Political Junkie Podcast

Claire Potter and Neil J. Young
  • 5.0 (7)
  • Politics
  • Updated Weekly

Where contemporary history and politics meet the challenge of today. clairepotter.substack.com

  1. 4d ago

    Clap If You Believe in Fairies

    We begin with a clip from an ad circulated by Lone Star PAC that asserts Democratic candidate for Senate James Talarico is “too weak and weird for Texas.” Today’s theme music is “Lola” (2020 Stereo Remaster) by The Kinks; copyrighted music licensed from Lickd. On February 12, 2026, New Yorkers rallied at the Stonewall National Monument to protest the “de-gaying” of the federal site bu the Trump administration. Christopher Penler / Shutterstock.com In the News: * They still have almost half the ballots to count in California, but the field for the general election is starting to shape up. Republican Steve Hilton is currently leading the pack in the governor’s race, with Democrat Xavier Becerra, former Secretary of HSS in the Biden administration, a close second, and self-funded billionaire Democrat Tom Steyer a more distant third. Incumbent Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass has made it to the general election, but again—with almost half the ballots left to count, Republican reality TV star Spencer Pratt and LA City Council member Nithya Ramen are battling it out for the second spot. Becerra’s success was the big surprise in this election, with some observers claiming that Democrats are embracing establishment figures again. * In Iowa, paralympic athlete and Democratic state legislator Josh Turek soundly defeated his progressive colleague Zach Wahls for the Senate seat left vacant by Joni Ernst’s retirement; he’ll face Representative Ashley Hinson (IA-01), a self-described conservative mom who says she wants to make Washington D.C. run more like Iowa. * Late last week, a federal judge in Miami re-opened the settlement in Donald Trump’s lawsuit against the IRS, saying that the lawsuit itself was “a product of collusion and is itself a fraud on the court.” The White House seems to want to make another deal, signaling yesterday that it has abandoned a plan for a $1.8 billion fund to compensate the President’s various allies for their legal troubles. Both Republicans and Democrats have labeled the proposed compensation “a slush fund,” as has the libertarian Cato Institute; it is to be created as part of a large reconciliation bill currently on the House floor. Acting AG Todd Blanche was back in Congress defending the settlement on Tuesday. * Also last week, the Trump administration released new proposed guidelines by which all federal grants would be held to the litmus test of President Donald Trump’s political priorities. The guidelines turn Trump’s various executive orders into a federal regulation, and prohibit (among other things) grants to projects or groups that “deny the biological reality of sex or the sex binary in humans,” or initiatives that “promote anti-American values,” contribute to illegal immigration, advance diversity, equity and inclusion or assist in voter registration. Grants could also be terminated if the administration finds they are not in “the public interest.” * On Tuesday, we learned that Bill Pulte, a long-time Trump ally and currently head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, will become the acting Director of National Intelligence when Tulsi Gabbard departs in July. Pulte has no national security experience. At all. Pulte is independently wealthy, and came up with the genius scheme to go after Trump opponents Adam Schiff, Letitia James, and Lisa D. Cooke for mortgage fraud. Your hosts: Claire Potter is a historian of politics and media, a writer, a podcaster, and the sole author and editor of the Political Junkie Substack. Her most recent book is Political Junkies: From Talk Radio to Twitter, How Alternative Media Hooked Us on Politics and Broke Our Democracy (Basic Books, 2020), and she is currently writing a biography of feminist journalist Susan Brownmiller. Neil J. Young is a historian of religion and politics, a journalist, and a former co-host of the Past Present podcast. His most recent book is Coming Out Republican: A History of the Gay Right (University of Chicago Press, 2024). USNS Harvey Milk, a John Lewis class replenishment ship in December, 2024. Named after gay activist Harvey Milk, a Navy veteran and the first openly gay man to be elected to office. On June 26, 2025, his name was stripped from the vessel and replaced with Medal of Honor winner Oscar V. Peterson. Photo credit: Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Maxwell Orlosky/Wikimedia Commons News focus: * Last week, when the Democratic nominee for Senate in Texas, James Talarico, confirmed that he is in a relationship with a woman, Congressman Wesley Hunt (TX-38) quipped: “What’s his name?” Republican attacks on Talarico’s masculinity, sexual orientation, and gender identity beyond the fact that he defended LGBT+ people in the Texas legislature: they are part of a larger cultural attack on LGBT+ people. The ACLU is currently tracking 530 bills across the United States that attack LGBT+ rights. * Project 2025 took aim at policies that promoted LGBT+ equity and human rights. The document criticized USAID for imposing an LGBT+ “agenda” on African nations, referring to it at one point as “bullying.” It criticized HHS for LGBT+ family equity, saying such policies should be replaced with new rules that encouraged “marriage, work, motherhood, fatherhood, and nuclear families;” and that the agency had unjustly penalized those who had opposed pro-choice and LGBT equity policies on the grounds of conscience. It also argued that Trump should rescind ant-discrimination policies that prohibited “discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, transgender status, and sex characteristics.” * On January 20, 2025, President Donald Trump issued an executive order eliminating federal recognition of transgender people: buried in that document were five orders to eliminate federal guidance on harassment and inequity by sexual orientation in schools and the workplace. * But LGBT+ people are also literally being erased from patriotic sites. In June, 2025, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth renamed the USNS Harvey Milk, commissioned in 2021: he replaced Milk’s name with Medal of Honor winner Oscar V. Peterson, saying that he was “taking the politics” out of the military. * Since then, states have gone into motion to suppress discussion of LGBT+ people. Seven states have banned the teaching of all LGBTQ texts and topics from publicly funded schools (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, and North Carolina.) Arizona, Texas, Mississippi, and Oklahoma ban discussion of LGBT+ sexuality in sex ed; while Florida, Texas, Utah, and Iowa ban LGBT+ books from public and school libraries. All in all, 19 states have at least one law of this kind. * Utah, Idaho and Montana ban the flying of Pride or Black Lives Matter flags on public property; there are similar bills pending in Wisconsin, Tennessee and Ohio. Florida and Texas have prohibited street art, painting crosswalks, and bridge lighting with Pride themes. * Other than a 2019 Twitter thread, Donald Trump has never recognized Pride Month: in February, 2026, the National Parks Service removed the Pride flag from the Stonewall National Monument (it was restored after protests and a lawsuit.) However, references to transgender people have been removed from the physical site and the website, and NPS has put a pause on any donations to or research at the site. * But this year, MAGA has gone further, by choosing June as the month to celebrate heterosexuality, patriotism, and “traditional” values. In Arkansas, on May 27, Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders declared June to be “Fidelity Month,” during which Arkansans are urged to commit to fidelity to God, family, community and country, all of which contribute to human flourishing and support a stable society. In Tennessee, Governor Bill Lee signed a proclamation in April that designated June “Nuclear Family Month.” Mike Braun of Indiana and Spencer Cox of Utah have signed similar proclamations. * Attacks against lesbian and gay people on social media have also accelerated. Representative Andy Ogles (TN-05) celebrated Pride Month by posting on X “Homosexuality has no place in America,” although he later claimed the post had been put up by an errant staffer. Meanwhile, South Carolina Congresswoman Nancy Mace, who will face Lieutenant Governor Pamela Evette in that state’s Republican primary, has issued a campaign ad charging that Evette’s consulting company “took millions from the woke mob” to implement DEI. The ad is decorated with Pride and Trans flags. What we want to go viral: * Neil updates us on right-wing influencer and conspiracist Candace Owens’ new passion: Russia! In “Why Candace Owens Went to Russia” (The Free Press, June 3, 2026), Parker MacDougald digs into an infatuation that is becoming more common among MAGA dissenters—who may be running a massive propaganda operation on behalf of a foreign state. * Claire wants you to read Yudhijit Bhattacharjee’s “In Plain Sight” (The New Yorker, May 18, 2026), about a Guinean girl named Djena who was trafficked by her father, first to a highly placed political family in Guinea at 8. They then trafficked her to the United States at the age of ten to work as an unpaid servant for their daughter and her family. Important fact: over 70% of people trafficked to the U.S. are brought not for the sex trades, but for coerced labor. Don’t miss new drops from Claire and Neil. You can subscribe for free or support us for only $5 a month. You can also become an annual supporter for $50/year and choose Neil’s Coming Out Republican or Claire’s Political Junkies: as a welcome bonus. You can also get all audio content for free by subscribing on Apple iTunes, YouTube, or Spotify. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit clairepotter.substack.com/subscribe

