The Realignment

In a cross-over episode with Hudson's Arsenal of Democracy podcast, Raj Shah, former Director of the Defense Innovation Unit, Managing Parter at Shield Capital, and co-author of Unit X: How the Pentagon and Silicon Valley Are Transforming the Future of War, joins The Realignment. Raj and Marshall discuss the evolution of Silicon Valley's relationship with the U.S. military since the 2010s, his time directing the Defense Innovation Unit, where D.C. stands in the way of innovation, and how lessons from today's current conflicts should shape our approach to the future.

Transcribed - Published: 25 July 2024

In this quick audio essay, Marshall reacts to President Biden's exit from the 2024 campaign, analyzes the prospects for Vice President Harris, and wonders whether former President Trump is prepared for an election that could no longer be a referendum on Biden's unpopular presidency.

Transcribed - Published: 23 July 2024

Zack Beauchamp, Vox Senior Correspondent and author of The Reactionary Spirit: How America's Most Insidious Political Tradition Swept the World, joins The Realignment. Zack and Marshall discuss the American origins of the reactionary backlash against liberal democracy, the difference between conservatism and reactionary thought, and the case studies of Hungary, Israel, and India.

Transcribed - Published: 18 July 2024

In a conversation recorded before the assassination attempt on former President Trump. Curt Mills, Executive Director of The American Conservative, joins The Realignment. Marshall and Curt discuss why he believes President Biden's 2024 campaign is underrated, the explanation for Democrats' lead in swing state Senate races despite Biden's trailing poll numbers, the state of the Republican Party and the conservative movement, and the lessons from the 2022 midterm upset.

Transcribed - Published: 16 July 2024

Note: This upcoming Sunday will feature a free Ask Me Anything episode focused on President Biden's 2024 campaign, the results of Thursday's presser, and the upcoming RNC. Submit your questions at The Realignment's email address or on Supercast. On today's episode, Nat Eliason, author of Crypto Confidential: Winning and Losing Millions in the New Frontier of Finance, joins The Realignment. Marshall and Nat discuss the state of the crypto market from 2021 to 2024, crypto use cases, and the long-term bull case for blockchain-based tech and products.

Transcribed - Published: 11 July 2024

Season Premiere: Jonathan Darman, journalist, historian, and author of Landslide: LBJ and Ronald Reagan at the Dawn of a New America & Becoming FDR: The Personal Crisis That Made a President, returns to The Realignment. Marshall and Jonathan discuss why efforts to convince or force President Biden to drop his reelection bid failed, how LBJ's decision to leave the race at the height of the Vietnam War in 1968 informs how we understand Biden's motivations, the ways that the 1944, 1968, 1980, and 1984 elections offer parallels to today, and why there hasn't been a landslide electoral victory by either party in decades.

Transcribed - Published: 9 July 2024

Steven Teles, Johns Hopkins University Professor and Niskanen Center Senior Fellow, returns to The Realignment for the second half of his conversation. Steven and Marshall answer audience questions about the abundance agenda and America's factional political future, discuss his new National Affairs article examining the causes of conservative underrepresentation on college campuses, and explore what listeners who're interested building the abundance agenda's infrastructure should do next.

Transcribed - Published: 27 June 2024

Aaron Renn, writer and Co-Founder of American Reformer, joins The Realignment. Aaron and Marshall discuss why despite his conservatism, he believes that the "neoliberal, non-woke-technocratic left" will be the source of American policy renewal, the case for the abundance agenda, populism's inability to solve the issues it identifies, the emerging bipartisan consensus around economic issues, and how today's political moment rhymes with that of the late 1970s.

Transcribed - Published: 25 June 2024

In the latest edition of The Realignment's weekend Ask Me Anything and discussion series, Saagar and Marshall discuss the upcoming presidential debates between President Biden and former President Trump, the how and the why behind RFK Jr.'s lack of inclusion, the overall state of the race, and take audience questions.

Transcribed - Published: 23 June 2024

Gen. Frank McKenzie, retired Commander of U.S. Central Command and author of The Melting Point: High Command and War in the 21st Century, joins The Realignment. Marshall and Frank discuss his time at Central Command, from the strikes on Qassem Soleimani and two leaders of ISIS to deterrence operations against Iran and the U.S. withdrawal from Kabul. They also discuss The Melting Point's three themes: civilian control of the military, the role of the combatant commander, and the centrality of leaders in today's battlefield environment.

