Reasonably Optimistic

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NEWS COMMENTARY
UPDATED WEEKLY

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.

10 HR AGO

How can cities win back families? This developer has a plan.

Walkable neighborhoods, vibrant nightlife, the sheer bounty of it all. City living isn't for everyone, but it's amazing for the people who want it. Unless, that is, they also want a family. Today's cities are designed for demographic churn — as a rest stop en route to the suburbs, rather than a place you can live a full life. That's bad for families and for America. Bobby Fijan is one of the people trying to fix that. He is the co-founder of The American Housing Corporation, a real estate development company building affordable, family-sized rowhomes in cities across America. Fijan joins host Megan McArdle to explain how urban housing pushed families out of cities and how his company plans to bring them back. Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

44 min
28 JAN

What Jason Rezaian learned after 544 days in an Iranian prison

This month marks the 10-year anniversary of Jason Rezaian’s release from imprisonment in Iran. In 2014, Rezaian — then The Washington Post’s Tehran bureau chief — was arrested with his wife at their home and detained in Iran’s notorious Evin Prison. He joins host Megan McArdle to discuss his time in captivity, Iran’s trajectory since his release, and what his experience reveals about press freedom — and its fragility — around the world. Read more in Rezaian’s book, “Prisoner: My 544 Days in an Iranian Prison.” Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

40 min
21 JAN

What it will take to fix American policing

When Renée Good was fatally shot by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis, it reignited a familiar debate. Was this another case of police brutality, or an act of self-defense? Protests followed. Politicians and public figures weighed in. But why does this keep happening—and how do we make policing better and safer for everyone? Host Megan McArdle speaks with former New York City police commissioner William Bratton and former NYPD chief Kenneth E. Corey. They join Megan to discuss their work at University of Chicago’s Policing Leadership Academy, and advocate that the program, and more like it, can reduce violence and improve fairness in policing. Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

47 min
14 JAN

Dry January? Sometimes drinking is part of the solution.

Journalist Katie Herzog was 12 years old when she first drank alcohol. It wasn’t until her 30s that she decided to quit. She tried everything — Alcoholics Anonymous, cleanses, therapy, yoga — but nothing stuck. Eventually, she turned to an unorthodox approach: the Sinclair Method. Katie joins host Megan McArdle to explain this science-based path to sobriety and how it inspired her book, "Drink Your Way Sober." Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

54 min
10 JAN

No blood for oil? That doesn’t make sense for Venezuela.

Early on Jan 3, news broke that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro had been captured by U.S. troops and was being flown to New York to stand trial. Later that day, President Donald Trump said the United States would take control of Venezuela’s massive oil reserves. Protests erupted almost immediately, reviving the Iraq War–era slogan, “no blood for oil.” Host Megan McArdle breaks down the long, troubled history of Venezuelan oil and explains why the U.S. has a responsibility to help rebuild the country's economy. Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

29 min
7 JAN

How the internet changed politics — and our lives — forever

Matthew Yglesias has been a disrupter his entire career. He started as an early adapter to the web, running a blog before blogs were a thing. He went on to co-found the media company Vox and has written all over the internet. He joins host Megan McArdle to discuss their career trajectories and how the internet has changed both media and politics. Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

52 min
31/12/2025

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

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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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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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DAILY NEWS
The Washington Post’s Lillian Cunningham journeys through the messy past and uncertain future of America’s national parks. In trips through five iconic landscapes, she ventures off the marked trail and beyond the parks’ borders to better understand the most urgent stories playing out in these places today. Along the way, she meets the people fighting to help these parks evolve – and survive.

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HISTORY
“Try This” from The Washington Post is a series of audio courses designed to jump-start the parts of life where we can all use a few pointers — with pithy, snackable solutions you can easily use. Host Cristina Quinn brings exactly the right amount of motivation with her endearing enthusiasm and the curiosity to learn along with you. Each course is a quick and practical guide that provides new perspectives on the kinds of hurdles we all share. If you’ve been searching for the right place to start, Try This.

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SELF-IMPROVEMENT
The Washington Post's Presidential podcast explores how each former American president reached office, made decisions, handled crises and redefined the role of commander-in-chief. It was released leading up to up to Election Day 2016, starting with George Washington in week one and ending on week 44 with the president-elect. New special episodes in the countdown to the 2020 presidential election highlight other stories from U.S. presidential history that can help illuminate our current moment. Hosted by Lillian Cunningham, the series features Pulitzer Prize-winning biographers like David McCullough and Washington Post journalists like Bob Woodward. [When you're done, listen to Lillian's other historical podcasts: Constitutional and Moonrise]

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HISTORY
“Truer, but also darker.” This is the real origin story behind America’s decision to go to the moon. The story we learn starts with Sputnik, then President Kennedy’s challenge, and ends with triumph: an American flag on the lunar surface. But in the 50 years that have passed since the moon landing, as presidential documents have been declassified and secret programs have been revealed, a wilder story has begun to emerge. “Moonrise,” a new Washington Post narrative mini-series, digs into the nuclear arms race of the Cold War, the transformation of American society and politics, and even the birth of science fiction, to unearth what really drove us to the moon. Join host Lillian Cunningham (of the Presidential and Constitutional podcasts) as she uncovers a story that has so much to reveal about America -- and about the dreams and nightmares of being human on this Earth.

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HISTORY
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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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.