    1h 21m

  2. 6d ago

    What Trump Really Meant? Make America White Again!

    Thank you to everyone who tuned into this video live! In this bonus episode, recorded yesterday as a Substack Live, Princeton sociologist Paul Starr and I discuss his new article in The American Prospect, “Stephen Miller’s Impossible America: The ethnonationalist strategy for white replenishment won’t work” (May 26, 2026). Starr shows how multiple policy threads—pronatalism, deportation, and so-called “remigration” of ethnic Americans born and raised in the United States—support a fantasy that the United States can be the “white” nation that it never was. Listen and: You know how I am always asking you to support me? Well, do me a mitzvah and check out The American Prospect. A progressive journal of ideas, politics and power founded by Starr, Robert Kuttner, and Robert Reich, it is available online for free: this spring they eliminated intrusive programmatic ads. So, if you liked this conversation: What I’m reading: * Ling Ma, Severance (New York: Picador, 2019.) As far as I can tell this novel has nothing to do with the television show of the same name, and because it was written before Covid-19 pandemic, the deadly fungus that travels the globe to devastate American society is a figment of Ma’s imagination. The novel imagines an apocalypse created be unrestrained global capitalism, and which leaves virtually nothing but trash behind. It’s also a great read—which I can vouch for because I almost never read science fiction or futuristic fiction, I can’t put it down, and it won a basket of prizes. Also it’s pink! Short takes: * Democrats have plenty of good ideas—but unlike Republicans no coherent view of what the future should look like. “It is not that these policies are bad,” Jamelle Bouie writes at The New York Times. “Most of them, from what has been revealed, are good: worthwhile plans to break up utility monopolies, support child-rearing, regulate social media and artificial intelligence, and curtail corporate abuse. But none of this reflects or represents a far-reaching or comprehensive idea of what the nation might be.” (June 3, 2026) * Can the left rediscover the hope inherent in patriotism? Many on the left say no—despite the fact that social change has often appealed to the founding ideals. “That most Americans continue to be patriotic only demonstrates to these progressives their blindness to, if not complicity in, evils wrought by the men and women who rule the imperial state,” Michael Kazin writes at The Atlantic. “Leftists already have such harsh critics on their side. If they wish to govern, though, they will need to win over the majority of Americans who love their country but also believe that it needs to change. As the late Todd Gitlin, an erstwhile leader of the New Left, wrote a year after the attacks of 9/11: ‘It is time for the patriotism of mutual aid, not just symbolic displays, not catechisms or self-congratulation. It is time to diminish the gap between the nation we love and the justice we also love. It is time for the real America to stand up.’” (June 3, 2026) * Where in the world is Gregory Bovino? You remember Bovino—the Border Patrol guy who marched around Minneapolis in Nazi-adjacent gear? He’s in Portugal, according to Marion Soletty at Politico, mingling with “European far-right activists who advocate the mass deportation of immigrants and their descendants,” otherwise known as remigration. “In an interview with a far-right website ahead of the summit,” Solely continues, “Bovino — who didn’t wear his controversial coat — referenced Nazi Germany’s lead general Erwin Rommel as an inspirational figure and offered his help to end what he described as a ‘creeping horror,’ echoing racist terms used by far-right extremists to describe migrants.” (May 31, 2026) Political Junkie is a reader-supported publication. You can always subscribe for free—but what about supporting us for as little as $5.00/month? This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit clairepotter.substack.com/subscribe

    29 min

  3. May 29

    We’re Not Dead Yet!

