Reasonably Optimistic

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Enough with the doom and gloom — we’re ready to talk about how America can thrive. Hosted by Washington Post Opinion columnist Megan McArdle, “Reasonably Optimistic” is your weekly conversation about how America can get unstuck and build a better future. Stop feeding your rage and start embracing our possibilities. Episodes drop Wednesdays.

6 DAGE SIDEN

Was 2025 the ‘end of America’? Of course not.

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14 min.
24.12.2025

Charlie Kirk was killed on her campus. This is what happened next.

After Charlie Kirk’s death on her campus, Utah Valley University president Astrid Tuminez found herself in an impossible position. She was at the helm of Utah’s largest public university and had to find a way to lead her campus after the tragedy. Now, at the end of the fall semester, she joins host Megan McArdle to discuss how her faith, upbringing and love for her community gave her the strength and wisdom to get through. Plus, she shares the lessons she learned through the process to help other leaders — including the president of Brown University — who may find themselves in a similar position. Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

44 min.
17.12.2025

‘The weirdest Democrat in America’

There’s no one in politics quite like the Democratic governor of Colorado, Jared Polis. He's a serial entrepreneur who cashed in on the dot-com boom and has pushed back on over-regulation of artificial intelligence and the tech industry. He’s in favor of abortion rights, but was against overregulation of mask mandates. He's pro-business and pro-weed. The “pro-liberty” governor joins host Megan McArdle to discuss Trump’s tariff and immigration policies, transgender care and how to make housing and health care more affordable. Timecodes 00:00 Welcome Gov. Jared Polis 01:27 Jared Polis’s entrepreneurial start 03:54 Three most important qualities in an entrepreneur 04:28 Most important qualities in a governor 05:00 Transition from tech to government 05:52 Transition from Congress to governor 07:03 First year as Governor 08:20 Regulation of Tech Companies 11:45 The “Pro-business,” “Pro-trade” Party 15:02 Are tariffs shifting voters? 16:35 Being pro-freedom 17:22 The only Democrat in The Liberty Caucus 18:39 The polarization of transgender care 22:59 The Jared Polis brand of politics 23:29 Making health care more affordable 27:40 Making housing more affordable 31:14 Does his politics have national appeal? 32:22 Jared Polis’s MAGA uncle 33:24 Can Americans be civil again? 34:55 How to fix Congress 36:02 The activist base of the Democratic Party 37:36 One thing to praise Trump on 38:32 Collecting Coins 41:02 What is Jared Polis reasonably optimistic about? Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

44 min.
10.12.2025

The sci-fi writer who predicted the future

Science fiction writer Neal Stephenson predicted the metaverse, wearable tech and artificial intelligence long before those technologies arrived. What does he think of it all now? Host Megan McArdle talks to Stephenson about the future of AI, education and social media — and how his fiction became a window into the culture of Silicon Valley. Timecodes 0:00 Welcome to Reasonably Optimistic 0:33 Who is Neal Stephenson? 1:19 Living in the future 3:25 Neal's origin story 5:18 The disruptive effects of new technology 8:18 The premise of The Diamond Age 14:23 AI’s confident wrongness 17:43 What AI is good at 18:56 Is AI good for kids? 20:03 Fixing education in an AI world 23:14 Will AI make nerds less valuable? 26:44 AI is eliminating entry level jobs 29:45 How tech founders got political 34:37 Is Neal Stephenson’s work political? 36:50 Technology is easier to predict than culture 40:11 What is Neal Stephenson reasonably optimistic about? Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

43 min.
03.12.2025

Introducing 'Reasonably Optimistic'

Enough with the doom and gloom — we’re ready to talk about how America can thrive. Hosted by Washington Post Opinion columnist Megan McArdle, “Reasonably Optimistic” is your weekly conversation about how America can get unstuck and build a better future. Stop feeding your rage and start embracing our possibilities. Episodes drop Wednesdays. Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

2 min.
19.09.2025

I got cancer. And met a different me on the other side.

