deficit

• John marvels at how budget deficits have ballooned since the late 1970s. What was once a national crisis—$6 billion in deficit—is now routine ($1 trillion+). [25:13]
  • Quote, John: "Would you like to know what the size of the federal budget deficit was in February 1979? $6 billion. ... It is now well over a trillion dollars." [25:46]
• The argument is made that shutdown fights are often "narishkeit" (nonsense) relative to genuinely huge fiscal challenges.

4. Gaza, Israel, and Trump Administration Policy

• The group pivots to a discussion on a new Trump-backed peace deal for Gaza and media coverage thereof, triggered by a controversial Axios scoop.
  • Skepticism of media leaks: The group derides reporting that Trump had to pressure Netanyahu to accept the peace deal, arguing Trump’s plan is everything the Israeli government could want.
    • Quote, John: "This is the dumbest and the most preposterous [story] that I have ever seen. ... the Trump peace plan is a dream come true for Bibi." [31:01]
• Operation and strategy: The discussion points out the high level of coordination between the US and Israel—exemplified in past operations and the current plan for peace in Gaza.
• Media focus: Panelists point out that media rarely present Hamas as the obstacle to peace, instead framing the issue as a dispute between Israel and international opinion. [39:44]
• Changing American opinions: The conversation shifts to polling showing a shift in Democratic sympathies from Israel to Palestinians, which they interpret as a sea change in American Jewish life and broader political culture. [55:44]

5. Jewish Political Identity & Cognitive Dissonance

• Tension for Jewish Democrats: Liberal Jews, confronted with rising anti-Zionist and even antisemitic sentiment on the left, are described as being in denial, hesitant to see this as a broad turn against Jews, preferring to blame Netanyahu or Trump instead.

  • Quote, John: “Do you care about the continued existence of the Jewish people and their homeland and your place of refuge in case things get really hairy? Or do you care about the Green New Deal? Because that's what is now going to be facing Zionist liberals..." [65:55]

• The Pew polling dilemma: The hosts reference how many who self-identify as Jewish in surveys have little or no connection to actual Jewish belief or practice, making "Jewish opinion" a problematic concept statistically and politically. [66:00]

• Snapshots of party trends: Defeat of Squad-aligned Democrats in primaries (like Cori Bush and Jamal Bowman) is seen as meaningful but possibly short-lived evidence of party moderation. [70:30]

• Old-right antisemitism: Emergence of old right-wing antisemitism on social media (e.g., from Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens) is contrasted with antisemitic trends on the left. [72:01]

6. “Curb Your Enthusiasm”: An Ode to Social Discomfort

• Matthew Continetti heartily recommends the new coffee-table book “No Lessons Learned: The Making of Curb Your Enthusiasm,” triggering a 20-minute dissection of the show’s genius and social relevance. [74:26]
  • Quote, Matt: "No Lessons Learned draws on interviews with all the cast and crew, including Larry David himself. It is a visually sumptuous volume..." [74:26]
  • Curb’s improvisational format and exploration of social friction, awkwardness, and pettiness is praised as “Molière-level comedy.”
• Social friction as comic gold: The panel describes how Curb moments—trivial misunderstandings escalating into comic confrontations—capture human nature and now seem even more common post-Covid. [76:54, 77:12]
• Race, religion, and taboo topics: The show is lauded for tackling race, religion, and political taboos with a frankness missing in most modern comedy.
  • Quote, John: "It's also the only place over the last 25 years where you had actual comedy about race and religion, which everyone else has shied away from." [82:11]
• Favorite episodes cited include “Palestinian Chicken,” the mezuzah and dinner-party-with-holocaust-survivor episodes, and more. [85:00]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Shutdown politics:

  • Matt Continetti: "We're here because Chuck Schumer is afraid of a girl. He's afraid of Alexandria Ocasio Cortez..." [09:45]
  • John Podhoretz: "We’ve ended up with the fight over a fight rather than fighting on the issue itself." [10:35]

• On the ineffectiveness of shutdowns:

  • Abe Greenwald: "It just doesn't have the impact either way that some people seem to think it does at this point." [18:27]

• On the size of government debt:

  • John Podhoretz: "Would you like to know what the size of the federal budget deficit was in February 1979? $6 billion... It is now well over a trillion dollars." [25:46]

• On American Jews and political identity:

  • John Podhoretz: “Do you care about the continued existence of the Jewish people and their homeland and your place of refuge ... Or do you care about the Green New Deal?” [65:55]

• On Curb Your Enthusiasm’s depiction of human nature:

  • John Podhoretz: “He surfaced something about human nature and the comedy of human nature that almost no one had ever really tapped into...” [79:39]
  • Abe Greenwald: “Because it's such a popular show, millions of people clearly have these exchanges. And so it made people feel kind of weirdly better about the awkwardness.” [81:19]
  • John Podhoretz: "It's also the only place over the last 25 years where you had actual comedy about race and religion..." [82:11]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Opening banter/Shutdown humor: 02:12–03:55
• Shutdown mechanics & Senate votes: 03:55–10:35
• Media coverage comparison with past shutdowns: 11:37–16:12
• Diminishing political/personal impact of shutdowns: 18:27–25:13
• Historical growth of the deficit: 25:13–27:10
• Axios/Trump-Netanyahu peace plan media leak: 28:46–42:49
• Recent military/political moves in Gaza: 42:49–48:21
• Democratic polling and Israel, Jewish-American political realignment: 55:44–68:09
• Old- and new- right antisemitism: 72:01–74:26
• Book rec & “Curb Your Enthusiasm” discussion: 74:26–87:11

Tone & Final Thoughts

The episode is a brisk, unsentimental, and at times quite comic tour through the week’s political and cultural minefields. Discussion is alive with wordplay, candid historical reminiscence, and Jewish intellectual introspection.
Listeners will come away with a deeper understanding of shutdown politics, the complexities of intra-Jewish American debate, and a strong urge to revisit (or finally watch) “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”

For fans of political gossip, Jewish cultural debate, and sharp comic analysis, this episode is essential listening.