    We begin with a clip from Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus’s 2013 press conference, where he presented the autopsy on Senator Mitt Romney’s failed presidential campaign. Today’s theme is Luck Be a Lady written and performed by Frank Loesser. Copyrighted music licensed from Lickd. DNC Chair Ken Martin speaking at a Minneapolis, MN campaign event in November, 2020, when he was chair of the Minnesota Democratic Farmer-Labor party. Photo credit: Minne2020/ Wikimedia Commons In the News: * Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard became the most recent bowling pin (and the fourth woman) to fall in Donald Trump’s cabinet. Late last week Gabbard announced that due to her husband’s cancer diagnosis, she would leave her post at the end of June. Narrowly confirmed, Gabbard’s 15 months in the job have been without accomplishment or even visibility, unless she was promoting conspiracy theories. Deputy Aaron Lukas will serve in an acting capacity until a new DNI can be approved by the Senate, which might be never, since the Senate will be out of town by June 31. Bets on Trump using recess appointments on this one for the rest of his presidency? * In April, a new Super PAC called “Lean Left” filed paperwork with the FCC. But, as Judd Legum reports at his Popular Information Substack, observers have picked up peculiar spending patterns. Based at a P.O. Box in Tallahassee, Florida, Lean Left seems to only spend money on whacko candidates in swing districts: one of those candidates was Maureen Galindo, who was denounced by the DCC for making antisemitic remarks and suggested that pedophiles—probably also Zionists, in her view--be castrated. She lost a runoff in Texas 35 to Johnny Garcia this week—decisively. Democrats are outraged—except, of course, that they did the same thing 2022. * Yesterday, the Washington Post reported that two Trump appointees at the Treasury Department have been waging a campaign for over a year to create a $250 bill with Donald Trump’s face on it. Created by a British artist, the mockup would also feature “America 250” branding, and possibly the colors of the American flag. No living person has appeared on American currency since a Treasury employee put his own face on a 5 cent note in 1866: Congress prohibited further self-commemorations; a law reversing that is floating around in Congress. * Finally, in the week’s retribution news, yesterday we saw a report that the Department of Justice had opened a perjury investigation of 82-year-old journalist E. Jean Carroll; today it appears that the funding for the litigation, provided by tech billionaire Reid Hoffman, is the administration’s primary target. Carroll successfully sued Donald Trump for sexual assault, winning a $5 million judgement in 2023. Carroll won another $83.3 million in a 2024 defamation lawsuit. Both cases were upheld on appeal. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has recused himself from the case, since he was Trump’s defense attorney at the time. Your hosts: Claire Potter is a historian of politics and media, a writer, a podcaster, and the sole author and editor of the Political Junkie Substack. Her most recent book is Political Junkies: From Talk Radio to Twitter, How Alternative Media Hooked Us on Politics and Broke Our Democracy (Basic Books, 2020), and she is currently writing a biography of feminist journalist Susan Brownmiller. Neil J. Young is a historian of religion and politics, a journalist, and a former co-host of the Past Present podcast. His most recent book is Coming Out Republican: A History of the Gay Right (University of Chicago Press, 2024). Image credit: Svet foto/Shutterstock News focus: * Here is a link to the DNC draft autopsy, otherwise known as an “internal audit” or “post-election review” of the failure to elect Kamala Harris president in 2024. * Released by Democratic National Committee chair Ken Martin, the report is much delayed and incomplete: here are five takeaways from the report and a response by political strategist Paul Begala. * Much of the blame has fallen on Martin, who was already under fire—despite the fact that Democratic candidates have been successful at the ballot box and are surging in the polling in many races. * Political parties have studied their losses since the 19th century, but these were rarely public documents. The first use of the word “autopsy” was in 2012, when the Republican National Committee released a report on Mitt Romney’s 2012 loss that stressed broad inclusion; yet, Donald Trump ran hard in the other direction and won in 2016. * But what if we included other insurgent documents in this history? For example, Phyllis Schlafly’s A Choice, Not An Echo (Regency, 2014; orig. 1964) was a populist battle-cry that positioned the GOP’s failures as part of a larger problem: its unwillingness to attend to American conservatives. Then, there is Paul Weyrich’s famous challenge to the Republican Party in the fall of 1980: “I don’t want everybody to vote;” and Donna Brazile’s Hacks: The Inside Story of the Break-Ins and Breakdowns That Put Donald Trump in the White House (Hachette, 2017), that dissected the failures of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign? * Similarly, The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 created a template for governance that it promised the Trump administration would deliver. * Most prominently, what the autopsy does not address is voters’ lack of enthusiasm for party politics, or at least the choices they have been given. What we want to go viral: * Neil is simultaneously catching up on his true crime and art obsessions with Michael Finkel, The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession (Penguin/Random House, 2023), a chronicle of a man who stole art for art’s sake in Europe’s lightly guarded collections. * Claire wants you to read Princeton University sociologist Paul Starr’s “Stephen Miller’s Impossible America: The ethnonationalist strategy for white replenishment won’t work” (The American Prospect, May 26, 2026) to understand what the Republican racial agenda is, the history it is steeped in, and how pronatalism and immigration restriction combine to forward the new white supremacy. Don’t miss new drops from Claire and Neil. You can subscribe for free or support us for only $5 a month. You can also become an annual supporter for $50/year and choose Neil’s Coming Out Republican or Claire’s Political Junkies: as a welcome bonus. You can also get all audio content for free by subscribing on Apple iTunes, YouTube, or Spotify. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit clairepotter.substack.com/subscribe

