Impolitic with John Heilemann

John welcomes longtime Republican strategist Dave Kochel for the first part of a special doubleheader on the midterm elections in Iowa—and whether the state that launched Barack Obama may be about to swing back to blue after ten years of dominance by Donald Trump’s G.O.P. An Iowa native who ran Mitt Romney’s caucus operations in 2008 and 2012, confidant to former six-term governor Terry Branstad and current two-termer Kim Reynolds, and adviser to Senate candidate Ashley Hinson and congressman Zach Nunn, Kochel argues that while his party is facing fierce political headwinds, Democrats are too optimistic about their prospects in a state where the blue team’s brand remains borderline toxic.

John welcomes longtime Democratic consulting partners and Clinton 1992 icons James Carville & Paul Begala to discuss their party’s prospects in the midterm elections. James and Paul argue that the House is rapidly shifting from a blue wave to a blue wipeout; that Democratic optimism about flipping Senate seats in deep red states (Alaska, Kansas, South Carolina and even Mississippi) is warranted, even as their side is danger of losing on more hospitable territory (Michigan, Maine, and even Minnesota). They also offer theories as to why Donald Trump can't stop talking about Ohio GOP Senator Jon Husted’s ass.

John welcomes Cook Political Report election guru Dave Wasserman to discuss the outlook for the midterms. Wasserman argues that rising prices, an unpopular war, voters’ increasing focus on government corruption, and Republicans’ failure to distance themselves from Donald Trump have put them in an “impossible position” two weeks out from Election Day; Trump’s record-low approval ratings, coupled with his insistence on making the election a referendum on himself, are making his party’s already dire situation even worse; the GOP’s mid-decade redistricting gambit has ended up yielding next to nothing; and Democrats are all but guaranteed to retake the House (potentially picking up north of 20 seats) and narrow favorites to recapture the Senate, too.

John welcomes Neera Tanden, president and CEO of the Center for American Progress, to discuss the midterm elections and the fierce fights among the Democratic Party’s warring factions. Tanden explains the combination of factors that she believes will lead to a thorough repudiation of Donald Trump and the GOP on November 3; why the unexpected strength of Democratic Senate candidates in ruby red states such as Alaska, Kansas, and Iowa illuminate a path to consigning MAGA to the dustbin of history; and her view of the place the DSA should have in the big-tent coalition her party needs to build. She also offers what she claims will be her final words on her ongoing feud with leftist streamer Hasan Piker.

John welcomes journalist Anand Giridharadas to discuss his new best-selling book, “Man in the Mirror: Hope, Struggle, and Belonging in an American City,” about the death of Jordan Neely on a New York subway train after being placed in a chokehold by another passenger, Daniel Penny. Anand explains what drew him to the headline-making story of Neely, a homeless, mentally ill Black man, and the white Long Islander who subdued him, that became a Rorschach test for the country’s political and racial tribes; and how despite their conflicting views of public order in post-pandemic America, those tribes are animated by a shared sense of abandonment by the institutions meant to protect and serve us all, which Giridharadas argues is the defining emotion of our time.

John welcomes back Skybridge Capital founder and Trump Wall Street apostate Anthony Scaramucci to discuss the president’s mindset and machinations as he barrels towards a brutish repudiation in the midterm elections. Scaramucci—who served an inglorious, 11-day stint as White House communications director in 2017—explains how Trump’s view of his power to save his party sits alongside his barely concealed desire to see its members crash and burn; how his attacks on the Pope earlier this year were a roundabout effort to mess with JD Vance; and why Natalie Harp is more likely to be Trump’s nursemaid than concubine. The Mooch also expounds on his new book, “All the Wrong Moves: How Three Catastrophic Decisions Led to the Rise of Trump.”

John welcomes former UCLA and Milwaukee Bucks star Marques Johnson to discuss his new book, “The Crenshaw Chronicles,” and all things NBA. Johnson explains why the infamy of his high school alma mater as an epicenter of South Central LA's gang culture, though not unearned, is only part of the story; what it was like to be a five-time All Star in the 1980s still overshadowed by Bird, Magic, and the other MJ; his repeated snubs by the Basketball Hall of Fame; and how he wound up playing a blade-wielding playground baller in “White Men Can’t Jump.” He also weighs in, from his perch as a Bucks TV analyst, on Giannis’s Milwaukee exit, Lebron’s Philly relocation, and Wemby's paradigm-shifting potential.

John welcomes Washington Post tech culture reporter Nitasha Tiku to discuss this mind-blowing, deeply unnerving moment in the evolution of AI. Tiku explains the genesis of the fears that the systems being developed by the AI frontier labs could ultimately end the human race; how AI extinction scenarios migrated from fringe Bay Area subcultures into the labs themselves, then into elite institutions, and now to the center of the mainstream political and cultural discourse; how the labs are confronting the ethical and moral implications of what they’re building; and why, when it comes to the debate over AI regulation, we should focus less on what industry leaders are saying and more on what they’re doing.

John welcomes retired three-star general and former U.S. Army Europe commander Mark Hertling to discuss Donald Trump’s turns on the world stage at the United Nations General Assembly and China summit with Xi Jinping. Hertling argues that, contrary to Trump’s claim that the Iran war will end after the midterm elections, it's more likely to go on for years; that his U.N. speech was “anti-American” and his handling of the Xi meeting, deeply unserious; and that America's military leaders saw his performances in both venues as “beyond embarrassing.” Hertling also explains why it will take “generations to rebuild” the armed forces after the damage being done to them by Pete Hegseth.

John welcomes Naomi Klein, arguably the left’s most prominent and influential public intellectual, to discuss her new best-selling book, “End Times Fascism,” co-authored with Astra Taylor. Klein—whose 2000 book, “No Logo,” became a manifesto for the turn-of-the-millennium anti-globalization movement, and whose 2008 tome, "The Shock Doctrine," introduced the concept of “disaster capitalism”—explains that “End Times Fascism” is the apotheosis of all her work to date; how an unlikely coalition of religious fundamentalists, Silicon Valley tech barons, and far right ethno-nationalists has embraced varying forms of apocalypticism and taken center stage in our politics; and how that alliance can be defeated.