Ezra Klein’s Big-Tent Vision of the Democratic Party

The Political Scene | The New Yorker

The New Yorker

Politics, Obama, News, Wnyc, Washington, Barack, President, Lizza, Wickenden

4.2 • 3.3K Ratings

🗓️ 29 September 2025

⏱️ 52 minutes

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Summary

The author and podcaster Ezra Klein may be only forty-one years old, but he’s been part of the political-culture conversation for a long time. He was a blogger, then a Washington Post columnist and editor, a co-founder of Vox, and is now a writer and podcast host for the New York Times. He’s also the co-author of the recent best-selling book “Abundance”.

Most recently, Klein has drawn the ire of progressives for a column he wrote about the assassination of Charlie Kirk, in which he praised the late conservative activist for practicing politics “the right way.” He’s also been making a case for how the Democrats can reëmerge from the political wilderness. But some of his other ideas have also invited their share of detractors.

Klein tells David Remnick, “I try to take seriously questions that I don’t love. I don’t try to insist the world works the way I want it to work. I try to be honest with myself about the way it’s working.” In response to criticism that his recent work has indicated a rightward shift in his thinking, Klein says, “One thing I’ve been saying about the big tent of the Democratic Party is the theory of having a big tent doesn’t just mean moving to the right; it also means accepting in the left.”

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Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to the political scene.
0:07.0	I'm David Remnick.
0:08.3	Early each week, we bring you a conversation from our episode of The New Yorker Radio Hour.
0:16.0	This is The New Yorker Radio Hour, a co-production of WNYC Studios and The New Yorker.
0:23.0	This is The New Yorker Radio Hour. I'm David Remnick. For years now, New York Times columnist
0:30.3	and podcaster Ezra Klein has been at the center of debates over the future of the Democratic Party
0:36.1	and what liberalism's political priorities
0:39.0	ought to be. Klein's perspective is getting even more scrutiny these days as we're in the midst
0:45.4	of a volatile national debate over free speech and the very stability of our democracy.
0:51.9	As we speak, President Trump is demanding prosecutions of his political enemies.
0:57.5	He's claimed that it's illegal for the press to be critical of him, and he's routinely used
1:03.0	threatening and dehumanizing language to discredit his opponents, whom he admits he hates.
1:09.7	He did not hate his opponents.
1:12.0	He wanted the best for them.
1:15.2	That's where I disagreed with Charlie.
1:17.6	I hate my opponent.
1:20.1	And I don't want the best for them.
1:22.2	I'm sorry.
1:23.6	So how should Trump's critics and opponents handle this onslaught?
1:28.0	What can they do to win back the voters that deserted them in last year's presidential election?
1:33.6	I spoke to Ezra Klein about his perspective on the perilous moment that we find ourselves in today.
1:42.2	Let's start with what happened when Charlie Kirk was killed. You pretty immediately published
	...

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