    1h 27m

  4. May 22

    Queer Eye for the MAGA Guy

    We begin with a clip from an interview with the content creator and looksmaxxer Clavicular, a.k.a. Braden Peters broadcast on CBS Australia last month. Clavicular ended the session early when he was asked about his relationship with Andrew Tate, an indicted felon and MAGA influencer. Copyrighted music licensed by Likd: Le Freak (Original Mix) by Diego Forsinetti and Suki Soul. Braden Eric Peters, known online as Clavicular, after his arrest for illegally discharging a firearm in the vicinity of an alligator on March 26, 2026. Image credit: Broward County Sherriff’s Office/Wikimedia Commons In the News: * Primaries this week have demonstrated once again that Donald Trump has a solid grip on the 70% of Republicans who support him. MAGA voters in Kentucky’s Fourth Congressional District knocked off Thomas Massie and mustered behind State Representative Andy Barr, who defeated outgoing Senator Mitch McConnell’s pick to replace him. In Georgia, former Secretary of State Brad Raffensberger will not be the Republican nominee for Governor, while two Republican incumbents fended off well-funded Democratic challengers for the State Supreme Court. After these successes, Trump urged candidates aligned with him to jump into a primary against Lauren Boebert (CO-4) at the end of June, however the deadline has passed and she will run unopposed. * Despite these primary successes, Trump still faces a bleak midterm outlook: Democrats need only four flips to take control of the Senate, and they could get more. One will come in North Carolina, where Governor Roy Cooper is kicking Michael Whatley’s behind; there are three toss-ups (Maine, Michigan and Ohio); and reaches in Georgia and New Hampshire. After Trump announced he was backing Attorney General Ken Paxton over incumbent John Cornyn in the Texas Republican Senate runoff, the Lone Star State may be in play for the first time since Lloyd Bentsen was elected in 1988. Republicans in the Senate are distressed and angry that Trump has undermined a key member of their leadership team. James Talarico, the Democratic nominee, is currently leading both Republicans in the polling. * A California judge has barred the New Jersey-based nonprofit with an ear worm jingle, Kars4Kids, from advertising in the Golden State. As it turns out, the proceeds from donated cars do not go to children more broadly, but to a charity called Oorah, which gives some of its money to some kids. A faith-based Jewish nonprofit that spends primarily in New York and New Jersey, Oorah does not identify itself in the ads as religious, but most of its spending goes to programs that take youth of varying economic backgrounds to Israel and a Jewish dating service. Recently, the organization also purchased a $16.5 million building in Israel. * In academic news, Harvard University’s faculty voted yesterday to limit the number of A’s awarded in any given class to 20% plus four. In the 2024-25 academic year, 2/3 of grades awarded were A’s. No other grades will be capped: 201 faculty voted against and 458 voted for. Here are some reasons why experts think that grade inflation matters. As faculty members Jason Furman and David Laibson wrote in The New York Times today, the generic A makes it “hard for truly exceptional students to stand out from their merely successful peers.” Your hosts: Claire Potter is a historian of politics and media, a writer, a podcaster, and the sole author and editor of the Political Junkie Substack. Her most recent book is Political Junkies: From Talk Radio to Twitter, How Alternative Media Hooked Us on Politics and Broke Our Democracy (Basic Books, 2020), and she is currently writing a biography of feminist journalist Susan Brownmiller. Neil J. Young is a historian of religion and politics, a journalist, and a former co-host of the Past Present podcast. His most recent book is Coming Out Republican: A History of the Gay Right (University of Chicago Press, 2024). In early April, Clavicular appeared to be overdosing in a club while doing a Kick Livestream. Image credit: screenshot by author/YouTube News focus: Clavicular and MAGA masculinity * From Trump on down, the MAGA movement is preoccupied with masculinity, good looks and power—but not with any of the virtues that might be associated with adult manhood. Journalist Jill Filipovic calls this “the adolescent style in American politics:” an ecology of influencers has grown up around the idea that they can sell wealth, beauty, wellness, and power to young American men adrift in the economy. * Here’s a recent profile of Clavicular from the New York Times. Born Braden Eric Peters in Hoboken, New Jersey, Clavicular became interested in looksmaxxing—a dedication to raising oneself to the highest standard of masculine beauty-- as a young teenager. During the Covid-19 pandemic, 14-year-old Clav became addicted to online incel and looksmaxxing content and began injecting himself with testosterone he purchased on the dark web. By 2025, he became a top TikTok streamer: he has almost a million followers. * Looksmaxxing appears to be a form of body dysphoria that emerged in 4chan in the 2010s and has now gone mainstream. Young men seek to “ascend”—or gain social power—by refining their personal appearance and gaining wealth; they are particularly focused on their faces, and on becoming lean. It is mostly associated with right-wing manosphere, the incel community, and white supremacy, although there is a small and embattled subset of Black looksmaxxers. * Looksmaxxing is about male dominance—specifically, power over women, but also power over other men. This dominance, or “mogging,” which can be learned and is theoretically available to all, offers a path out of irrelevance and failure. * But looksmaxing, while it draws on fitness culture, is specific to the internet, and is the most recent form of self-improvement ideology that has been an aspect of American masculinity since the 19th century. But it also derives from gay culture. * Although he claims he is not political, Clavicular has been associated with Andrew Tate and Nick Fuentes; he draws his constituency from online far right and gamer communities, and is a descendant of the shock-jock ecosystem that elevated Donald Trump in his first campaign. He is on the Kick platform, which is controversial for its promotion of online gambling content and relaxed moderation policies towards violent language and harassment. * Another connection to politics is how Clavicular mirrors the do-it-yourself “healthmaxxing” of RFK, Jr.’s MAHA coalition, an ecosystem of health and beauty influencers who make significant incomes through sponsorships and subscribers. Clavicular is said to be making $100K a month. * Clavicular is open about his drug use, particularly methamphetamine and testosterone. He has also had recent run-ins with the law: police were called to a Fort Lauderdale Air BNB in February because of a fight between two women that he instigated or staged, and in mid-April, he appeared to overdose in a restaurant while streaming. Later in April, he was arrested for shooting into a swamp, allegedly at an alligator, which he settled last week in a plea bargain. What we want to go viral: * Neil wants you to read Katherine Stewart’s new essay, “A Very Authoritarian Semiquincentennial Celebration” (The New Republic, May 15, 2026), where she points out that instead of celebrating American Independence this summer. Donald Trump and his white Christian Nationalist allies are asking us “to settle for a festival of corruption, lies, bigotry, and divisiveness.” * Claire wants you to run, not walk, to see The Devil Wears Prada 2 (David Frankel, 2026) starring Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci. A sequel to the original move of the same name, it takes on the demise of journalism, America’s new Gilded Age, and is a tribute to the pleasures of work for ambitious women. Political Junkie is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit clairepotter.substack.com/subscribe

    1h 24m

  5. May 15

    Should Democrats Be Frank?

