PN Pod

In the latest edition of the PN Pod, Paul and I discuss the sad spectacle that was Trump’s rally commemorating America’s 250th birthday, then get into his housing bill tantrum and what it says about the sad state of public policy in Trump 2.0. We then turn to Paul’s piece about this week’s New York elections and why he thinks primaries are a good and health thing for the Democratic Party.

If you’d like to support the podcast and ask us live questions during future episodes, please consider becoming a paid subscriber to Public Notice if you aren’t one already.

The PN Pod goes live every Friday at around 2pm Eastern. We’re off next week for the July 4 holiday but will be back in two weeks. Until then, enjoy the show, and have a nice holiday!

In this week’s edition of the PN Pod, Paul and I unpack the Iran MOU and the unconditional humiliation it represents, how “chief negotiator” JD Vance is being set up by MAGA to take the blame, Israel’s newly precarious position vis-a-vis the Trump regime, our level of concern about Trump possibly refusing to leave power, and more.

If you’d like to support the podcast and ask us live questions during future episodes, please consider becoming a paid subscriber to Public Notice if you aren’t one already.

The PN Pod goes live every Friday at 2pm Eastern (though we started at a special earlier time this week to avoid the World Cup). We’ll be back next week. Until then, we hope you enjoy the show!

In this week’s PN Pod, co-host Paul Waldman and I discussed the outlines of the emerging Iran deal, which looks like something close to a complete Trump cave, and unpacked whether the president can sell his humiliating loss as a win to the American people.

But before that, we got into this weekend’s UFC fight at the White House, how the whole thing seems like a deleted scene from Idiocracy, and why Trump prefers bloodsport to sleeping through NBA games. We also talked about war crimes becoming official US policy and what it says about the direction of the military (spoiler alert: nothing good).

If you’d like to support the podcast and ask us questions during future episodes, please consider becoming a paid subscriber to Public Notice if you aren’t one already.

The PN Pod goes live every Friday at 2pm eastern. We’ll be back at the same time and same place next week. Until then, we hope you enjoy the show!

The debut episode of the new PN Pod is in the books! I’m thrilled to have the great Paul Waldman onboard as my regular co-host.

We had a lively conversation about why Trump’s insurrectionist slush fund went bust and corruption as the dominant narrative of the ‘26 cycle. We also talked at length about whether Graham Platner’s personal foibles are sabotaging Dem efforts to pick up a key Senate seat in Maine, and also got into Trump’s Iran debacle and why President Deals has been unable to negotiate his way out of it.

If you’d like to support the podcast and ask us questions during future episodes, please consider becoming a paid subscriber to Public Notice if you aren’t one already.

The PN Pod goes live every Friday at 2pm eastern. We’ll be back at the same time and same place next week. Until then, we hope you enjoy the show!

The first episode of the newly rebranded PN Pod features the tremendous Juliet Jeske of Decoding Fox News.

We had lots of laughs while discussing topics like the increasingly debased state of Fox News during Trump 2.0, the moments of Fox programming that have made Juliet want to throw her computer into a dumpster and walk into the ocean, why people find Trump’s voice and visage so triggering — and I even got Juliet to do her legendary Judge Jeanine impersonation.

We also reacted to comments and questions from viewers. If you’d like to partake in the discussion during next week’s episode, which will feature the debut of co-host Paul Waldman, please sign up for a paid subscription to support Public Notice and have full access to our live broadcasts.

Thanks to everyone who tuned in today and to Juliet. We hope you enjoy the show.

On the latest episode of Nir & Rupar, David Nir of The Downballot and Aaron Rupar of Public Notice discuss Donald Trump’s latest disastrous foreign trip that saw him grovel before China’s president without notching anything that could be described as a win.

We’re sad to say that this is David’s last episode, but the show is not going away! Aaron will be back at the same time, same place on Friday, May 29, hosting a rebranded podcast featuring special guest Juliet Jeske (aka Decoding Fox News). Then on June 5, a new co-host will make his debut alongside Aaron (we’ll let the suspense build for now, but if you’re a fan of Public Notice, you’ll definitely enjoy him).

On today’s episode, David and Aaron discuss:

* Trump’s alarming comments suggesting that he might revisit U.S. weapon sales to Taiwan, which would thrill China — and that’s exactly why past American presidents have steadfastly refused to consider it.

* Why Trump telling a New York Times reporter that his work was “treasonous” may have been an appalling bit of kayfabe — which we still need to take as seriously as ever.

* How an outside-the-box idea from The Downballot for implementing the new map that the Virginia Supreme Court rejected went viral and reached the highest corridors of power.

