The Assignment with Audie Cornish

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The Assignment with Audie Cornish Podcast

Every Thursday on The Assignment, host Audie Cornish explores the animating forces of this extraordinary American political moment. It’s not about the horse race, it’s about the larger cultural ideas driving the conversation: the role of online influencers on the electorate, the intersection of pop culture and politics, and discussions with primary voices and thinkers who are shaping the political conversation.

  1. 1 DAY AGO

    What Did Colleges Learn from Campus Protests?

    Colleges and universities are still dealing with the political fallout of last spring’s campus protests and encampments. It’s a political fight that’s led to the ouster of high-profile university presidents and generated national debate and even Congressional hearings. Audie talks with Michael Roth, president of Wesleyan University, about how campus protests over Gaza offer a lens on wider arguments about academic freedom. And we hear the perspective of Sam Hilton, a Wesleyan student and executive editor of the student newspaper. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    39 min

  2. 5 SEPT

    LeVar Burton on Optimism During Hard Times

    Audie talks with actor and producer LeVar Burton about the political events that shaped his life and informed the way he guided younger generations, especially as they grappled with the political and cultural events of their own time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    35 min

  3. 29 AUG

    How Campaigns Use (And Misuse) Music

    Kamala Harris has “Freedom.” Donald Trump has “God Bless the USA” (and a lot of cease-and-desist letters). What makes for a good campaign song? And why do we respond so viscerally to the ones that work? Audie talks with DJ Cassidy, who DJ'd the DNC Roll Call. And Dana Gorzelany-Mostak, who studies the use of music in political campaigns. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    33 min

  4. 21 AUG

    The DNC and the Passing of the Torch

    We've watched Democratic leaders hand the reins to the next generation at their surprisingly lit convention in Chicago this week. Audie sits down in with CNN’s Van Jones and Evan McMorris-Santoro of the nonprofit news site NOTUS (News of the United States) to talk about who’s taking the stage and changing the party.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    44 min

  5. 15 AUG

    Trump, Elon, and Silicon Valley’s Political Sway

    Audie talks with journalist Kara Swisher about the rise of Silicon Valley’s big donors and how Trump won some of them over. Plus, how Kamala Harris’ California roots have worked to her advantage with tech donors. Kara is the author of “Burn Book: A Tech Love Story.”  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    32 min

  6. 8 AUG

    Nazis, Nihilism, and the Evolution of the Fringe Right

    CNN’s Elle Reeve did her best-known reporting during the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, when she followed neo-Nazis over a weekend of violent protests. Seven years later, her new book looks at how that movement — born in online communities of mostly white men — gave rise to extremist thinking that is now threaded through today’s political discourse.  Audie talks with Reeve about reporting on Nazis, the mainstreaming of their ideology, and why she started “Black Pill: How I Witnessed the Darkest Corners of the Internet Come to Life, Poison Society, and Capture American Politics” with a story about a dead cat.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    40 min

  7. 1 AUG

    Can Donald Trump Pivot?

    How will Donald Trump and Republicans talk about Kamala Harris without walking into a buzzsaw of accusations and potential backlash over attacks on her race and gender? This week Audie talks with two people with some answers: Kevin Madden is a CNN Political Commentator and was a senior advisor to Mitt Romney on his presidential campaigns, and Doug Heye was the head of communications for the RNC and for the House Majority Leader. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    37 min

  8. 25 JUL

    Coconuts, brat, and Kamala Harris: What Does it Mean?

    Every presidential campaign eventually finds ways to take advantage of the cultural moment. Vice President Harris’s current moment in the viral sun happened as soon as she became the frontrunner of the Democratic ticket. How and why did it happen? Audie talks with two observers: researcher Nina Jankowicz, who studied online gendered abuse and disinformation against women in political life. And Deja Foxx, who worked on Harris's 2019 campaign when she was just 19 years old, leading the digital team’s influencer and surrogate strategy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    33 min
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Every Thursday on The Assignment, host Audie Cornish explores the animating forces of this extraordinary American political moment. It’s not about the horse race, it’s about the larger cultural ideas driving the conversation: the role of online influencers on the electorate, the intersection of pop culture and politics, and discussions with primary voices and thinkers who are shaping the political conversation.

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