    Here’s a shout out to new subscribers Richard Russell, Josha Crabtree, Jen Aleric, Romano Scaturro, mlc257 (rest of email redacted), Hope Munro, Michael Koenig, and mondojohnson. Thanks for hanging out with us! Today’s theme is Home Life by Avocado Junkie, and we begin our episode with this clip, in which Barney Frank recalls coming out to Speaker of the House Tip O’ Neil in 1987. Representative Barney Frank embraces then-Harvard Law professor Elizabeth Warren on November 1 2012, five days before she defeated Massachusetts incumbent Republican Scott Brown for Senate. Image credit: ElizabethforMA/Wikimedia Commons In the News: * On Tuesday, we learned that Representative Jen Kiggins, a Republican incumbent in a tough fight to keep her seat in VA-02, cosigned conservative talk show host Rich Herrerra’s observation that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries should “keep his cotton-picking hands off of Virginia.” They were discussing redistricting, and what it would take to unseat the entire Virginia Supreme Court after it nullified the successful redistricting referendum. After Democrats responded that the comment was a racist dog whistle, Kiggins backtracked. But other Republicans insisted that since whites had also picked cotton, the phrase was not racist, and the outrage performative. * Conspiracy much? In a YouGov poll released yesterday by information watchdog NewsGuard, 25% of Americans believe that the attempted mass shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner was staged. Respondents between the ages of 18 and 29 were more likely to believe this than older people: only 45% believed it was real, and 32% were not sure. The poll is roughly the same as one taken after the 2025 attempt on Trump’s life in Butler, PA. Fewer people believed that the 2024 shooter arrested at the Trump International Golf Club was fake—but a similar number were unsure. Should we blame Trump and MAGA Republicans for the fact that so many Americans in both parties have difficulty with reality? * Yesterday, attorney and financier Kevin M. Warsh was confirmed by the Senate in a 54-45 vote as the next chair of the Federal Reserve Bank: Democrat John Fetterman crossed the aisle to vote yea. The Fed, under the leadership of outgoing chair Jerome Powell, has up until now maintained its independence from Donald Trump. Warsh has signaled that he wants the bank to be less active in the economy, and elevate the use of interest rates—rather than buying government debt—to backstop the economy. Warsh has challenges ahead, prominently a war in Iran that has pushed inflation to a 3-year high. Trump wants a rate cut, whereas the economy points to higher interest rates. * The Food and Drug Administration has lost two top officials to resignation following the Trump administration lifting a ban on flavored vapes. A vehicle for nicotine, vapes were banned in 2020 on the theory that they were a gateway to smoking. The ban was controversial at the time: some critics said that banning flavored vapes eliminated a tool to help smokers quit. Your hosts: Claire Potter is a historian of politics and media, a writer, a podcaster, and the sole author and editor of the Political Junkie Substack. Her most recent book is Political Junkies: From Talk Radio to Twitter, How Alternative Media Hooked Us on Politics and Broke Our Democracy (Basic Books, 2020), and she is currently writing a biography of feminist journalist Susan Brownmiller. Neil J. Young is a historian of religion and politics, a journalist, and a former co-host of the Past Present podcast. His most recent book is Coming Out Republican: A History of the Gay Right (University of Chicago Press, 2024). On January 19, 1995, Republican Representative Dick Armey (TX-26) called Barney Frank “Barney F*g” in a radio interview: Armey later apologized, but claimed that he had simply mispronounced Frank’s name. Image credit: Joe Hoover/Wikimedia Commons News focus: * Last week, former Congressman Barney Frank (MA-04) made the news by announcing he was in hospice care for congestive heart failure, and by giving several interviews about the future of the Democratic party from the home he shares in Maine with his husband, Jim Ready. * Frank, a legendary progressive politician and the first national lawmaker to voluntarily come out as gay, grew up in a working-class home in Bayonne, NJ, graduated from Harvard College in 1962, and participated in Mississippi Freedom Summer while in the Ph.D. program in government at Harvard. * Leaving Harvard in 1968 to become Chief Assistant to Boston Mayor Kevin White. In 1972, Frank was elected to the state legislature, where he served for eight years. During that time, he completed a degree at Harvard Law and was admitted to the Massachusetts bar. Simultaneously, Elaine Noble ran successfully for the Massachusetts State Legislature as the first “avowed homosexual” in the nation to be elected to office. In 1980, a year when Republicans ran the table nationally, Frank toppled the Republican incumbent to take his seat in Congress, endorsed by Father Robert Drinan. * In 1981, Frank was one of eleven House Democrats who filed a civil lawsuit to end the Reagan administration’s aid to the military junta in El Salvador: another member of that lawsuit was Barbara Mikulski (MD-03), a closeted lesbian. * Frank was outspoken from the moment he arrived on the Hill. He made his reputation as a supporter of liberal policies: the separation of powers, financial regulation, consumer protection, and opposition to tax cuts intended to shrink federal spending on social programs. When New York Mayor Ed Koch urged Democrats to return to the center, Frank said: ‘’I don’t think we should plead guilty to a caricature.’‘ * Frank’s career almost ended in 1982 because of a gerrymander, retribution for bucking the Massachusetts Democratic machine, that put him in a race against moderate Republican Margaret “Pirouetting Peggy” Heckler. That win secured his seat until he retired in 2012. * In 1987, Frank publicly came out as gay, ahead of a burgeoning scandal: a sex worker, friend and personal assistant living in his apartment was operating an escort service there. On LGBT civil rights issues, Frank was persistent, but famously incrementalist: he defended Clinton’s Don’t Ask, Don’t tell military policy, and urging activists to slow-walk demands for gay marriage. * On January 19, 1995, Republican Representative Dick Armey (TX-26) called Frank “Barney F*g” in a weekly meeting with radio journalists, and had to apologize on the House Floor. Armey also apologized privately but blamed the media for repeating what he claimed was a mispronunciation of Frank’s name. Frank did not entirely accept the dishonest apology. * In 1998, Frank defended President Bill Clinton vigorously during the Judiciary Committee hearings that led to impeachment proceedings in the House. * In 2010, with Chris Dodd of Connecticut, Frank wrote a bill that overhauled the financial system that led to systemic financial collapse in 2008. * As trans liberation moved to the forefront of LGBTQ politics in the 21st century Frank resisted folding them into lesbian and gay rights, a position he continues to hold today. In 2007, he stripped gender identity from the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) so that it would pass the House. In the 2009 and 2011 versions of the bill, those provisions were restored; in 2013, it passed the Senate, but then failed in the House. * Recently, Democratic Representative Sarah McBride (DE-01), the first trans member of Congress, has also argued that the trans rights movement does not have the broad support it needs to pass equality legislation. What we want to go viral: * Neil wants you to read Claire’s new piece, “Kill Canvas. Now” (Chronicle of Higher Education, May 14, 2026), an essay about higher education’s dangerous dependence on an edutech platform that serves the interests of neither faculty nor students. * Claire is fascinated by Ava Kofman’s reporting on 64-year-old Chinese oligarch Guojun Xuan and his wife Silvia, who have arranged for the birth of more than two dozen children via surrogate motherhood in less than a decade. The first story, “The Babies Kept in a Mysterious Los Angeles Mansion” (February 9, 2026) tracks the history of this odd, and ultimately somewhat sinister, project and its intersections with a surrogacy industry in the United States that is almost unregulated. The follow-up, “The Fate of Twenty-One Los Angeles Siblings” (May 11, 2026) talks about the resulting legal case when the children under the Xuans care, as well as 6 other babies still in uteroin five other states, were taken into the custody of Child Protective Services. Don’t miss new drops from Claire and Neil. You can subscribe for free or support us for only $5 a month. You can also become an annual supporter for $50/year and choose Neil’s Coming Out Republican or Claire’s Political Junkies: as a welcome bonus. You can also get all audio content for free by subscribing on Apple iTunes, YouTube, or Spotify. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit clairepotter.substack.com/subscribe

