You’re listening to What Rough Beast!

We are Virginia Heffernan and Stephen Metcalf, and today we’re talking with Michael Tomasky, author, journalist and editor of The New Republic.

In this episode, we talk about:

* The media earthquake nobody's talking about - this was the FIRST election where Fox News and right-wing media actually out-muscled the mainstream press in setting the national agenda (and it explains SO much about Trump's win)

* The impossible trap journalists face today: try to debunk crazy stories about "immigrants eating pets" and you end up amplifying the very nonsense you're fighting against 🤦‍♀️

* All the wild stuff happening just LAST WEEK - from Trump's team spilling military secrets in Signal chats to straight-up extorting law firms (and Michael doesn't hold back on what this says about their contempt for rules)

* A brilliant idea that could save Democrats: create a "shadow government" like the Brits do, with designated people to tackle each Trump disaster instead of everyone scrambling to respond to everything

* Proof that good journalism still matters! The New Republic's reporting actually forced the Trump administration to restore a program tracking Ukrainian children taken by Russians (small wins in dark times)

This episode is free to all listeners, but please consider becoming a paid Magic + Loss subscriber. Every dollar goes to the continued fight against fascism.

What Rough Beast is a listener-supported podcast. To receive new posts and support this work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit virginiaheffernan.substack.com/subscribe