Transcribed - Published: 20 June 2024

John Ganz, author of When the Clock Broke: Con Men, Conspiracists, and How America Cracked Up in the Early 1990s, joins The Realignment. Marshall and John discuss 2020s nostalgia for the 1990s, the misplaced belief that the fall of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War represented the "end of history," the early 1990s rise of outsider, third-party presidential candidates, and the role that con men and conspiracy theories played in cracking up the country.

Transcribed - Published: 18 June 2024

Ruchir Sharma, author of What Went Wrong with Capitalism, joins The Realignment. In this episode, Ruchir argues that many of America's ills and the populace's rejection of the status quo stems from too little, as opposed to too much market-focused thought, offers a revisionist history of the post-1980s Neoliberal era, makes the case against the rising rate of government bailouts of private industry, and instead offers a vision focused on reducing debt, increasing productivity, and growth-focused deregulation.

Transcribed - Published: 13 June 2024

Peter S. Goodman, Global Economics Correspondent for the New York Times and author of How the World Ran Out of Everything: Inside the Global Supply Chain, returns to The Realignment. Peter and Marshall discuss the innerworkings of the global supply chain and the factors that have led to its constant vulnerability, whether the issues that caused the 2021 pre-Christmas crunch have been addressed, and how we can finally build a reliable and resilient supply chain in the future.

Transcribed - Published: 11 June 2024

In the latest edition of The Realignment's weekend Ask Me Anything and discussion series, Saagar and Marshall take a break from the daily news + current events grind and discuss the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings, offer historical reading/viewing recommendations, and take audience questions.

Transcribed - Published: 9 June 2024

Steven Teles, Johns Hopkins University Professor and Niskanen Center Senior Fellow, returns to The Realignment. Steven and Marshall discuss why political factions within the left and right will upend the last thirty years of party politics, the poor track record of moderate reform efforts, the importance of enhancing state-capacity, the abundance agenda's ability to confront economic stagnation, the need for a reform movement on the level of 19th century progressives, and the path to overcoming political polarization.

Transcribed - Published: 7 June 2024

John Strausbaugh, author of The Wrong Stuff: How the Soviet Union Crashed and Burned, joins The Realignment. Marshall and John discuss the rise and fall of the USSR's space program, why the U.S. had the "Right Stuff" while the Soviet's had the "Wrong Stuff" needed for long-term success, how NASA lost its way after the Apollo Moon landings, and the implications for the second space race between the U.S., China, and the private companies like SpaceX caught in the middle.

Transcribed - Published: 5 June 2024

Stephanie Ternullo, author of How the Heartland Went Red: Why Local Forces Matter in an Age of Nationalized Politics and Assistant Professor of Government at Harvard University, joins The Realignment. Marshall and Stephanie discuss how focusing on local contexts helps explain why White voters continue to shift to the right, why the New Deal coalition broke down, the debate over whether all politics is local or increasingly nationalized, and how these dynamics defined the 2016 and 2020 elections.

Transcribed - Published: 31 May 2024

Kyla Scanlon, Bloomberg contributor and author of In This Economy?: How Money & Markets Really Work, returns to The Realignment. Marshall and Kyla discuss how she originated the term "Vibecession," and why it perfectly describes the mood of mid-2020s America, educational gaps when it comes to money and market related topics, using social media and publishing tools such as Substack to inform audiences, generational differences, and why she believes the "Abundance Agenda" is the best hope for improving economic opportunity.

Transcribed - Published: 29 May 2024

In the latest edition of The Realignment's weekend Ask Me Anything and discussion series, Saagar and Marshall debate and discuss how the U.S. should have approached Israel's war against Hamas, the impacts of Israel-Palestine on the 2024 election, Biden vs. Trump's electoral prospects, Breaking Points's transition to Rumble, and more...

Transcribed - Published: 26 May 2024

Heath Brown, author of Roadblocked: Joe Biden's Rocky Transition to the Presidency and Associate Professor CUNY's John Jay College of Criminal Justice, joins The Realignment. Marshall and Heath discuss the increasing political significance and attention paid to presidential transitions, why the transition from Trump to Biden went poorly, how outside interests groups influence incoming administrations, the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025, and whether Biden should have aimed for a "transformational" presidency in the first place?

Transcribed - Published: 23 May 2024

David Ignatius, Washington Post columnist and author of Phantom Orbit: A Thriller, joins The Realignment. David and Marshall why outer space defines the present and future of great power conflict, Ukraine's path forward, how to avert a hot war with China, the state of Biden's 2024 campaign, and why America is overdue for an era of political reform in the spirit of Theodore Roosevelt and the Progressive movement.