    1h 17m

  6. May 8

    Jack of All Trades

    This week, I want to welcome new premium subscribers Elwood Watson and Kate Ma, as well as free subscribers Vivek Asija, Marc Tretin, Roberta Smith, Kay Pashos, Peter Philbrook, Renato Rojas, Richard Wattanbarger, Alejandro Echeverry, Laurie Novo, Shelly Reusser, Robby Yakk, Kay Pashos, Kathi Kern, and William Weitzer. Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg and her son Jack Schlossberg, August 3, 2023. Photo credit: U.S. Embassy Australia/Wikimedia Commons We begin with a clip from this interview, and our theme this week is Sparkling Eyes by Afternoonz. In the News: * Donald Trump’s approval rating continues to decline. The latest polls have him at 34%, the lowest level in his second term. According to Pew Research, one of the steepest declines are responses to the statement “Trump keeps his promises,” to which only 38% of respondents replied in the affirmative, a five point drop since August 2025, and a 13-point drop since he was elected. Most importantly, Trump is losing ground with Republicans: only 72% trust him to use military force wisely, down 11 points since last year. His support in the under 35 MAGA demographic has dropped 30 points, he has lost 27 points with Hispanic voters, and 14 points with White voters. In our conversation about whether the controversies around TurningPoint USA are part of this melt, Neil mentions the rumor that Erika Kirk is stepping down as CEO of TurningPoint USA: in fact, she is stepping back for a brief period of personal recovery.” * However, Trump’s popularity among die-hard Republicans is still enough to quash dissent in the party. Tuesday’s Indiana primary saw 5 of the 7 GOP incumbents in the state legislature defeated by Trump-backed candidates, with two races too close to call at the time we recorded. Some observers note that Indiana is one of the last states where the contest between MAGA and a GOP establishment still dominates the political landscape. * That said, places where MAGA has dominated, or delivered surprise wins in 2016, seem to be vulnerable. The Democrats have added eight candidates to the 36 they are supporting in the “Red to Blue” campaign: they hope to flip seats in California, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Colorado, Texas, Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan, Tennessee, Virginia, North Carolina and Maine. In Ohio’s post-primary polling, Republican Vivek Ramaswamy faces a tough race against Democrat Amy Acton in the governor’s race, while in the Senate race, former Senator Sherrod Brown is well within striking distance of incumbent Republican Senator Jon Husted. Your hosts: Claire Potter is a historian of politics and media, a writer, a podcaster, and the sole author and editor of the Political Junkie Substack. Her most recent book is Political Junkies: From Talk Radio to Twitter, How Alternative Media Hooked Us on Politics and Broke Our Democracy (Basic Books, 2020), and she is currently writing a biography of feminist journalist Susan Brownmiller. Neil J. Young is a historian of religion and politics, a journalist, and a former co-host of the Past Present podcast. His most recent book is Coming Out Republican: A History of the Gay Right (University of Chicago Press, 2024). President Joe Biden greets Ambassador Caroline Kennedy and her son Jack Schlossberg after delivering remarks at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, September 12, 2022. Photo credit: Adam Schultz/Wikimedia Commons News focus: * John Kennedy Bouvier “Jack” Schlossberg is one of dozens of candidates running in the primary to replace Jerrold Nadler in New York’s 12th congressional district. In addition to Schlossberg, top candidates are Alex Bores, George Conway, Micah Lasher, and six other people: Schlossberg is leading all of them at this point, except for one outlier poll that has Bores with a 1-point lead. * The Kennedy “legend” is political lore across the political spectrum. For example, QAnon supporters believe that JFK, Jr. is still alive; RFK Jr.’s MAHA Moms are GOP swing voters. Here is a full list of Kennedys who have run for office. Most have devoted themselves to public service, or have been married to politicians: Caroline Kennedy has been ambassador to Japan; Kerry Kennedy has run a human rights organization and was married to Andrew Cuomo; Maria Shriver was a television news star and was married to Arnold Schwarzenegger; other Kennedys have been active in public service nonprofits. * Part of the Kennedy legend is that the career emphasis is always, for men: when will you begin your ascent to the presidency? This is certainly a big theme of the soapy Love Story, Ryan Murphy’s 2026 truly terrible series on FX about JFK Jr. and his tumultuous marriage to Carolyn Bessette—but there are other themes too: the idea that Kennedys are American royalty, the tug between public and private, and the many Kennedys who have died too young. * The idea of political dynasty itself seems to compel Americans more than politics themselves: for example, the consistent effort to brand the Trump family as the second coming of the Kennedys. Don Jr. has been repeatedly mentioned as a possible 2028 candidate, and there was an effort to push Barron onto the stage in 2024 as a Florida delegate, which Melania quashed. Ivanka and Trump’s eldest granddaughter, Kai (a 19-year-old college golfing recruit at the University of Miami) have also been mentioned as potential presidents. Joe Biden also imagined his son Beau as a future President, and Michelle Obama is occasionally mentioned as a viable candidate. * Jack Schlossberg was born on January 19, 1993, the youngest of Caroline Kennedy’s three children, and the only direct male descendant of President Kennedy. Jack’s sister Tatiana died of leukemia late last year, publishing an essay in the New Yorker criticizing RFK Jr., and the Trump administration, for destroying the nation’s medical and scientific research infrastructure. Rose is an artist and filmmaker. * Educated at The Collegiate School, Yale College, and Harvard Law, Schlossberg has mostly worked as a writer; he has been exposed to politics as a Senate page and intern, and has worked on campaigns. But has very little experience doing politics. Schlossberg, has dabbled in acting, writing, and non-profit work; he has passed the New York State Bar, but never practiced law; and is perhaps most famous for his wild social media presence on TikTok and Instagram. * Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg has been a kingmaker, but not a politician in her own right. In January, 2008, she endorsed Barack Obama in a New York Times Op-Ed titled “A President Like My Father.” She briefly ran for the seat vacated by Hillary Clinton in 2009, but dropped out: her uncle Ted Kennedy was diagnosed with brain cancer shortly after she launched a campaign she was favored to win. * Schlossberg has also been carefully platformed in the Democratic Party. In 2020, he spoke at the Democratic National Convention by video feed with his mother; and he spoke alone at the 2024 DNC. * Last week, Schlossberg was endorsed by Speaker emerita Nancy Pelosi, something that Atlantic writer Jonathan Chait was baffled by. Indeed, Schlossberg seems to be struggling to articulate who he is as a candidate. His campaign rollout was rocky; his issues, as articulated on his campaign site seem vague; and his presence on traditional media seems awkward, uncomfortable, and scripted compared to his social media presence. Jack Schlossberg interviewed by Katie Couric, April 15, 2026: it’s a very different vibe from his videos. Courtesy: YouTube. What we want to go viral: * Neil wants you to read philosopher Aaron Nebur’s “What Is a Beagle?” Public Seminar (April 30, 2026), an essay about how far-right anti-science activism has horse-shoed with left-wing animal rights concerns. A review essay about Brad Bolman’s Lab Dog: What Global Science Owes American Beagles (University of Chicago Press, 2025), Nebur also asks: how did beagles become the quintessential lab dog—and what is a beagle, anyway? * Claire is fascinated by Amelia Tait’s report on adults who go into debt to marinate in childhood fantasies, “Are Disney Adults the Happiest Debtors on Earth?” (The New Yorker, May 2, 2026). The essay explores the millions of adults who retreat into a world of childhood romance—for which Disney is happy to bleed them dry. Don’t miss new drops from Claire and Neil. You can subscribe for free or support us for only $5 a month. You can also become an annual supporter for $50/year and choose Neil’s Coming Out Republican or Claire’s Political Junkies: as a welcome bonus. You can also get all audio content for free by subscribing on Apple iTunes, YouTube, or Spotify. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit clairepotter.substack.com/subscribe

