Donald Trump has picked big fights on multiple fronts…and lost.

In this episode, Matt and Brian discuss:

* The narrow question of how Trump and MAGA lost the culture war fight they picked with Bad Bunny and the NFL.

* How we ended up in a situation a year ago, when it seemed that MAGA had, on balance, won the fight over the direction and influence of American culture.

* How the worm turned back, or whether it was all an illusion in the first place.

Then, Trump also lost the mid-decade redistricting fight he picked, thanks in large part to the fight-first approach embraced by Virginia’s new governor, Abigail Spanberger, who prioritized aggressive gerrymandering over legacy policy issues. Is her approach replicable? What would it mean to take it national? And what are some other things Dem can do (nationally and in battleground states) to keep Trump on the back foot through the midterms.

All that, plus the full Politix archive are available to paid subscribers—just upgrade your subscription and pipe full episodes directly to your favorite podcast app via your own private feed.

Further reading:

* Matt on the uncannily similar political backgrounds of Gavin Newsom and Kamala Harris.

* Brian on how Trump lost the culture.

* Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl Half Time show.

Donald Trump ate up several weeks and caused tons of damage as he sought to delay further production of the Epstein files. But now the files are right back in the news.

In this episode, Matt and Brian discuss:

* What’s in this new tranche?

* What does it tell us about both the global elite, and Republican elite, leaders of which are overrepresented in the files relative to Democrats?

* What can we or others do to pry loose the majority of the files, which Trump’s administration insists it will conceal for all time.

Then, is Trump really gonna demolish ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶D̶o̶n̶a̶l̶d̶ ̶J̶.̶ ̶T̶r̶u̶m̶p̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶J̶o̶h̶n̶ ̶F̶.̶ Kennedy Center? Is this something that Congress should try to stop? Or is it better dealt with by protesters putting themselves between the building and the bulldozers? Also, should Democrats’ continued dominance of special elections make members of the party feel more bullish about big demonstrations of resistance?

All that, plus the full Politix archive are available to paid subscribers—just upgrade your subscription and pipe full episodes directly to your favorite podcast app via your own private feed.

Further reading:

* Brian on the meaning of Democrats’ big victory in the Texas state senate special election.

* Matt on the turning point in Minnesota.

* The New York Times on Elon Musk and other powerful men turning up in the Epstein files.

On Saturday, DHS agents killed Alex Pretti, a VA nurse who tried to help a woman they’d just pushed to the ground. By Sunday, the Trump administration had initiated an at least tactical retreat from Minneapolis.

In this episode, Matt and Brian discuss:

* The silver lining of Pretti’s death, in providing proof of concept that civil disobedience requires risk and sacrifice—but it does work;

* Whether the political blowback will be fierce enough to dissuade Trump from ordering more pretextual, citywide occupations by masked paramilitaries;

* What Democrats can demand in the ensuing fight over Homeland Security funding, and whether they’ll have greater tolerance for a prolonged shutdown this time.

Then, Trump isn’t just retreating in Minnesota. He also pulled a TACO on Greenland, after allies asserted he’d wrecked the post-war order, and bond markets started revolting. What lessons, if any, lie in that episode? What more should foreign leaders (public and non-governmental) do to limit Trump’s abuses? And to what extent can Democrats partner with the international community to cordon Trump?

All that, plus the full Politix archive are available to paid subscribers—just upgrade your subscription and pipe full episodes directly to your favorite podcast app via your own private feed.

Further reading:

* Matt on the turning point in Minnesota.

* Brian on the folly of House Democratic support for funding DHS.

* How Alex Pretti might help decent Americans reclaim the meaning of masculinity from the far right.

* Mark Carney’s striking Davos speech.

Many people are asking: Has Donald Trump finally, completely lost his mind?

In this episode, Matt and Brian discuss:

* The importance of getting your flu shot.

* Why this latest episode, complete with rambling missives to allied heads of state, feels more like madness than Trump’s other bad ideas, driven by graft, vengeance, or whatever else.

* How his assault on Minneapolis is crystalizing the madness (or at least the bad faith) for the rest of the world.

Then, what is to be done? What is Europe doing. What is Congress doing? What should Congress be doing. Is it really impossible to imagine an independent caucus removing the GOP from control of the House, Senate, or both? As Democrats vie for Senate control, are they blinding themselves to the risk that everything comes to pieces well before the election 10 months from now?

All that, plus the full Politix archive are available to paid subscribers—just upgrade your subscription and pipe full episodes directly to your favorite podcast app via your own private feed.

Further reading:

* Brian takes stock a year in.

* Matt argues the problems with ICE flow from Stephen Miller and Trump, not from the institutional structure of ICE itself.

* The Trump national security strategy from two months ago, which doesn’t mention Greenland.

We’ll give Donald Trump this month: Thanks to his efforts, political discourse has moved on (for now) from health care and the Epstein coverup. But … not to anything particularly helpful for him.

In this episode, Matt and Brian discuss:

* What on Earth did Donald Trump think he was doing by ordering a campaign of legal harassment against Fed Chairman Jay Powell

* Is there a pattern that explains why Trump’s rich sycophants censor themselves in some cases, but stand up to stop him in others?

* How can Democrats prepare for a likely future where Trump is gone, but he’s managed to transform the Fed (and other powerful institutions of government) into MAGA strongholds?

Then, is the federal assault on Minneapolis the exception to the trend of flailing, or part of the same story? How can Democrats capitalize on the fact that the public has rejected his vicious mass deportation? Should they even bother? And can they slake the public’s desire for accountability and reform without repeating the mistakes of the past?