Transcribed - Published: 21 May 2024

Craig Whitlock, Washington Post reporter and author of Fat Leonard: How One Man Bribed, Bilked, and Seduced the U.S. Navy & The Afghanistan Papers, joins The Realignment. Marshall and Craig discuss how a Malaysian defense contractor, Leonard Francis (nicknamed "Fat Leonard"), bribed scores of high-ranking U.S. Navy officers across three decades, defrauded the Navy out of tens of millions of dollars, exposed vast security and counter-intelligence gaps in the military, and the reforms needed to prevent future corruption scandals.

Transcribed - Published: 16 May 2024

Nellie Bowles, writer, former New York Times reporter, and author of Morning After the Revolution: Dispatches from the Wrong Side of History, joins The Realignment. Marshall and Nellie discuss why some of the most educated people in America lost their minds in 2020, what she learned investigating and reporting on Seattle's Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ) and Antifa protests in Portland, and why 2020 reckoning inspired moves like abolishing the SAT, defunding the police, and drug decriminalization are running out of steam.

Transcribed - Published: 14 May 2024

Edward F. O'Keefe, CEO of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library Foundation and author of The Loves of Theodore Roosevelt: The Women Who Created a President, joins The Realignment. He joins the show as part of The Realignment's coverage of the American presidency during the lead up to the 2024 election. Marshall and Edward discuss why they believe Theodore Roosevelt is the most compelling and interesting president, the ways that Roosevelt's rugged 19th century masculinity was shsaped by his mother, sisters, and wives, how he navigated America's industrial era realignment, and the future plans to build a Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in North Dakota.

Transcribed - Published: 9 May 2024

Bayard Winthrop, Founder and CEO of American Giant, joins The Realignment. Marshall and Bayard discuss American Giant’s work primarily sourcing and manufacturing its clothing in the U.S., what the clothing industry could teach other attempts to re-shore post-COVID, how Washington helps (and impedes) manufacturers, and the importance of domestic production and its impact on jobs, society, trade policy, and supply chain resilience.

Transcribed - Published: 7 May 2024

In the latest edition of The Realignment's weekend Ask Me Anything and discussion series, Saagar and Marshall evaluate whether the campus protests sweeping schools across the country are effective, analyze the question of whether bipartisan policy failure in the Middle East is due to ignorance, and discuss why third parties and their candidates such as Ross Perot and RFK Jr. fail to translate their initial ballot success into long-term political change.

Transcribed - Published: 5 May 2024

David E. Sanger, White House & National Security Correspondent for the New York Times and author of New Cold Wars: China's Rise, Russia's Invasion, and America's Struggle to Defend the West, joins The Realignment. Marshall and David discuss how the U.S. found itself in a volatile, nuclear-powered rivalry with Xi Jinping's China and Vladimir Putin's Russia, the economic, political, military, and technological aspects of the contest for supremacy, and whether the U.S. is up to the task.

Transcribed - Published: 2 May 2024

Dmitri Alperovitch, author of World on the Brink: How America Can Beat China in the Race for the Twenty-First Century, joins The Realignment. Marshall and Dmitri discuss why he believes that Xi Jinping is preparing to invade Taiwan this decade, why a Chinese invasion would be disastrous for the U.S. and the world, how to apply the lessons from Vladimir Putin's preparations for his Ukraine invasion to the Taiwan question, and the strategies the U.S. and her allies can pursue to deter, and win if necessary, a conflict over Taiwan.

Transcribed - Published: 30 April 2024

Dmitri Alperovitch, author of World on the Brink: How America Can Beat China in the Race for the Twenty-First Century, joins The Realignment. Marshall and Dmitri discuss why he believes that Xi Jinping is preparing to invade Taiwan this decade, why a Chinese invasion would be disastrous for the U.S. and the world, how to apply the lessons from Vladimir Putin's preparations for his Ukraine invasion to the Taiwan question, and the strategies the U.S. and her allies can pursue to deter, and win if necessary, a conflict over Taiwan.

Transcribed - Published: 30 April 2024

Dana Mattioli, Wall Street Journal reporter and author of The Everything War: Amazon's Ruthless Quest to Own the World and Remake Corporate Power, joins The Realignment. Marshall and Dana discuss Amazon's rise through the lens of debates about corporate power, why FTC Chair Lina Khan's 2017 law review article kicked off a new era of government antitrust regulation, and why the FTC's 2023 monopoly lawsuit against Amazon could be one of the largest antitrust cases of the 21st century.

