Can He Do That?

By The Washington Post

What's Can He Do That? about?

“Can He Do That?” is The Washington Post’s politics podcast, exploring presidential power in the face of weakened institutions, a divided electorate and changing political norms. Led by host Allison Michaels, each episode asks a new question about this extraordinary moment in American history and answers with insight into how our government works, how to understand ongoing events, and the implications when so much about the current state of American life and the country’s politics is unlike anything we’ve seen before.

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LAST EPISODE

Introducing “Field Trip”

06.21.2023

Journey through the messy past and uncertain future of America’s national parks. The Washington Post’s Lillian Cunningham ventures off the marked trail to better understand the most urgent stories playing out in five iconic landscapes today.

Can He Do That? episodes:

06.21.2023 Introducing “Field Trip” Journey through the messy past and uncertain future of America’s national parks. The Washington Post’s Lillian Cunningham ventures off the marked trail to better understand the most urgent stories playing out in five iconic landscapes today.
03.31.2023 Trump’s indicted. Now what? Former president Donald Trump has been indicted. We couldn't leave you hanging without an update from Post journalists. Here's today's 'Post Reports' episode that explains how the case could test the limits of our political and legal systems.
12.09.2022 Check out The 7 On The Post’s new podcast, "The 7," host Jeff Pierre takes you through the seven most important and interesting stories of the day. It's a way to get caught up in just a few minutes. It comes out every weekday ...
05.12.2022 So… can he do that? More than five years later, what’s the answer to: “Can he do that?” What major lessons have we learned about the stability of our democracy and the limitations on presidential power? How have our systems been tested and how have ...
05.05.2022 A message from Allison Allison shares some news about the future of the show. Plus, a request to hear from listeners.
04.28.2022 “Broken Doors,” Episode 1 An unusual warrant. A pattern of questionable no-knock raids. A reporting thread that just kept going. “Broken Doors” is a new investigative podcast series from The Washington Post. Hosted by Jenn Abelson and Nicole Dungca.
04.21.2022 Is ‘defund the police’ dead for Democrats? Can Democrats clarify messaging on police reform? With states and cities taking police reform matters into their own hands, does the president run the risk of losing the support of the communities that played a huge part in getting him ...
04.14.2022 Inside Biden’s Ukraine strategy How has President Biden's experience with Afghanistan informed his choices in Ukraine? We’ve explored Biden’s history with global leadership, war and American intervention. What can his foreign policy history tell us about Biden’s response in Europe now?
04.11.2022 Introducing “Broken Doors” An unusual warrant. A pattern of questionable no-knock raids. A reporting thread that just kept going. “Broken Doors” is a new investigative podcast series from the Washington Post. Hosted by Jenn Abelson and Nicole Dungca.
04.07.2022 Obama and Biden: It’s complicated President Biden and former President Obama have seen little of each other recently, despite an ostensibly close relationship. What does Obama's appearance at the White House say about the relationship? And will it yield the results Democrats hope for?
03.31.2022 What's stopping the DOJ from going after Trump? A federal judge ruled this week that then-President Donald Trump “more likely than not” committed federal crimes in trying to block President Biden’s election win on Jan. 6, 2021. What are the likely implications for Trump and the Justice Department?
03.24.2022 In Europe, Biden hopes to keep U.S. allies together President Biden is in Europe this week, making stops in Belgium and in Poland in hopes of keeping the Western alliance united and showcasing American leadership. How much further will the allies go in support of Ukraine?
03.17.2022 Is it time for an independent probe into the pandemic response? Some lawmakers hope to set up an independent probe into the country’s pandemic response, after months of contentious and partisan oversight efforts in Congress. Would this probe avoid politics and help us understand how to fight future pandemics?
03.10.2022 Where Biden’s climate goals and a Russian oil ban collide President Biden pledged to move America’s climate reforms forward. How can he ensure that the U.S. has enough oil supply to keep prices from surging, while also ensuring that efforts to obtain that oil don’t infringe on his climate promises?
03.03.2022 Biden lays out a new path for Democrats. Is it too late? President Biden is trying to refocus messaging around Democrats' accomplishments. Is it too late for a political course correction with such little time before the midterms? Biden’s made his priorities clear, but will the Democratic party follow suit?
02.25.2022 Ketanji Brown Jackson’s path to the court — between confrontation and compromise President Biden’s choice of Judge Jackson fulfills his campaign promise to nominate the first Black woman to the Supreme Court. She spent years overcoming obstacles by finding the middle ground.
02.24.2022 Biden’s response to Putin’s invasion Russia launched a full-scale attack against Ukraine in what U.S. officials say is an attempt to topple the democratically-elected, pro-Western government. The U.S. and its allies responded with massive sanctions. Will they work to deter Russia?
02.17.2022 Road tripping through a divided state With the midterm elections on the horizon, both parties are searching for ways to connect with voters. But what if the thing voters want most is for politics to stop feeling like an existential death match? A reporter looks for ...
02.10.2022 Blue states are moving on from the pandemic. Can Biden? The White House is in a tough spot as Democratic governors begin lifting mask mandates. How long will President Biden hold out while facing pressure from his own party? And what accounts for the discrepancy between state governments and CDC ...
02.03.2022 Trump, 2024 and the fragility of American democracy New details emerged about former president Trump's actions in the aftermath of the 2020 election. Plus, he made some new claims about the electoral process. How might the week's news affect a potential 2024 run and the cracks in American ...
01.27.2022 Why we’re talking about Ukraine… again What’s likely to happen next with this intensifying U.S.-Russia conflict? How is Biden’s approach with Ukraine different than past presidents? And why does Ukraine seem to come up over and over again in modern American politics?
01.21.2022 Biden’s struggle to tackle ‘four historic crises’ at once After one year in office — with the country still facing several historic crises, simultaneously — Washington Post reporters set out to answer this question: What has Biden done about the four crises he pledged to address?
01.13.2022 Not everyone’s sold on Biden’s voting rights push. Will it work? President Biden once said the filibuster was an important part of the legislative process. Now, he's urging changes to get legislation passed. How far will his words go in convincing Senate Democrats? Can he change the future of our election ...
