The New Abnormal

This week on The New Abnormal, historian and author Rick Perlstein shares why he turned down an offer to go on Steve Bannon’s infamous podcast. Plus! Author David Daley joins the program to discuss how right-wing control over the Supreme Court will shape Americans’ lives for the next generation—or more.

Stanford professor Jamil Zaki, author of Hope for Cynics: The Surprising Science of Human Goodness, joins The New Abnormal podcast to discuss hope and the weaponization of hopelessness as President-elect Donald Trump again ascends to the highest office in the land. He explained, “People who lose their sense of value, who lose that compass for what they want as a society, are easier to control.”

Andrew Lawrence, Deputy Director of Rapid Response at Media Matters, unpacks 2024’s most absurd conservative outrages, from Olympic controversies to Taylor Swift’s political stances and the supposed “wokeness” of “Wicked.” Plus! Professor Ray Brescia, legal columnist for the Daily Beast, explores privacy and surveillance in the digital age, highlighting the need for stronger protections against big tech’s data exploitation and misinformation.

It would be hard to argue that anyone had a bigger—or worse—impact on the world this year than President-elect Donald Trump, The New Abnormal co-host Andy Levy argues on this week’s episode. Then, Ed Zitron, journalist and author of the Where’s Your Ed At? newsletter, explains the "rot economy," where growth-at-all-costs drives exploitative business practices in tech and beyond. Plus! Deepa Iyer, activist and author of We Too Sing America, joins the program to discuss the challenges facing progressive movements.

Maye Musk proves the bad apple doesn’t fall far from the tree with some tone deaf advice on how Americans can afford to have more children to avoid population collapse. Plus! In a special podcast crossover, The Last Laugh podcast host Matt Wilstein reviews a year of high highs and low lows in political comedy and its future under a new Trump administration.

Billionaire Elon Musk’s meddling has given America’s elected officials a taste of what is to come from President-elect Donald Trump’s right hand man. “And it’s only the beginning,” said The New Abnormal co-hosts Danielle Moodie. Plus! Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist Spencer Ackerman joins the podcast to discuss the next administration’s potential reshaping of Middle East policy, and The New Republic writer Edith Olmsted unpacks Musk’s unprecedented presidential influence.

Donald Trump is more powerful than ever, warns Mary Trump on the latest episode of The New Abnormal. Then, NPR media correspondent David Folkenflik joins the program to discuss the Voice of America and what Trump’s selection of Kari Lake to head up the organization could mean for the media network.

South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace seems to be on a mission to be the most “disgusting human being” on Capitol Hill with her latest round of transphobic attacks, argue The New Abnormal co-hosts Andy Levy and Danielle Moodie. Plus! Slate politics writer Alex Sammon discusses his new piece, “Democrats Have a ‘Pod Save America’ Problem,” and the biggest shadow hanging over the party post-election.

The president-elect was chosen as Time Magazine’s “Person of the Year” Thursday—but the distinction may come with some unintended consequences. Then, Rob Bonta, the attorney general of California, joins the program to discuss how the state is preparing to push back against potential mass deportation efforts under a second Trump presidency. Plus! Anna Gifty, a Harvard doctoral candidate and editor of “The Black Agenda: Bold Solutions for a Broken System” discusses the transformative power of centering black women in the economy.