And much more. We also took several excellent questions from viewers.

Folks who are paid subscribers to Public Notice can participate in our Q&A!

The easiest way to participate is by downloading the free Substack app. You can also subscribe on your favorite podcast app to make sure you never miss an episode.

If you missed Friday’s livestream, you can watch it by clicking above!

And for one final time, if you haven’t yet subscribed to The Downballot, which provides unparalleled coverage of the thousands of critical elections below the presidency, you should sign up here:

On the latest episode of Nir & Rupar, our live weekly video show, David Nir of The Downballot and Aaron Rupar of Public Notice discuss the fallout from the Virginia Supreme Court’s decision to invalidate the state’s new congressional map.

If you haven’t yet subscribed to The Downballot, which provides unparalleled coverage of the thousands of critical elections below the presidency, sign up below:

David and Aaron discuss:

* Why the court’s ruling was based on very questionable procedural grounds — and overturns the will of a majority of Virginia voters.

* How Republicans throughout the South are racing to dismantle Black districts following the demise of the Voting Rights Act, including an extreme assault that carved Memphis into three parts.

* Why Democrats can still take back the House despite the GOP’s turbocharged gerrymandering.

And much more. We also took several excellent questions from viewers.

Folks who are paid subscribers to either of our publications can participate in our Q&A!

Nir & Rupar goes live every Friday at 2 PM ET. The easiest way to participate is by downloading the free Substack app.

You can also subscribe on your favorite podcast app to make sure you never miss an episode.

If you missed Friday’s livestream, you can watch it by clicking above!

On the latest episode of Nir & Rupar, our live weekly video show, David Nir of The Downballot and Aaron Rupar of Public Notice chat with Chris Geidner, the publisher of the must-read legal newsletter Law Dork, about the fallout from the Supreme Court’s detonation of the Voting Rights Act.

If you haven’t yet subscribed to The Downballot, which provides unparalleled coverage of the thousands of critical elections below the presidency, sign up below:

Chris explains:

* How John Roberts, who began plotting to destroy the VRA as a young lawyer in the 1980s, finally succeeded.

* What we can expect to happen next now that Republicans are free to dismantle minority voting districts without restraint.

* Why Donald Trump’s DOJ has descended into utter chaos, and what it means for litigants.

And much more. Folks who are paid subscribers to either of our publications can participate in our Q&A!

Nir & Rupar goes live every Friday at 2 PM ET. The easiest way to participate is by downloading the free Substack app.

You can also subscribe on your favorite podcast app to make sure you never miss an episode.

If you missed Friday’s livestream, you can watch it by clicking above!

This week’s Nir & Rupar features a very special guest — Matt Gertz, senior fellow at Media Matters and one of the foremost experts on right-wing media.

Gertz and I discussed the ways in which Fox News is even worse now than it was during Trump’s first term, the Ellison family’s ill-conceived takeover of CBS, why Trump hosting the White House Correspondents dinner is an affront to the Constitution, and much more.

Matt has been covering conservative media for nearly two decades now, and there’s nobody more knowledgeable about Fox-world and the role it plays propping up the administration. I enjoyed our conversation and hope you will too.

Nir & Rupar goes live every Friday at 2pm eastern. David was out this week but will be back next Friday. If you’d like to ask us live questions during the show, please sign up for a paid subscription to Public Notice if you haven’t already.

That’s it for this week. I’ll be back with a new newsletter Monday morning. Until then, thanks for your support, and have a great weekend.

On the latest episode of Nir & Rupar, our live weekly video show, David Nir of The Downballot and Aaron Rupar of Public Notice explain why Donald Trump’s beyond-unhinged crusade against Pope Leo XIV is such a disastrous move.

If you haven’t yet subscribed to The Downballot, which provides unparalleled coverage of the thousands of critical elections below the presidency, sign up below:

David and Aaron discuss:

* How Trump’s attacks on the Pope are alienating Catholic voters, a constituency that had otherwise been warming to him.

* Trump’s extremely rare climb-down after posting AI slop portraying him as Jesus healing the sick.

* Pete Hegseth’s hilarious debacle in citing a made-up Bible verse found only in “Pulp Fiction.”

And much more. Folks who are paid subscribers to either of our publications can participate in our Q&A!

Nir & Rupar goes live every Friday at 2 PM ET. The easiest way to participate is by downloading the free Substack app.

You can also subscribe on your favorite podcast app to make sure you never miss an episode.

If you missed Friday’s livestream, you can watch it by clicking above!