The Pulitzer Prizes, administered by Columbia University, stand as the gold standard for American journalism, literature, and arts. A win launches careers, boosts sales, and cements legacies. Yet this year’s Illustrated Reporting and Commentary category—formerly Editorial Cartoons—faces serious questions about fairness. 

Finalist Peter Kuper appears syndicated by PoliticalCartoons.com, owned by Daryl Cagle. Cagle’s daughter Susie Cagle serves on the five-person jury. Industry rules demand recusal for any appearance of conflict of interest, especially when a syndicate boss’s family member judges entries from dozens of her father’s clients. 

Columbia stays silent. Jurors refuse comment. No answers emerge despite direct inquiries. 

This controversy hits at a time when public trust in media sits at a dismal 8%. With journalism hemorrhaging jobs and facing accusations of bias, favoritism, and sloppy process, many wonder if the institution anointing “the best” lives up to its own standards. Broader issues swirl too: category expansion diluting editorial cartooning, past complaints of ignored entries, and declining faith in the system. Ted Rall and Scott Stantis cut through the noise with sharp analysis on this high-stakes drama.

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The DMZ America Podcast is recorded weekly by political cartoonists Ted Rall and Scott Stantis. 

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Join editorial cartoonists Ted Rall (from the Left) and Scott Stantis (from the Right) as they interview veteran editorial cartoonist Marshall Ramsey—who has had a bird’s eye view of the South for decades—about cartooning, politics, and the news of the day.

Marshall Ramsey is a renowned American editorial cartoonist known for his sharp wit, incisive commentary, and poignant memorial tributes. Born in New Jersey and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, he graduated from the University of Tennessee in 1991 with a marketing degree, where he cartooned for the student newspaper. 

After early work in San Diego, he moved to Mississippi in 1996 and spent 22 years at the Clarion Ledger in Jackson. A two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist (2002 and 2006), he has authored three cartoon collections, two short story collections, and a children’s book, and won a Southeastern Emmy. 

Formerly editor-at-large of Mississippi Today, Director of the Mississippi Media Lab, and a syndicated artist, Ramsey continues creating impactful cartoons while engaging communities through journalism and speaking.

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The DMZ America Podcast is recorded weekly by political cartoonists Ted Rall and Scott Stantis. 

Twitter/X: @scottstantis and @tedrall

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Join editorial cartoonists Ted Rall (from the Left) and Scott Stantis (from the Right) to discuss the impact of the Middle East War on the United States, cartooning, and Scott’s views of Israel.

Support the show

The DMZ America Podcast is recorded weekly by political cartoonists Ted Rall and Scott Stantis. 

Twitter/X: @scottstantis and @tedrall

Web: Rall.com

Stephen Notley is a Canadian cartoonist, writer, and creator of the cult-favorite webcomic Bob the Angry Flower. Born in 1970 in Edmonton, Alberta, he launched the surreal, sharp-witted strip in 1992 featuring an easily enraged anthropomorphic flower who rants about everything from bad punctuation to global politics. 

Steven joins Ted and Scott today!

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The DMZ America Podcast is recorded weekly by political cartoonists Ted Rall and Scott Stantis. 

Twitter/X: @scottstantis and @tedrall

Web: Rall.com

Join editorial cartoonists Ted Rall (from the Left) and Scott Stantis (from the Right) as they hang out with cartoonist Mr. Fish to discuss the state of the world from the Iran War to the collapsing economy to ecocide to everything else you can think of that’s going seriously wrong during the End Times.

Support the show

The DMZ America Podcast is recorded weekly by political cartoonists Ted Rall and Scott Stantis. 

Twitter/X: @scottstantis and @tedrall

Web: Rall.com

Join editorial cartoonists Ted Rall (from the Left) and Scott Stantis (from the Right) for a collision of podcast worlds! Ted’s Deprogram co-host and CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou joins DMZ for a special cross-pollination episode in which Scott gets to ask John about the future of the republic, the Middle East War and anything else that happens to cross his mind.