01.07.2022 A son's death, Jan. 6, and a congressman's mission On Jan. 5, 2021, Rep. Jamie Raskin buried his only son. The next day he witnessed firsthand the attack on the Capitol. As we mark a year since the insurrection, we look at how Raskin dealt with his son’s death ...
01.06.2022 One year later, has Biden’s DOJ brought enough justice? Where things stand one year after the Jan. 6 attacks on the Capitol? How much has Biden’s administration done to understand what led to the events of that day? And how far has it gone to prevent another major attack ...
12.22.2021 The Exit In the last episode of our series from October about President Biden and the War in Afghanistan, he takes the reins as commander-in-chief and withdraws U.S. forces. Biden rethinks his stance on military intervention and America’s role in the world.
12.21.2021 The War In the second episode of our October series about President Biden and the War in Afghanistan, we look at the years after the Sept. 11 attacks when Biden called for a major nation-building effort. Over time, though, he begins to ...
12.20.2021 The Senator In this series that originally aired on the 20th anniversary of the first U.S. strikes on Afghanistan, we explore President Biden’s career as it intertwines with the war. He ultimately chose to end the ‘forever war.’ What role did he ...
12.16.2021 ‘A lack of decorum’: Congress in 2021 Where did Congress succeed this year and where did our governing body fall short? What does party extremism in the Capitol mean for gridlock? And is the existing American system still the best means to govern our country?
12.09.2021 Are we too divided for unity? President Biden pledged to unify the country, and to do it amid tense racial and cultural division. How far has Biden come on that promise? Will he move toward more aggressively tackling social issues in year 2?
12.02.2021 One year (almost) of Biden’s America President Biden ran on the promise of returning the nation back to"normal." How far has Biden come? Washington Post White House reporters Ashley Parker, Annie Linskey and Sean Sullivan chat about where things stand nearly a year into Biden's presidency.
11.24.2021 The state of Trump’s affairs A close look at the state of Donald Trump post-presidency — his businesses, his finances, the ongoing criminal investigations into his actions and how all of those things could affect a potential political comeback.
11.18.2021 Prices are going up. Can Biden bring them down? What levers do presidents have to slow inflation? How much of our current economic situation can be attributed to President Biden’s policies and what can he really do to change the course of the American economy in the months ahead?
11.11.2021 Are Biden's vaccine mandates an overreach of presidential power? Now that the Biden administration has released rules for vaccine and testing mandates, court battles are starting to heat up. The Post’s labor reporter, and a legal expert, weigh in on what the future might hold for Biden’s vaccine workforce ...
11.03.2021 Biden promised unity. Voters are still divided. In a major upset for Democrats Tuesday, Republican Glenn Youngkin eked out a victory in Virginia’s gubernatorial race. Today, we look at the results of that election, and others, to understand the nation one year after the divisive 2020 elections.
10.28.2021 McCarthy walks the Trump tightrope McCarthy says he can recapture the House, but navigating an unpredictable former President Trump and keeping donors happy at the same time is sizable challenge. McCarthy wants to win in 2022 and unify the Republican party. Can he do that?
10.21.2021 The Exit In the last episode of our series about President Biden and the War in Afghanistan, he takes the reins as commander-in-chief and withdraws U.S. forces. Ultimately, Biden rethinks his stance on military intervention and America’s role in the world.
10.14.2021 The War In the second episode of our series about President Biden and the War in Afghanistan, we look at the years after the Sept. 11 attacks when Biden called for a major nation-building effort. Over time, though, he begins to doubt ...
10.07.2021 The Senator On the 20th anniversary of the first U.S. strikes on Afghanistan, this three-part series explores President Biden's career as it intertwines with the war there. He ultimately chose to end the ‘forever war.’ But what role did he have in ...
09.30.2021 American democracy in ‘Peril’ Journalists Bob Woodward and Robert Costa uncovered details about the tumultuous transition of power from President Trump to President Biden in their new book, "Peril." They reveal how close we came to constitutional and international crises.
09.23.2021 Biden’s climate agenda is bold. Is it enough? In this episode, as President Biden address the U.N. for the first time since taking office, we revisit a conversation from August about the climate’s "unprecedented" state and Biden’s big goals toward repairing it. Can his agenda succeed?
09.16.2021 Biden mandates vaccines for millions. Can he do that? How can vaccine mandates effectively be enforced across the country? What precedent is there in history and law? And how do Americans and business owners feel about President Biden's executive orders mandating immunization?
09.10.2021 America’s Song, Part 2 After 9/11, NYPD police officer Daniel Rodriguez comforted the nation by performing “God Bless America.” It felt like a timeless moment. Instead, it proved fleeting. In this series, we explore how he and the country have tried to heal after ...
09.09.2021 America’s Song, Part 1 After 9/11, NYPD police officer Daniel Rodriguez comforted the nation by performing “God Bless America.” It felt like a timeless moment. Instead, it proved fleeting. In this series, we explore how he and the country have tried to heal after ...
09.02.2021 The presidential power to strike How much power should the president have to act unilaterally on drone strikes? And how will that question define a new era of U.S. warfare? Plus, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) weighs in on the balance between the president and Congress ...
08.26.2021 Thousands have been evacuated from Afghanistan. Where will they go? The Biden administration faces a big challenge as they try to resettle Afghanistan refugees, and while also ensuring each person arriving to the U.S. undergoes significant security checks. The political debate around what happens next has started to heat up.
08.19.2021 Biden vowed a smooth exit from Afghanistan. Now what? Biden sold himself as the experienced leader to undo Trump’s foreign policy missteps. But his push to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan and the ensuing chaos has called that claim into question. Is this moment a test for Biden? And ...
08.12.2021 Biden’s climate agenda is bold. Is it enough? Climate legislation moves forward as a U.N. report warns that humans have pushed the climate into "unprecedented" territory unless greenhouse gas pollution falls dramatically. President Biden has big goals to cut that pollution. Will his agenda succeed?
08.05.2021 One big threat to Biden’s agenda: The map The 2022 midterm elections are still more than a year away. But the battle to win those races has already begun in the form of redrawing legislative and congressional districts. What can we learn about which party will emerge with ...
07.29.2021 The future of the Jan. 6 commission The ongoing probe may have implications for the 2022 midterm race and for President Biden’s promise to tackle white supremacist violence. What might findings reveal about where the U.S. is headed? And what can the hearings tell us about what’s ...

