The Commentary Magazine Podcast

What are we to make of a supposed 2003 birthday greeting/drawing for Jeffrey Epstein by Donald Trump? And how many different ways can we luxuriate in the decision to put an end to Stephen Colbert's late-night show? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Published: 18 July 2025

Ah, what a grab-bag episode, with one throughline: When Republicans stop paying any heed to the Washington consensus, they can really get things done. And the miracle of Jaws, now 50 years old. Give a listen.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 17 July 2025

The continuing focus on the "Epstein files" that don't exist is the first bump in the road for Donald Trump with his base. His declaration that people who focus on it are "very bad" demonstrates his frustration with the distraction from his accomplishments—which are revealed in part by the violence with which liberals and leftists are now discussing his victories at the Supreme Court. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 16 July 2025

Today we talk about Donald Trump essentially admitting his mistake with Vladimir Putin and deciding to arm Ukraine through NATO. We also get into the Supreme Court allowing Trump to make cuts to the Department of Education and the state of play in Israel over a new proposed draft law. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 15 July 2025

We begin today's podcast talking about the failure of the latest Gaza cease-fire proposal, move on to the crisis inside MAGA over Jeffrey Epstein, and then get to the heart of the matter: The astonishing New York Times story released Sunday night in which we learn that the Biden administration used the autopen to execute pardons and commutations and clemencies—in clear violation of centuries of common law regarding the use of the pardon power. This is a big deal. We explain why. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 14 July 2025

Today's podcast takes on the huge and outrageous New York Times piece about how Prime Minister Netanyahu has allowed the Gaza war to go on too long to help himself domestically. And we do a deep dive into the Democratic Party's troubles as it struggles with its own innate pessimism and the hunger for literal blood among the party's radical base. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 11 July 2025

Jonathan Schanzer joins us today to discuss Bibi's week in Washington, the prospects for region-wide change in the Middle East, and the painful choices facing Israel as it decides how to conclude the war in Gaza. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 10 July 2025

In an unusually late-night dorm-room like podcast, we begin by describing our general good moods before plunging into despair about the threat of AI as represented by Elon Musk's Grok and the anti-Semitic spree it went on yesterday. What's happening here? Is there something metaphysical going on? Can AI be consciously evil? In theory, no. But what if theory doesn't help here? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 9 July 2025

Today we discuss the president's dinner with Bibi Netanyahu and the clear bond between the two—and Trump's consistent support for Israel over his two terms. And we relate it to the surprising turn on Ukraine, with Trump now saying he will send weapons there and disavowing his own administration's withholding of arms. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 8 July 2025

We're back after a patriotic Fourth of July to talk about the anti-patriotic Democratic nominee for mayor of New York City and whether there are ways in which he can be made to lose the November election. Is the best way the one least talked about? We also discuss the horrible Texas disaster, the One Big Beautiful Bill, Elon Musk's new party, and the Bibi visit. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 7 July 2025

Today we discuss the One Big Beautiful Bill and the ways in which it does and doesn't advance the interests of conservatism before we discuss July 4 and the massive political and ideological opportunity for the American right in the celebration of the coming 250th birthday of the Founding of the United States. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 3 July 2025

Adam White joins us today to talk about the blockbuster cases that concluded this year's Supreme Court decision season. But before that, we discuss the proposal for a Gaza ceasefire and the shocking new evidence of how deep anti-Semitism continues to sink into the American school system, both for little kids and for post-doctoral students. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 2 July 2025

Gallup reports that just 36 percent of self-described Democrats say they are proud to be American, as opposed to 92 percent of Republicans. The Republican number has been consistent for two decades; the Democratic number fluctuates according to who is in power. What does this mean? We speculate. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 1 July 2025

Bret Stephens joins us to discuss the vote on the Big Beautiful Bill, whether Zohran Mamdani will serve as a model for Democrats nationally, and how Israel might potentially finish the war in Gaza. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 30 June 2025

Today we start out discussing Zohran Mamdani's post-nomination commitment to anti-capitalism, racialism, and anti-Zionism. Then we ask why studies show that liberals are more miserable than conservatives. Give a listen.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 27 June 2025