All that, plus the full Politix archive are available to paid subscribers—just upgrade your subscription and pipe full episodes directly to your favorite podcast app via your own private feed.

Further reading:

* Matt on the economic folly of exploitation.

* Brian on Trump’s flailing.

* Powell’s defiant video response to Trump.

Gotta hand it to Donald Trump, he got the Epstein Files and the January 6 anniversary off the front page, and all it took was a wee little war, plus a threat to conquer the whole hemisphere

In this episode, Matt and Brian discuss:

* WTF?

* How has this destabilized the globe?

* Can the damage be undone?

* What’s the right political response, and who in the Democratic Party has risen to the moment?

Then, a review of Tim Walz’s late career, and the welfare-fraud spree that did him in. How well or poorly does early Democratic enthusiasm for Walz as veep hold up? Did he do the right thing by resigning, or should he have been more defiant? Is it at all sustainable that our political system holds the parties to such wildly different standards of integrity and competence? And what should Democrats do to even the playing field?

All that, plus the full Politix archive are available to paid subscribers—just upgrade your subscription and pipe full episodes directly to your favorite podcast app via your own private feed.

Further reading:

* Will Sommer on right wing divisions over Trump’s Venezuela war.

* New York Times, 2017: “Before taking office, Mr. Trump told top aides to think of each presidential day as an episode in a television show in which he vanquishes rivals.”

* New York Times, 2025, on the scope of the Minnesota fraud.

* Brian’s 30 thoughts on the Venezuela war.

* Matt’s early assessment of Walz.

It’s that time of year again. Self-indulgent mailbag time. Thanks to all who sent questions, and apologies to those who didn’t get answers.

In this episode, Matt and Brian discuss:

* Whether Gavin Newsom is doomed to become yesterday’s news;

* Why there’s never been a better time to tax rich people;

* How (and if) liberals can coexist politically with authoritarians in a two-party democracy.

* What, if anything, the Biden people told themselves about the Epstein files?

Then, what’s the bull case for A.I., where we look back from 10 or 20 years on and feel like the transition, and all the resources society poured into it, were worthwhile? Would Pat Buchanan have won in 2016 on Donald Trump’s platform? And how do a couple middle-aged coastal-elite squares keep in touch with the common man—and the youth of the nation?

All that, plus the full Politix archive are available to paid subscribers—just upgrade your subscription and pipe full episodes directly to your favorite podcast app via your own private feed.

Further reading:

* Matt on how we all deserve a stake in the financial upside of A.I.

* Brian on why Merrick Garland deserves our contempt.

* Senator Barack Obama at the launch of the Hamilton Project.

Donald Trump suddenly faces defections in Congress, from right-wing influencers, and even from his own White House chief of staff.

In this episode, Matt and Brian discuss:

* Susie Wiles’s…intemperate comments to Vanity Fair about all the incompetents and cynics in the Trump administration;

* The challenge of passing the cult following from Trump to JD Vance (or anyone else for that matter).

* Why Republican disarray has spread beyond health care.

Then, the particularly pitched blowback Trump has faced for pissing on Rob Reiner’s grave. Are we seeing the MAGA alliance crack up? Or are his internal critics limiting themselves to the safe zone of commenting only on Trump’s insensitive social-media posts? And why does the Democratic Party’s strategic outlet turn so heavily on the answers to those two questions?

All that, plus the full Politix archive are available to paid subscribers—just upgrade your subscription and pipe full episodes directly to your favorite podcast app via your own private feed.

Further reading:

* Matt on the Trump-Vance succession.

* Brian’s somewhat more optimistic view on the Trump-Vance succession.

* Politicize (Trump’s reaction to) Rob Reiner’s murder.

* The Susie Wiles profile.

Donald Trump is suddenly mired in a huge war-crimes scandal, complicating his desire to launch an actual war (also illegal) against Venezuela.

In this episode, Matt and Brian discuss:

* All the things that make the circumstances surrounding the order to murder shipwreck survivors so strange and suspicious;

* How it all gels with Trump’s broader, corrupt foreign policy;

* Whether the so-called Seditious Six Democrats, who first elevated the issue of illegal orders, laid a trap for Trump.

* Also, is Pete Hegseth doomed?

Then, what’s all that got to do with the midterms? Did left-wing politics doom Democrats in last week’s Tennessee special election? Was the outcome there actually bullish for Democrats? Could it be both things at once? And why is the Democratic establishment really so up in arms about Jasmine Crockett entering the Texas Senate Democratic primary?

All that, plus the full Politix archive are available to paid subscribers—just upgrade your subscription and pipe full episodes directly to your favorite podcast app via your own private feed.

Further reading:

* Todd Zwillich on what Democrats in Congress did (and didn’t) know about Trump administration war crimes before they made a ruckus about it.

* Matt on the bizarre march to war with Venezuela.

* Brian on the problem of the missing antiwar movement.

Brian is adventuring in South America, so Matt is joined by Lakshya Jain of The Argument and Split Ticket to talk about his Wins Above Replacement calculations, which politicians are good at winning, and what we know about them.

In the episode, Matt and Lakshya discuss:

* The importance of “downballot lag” in assessing candidate quality.

* Why AOC and Ritchie Torres are both overrated by their fans.

* While highly viral members of congress tend to underperform, while many electoral superstars are relatively anonymous.

Then, for paid subscribers, what can really be learned from Zohran Mamdani, a politician who won a difficult race despite being less popular than many of the people he bested in his primary? What’s the point of identifying over performing politicians in the first place? What’s Rashida Tlaib doing right?

All that, plus the full Politix archive are available to paid subscribers—just upgrade your subscription and pipe full episodes directly to your favorite podcast app via your own private feed.