In which John Heilemann talks with the longtime Democratic strategist Patrick Gaspard, currently president and CEO of The Center for American Progress and previously president of George Soros's Open Society Foundations, U.S. Ambassador to South Africa, executive director of the Democratic National Committee, and political director for Barack Obama's 2008 campaign and in his first term in the White House. Heilemann and Gaspard discuss President Biden’s push for voting rights legislation and filibuster reform in the Senate, and the political realities standing in the way of both; the prospects for Democrats heading into the 2022 midterm elections, and why Gaspard remains optimistic despite the enormous headwinds facing Biden and his party; and how the legacies of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, and Frederick Douglass have shaped Gaspard's philosophy and approach to politics.

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In which John Heilemann talks with Jeff Goldblum, venerable and venerated actor, chart-topping jazz musician, and enigmatic cultural icon. From roles in star-making blockbusters Jurassic Park and Independence Day to revered performances in smaller films such as The Fly; from turns on network TV staples such as from Law & Order: Criminal Intent and Will & Grace to new streaming series such as Search Party; and from his late-life role as leader of The Mildred Snitzer Orchestra to his online ubiquity in Internet memes, Goldblum has one of the most diverse and beloved oeuvres of the past 50 years in American life. In this special episode, Heilemann and Goldblum discuss the state of Hollywood, the second season of The World According to Jeff Goldblum on Disney+, his side hustle as a jazz pianist, and why the 69-year-old believes he is (finally) peaking creatively.

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In which John Heilemann talks with Anne Applebaum and Brian Klaas on the eve of the one-year anniversary of the January 6 insurrection. Applebaum, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and staff writer for The Atlantic, and Klaas, an associate professor at University College London and columnist for The Washington Post, are experts on the breakdown of democratic institutions and the rise of autocratic movements in America and around the world. Heilemann, Applebaum, and Klaas look back on what took place a year ago at the U.S. Capitol and what we know about it now; gauge the progress and prospects of the House Select Committee investigating those events; and assess what the potency of Donald Trump's Big Lie and the embrace of political violence on the right could portend for America’s increasingly fragile democracy. They also discuss Klaas’s new book, Corruptible: Who Gets Power and How It Changes Us, and Applebaum’s latest, Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism.

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In which John Heilemann talks with sports commentators and writers LZ Granderson and Will Leitch, co-hosts of The Long Game with LZ and Leitch, a new podcast from The Recount covering the intersection of sports, culture, and society. Looking back at the most consequential stories of 2021 on that terrain, the trio goes deep on Covid’s impact on the sports industrial complex; the groundbreaking stances of Simone Biles and Naomi Osaka with respect to mental health; and two high-profile film/tv projects (“King Richard” and “Colin in Black and White”) tackling race in sports. They also dive into LZ and Will’s personal biographies and the professional paths that brought them together as partners on The Long Game — which you can and should check out wherever you get your podcasts!

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In which John Heilemann talks with David Axelrod, former senior White House adviser and top campaign strategist for Barack Obama, and currently director of the University of Chicago's Institute of Politics, senior political commentator for CNN, and host of The Axe Files podcast.

As 2021 comes to an end, Heilemann and Axelrod sit down together in New York City for a look back at the year in politics, from the Biden administration’s successes and mishaps, Covid-19, the polarization and paralysis in Washington, and Donald Trump’s continued stranglehold on the Republican Party. Axelrod reminisces about his storied career as a political reporter, Democratic strategist, and architect of Barack Obama's rise to the White House. Looking ahead to 2022, Axelrod lays out what he sees as the greatest challenges ahead for Democrats — and American democracy.

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In which John Heilemann talks with Cecile Richards, co-chair of the Democratic super PAC American Bridge 21st Century, co-founder of the women’s rights advocacy group Supermajority, and, from 2006 to 2018, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. Heilemann and Richards discuss Roe v Wade's uncertain future in the wake of the recent Supreme Court arguments around restrictive abortion laws in Mississippi and Texas, and the effects that Roe's potential demise might have on women and politics in America; how Richards's mother, Ann, the former governor of Texas, propelled her towards a lifetime of activism; and how her broader agenda in favor of "women's equity" is faring in the Biden era.

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In which John Heilemann talks with Karen Bass, the six-term California Democratic congresswoman, former speaker of the State Assembly, and current frontrunner in next year’s mayoral election in her home town of Los Angeles. Heilemann and Bass discuss the Omicron variant and the politics behind vaccine resistance in the US; Los Angeles’s homelessness crisis and why it’s the single most important issue motivating Bass to run for mayor; why her party’s messaging isn’t always resonating with voters; and her view that the Biden administration isn’t doing enough to fight for voting rights.

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In which John Heilemann talks with Gary Ginsberg, the author of First Friends: The Powerful, Unsung (And Unelected) People Who Shaped Our Presidents. Heilemann and Ginsberg discuss the bestselling book, Ginsberg’s innovative approach to writing about the presidency (via the presidents’ relationships with their best friends), and how his role as corporate consiglieri to powerful men, such as JFK Jr., Rupert Murdoch, and former Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes, helped him find this new angle. Ginsberg also dishes on Murdoch’s behind-the-scenes dalliance with Barack Obama in the run-up to the 2008 election, and he discusses how Donald Trump’s friendlessness affected his presidency.

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In which John Heilemann talks with Chris Krebs, founding director of the federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the last Donald Trump appointee to be fired by tweet (after he declared that the 2020 election was the “most secure in American history”). Heilemann and Krebs discuss his work as a co-chair of the Aspen Institute’s Commission on Information Disorder and its recently released final report, which focuses on the root causes of America’s mis- and disinformation crisis and its proposals to combat it, his tumultuous experience in the Trump administration, and his fears that 2022 and 2024 could propel the country into an "anti-democratic death spiral."

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In which John Heilemann talks with Danny Strong, the creator, showrunner, and writer of Dopesick, the eight-part Hulu miniseries chronicling the Oxycontin epidemic and the broader opioid crisis it unleashed on America. Heilemann and Strong explore the human costs of that crisis, along with the corporate malfeasance of Purdue Pharma and its owners, the Sackler family, who relentlessly, deceptively, and indeed criminally marketed Oxycontin as non-addictive; Strong's early work as an actor on popular TV shows such as Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Gilmore Girls; and his career transition to acclaimed screenwriter on movies including Recount and Game Change (his Emmy Award-winning adaptation of Heilemann's book about the 2008 election), co-creator and executive producer of the runaway hit series Empire, and director of the final two episodes of Dopesick as well as the J.D. Salinger biopic Rebel in the Rye. Strong also discloses his own addiction to the recent HBO series White Lotus.

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