Dan Senor joins us today as we take apart the ridiculous stories pooh-poohing the success of the raid on Iran's nuclear sites and explain how, any way you look at it, it's a world-changing event for the better. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 26 June 2025

Chris Stirewalt joins us to discuss Zohran Mamdani's victory in New York City's Democratic mayoral primary. How did an intifada-supporting socialist win? What does it say about New York, the Democratic Party, and the future of Jewish life in America? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 25 June 2025

Eli Lake joins the podcast today to consider the president's reaction to Iran's violation of the ceasefire he had announced only hours earlier and why he leaned on Israel to respond very lightly. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 24 June 2025

Today's podcast explores the strange disappointment of so-called "arms control" experts at the effort to eliminate Iran's nuclear program—which they seem to oppose on the grounds that it threatens efforts on paper to control nuclear proliferation. Also, Trump as a gift to the Jewish people and the dangers of tomorrow's NYC mayoral primary. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 23 June 2025

Emergency Podcast taped Sunday morning on the Trump raid on the Iranian nuclear sites and what it means for the Republican Party, the MAGA coalition, the Middle East, and the world. Joining us: Jonathan Schanzer. Give a listen.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 22 June 2025

John Ondrasik, the superstar pop-rock singer of "Superman" and "100 Years," joins the podcast today to discuss the latest with Iran, his own journey into pro-Israel activism, and the moral framework of American foreign policy and our armed forces. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 20 June 2025

Donald Trump says he doesn't start wars; he ends them. That may be the promise made to him by the Israelis in the Iran matter—that an American strike against the Fordow nuclear site will be the ultimate act of peacemaking. And will be a great blow to the noisy but apparently ineffectual anti-war crowd on the right. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 19 June 2025

The war on Iran seems to be reaching a climactic moment, and the question is what is best for America and for Israel in finishing the task. Also, why are Democrats so hungry to get arrested and to side with people who are openly flouting the law? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 18 June 2025

We get metaphysical and spiritual on today's podcast as I ask whether we can see the hand of providence at work in the mission against Iran and the increasingly tough tone and line taken by Donald Trump as the hours pass. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 17 June 2025

Israel's astounding success in the first days of the war with Iran, notwithstanding the blows it has taken from Iranian missiles, raises the question of whether the United States has an interest in helping bring the entire fight to an end by using its bunker-buster bombs to finish off Iran's nuclear sites. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 16 June 2025

Israel hits Iran. That's it. That's the podcast. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 13 June 2025

From the complicated issues raised by illegal immigration to broad-scale policies that distort the American economy, things are in need of repair and reform—and the problem is nobody really wants to repair or reform them. But we have to. How can we? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 12 June 2025

The LA situation continues to dominate, as California Gov. Newsom takes to the airwaves to say that fascism has arrived in America and he's just the guy to stop it. Meanwhile, Los Angeles was put under a curfew because the lawlessness in the streets has overwhelmed the cops there. And the left is gathering force for an anti-Trump demonstration this weekend as Trump prepares to oversee a military parade. Who's going to look better after Sunday? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 11 June 2025

Noah Rothman joins the podcast as we examine the ongoing street violence and theater in Los Angeles and the fact that the Democratic Party has now committed itself, it seems, to a posture in which they are supporting lawlessness and handing Donald Trump everything he would want in terms of the arguments he is making about their irresponsibility and lack of patriotism. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 10 June 2025

As "protestors" set cars on fire, shut down highways, vandalize buildings, and attack law enforcement in California, Democratic politicians want you to believe all of this is the fault of Donald Trump for...enforcing federal immigration law? The question of whether this is a strategy, or a reason to bring out the straitjackets for an entire political party, is the subject of today's podcast. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 9 June 2025

Elon Musk's anti-Trump meltdown yesterday is revelatory for a number of reasons: the inevitable clash of two Alphas; the tech-bro's arrogance about government meeting the hard reality of bare-knuckle politics; the problem of having an outlet for impulsive expressions of rage that may take a lifetime to overcome; and more. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 6 June 2025