    1h 25m

  7. Apr 24

    Kalamity Kash

    We begin with FBI Director Kash Patel’s response to a reporter on April 21, 2026, asking if the allegations that he has been AWOL from his role at the Bureau, and repeatedly intoxicated, are true. This week’s theme is King Tide from Tiger Gang. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and FBI Director Kash Patel pose with a Formula 1 driver at the Las Vegas Grand Prix in Las Vegas, Nevada, Nov. 22, 2025. Photo credit: Tia Dufour/Wikimedia Commons. In the News: * The latest Cabinet member to fall is Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer, who has been plagued by abuse of power allegations that include misappropriation of funds, having an affair with her bodyguard, and a husband who reportedly wandered the building pestering women for sex. Chavez-DeRemer was not fired on Truth Social, but resigned. Notably, of all the incompetent souls with disorderly personal lives in the Cabinet, Trump has dispensed with women. * In a narrow decision on Wednesday, a Federal appeals court ruled in favor of a Texas law mandating that the Ten Commandments be clearly visible in every publicly funded classroom. The law has several twists, presumably to undermine a certain First Amendment challenge in the Supreme Court. Schools are not required to purchase these posters, but they must accept donations of them (and there just happens to be a non-profit set up to do that.) Here’s a copy of the official Texas version being sold on Etsy; here is the King James version: there are some significant differences between the two. * We have had a number of resignations from the House of Representatives in the past ten days: Democrat Eric Swalwell (CA-14) departed in the wake of multiple sexual assault allegations; Republican Tony Gonzales (TX-23) also resigned amid an ethics probe into sexual relationships with two staffers, one of whom took her own life. Just yesterday, Democrat Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (FL-20), accused of misappropriating $5 million in campaign funds, resigned 20 minutes ahead of an expulsion vote she was expected to lose. The one we didn’t get? Republican Cory Mills (FL-07), accused of both financial crimes and of criminal harassment of women: among others moving for his expulsion are GOP colleagues Nancy Mace (SC-01) and Lauren Boebert (CO-04). * Responding to President Donald Trump’s demand that Republican governors redistrict to protect the slim GOP Congressional majority ahead of the 2026 midterms, on Tuesday, Virginia voters approved a redistricting initiative that could potentially create 4 additional Democratic seats. This brings the number of states that have redistricted to 7; three other states have approved plans, Florida is working on one, and four additional states may be subject to court rulings that reverse redistricting. Virginians were not overwhelmingly happy about this, and Democrats threw a lot of money and ad buys into the effort. Nationally, redistricting has more or less been fought to a draw; at the same time, injected instability into all House races. At present, the initiative has been blocked from taking effect by a circuit court judge because it runs counter to a state Constitutional amendment passed in 2019 that established a bipartisan commission process. Your hosts: Claire Potter is a historian of politics and media, a writer, a podcaster, and the sole author and editor of the Political Junkie Substack. Her most recent book is Political Junkies: From Talk Radio to Twitter, How Alternative Media Hooked Us on Politics and Broke Our Democracy (Basic Books, 2020), and she is currently writing a biography of feminist journalist Susan Brownmiller. Neil J. Young is a historian of religion and politics, a journalist, and a former co-host of the Past Present podcast. His most recent book is Coming Out Republican: A History of the Gay Right (University of Chicago Press, 2024). Photo credit: Mehaniq/Shutterstock News focus: * Here is a short biography of Kashyap “Kash” Pramod Vinod Patel, Director of the Federal Bureau of investigation. * Late last week, The Atlantic published a blockbuster story, based on anonymous internal sources, that FBI Director Kash Patel is plagued by managerial and ethical incompetence, compounded by a serious drinking problem. Patel has filed a defamation suit against the magazine for $250 million. The Atlantic stands by its reporting; experts say that there is a high likelihood that the suit will fail. * Here is a short history of the origins of the FBI, how it has responded to—and shaped—the history of the United States. * Patel was an unusual, and many would say unqualified, choice as Director. Despite that, his appointment passed the Senate on a 51-49 vote on February 20, 2025, with two Republicans—Maine’s Susan Collins and Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski—voting no. Patel replaced Christopher Wray, who had an extensive history in federal law enforcement, two years before Wray’s ten-year term was up. * A former defense attorney and Trump staffer in the Department of Defense, Patel was working as a podcaster prior to his appointment. His show, Kash’s Corner, existed mostly to defend Donald Trump from the myriad charges filed after he left office in January, 2020 and to promote conspiracy theories featuring the Biden family. * As FBI Director, Patel first came under fire for his apparent mishandling of the Charlie Kirk assassination in September, 2025. Numerous sources within the Bureau also report that Patel has severely damaged what was once the top law enforcement agency in the world. * A recent profile of Patel emphasizes how he has put the Bureau at the service of Trump’s retribution campaign. * Patel is a huge hockey fan, and a weekend player. In late February, he took a taxpayer-funded jet to Italy to attend the Olympic men’s hockey final and was filmed partying with the team after they won the gold medal. This was during a period when the search for Savannah Guthrie’s kidnapped mother, Nancy, was intensifying. * Patel lives and is registered to vote in Las Vegas, in a house owned by a GOP megadonor Michael J. Muldoon, who made a fortune from timeshares and has been investigated for shady practices. * Patel has also been criticized for putting government assets at the service of his girlfriend, a minor country music singer and Christian influencer named Alexis Wilkins, and has used an FBI jet to visit her on the weekends. Wilkins has also inserted herself in the MAGA wars, asserting (without evidence) that podcaster Candace Owens and retired General Michael Flynn are Russian assets. In the last 24 hours, the New York Times has reported that the FBI launched an investigation of Elizabeth Williamson, the Times reporter who broke that story, for allegedly stalking Wilkins. * This week, Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee launched an investigation of Patel as a potential security risk. Here’s the letter sent to Patel on Tuesday. * You can read the FBI Ethics guide here; one pertinent passage is in section 2.3: “The FBI expects its employees to behave in such a way that their activities both on and off duty will not discredit either themselves or the Bureau.” What we want to go viral: * Neil recommends that you read Patrick Radden Keefe’s new book about the influx of foreign money into London and how it tore apart one family, London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family’s Search for Truth (Doubleday, 2026), a real-life murder mystery, it is as good—or maybe better!—than Keefe’s previous books, and features a teenager who created a fantasy life as the son of a Russian oligarch. Coincidentally, Claire is reading it too and thinks it is boss. * Claire wants you to read, or better yet, listen to, Lena Dunham’s Famesick: A Memoir (Random House, 2026): it’s about trauma, turning trauma into art, being famous at an impossibly young age, becoming ill, addiction (and recovery) and learning to navigate a world in which being rich and brilliant doesn’t provide any clear path to being happy. Don’t miss new drops from Claire and Neil. You can subscribe for free or support us for only $5 a month. You can also become an annual supporter for $50/year and choose Neil’s Coming Out Republican or Claire’s Political Junkies: as a welcome bonus. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit clairepotter.substack.com/subscribe

