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The Commentary Magazine Podcast

ByCommentary Magazine
1178 episodes

Podcast Summary

Dive into the thought-provoking world of "The Commentary Magazine Podcast," where incisive discussions shape the landscape of contemporary thought. With a unique blend of cultural commentary and political analysis, this podcast delves into pressing issues, from the firebombing of Jewish communities in Colorado to the implications of recent political events. Listeners are treated to compelling conversations featuring influential figures, including renowned authors, political analysts, and cultural critics. Each episode dissects current affairs and cultural trends through a distinctly Jewish lens, fostering a deep understanding of the complexities surrounding modern society. The podcast's dynamic format encourages lively debates and offers fresh perspectives, making it a must-listen for anyone interested in the intersection of politics, culture, and identity. Join the engaging conversations that challenge conventional wisdom and inspire critical thinking, as "The Commentary Magazine Podcast" continues to be a beacon of insightful dialogue in today's multifaceted world.

#1

The Intifada Is Here in America

The firebombing of Jews in Colorado, following the firebombing of the governor's mansion in Pennsylvania and the murder of two Israeli embassy officials in DC, makes it unambiguously clear that the new motive force on the radical left and among radical Islamists is direct violent attack against Jews. What are we going to do about it? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2025-06-03•1hr 13mins
#2

No Podcast Monday

Here's why. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2025-06-02•1mins
#3

High Jinks in MAGA-land

We close out the week on Donald Trump's pardons, picks, and tantrums and RFK Jr.'s AI-based report. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2025-05-30•1hr 0mins
#4

The Wreckage of K-12 Education

Today Robert Pondiscio joins the podcast to discuss the progressive sabotage of K-12 schooling and talk about his article in the June issue of COMMENTARY, "How Wokeness Destroyed an Education Miracle." Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2025-05-29•1hr 6mins
#5

The Case of the 20-Year-Old High Schooler

The media efforts to make Americans oppose Trump's anti-illegal efforts are running straight into the buzzsaw of common sense. So too with efforts to portray the distribution of food aid in Gaza. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2025-05-28•1hr 5mins
#6

The Education of Donald J. Trump

Well, it took him long enough, but Donald Trump has now decided Vladimir Putin doesn't want peace. Who knew? Um...a lot of people? Plus, what's this about how Israel needs to wrap it up already? Give a listen. And don't forget to subscribe to the podcast anywhere you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2025-05-27•56mins
#7

Special Podcast: In Praise of 'Andor'

On this special holiday episode, Matt Continetti and I sing the praises of the brilliant Disney Plus series Andor and explain how it remains compelling even when it plays around with political themes that might be offensive to some of us. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2025-05-26•57mins
#8

How to Fight the Homefront Intifada

Jonathan Schanzer joins the podcast to talk about efforts to combat the possible wave of anti-Jewish violence in America that might be triggered by the murders at the Capital Jewish Museum and whether the Trump administration's bludgeoning of Harvard is a wise strategy. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2025-05-23•1hr 21mins

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#9

The Terrorists Are Here

Noah Rothman joins the podcast this morning to talk about the horrors in DC last night and how they connect to the increasing embrace of violence on the left after 2015—which accelerated after the George Floyd killing and is now manifesting itself not only in the assassination of a health-care executive by new radical folk hero Luigi Mangione but now in the deliberate targeting of a Jewish event at a Jewish site by a berserk far leftist. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2025-05-22•1hr 14mins
#10

Big Beautiful Corruption

Mark Halperin joins the podcast today to talk about the continuing fallout from the Biden revelations, whether the "big beautiful bill" will pass, and whether Donald Trump's announcement of a new missile-defense system passes the smell test. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2025-05-21•1hr 12mins
#11

The Diagnosis, Day 2

Today Eliana Johnson joins us as we try to figure out what the real story is behind Joe Biden's tragic cancer diagnosis. And we discuss the media's group effort to look away, yet again. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2025-05-20•1hr 11mins
#12

The Joe Biden Story

The horrible news about Joe Biden's cancer diagnosis—coming as it did amid the release of a new book about his infirmity as president—raises even more questions about who knew what and when. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2025-05-19•1hr 13mins
#13

Democrats Don't Understand Themselves

Democrats complain about oligarchs but are the party of the rich. Democrats talk about Trump as a pathological liar but are exposed having lied about Biden's infirmities. How are they going to compete with the energy of the GOP when they seem not to understand themselves? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2025-05-16•1hr 3mins
#14

A Senor Moment

Dan Senor joins the podcast to discuss his remarkable June COMMENTARY cover story, "The Future of American Jewry After October 7." But first we talk about Trump's Middle East trip, Iran, Israel, and other stuff. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2025-05-15•1hr 25mins
#15

Trump's War on the Neocons

The president gave a major speech in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday that had uncomfortable echoes of Barack Obama's "apology" address in 2009—and with the same target: The idea that America should represent Western civilization and fight for it in the world. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2025-05-14•1hr 9mins
#16