Today we examine Donald Trump's busy Wednesday—a new immigration ban from countries hostile to the United States, announcing an investigation into Biden's infirmities, denying student visas to Harvard, seeking to remove the accreditation of Columbia University, and more. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 5 June 2025

The aftermath of the firebombings of Boulder Jews is a moment at which we can see, in stark relief, how the issues that have motivated the left over the past 20 years are not only threatening our social fabric but also at the core of the political changes in the United States, particularly as relates to men and the Democratic party. Give a listen Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 4 June 2025

The firebombing of Jews in Colorado, following the firebombing of the governor's mansion in Pennsylvania and the murder of two Israeli embassy officials in DC, makes it unambiguously clear that the new motive force on the radical left and among radical Islamists is direct violent attack against Jews. What are we going to do about it? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 3 June 2025

Here's why. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 2 June 2025

We close out the week on Donald Trump's pardons, picks, and tantrums and RFK Jr.'s AI-based report. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 30 May 2025

Today Robert Pondiscio joins the podcast to discuss the progressive sabotage of K-12 schooling and talk about his article in the June issue of COMMENTARY, "How Wokeness Destroyed an Education Miracle." Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 29 May 2025

The media efforts to make Americans oppose Trump's anti-illegal efforts are running straight into the buzzsaw of common sense. So too with efforts to portray the distribution of food aid in Gaza. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 28 May 2025

Well, it took him long enough, but Donald Trump has now decided Vladimir Putin doesn't want peace. Who knew? Um...a lot of people? Plus, what's this about how Israel needs to wrap it up already? Give a listen. And don't forget to subscribe to the podcast anywhere you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 27 May 2025

On this special holiday episode, Matt Continetti and I sing the praises of the brilliant Disney Plus series Andor and explain how it remains compelling even when it plays around with political themes that might be offensive to some of us. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 26 May 2025

Jonathan Schanzer joins the podcast to talk about efforts to combat the possible wave of anti-Jewish violence in America that might be triggered by the murders at the Capital Jewish Museum and whether the Trump administration's bludgeoning of Harvard is a wise strategy. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 23 May 2025

Noah Rothman joins the podcast this morning to talk about the horrors in DC last night and how they connect to the increasing embrace of violence on the left after 2015—which accelerated after the George Floyd killing and is now manifesting itself not only in the assassination of a health-care executive by new radical folk hero Luigi Mangione but now in the deliberate targeting of a Jewish event at a Jewish site by a berserk far leftist. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 22 May 2025

Mark Halperin joins the podcast today to talk about the continuing fallout from the Biden revelations, whether the "big beautiful bill" will pass, and whether Donald Trump's announcement of a new missile-defense system passes the smell test. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 21 May 2025

Today Eliana Johnson joins us as we try to figure out what the real story is behind Joe Biden's tragic cancer diagnosis. And we discuss the media's group effort to look away, yet again. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 20 May 2025

The horrible news about Joe Biden's cancer diagnosis—coming as it did amid the release of a new book about his infirmity as president—raises even more questions about who knew what and when. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 19 May 2025

Democrats complain about oligarchs but are the party of the rich. Democrats talk about Trump as a pathological liar but are exposed having lied about Biden's infirmities. How are they going to compete with the energy of the GOP when they seem not to understand themselves? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 16 May 2025

Dan Senor joins the podcast to discuss his remarkable June COMMENTARY cover story, "The Future of American Jewry After October 7." But first we talk about Trump's Middle East trip, Iran, Israel, and other stuff. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 15 May 2025

The president gave a major speech in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday that had uncomfortable echoes of Barack Obama's "apology" address in 2009—and with the same target: The idea that America should represent Western civilization and fight for it in the world. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 14 May 2025

Tevi Troy joins us today to talk about his article, "In Praise of Big Pharma," but first we talk about Trump's trip to the Middle East and whether Israel will ever make its final push into Gaza. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 13 May 2025

Today we talk about the U.S.-China tariff rollback, Trump's plan to reduce drug prices, the ongoing negotiations with Russia, Iran, and Hamas, and the appearance of daylight between the U.S. and Israel. And finally we get into Trump's desire for a Qatari  airplane and the multiple emoluments-related disasters that may lie ahead for the administration. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 12 May 2025