Transcribed - Published: 25 April 2024

Natalie Foster, author of The Guarantee: Inside the Fight for America’s Next Economy and President & Cofounder of the Economic Security Project, joins The Realignment. Marshall and Natalie discuss how the 2016 election and the COVID pandemic created the opportunity to shift the conventional wisdom about the American economy away from the neoliberal status quo, what an economy built around "guarantees" would look like, lessons from UBI experiments and the expansion of the Child-Tax-Credit, and how progressives should respond to post-COVID inflation's dampening of support for government spending programs.

Transcribed - Published: 23 April 2024

In the latest edition of The Realignment's weekend Ask Me Anything and discussion series, Saagar and Marshall discuss the fallout from Iran and Israel's latest escalation cycle, what the passage of Ukraine aid means for the battlefield and Zelensky's political strategy, take-aways from their latest live events (conference on black conservatism and an Israel livestream debate), take audience questions, and more...

Transcribed - Published: 21 April 2024

Steven Kurutz, a features writer at The New York Times and author of American Flannel: How a Band of Entrepreneurs Are Bringing the Art and Business of Making Clothes Back Home, joins the show. Marshall and Steven discuss how and why Americans went from wearing 70% domestic-made apparel to almost none, the revival of domestic clothes manufacturing in the 2000s and 2010s, and how the lessons of the industry's domestic revival applies to post-COVID reshoring opportunities in critical industries.

Transcribed - Published: 18 April 2024

To celebrate the anniversary of The Realignment's Supercast subscription, Marshall recorded a special, best-of edition where he answers questions on everything from the show's future to his Texas-centered book idea and more...

Transcribed - Published: 16 April 2024

The Realignment is taking the day off so that Marshall can travel to Dallas to moderate a conference panel. There is however, a new episode of his Hudson Institute podcast, Arsenal of Democracy, summing up the lessons from the recent TikTok legislative debate and what it means for U.S. digital sovereignty and political economy.

Transcribed - Published: 11 April 2024

Nick Troiano, author of The Primary Solution: Rescuing Our Democracy from the Fringes and founding executive director of Unite America, joins The Realignment. Marshall discuss the case against party primaries, how politicians respond to the structure of the American political system, the lessons and results of 2020s election reforms, and whether proposed election reforms benefit one side of the aisle over the other.

Transcribed - Published: 9 April 2024

In the latest edition of The Realignment's weekend Ask Me Anything and discussion series, Saagar and Marshall discuss what its like to start one's career at the DC national security think tank, their thoughts on Japanese culture and status as an American ally, the state of the "Barstool conservatism" phenomenon, why Trump won't pick Tulsi Gabbard as his VP choice, and more...

Transcribed - Published: 7 April 2024

Taylor Lorenz, Washington Post columnist and author of Extremely Online: The Untold Story of Fame, and Corbin Barthold, TechFreedom's Internet Policy Counsel and Director of Appellate Litigation, join The Realignment. In this two-part episode, Marshall and Taylor discuss her work on the creator economy, broader story of the social internet's development, and her opposition to the House legislation to force ByteDance to divest itself from TikTok. Then, Marshall and Corbin discuss his belief that the legislation as written violates the First Amendment.

Transcribed - Published: 4 April 2024

Adam Klein, Director of the Strauss Center at the University of Texas at Austin and former Chairman of the U.S. Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, joins The Realignment. Marshall and Adam discuss the case for forcing ByteDance to divest itself from TikTok or face a ban, why a forced divestment of TikTok passes constitutional muster, the case for treating a social media app like a radio station or cable network from a foreign-ownership ban perspective, and how to balance the American tradition of free speech and privacy in national security contexts.

Transcribed - Published: 2 April 2024

Annie Jacobsen, journalist and author of Nuclear War: A Scenario, joins The Realignment. Marshall and Annie discuss what experts predict the initial minutes after a nuclear launch and strike would look like, why the return of Cold War style relationships between great powers has brought the threat of nuclear conflict back to the forefront, the history of the U.S. military and Executive Branch's nuclear policies, and the need to ensure that adversary nations maintain lines of clarity and communication to prevent a disastrous miscalculation.