The Trump-Bibi-Qatar-Hamas Game

Tevi Troy joins us today to talk about his article, "In Praise of Big Pharma," but first we talk about Trump's trip to the Middle East and whether Israel will ever make its final push into Gaza. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2025-05-13•1hr 4mins
#17

Trump Negotiates with Himself

Today we talk about the U.S.-China tariff rollback, Trump's plan to reduce drug prices, the ongoing negotiations with Russia, Iran, and Hamas, and the appearance of daylight between the U.S. and Israel. And finally we get into Trump's desire for a Qatari airplane and the multiple emoluments-related disasters that may lie ahead for the administration. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2025-05-12•1hr 11mins
#18

Popes, Pizzas, and Policies

Today's podcast welcomes the American pope, questions the value of deep-dish pizza, reminisces about old baseball days, and then gets serious about campus misbehavior. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2025-05-09•1hr 10mins
#19

A Perilous Week Ahead

Jonathan Schanzer joins us to talk about the Houthis, Israel, Iran, Qatar, dangerous negotiations, the universities, and side business deals. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2025-05-08•1hr 13mins
#20

Events, Dear Boy, Events

If you had a war between India and Pakistan on your 2025 bingo card, congratulations—because nobody else did, including the Trump administration. What are the possible consequences, and how will they interfere with Trump's trip to the Middle East in the coming days? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2025-05-07•1hr 16mins
#21

Lights! Camera! Tariffs!

Why is the president talking about putting tariffs on foreign films instead of attacking California's liberals and the way their management of the state is destroying the entertainment industry there? We talk about this and about just how crazy the month of May is going to be in the Middle East. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2025-05-06•1hr 10mins
#22

Trump Meets the Press

John is out for the day, but the rest of us take up Donald Trump's wide-ranging appearance on Meet the Press, New York's hit piece on John Fetterman, and what to do about the undeterred Houthis. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2025-05-05•1hr 13mins
#23

The Big Mailbag Episode!

We promised and we delivered: Your questions, answered! Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2025-05-02•1hr 1mins

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#24

New Twists in the Ukraine Saga

The signing of a mineral deal with Ukraine represents a new turn in the Trump administration's handling of the war there and Russia's recalcitrance—is it a good turn or a bad turn? And we examine the media misreporting of the circumstances around the attempted deportation of an anti-Israel and anti-Semitic green-card holder. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2025-05-01•55mins
#25

A Mixed Bag

How are we to evaluate Trump's first 100 days—border, foreign policy, war on liberalism, etc? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2025-04-30•59mins
#26

Oy, Canada

Congratulations to Donald Trump on the results in Canada, which seem to have turned entirely on him and turned against him at the same time. He says he runs the world, and sometimes when you do, you run aground. Thus begins our conversation on his first hundred days. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2025-04-29•57mins
#27

100 Days Equals Four Years

The fights that have erupted during the first hundred days of the Trump administration have not only set the agenda for the White House going forward. They will literally be the fights Trump will be fighting until his tenure is over, as every action is met with a response in court. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2025-04-28•1hr 14mins
#28

Courts and Space—The Final Frontiers

COMMENTARY's tech columnist, James B. Meigs, joins the podcast today to talk about the important lawsuit lost by Greenpeace and what it means for leftist activism going forward, and about new developments and needed developments when it comes to the exploration of space. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2025-04-25•1hr 5mins
#29

The Self-Inflicted White House Wounds

COMMENTARY contributing editor Bret Stephens joins us to discuss his New York Times column, "The Face-Plant President," as we consider Donald Trump's decline in the polls and the significant fact that it all seems to come from his own actions on matters no one seemed to have been looking for—like the tariffs. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2025-04-24•1hr 15mins
#30

The Meaning of Israel's Oct. 7 Failures

Journalist Jonathan Foreman joins the podcast today for a deep look at his seminal May 2025 COMMENTARY lead article, "The Untold Story of How Israel Failed on October 7." We also begin by discussing the belly-up nature of the Trump "I'll end the Russia-Ukraine war in a day" fantasy. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2025-04-23•1hr 41mins
#31

Do It Right!

The larger goals of the Trump administration are threatened by incompetent execution. The problem is that for many, making policy stick isn't as important as making a stink. What to do? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2025-04-22•1hr 2mins
#32

Chaos, Chaos Everywhere

Messes at the Pentagon, at the State Department, at Treasury, at the Department of Justice, and with tariff policy—can this administration survive itself, let alone survive the liberal media and the counterstrikes against Trump? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2025-04-21•1hr 15mins
#33

Eugenics and the Manosphere Anti-Semites

Eli Lake joins today's podcast as we discuss two major articles in the May issue of COMMENTARY: Christine Rosen on "consumer eugenics" and Seth Mandel on the anti-Semites in the conservative podcasting world. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2025-04-18•1hr 22mins
#34

Trump's Restrainers, Restraining Israel

A two-hander today as Abe Greenwald and I delve Talmudically into the New York Times story on how Donald Trump decided not to participate in an Israeli strike on Iran and why. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2025-04-17•53mins
#35

Fight Fiercely, Harvard?

