John is joined by Mark Whitaker to discuss his new book, “The Afterlife of Malcolm X: An Outcast Turned Icon’s Enduring Impact on America.” A former editor in chief of Newsweek, Washington bureau chief for NBC News, and managing editor of CNN Worldwide, Whitaker lays out the two narrative threads at the heart of his book: the first, a deep exploration of the unsolved mystery over who killed the revolutionary Muslim minister and progenitor of the Black Power movement; and the second, a rich exegesis of Malcolm’s lasting political and cultural influence.

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John is joined by CNN's Jake Tapper and Axios's Alex Thompson to discuss their scoop-filled, headline-spawning, controversy-stirring new book, "Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again." Jake and Alex explain the nature and central players in the concealment of the decline in President Biden's mental acuity during his time in the White House; how the lack of transparency about his health and cognitive fitness before leaving office have lent credence to the profusion of conspiracy theories following the disclosure this week of his prostate cancer diagnosis; and the impotence of a Democratic Party convinced that the stakes of the 2024 election were existential and yet unable to acknowledge Biden's age-related political liabilities before it was too late. The authors also address some of the controversies that have arisen surrounding the book and their reporting methods in the wake of its publication.

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Pablo Torre, ESPN and MSNBC commentator and host of the Edward R. Murrow Award-winning video podcast Pablo Torre Finds Out, is back with John to weigh in on an assortment of red-hot stories at the intersection of sports, culture, and politics: from the backlash in Canada against Wayne Gretzky over his association with Donald Trump and the reinstatement of Pete Rose by Major League Baseball (and Trump’s rumored role in the decision) to the calamitous collision between Bill Belichick’s private and public lives. Plus, Pablo reflects on the death row drama unfolding around Dallas Cowboys superfan and dubiously convicted supermax inmate Charles Flores, the coverage of which recently earned PTFO a Peabody Award nomination.

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John is joined by former Florida Republican congressman David Jolly to discuss Donald Trump’s trip to the Mideast and the naked corruption on display in his embrace of a $400 million 747 gifted by Qatar to serve as a new Air Force One; disarray among House Republicans over the “one big, beautiful bill," and Jolly’s defection to the Democratic Party ahead of an all but certain run for governor in the Sunshine State in 2026.

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John is joined by the Oscar and Emmy Award-winning documentarian Davis Guggenheim to discuss his new film for Apple TV +, “Deaf President Now!” Davis lays out the story behind the movie, which revolves around a student protest that erupted over eight days in 1988 at Gallaudet University in Washington, DC, the world’s only university for the deaf, and explains why it stands as “the greatest civil rights movement in history you’ve never heard of.” Davis also retraces his storied career as a non-fiction director, connecting the dots between his past films, from “An Inconvenient Truth” and “Waiting for ‘Superman’” to “He Named Me Malala" and "Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie”—and reveals why getting fired by Denzel Washington from “Training Day” changed his life, and for the better.

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John is joined by Atlantic staff writers Ashley Parker and Michael Scherer to discuss their new cover story on the remarkable political resurrection that returned Donald Trump to the White House and imbued him with a patina of invincibility—and the recent signs that this veneer is starting to crack. Parker and Scherer weigh in on Trump’s tete-a-tete with Canada’s new prime minister, Mark Carney; the differences between his first and second-term states of mind; and whether becoming an avatar of tariff-induced austerity is a good look for him. They also opine on whether Trump’s talk about reopening Alcatraz is serious, yet more trolling, or a sign that he’s been watching too many old movies on cable.

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John is joined by hedge fund manager Anthony Scaramucci to discuss the first White House personnel shake-up of Donald Trump’s second term and the culture of sycophancy in his cabinet. Scaramucci — who served a famously shambolic 11-day stint at Trump’s communications director in 2017 — offers his take on why Mike Waltz lost his job as national security adviser, Marco Rubio was chosen as his replacement (at least for now), and Trump, contrary to his reality-tv persona, is actually terrible at firing people. Scaramucci also weighs in on Trump’s trade war, arguing that his recent remark about America's children having to settle for “two dolls instead of 30” was a clear sign that his former boss is moving inexorably towards caving on his tariff agenda.

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John is joined by Semafor editor-in-chief Ben Smith to discuss the role of private group chats in pushing Silicon Valley's politics to the right—and many of its most powerful figures into the arms of Donald Trump. Ben lays out how dozens of hush-hush Signal and WhatsApp groups emerged during Covid among the tech elite in reaction to what its members saw as the stifling woke conformity of social media; the seminal role of venture capitalist Marc Andreessen in seeding these forums; and how their influence now flows through X, Substack, and podcasts, making them the "dark matter of American politics and media." Ben also contends that, 100 days into his second term, Trump is starting to feel the pull of political gravity; that Semafor, which he cofounded three years ago, still retains the vaulting ambitions the company famously trumpeted at launch; and that the recent tumult in financial markets has elevated "Margin Call" from a cult classic to the greatest Wall Street movie of all time.

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On the eve of Donald Trump’s 100th day back in office, John is joined by his Puck Political Superfriend and partner Peter Hamby to look back on what 45/47 hath wrought since January 20 — what has mattered and what hasn’t; the most truly surprising, most entirely predictable, and most grievously overlooked developments and storylines; and both the state of the Democratic Party generally and the broader anti-Trump resistance specifically — as Trump 2.0 got underway with a bang (really more of a eardrum-shredding sonic boom) and not a whimper.

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John is joined by Susan Morrison, articles editor of The New Yorker, to discuss “Lorne: The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Live,” her biography of SNL creator and producer Lorne Michaels. Morrison argues that no one has done more to shape modern America’s sense of humor than Michaels, an enigmatic Canadian about whom most Americans know nothing; and that while Michaels a figure of enduring obsession among comics, he remains a mystery to them as well. Morrison lays out the singular combination of qualities (tastemaker, talent-spotter, task-master, raconteur, adrenaline junkie) that makes Lorne Lorne—and reveals that, yes, in fact, he was the inspiration for Dr. Evil.

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