    1h 12m

  8. Apr 14 ·  Bonus

    The Twilight of Populism?

    Thank you to everyone who tuned into the live video! This slightly edited version of show begins with Peter Magyar’s Tisza party, which won a resounding victory in Sunday’s national elections in Hungary, and will become Prime Minister with a more than 2/3 majority—enough to allow him to return that nation to liberal democratic governance. I brought in my friend and New School for Social Research colleague Julia Sonnevend, who is Associate Professor of Sociology and Communications and Co-Director of the Center for the American Experience, to talk to us about the significance of Magyar’s victory in the erosion of what has been a global populist movement. Born, raised and educated in Hungary, Sonnevend is a longstanding observer of Central European politics. She is the author of Charm: How Magnetic Personalities Shape Global Politics (Princeton, 2024), named one of The New Yorker’s Best Books of 2024, and Stories Without Borders: The Berlin Wall and the Making of a Global Iconic Event; and co-editor of Education and Social Media: Toward a Digital Future (Oxford, 2016.) Her writing has appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Time, NPR, BBC Newshour, The Times Literary Supplement, Teen Vogue, Times Higher Education, and Bloomberg News. You can listen to an earlier conversation about Charm here. Today’s theme is The News Tonight by Shimmer. Two peas in a pod: President Donald Trump hosts a bilateral meeting with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, November 7, 2025. Photo credit: The White House/Wikimedia Commons. Learn more about this turning point for Hungary and the future of democracy in the United States: * Luke Johnson, “Too Big to Rig: Hungary’s lessons for the U.S. midterms,” Public Sphere, April 13, 2026. * Michelle Goldberg, “What Orban’s Defeat Means for the Rest of the World,” New York Times, April 13, 2026. * Kellen Browning and Shane Goldmacher “MAGA Absorbs the Loss of Orban, a Kindred Spirit to Trump’s Movement,” New York Times, April 13, 2026. * Michael Birnbaum, “Orban’s defeat offers warning signs for Trump allies,” April 13, 2026. * Julia Sonnevend, “Viktor Orbán’s loss in Hungary shows how a strongman can be defeated,” MS NOW, April 13, 2026. * Editorial Board, “Hungarians Oust Viktor Orbán:The Putin-Trump ally loses in a landslide as statist policies fail,” Wall Street Journal, April 12, 2026. * Paul Hockenos, “Orbán Is a Loser: Hungary shows how to beat an autocrat at the ballot box,” The Nation, April 13, 2026. * Anne Applebaum, “Illiberalism Is Not Inevitable: If Viktor Orbán can lose, then his Russian and American admirers can lose too,” The Atlantic, April 12, 2026. * Lydia Polgreen, “It’s Not Trump. It’s America,” The New York Times, March 26, 2026. * Jamelle Bouie, “A Minor Strongman, Some Conservative Populists and Tucker Carlson Went to a Conference,” May 24, 2022. Political Junkie is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber—or converting your free subscription to paid! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit clairepotter.substack.com/subscribe

    31 min
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
7 Ratings

About

Where contemporary history and politics meet the challenge of today. clairepotter.substack.com

Information

  • Creator
    Claire Potter and Neil J. Young
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2026
  • Episodes
    128
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Claire Potter
  • Show Website
    Political Junkie Podcast

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