Best and Worst of 2025 Media, Rise of Antisemitism, and the Issues That Will Decide 2026 Midterms

Next Up with Mark Halperin

MK Media

News, Daily News, Politics

4.6 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 16 December 2025

⏱️ 87 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Mark Halperin opens a new episode with his reported monologue featuring a “Next Up 2025 Media Review,” breaking down how the press changed over the past year and why those shifts matter for politics, public trust, and power. He examines the biggest winners and losers in media, identifies the most dangerous and hopeful trends shaping coverage heading into 2026 and beyond, and explains how structural incentives — not just ideology — are redefining what Americans see, hear, and believe. Mark is then joined by Rabbi David Wolpe for a conversation about the global rise of antisemitism. Rabbi Wolpe explains why antisemitism is a unique form of hatred rooted in conspiracy thinking, why too many people misunderstand where it comes from, and why confronting it requires moral clarity, honest language, and broader alliances across society. Finally, David Winston joins Mark to break down why the economy — and the views of independent voters — will ultimately decide the 2026 midterms. Winston explains how voters actually experience economic change, why perceptions are lagging behind real-world data, and how timing, cost of living, and credibility shape when people finally credit a president for economic improvement. Unplugged: Switching is simple, Visit https://Unplugged.com/MARK and order your UP phone today! Masa Chips: Ready to give MASA or Vandy a try? Get 25% off your first order by going to http://masachips.com/MARK and using code MARK. Home Title Lock: Go to https://hometitlelock.com/mark and use promo code MARK to get a FREE title history report and a FREE TRIAL of their Triple Lock Protection! For details visit https://hometitlelock.com/warranty

Transcript

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0:00.0	everybody welcome to next up i'm bar capron thank you for being here i'm the editor-in-chief of the live interactive video platform two-way and your chief nexter as we talk about everything that's in the news today grateful to you for being here hope you're continuing to spread the word about the program to davids today two, two very smart Davids. First, Rabbi David
0:22.1	Walpy, a good friend of mine and a very smart man. We're going to talk about the anti-Semitism
0:26.2	that exists in a shocking degree around the country and around the world. And David's got some
0:32.3	thoughts about why it's happening and what we can do about it. He's a very smart man and a very good rabbi and a very
0:38.8	good thinker about all this. He's got a piece in the free press. We'll talk about that. And then the
0:43.2	second David, David Winston, president of the Winston group, one of the top Republican pollsters,
0:47.7	really one of the top pollsters in the country who understands how the country feels because he
0:53.1	does a lot of surveys.
0:55.2	And we're going to talk about what I continue to tell you is the issue in the midterms.
0:59.2	You can pay attention to all sorts of other ideas, other concepts, other issues.
1:03.2	But the key thing is the economy always is.
1:06.1	And particularly now, as people have so much trepidation about where the economy is and where it's headed.
1:12.1	We're going to talk about all of that with David Winston and with a key focus on the independence
1:17.5	and how down they currently are on the Republican Party and Donald Trump on the economy
1:22.6	and how that might turn around and would need to turn around if Democrats are going to be kept
1:26.9	in the minority.
1:28.4	So the two David's coming up before that in just a moment, my reported modelogue on the best
1:34.3	and worst and other awards for the media in 2025. We're going to take a look back at the year
1:41.0	and say where we've been and then project a little bit forward into 20 on one of our shared, collected, favorite topics. What's Up with Media? All that coming up
1:50.9	right here on Next Up. It's all next up, so don't go away. If you're using an ordinary smartphone,
1:59.0	you surely have noticed those creepy ads that pop up on the phone and seem to know exactly where you've been, what you've bought, even maybe who you've been talking about.
2:08.2	Yeah, you've probably asked yourself, is my phone monitoring me?
	...

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