After chemotherapy, Post Opinions writer Rachel Manteuffel felt like she was encountering a bald stranger every time she looked in the bathroom mirror. But then came the curls and lots of other surprising phenomena that science hasn’t been quite able to explain. She shares her story and her conversation with YouTuber and science explainer Hank Green, who had similar strange experiences with his post-chemo self. See Rachel’s hair transformation here: My cool cancer story | Opinion Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

13 min.
12.09.2025

The horrors of modern-day travel

Where have all the benches gone? Deputy Opinion Editor Mark Lasswell reflects on the causes and consequences of the “defensive architecture” replacing seating in public spaces. Plus, contributing columnist Rick Reilly shares just how hard it’s become to find an Airbnb or VRBO that doesn’t feel like the inside of a Target. Additional reading by our columnists: Mark Lasswell: This punctuation mark is semi-dead. People have thoughts. Rick Reilly: I have decided never to go outside again Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

13 min.
05.09.2025

Want to find a wife? Be a better man.

American women have grown more independent economically in recent decades, giving them greater choice in whom to date or marry — and the choice to opt out altogether. But where does women's rising stock leave men, and how is it connected with today’s so-called masculinity crisis? Post columnist Shadi Hamid talks with Richard Reeves, founder of the American Institute for Boys and Men, about why to pay on the first date, whether we’re heading toward a world of surplus men and how to be a man women want to marry. Here’s the study Richard mentions from the American Institute for Boys and Men: Will college educated women find someone to marry? Additional reading by our columnists: Shadi Hamid: Men are struggling to find love. Here’s why. Rahm Emanuel: What’s really depressing America’s young men Julien Berman: No, Gen-Z men aren’t special Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

23 min.

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TRAILER

Introducing 'Reasonably Optimistic'

Enough with the doom and gloom — we’re ready to talk about how America can thrive. Hosted by Washington Post Opinion columnist Megan McArdle, “Reasonably Optimistic” is your weekly conversation about how America can get unstuck and build a better future. Stop feeding your rage and start embracing our possibilities. Episodes drop Wednesdays. Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

03.12.2025

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2 min.

Post Reports is the daily podcast from The Washington Post. Unparalleled reporting. Expert insight. Clear analysis. Everything you’ve come to expect from the newsroom of The Post, for your ears. Martine Powers and Elahe Izadi are your hosts, asking the questions you didn’t know you wanted answered. Published weekdays around 5 p.m. Eastern time.

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DAGLIGE NYHEDER
Every minute of your morning counts. Host Hannah Jewell takes you through the seven most important and interesting stories of the day, with the reporting and insight of The Washington Post. Get caught up in just a few minutes every weekday at 7 a.m.

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DAGLIGE NYHEDER
The Washington Post’s Libby Casey, Rhonda Colvin and James Hohmann gather for a weekly in-depth conversation about politics and power. From presidential candidates to members of Congress to the judicial system, Sidebar dives deep on the topics and people at the forefront of the political conversation. The crew sits down each Thursday (with the occasional breaking news episode) to discuss what has happened that week, and what’s coming up the next week – with guest appearances from Washington Post reporters.

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POLITIK
Opinion writer Jonathan Capehart talks with newsmakers who challenge your ideas on politics, and explore how race, religion, age, gender and cultural identity are redrawing the lines that both divide and unite America. "Capehart" is a podcast from Washington Post Opinions, with conversations adapted from Washington Post Live events.

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NYHEDSKOMMENTARER
With the writing of the Constitution in 1787, the framers set out a young nation’s highest ideals. And ever since, we’ve been fighting over it — what is in it and what was left out. At the heart of these arguments is the story of America. As a follow-up to the popular Washington Post podcast “Presidential,” reporter Lillian Cunningham returns with this series exploring the Constitution and the people who framed and reframed it — revolutionaries, abolitionists, suffragists, teetotalers, protesters, justices, presidents – in the ongoing struggle to form a more perfect union across a vast and diverse land.

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HISTORIE
With a typical search warrant, police are supposed to knock and announce themselves. But with no-knock warrants, police can force their way into people’s homes without warning. This six-part investigative podcast from The Washington Post sheds light on how easy it is to plan, obtain and execute no-knock warrants — one of the most intrusive and dangerous police tactics. We explore the consequences when these warrants become the rule, rather than the exception. Hosted by investigative reporters Jenn Abelson and Nicole Dungca, “Broken Doors” is about how no-knock warrants are deployed in the American justice system — and what happens when accountability is flawed at every level.

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Megan McArdle

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Enough with the doom and gloom — we’re ready to talk about how America can thrive. Hosted by Washington Post Opinion columnist Megan McArdle, “Reasonably Optimistic” is your weekly conversation about how America can get unstuck and build a better future. Stop feeding your rage and start embracing our possibilities. Episodes drop Wednesdays.