Eliana Johnson joins us today from the Washington Free Beacon to discuss the Trump-Harvard fight, Steve Witkoff's walk-back on Iran, and the firebombing of Gov. Josh Shapiro's house on the first night of Passover. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2025-04-16•1hr 12mins
#36

So Where Are the Great Negotiations?

On several fronts—the tariffs, Ukraine, and Iran in particular—we strain to see the supposed negotiating genius of Donald Trump and his team. And what of the legal messes all over the place? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2025-04-15•1hr 8mins
#37

Bungling the Good Things

When the Trump administration isn't doing unpopular things, it's doing popular things the wrong way. From bad actors abroad to the courts, we discuss the challenges the president is facing and the position he's put himself in. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2025-04-11•1hr 4mins
#38

The Larry Tate Trumpians

Donald Trump backs down on the tariffs and according to his fan base, this is a mark of his Machiavellian genius. This would seem to have something in common not with Machiavelli but with Larry Tate, the completely transactional boss on the sitcom "Bewitched." How? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2025-04-10•1hr 16mins
#39

Trump, China, Trade, and Covid

The 104 percent tariff on China is kicking off a very risky conflict with the People's Republic with potential geopolitical and military ramifications. Is it possible that, without even entirely understanding it, Donald Trump is sticking it to the Chinese over Covid? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2025-04-09•1hr 15mins
#40

The Supremes Step In

Constitutional scholar Adam White joins us to talk about the surprisingly complex Supreme Court edit on the plane deportations to El Salvador and what it portends for the fights on legal matters to come. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2025-04-08•1hr 13mins
#41

Intellectual Trade Deficit

The fallout from Trump's colossal trade-tariff moves has only just begun. What are the effects on the GOP? On the possibility of the Democrats finding their sea legs with a non-elite economic argument? On the world and our alliances? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2025-04-07•1hr 15mins
#42

How Did We Get Here?

Did the successive national shocks of the past half-century lead to the shock of "Liberation Day"? That was the focus of my COMMENTARY daily newsletter from yesterday, and today we use that newsletter as a launching point to discuss Trump's tariffs, the public's reaction, and if we ever lived in "normal" times. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2025-04-04•1hr 9mins
#43

Well, He Did It

David Bahnsen joins us today to discuss the Trump tariff earthquake and whether it's here to stay, will somehow be walked back, and whether any good can come from it. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2025-04-03•1hr 6mins
#44

Musk, Stefanik, Liberation from What?

Special elections last night offered a mixed picture of the political mood in the country, even as Democrats seem to be seizing on the idea that their path to victory is to focus on Elon Musk. Did Trump do America and Elise Stefanik herself a favor by making her stay in the House to continue fighting the culture war against the universities? And what exactly are tariffs liberating us from? Plus, Val Kilmer, RIP. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2025-04-02•1hr 18mins
#45

April Fool's: Kamala Harris

How did it happen that Kamala Harris ever rose to the summit? What forces led her there, and what does it mean that she was stopped and that Trump won over her and is doing what he's doing now? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2025-04-01•1hr 1mins
#46

The Two Faces of Trump

his weekend we saw Bad Trump—the one saying he could serve a third term because of, you know, reasons—and Good Trump—the one saying Putin and Iran are angering him and that he's not going to stand for much more of their shenanigans. Now come the tariffs. Are they the work of Good Trump or Bad Trump? And here's an idea: Barack Obama for president of Columbia! Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2025-03-31•1hr 7mins
#47

Running Government as a Business

We discuss the defense proffered by Elon Musk and his Doge team in a fascinating interview last night on Bret Baier's Fox show for their actions and why, while laudable, their efforts to apply "business" practices to government have been tried before and usually backfire. And why you shouldn't take the media assaults on Trump's deportations at face value. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2025-03-28•1hr 16mins
#48

Car Talk

No, we're not Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers; we're the COMMENTARY podcast and we're here to discuss automobile tariffs and the dangers thereto. Not to mention: Othello! Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2025-03-27•1hr 14mins
#49

Does the Signal Scandal Matter?

Eli Lake joins us today to discuss the continuing fallout from the inadvertent addition of a journalist to a discussion at the highest levels of America's military operation against the Houthis in Yemen. If the president doesn't care, will anyone else? And why are Tuckeristas trying to turn this into a holy war against those who want to use American power to open the world's shipping lanes? Also, what about these demonstrations in Gaza? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2025-03-26•1hr 17mins
#50

The Signal Scandal and the COVID Conmen

We talk today about the three elements of the story about a journalist finding himself on the text chain revealing the deepest secret of the Trump administration thus far and what it says about the behavior and policies of the White House, and then dive deep into the extraordinary story of the Minnesota non-profit that stole $250 million in COVID relief money and gave it to staffers in the form of wedding gold. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2025-03-25•1hr 4mins

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