Older episodes

Can He Do That?

What's Can He Do That? about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Can He Do That? episodes:

Introducing “Field Trip”

Trump’s indicted. Now what?

Check out The 7

So… can he do that?

A message from Allison

“Broken Doors,” Episode 1

Is ‘defund the police’ dead for Democrats?

Inside Biden’s Ukraine strategy

Introducing “Broken Doors”

Obama and Biden: It’s complicated

What's stopping the DOJ from going after Trump?

In Europe, Biden hopes to keep U.S. allies together

Is it time for an independent probe into the pandemic response?

Where Biden’s climate goals and a Russian oil ban collide

Biden lays out a new path for Democrats. Is it too late?

Ketanji Brown Jackson’s path to the court — between confrontation and compromise

Biden’s response to Putin’s invasion

Road tripping through a divided state

Blue states are moving on from the pandemic. Can Biden?

Trump, 2024 and the fragility of American democracy

Why we’re talking about Ukraine… again

Biden’s struggle to tackle ‘four historic crises’ at once

Not everyone’s sold on Biden’s voting rights push. Will it work?

A son's death, Jan. 6, and a congressman's mission

One year later, has Biden’s DOJ brought enough justice?

The Exit

The War

The Senator

‘A lack of decorum’: Congress in 2021

Are we too divided for unity?

One year (almost) of Biden’s America

The state of Trump’s affairs

Prices are going up. Can Biden bring them down?

Are Biden's vaccine mandates an overreach of presidential power?

Biden promised unity. Voters are still divided.

McCarthy walks the Trump tightrope

The Exit

The War

The Senator

American democracy in ‘Peril’

Biden’s climate agenda is bold. Is it enough?

Biden mandates vaccines for millions. Can he do that?

America’s Song, Part 2

America’s Song, Part 1

The presidential power to strike

Thousands have been evacuated from Afghanistan. Where will they go?

Biden vowed a smooth exit from Afghanistan. Now what?

Biden’s climate agenda is bold. Is it enough?

One big threat to Biden’s agenda: The map

The future of the Jan. 6 commission

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