Support the show

The DMZ America Podcast is recorded weekly by political cartoonists Ted Rall and Scott Stantis. 

Twitter/X: @scottstantis and @tedrall

Web: Rall.com

The U.S. and Israel dominate the air, but it’s the water that matters to the global economy, and Iran is putting on the hurt in the Strait of Hormuz, where tankers are being bombed and 20% of the world’s oil supply is trapped. Join Ted and Scott for an in-depth discussion  about the U.S./Israeli War against Iran and what comes next.

Support the show

The DMZ America Podcast is recorded weekly by political cartoonists Ted Rall and Scott Stantis. 

Twitter/X: @scottstantis and @tedrall

Web: Rall.com

Nikahang Kowsar, known as Nik Kowsar, is an award-winning Iranian-Canadian cartoonist, journalist, and water issues analyst born in Tehran, Iran, in 1969. He studied geology at the University of Tehran before launching his cartooning career in 1991 with the satirical magazine Gol-Agha. He contributed to numerous Iranian newspapers like Hamshahri and others, often facing censorship and prosecution for his sharp political satire. In 2000, he was imprisoned for a cartoon depicting a crocodile that critics linked to a hardline cleric, sparking death threats and forcing his exile in 2003. He fled to Canada, later settling in Washington, D.C. Kowsar received the Cartoonists Rights Network International Award for Courage in Editorial Cartooning in 2001. Today, he focuses on Iran's severe water crisis through journalism, a weekly video show Abangan, websites like AbanganIran.org, BBC Persian contributions, and TV analysis, while serving on CRNI's board.

Support the show

The DMZ America Podcast is recorded weekly by political cartoonists Ted Rall and Scott Stantis. 

Twitter/X: @scottstantis and @tedrall

Web: Rall.com

Donald Trump certainly has good reasons to cancel the elections. Will he? Can he? The Washington Post reports that he is considering declaring a national emergency to justify federalizing the midterms—which is unconstitutional—on the grounds that China stole the 2020 election on behalf of Joe Biden.

DMZ America co-hosts and colleagues Ted Rall (from the Left) and Scott Stantis (from the Right), who predicted the January 6th Capitol Riot and have been following Trump’s flirtations with American fascism all along, discuss why, how and whether the president may choose to end America’s 250-year experiment with representative democracy later this year.

Joining Ted and Scott to discuss is Charles Lipson. Charles is a political scientist and Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of Chicago, where he held the Peter B. Ritzma Professorship and co-founded the Program on International Politics, Economics, and Security. He earned his undergraduate degrees in political science and economics from Yale and his Ph.D. from Harvard. Since joining Chicago in 1977, his work has focused on international relations, cooperation and conflict, and the political economy of global trade, debt, and investment. He is also a prolific columnist for outlets like RealClearPolitics and The Spectator, commenting on U.S. foreign policy and American politics.

Support the show

The DMZ America Podcast is recorded weekly by political cartoonists Ted Rall and Scott Stantis. 

Twitter/X: @scottstantis and @tedrall

Web: Rall.com

Two-time Pulitzer-winning editorial cartoonist Mike Luckovich of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, joins DMZ America co-hosts and colleagues Ted Rall (from the Left) and Scott Stantis (from the Right) to discuss cartoons, journalism and the news of the week:

Economic challenges like inflation, affordability, jobs, and the deficit remain the dominant public concern, contributing to Trump’s approval rating dipping to around 36% as Americans feel his policies have failed to deliver relief. Immigration continues as a flashpoint, with aggressive enforcement, mass deportations, and reduced illegal crossings achieving some goals but drawing criticism over humanitarian issues, overreach, and mixed support amid ongoing DHS funding battles and the partial government shutdown. As the 2026 midterms approach, Republicans defend narrow majorities amid deepening polarization, with key battles over government funding, foreign policy isolationism straining alliances, voter integrity legislation like the SAVE Act.

Support the show

The DMZ America Podcast is recorded weekly by political cartoonists Ted Rall and Scott Stantis. 

Twitter/X: @scottstantis and @tedrall

Web: Rall.com