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Stay Tuned with Preet

Democrats Done Playing Nice (with Susan Rice)

Stay Tuned with Preet

Vox Media Podcast Network

Politics, Government, Society & Culture, News

4.832.4K Ratings

🗓️ 19 February 2026

⏱️ 53 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice joins Preet Bharara for a candid conversation about leadership, decision-making, and what most concerns her about the Trump administration. Rice warns of “the abrogation of the rule of law” and a drift toward “a lawless society,” pointing to the speed with which the administration has pursued its agenda and the limited resistance it has faced. Drawing on her experience serving three presidents, Rice offers an inside look at how White House decisions are made—and why strong leaders welcome dissent. She and Preet also discuss immigration reform, including what a workable framework would require and why the real challenge is political will. In the bonus for Insiders, Ambassador Rice turns the tables on Preet, asking how to respond to what she calls the “rapid evaporation” of democratic guardrails.  Show notes and a transcript of the episode are available on our website.  You can now watch this episode! Head to CAFE’s Youtube channel and subscribe. Shop Stay Tuned merch and featured books by our guests in our Amazon storefront. Have a question for Preet? Ask @PreetBharara on BlueSky, or Twitter with the hashtag #AskPreet. Email us at staytuned@cafe.com, or call 833-997-7338 to leave a voicemail.Stay Tuned with Preet is brought to you by CAFE and the Vox Media Podcast Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

From Cafe and the Vox Media Podcast Network, welcome to stay tuned.

0:05.7

I'm Preet Bharara.

0:08.1

Democrats have had a belly full, and we're not going to play by the old set of rules when these guys are playing by a very different set of rules.

0:15.7

We're going to play by the law.

0:17.4

We're not going to violate the law the way they do, but we're not going to be suckers.

0:28.9

That's Ambassador Susan Rice. She served as National Security Advisor to President Obama and as

0:34.6

U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, among other distinguished policy

0:38.1

positions. She joined me for a conversation about leadership, decision-making, and the state of

0:43.3

the rule of law in America. Drawing on her experience, serving under three presidents, we explored

0:48.3

how policy decisions are made inside the White House, who drives the agenda, why dissent matters,

0:53.3

and how leaders should handle

0:54.7

disagreement and bad news. We also talked about immigration reform and what a serious legislative

1:00.0

framework would require. And at the end of the episode, I'll share some of your comments about

1:04.6

what it's like being a career public servant in the federal government right now. That's coming up.

1:09.6

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...

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