Transcribed - Published: 28 March 2024

Tim Carney, AEI Senior Fellow, Washington Examiner columnist, and author of Family Unfriendly: Family Unfriendly: How Our Culture Made Raising Kids Much Harder Than It Needs to Be, joins The Realignment. Tim and Marshall discuss the cultural, economic, political, and technological roots of America's falling birth rate, the gap between the number of children that families wish to have and the actual number they have, government's role in family formation and social policy, the role of class and region in parenting struggles, and the ways that individual parents can make navigate an increasingly difficult social environment.

Transcribed - Published: 26 March 2024

In the latest edition of The Realignment's weekend Ask Me Anything and discussion series, Saagar and Marshall discuss the implications of Candace Owens leaving the Daily Wire, Jonathan Haidt's argument that smartphones severely damaged society from 2012 onwards, and respond to Supercast subscriber AMA questions.

Transcribed - Published: 24 March 2024

Former NATO Allied Supreme Commander Admiral James Stavridis and Elliot Ackerman, co-authors of 2054: A Novel and 2034: A Novel of the Next World War, return to The Realignment. In a follow-up to their fictional exploration of a military conflict between the U.S. and China in the 2030s, Stavridis and Ackerman explore how artificial intelligence, advances in biotechnology, fractious politics, and an evolving world order defined by nation-states and corporate power could shape the midpoint of the 21st century.

Transcribed - Published: 21 March 2024

Saleha Mohsin, author of Paper Soldiers: How the Weaponization of the Dollar Changed the World Order and Senior Washington Correspondent for Bloomberg News, joins The Realignment. Saleha and Marshall discuss the "strong dollar" consensus that emerged after the end of the Cold War, the resulting tradeoff between cheap consumer imports and the decimation of the manufacturing sector, how the Trump administration began to turn against the strong dollar consensus, the role the Treasury Department and the dollar play in perpetuating America's superpower status, and the increasing use of financial sanctions from the War on Terror to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Transcribed - Published: 19 March 2024

Jim Sciutto, CNN Chief National Security Analyst and author of The Return of Great Powers: Russia, China, and the Next World War, joins The Realignment. Jim and Marshall discuss why he believes we're living in a "1939 moment," why the "Cold War II" description understates the perilous geopolitical environment, lessons from the past two years of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, whether the United States can afford to handle multiple theaters of conflict at once, and the Biden vs. Trump foreign policy visions that will define the 2024 election.

Transcribed - Published: 14 March 2024

Frank H. McCourt, Jr., founder of Project Liberty and author of Our Biggest Fight: Reclaiming Liberty, Humanity, and Dignity in the Digital Age, joins The Realignment. Marshall and Frank discuss his belief that the internet as we know it is broken, why reimagining the internet's architecture could address growing social strife, the limits of the past decade's regulatory and status-quo market approach, and the promise a "third-generation internet" premised on digital property rights, autonomy, and ownership.

Transcribed - Published: 12 March 2024

In the latest edition of The Realignment's weekend Ask Me Anything and discussion series, Saagar and Marshall discuss their reaction to President Biden's State of the Union address, the takeaways of their reading binge on America's WWII leadership, Cal Newport's long-term vision for the Apple Vision Pro, and answer audience Q&A.

Transcribed - Published: 10 March 2024

In the latest edition of The Realignment's weekend Ask Me Anything and discussion series, Saagar and Marshall discuss their reaction to President Biden's State of the Union address, the takeaways of their reading binge on America's WWII leadership, Cal Newport's long-term vision for the Apple Vision Pro, and answer audience Q&A.

Transcribed - Published: 10 March 2024

Lucas Vaz, Founder and General Partner of Ravelin Capital, joins The Realignment. Marshall and Lucas discuss, Ravelin, his newly launched fund focused on "critical software." They discuss how successful critical software startups can address the looming challenges posed by decaying infrastructure, failing institutions, and geopolitics, his previous investments in companies like Apex and Hadrian, the generational opportunity to utilize software to address real-world problems, and the ins and outs of launching a new fund amid market uncertainty in the tech industry.

Transcribed - Published: 7 March 2024

Cal Newport, Georgetown University professor of computer science, founding member of the Center for Digital Ethics, and author of Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout, returns to The Realignment. Cal and Marshall discuss why "pseudo-productivity" is at the root of trends such as anti-work and quiet-quitting, why knowledge workers feel so burnt out despite the promise of post-COVID remote/hybrid work, the economics behind decades of evolving productivity fads, and where workplace norms and practices settled after COVID's disruption.

Transcribed - Published: 5 March 2024