So, that happened. Well, how about that pivot, folks? Tuesday night, President Donald Trump gave a speech to a joint session of Congress and somehow the media managed to extract the idea that he'd finally undergone that transformation into a real live "presidentialness." And then, hours later, the Trump White House was once again plunged into their customary chaos, as reports emerged that Attorney General Jeff Sessions had meetings with members of the Russian government, facts that ran against testimoy he proffered during his confirmation hearings. Will the media ever learn? We'll try to paper train these puppies again. Meanwhile, the contest for the Commonwealth of Virginia's governor's mansion is one of the few really big electoral contests of 2017. In general, it's going to be test case for whether or not the Democratic Party can recover after their 2016 wipeout. But more specifically, this race is emerging as a proving ground for whether or not Democrats can fashion their own message of economic...

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So, that happened. Every week we talk about how insane it can be to simply live in America. This week, we're going to help you do something about it, by welcoming journalist and author James Poulos to the show. James' new book, THE ART OF BEING FREE, looks back at Alexis de Tocqueville's masterwork, DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA, and pulls from its pages some wisdom about how each of us can confront the challenges of love, sex, loss, and this crazy-making, frustrating, wonderful nation that is our predicament and birthright. Yes, for a brief mad moment, we're going to try out this "optimism" thing we've heard so much about.Meanwhile, we've got politics as well. It seems like only eight years ago that the Affordable Care Act was galvanizing town hall protests all across the country, birthing new political movements. Well, it's happening again, only this time all the players are reversed and President Obama's landmark health care bill's defenders are the ones getting into lawmakers' grills. We'll talk about this...

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So, that happened. It's been a truly FUBAR week for the Trump administration, who this week accepted the resignation of national security adviser Michael Flynn in the wake of an unfolding investigation into Flynn's contacts with Russian officials, whether or not he told the truth about them, and the extent to which entanglements with the Russian government can be found throughout Trump's political organization. Add to that the recurring theme of a quiet war between the White House and the intelligence community, and the worries only get wider. But how alarmed should we be? We'll try to find out.Meanwhile, one of the more interesting things about Trump advisor Steve Bannon is that when he talks about the 2008 financial crisis he can sound...well, a little like us, to be honest. At least, up to a point. But there is an observable point at which our points of view diverge. One person who has noticed this is journalist and author Thomas Frank, who joins us today to talk about it.Finally, as the Democrats...

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This week, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren tried to read a letter penned by Coretta Scott King and an objecting Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell decided that she should the maximum amount of attention she could possibly receive by silencing her on the floor of the Senate. Smooth move, Ex-Lax, for out of this dust-up, a new slogan of resistance was born.Meanwhile, you've probably noticed that Donald Trump's White House is the leakiest one in memory, and this week, the Huffington Post told the story of the President making oddball late-night calls and complaining about the quality of Air Force One handtowels. But hey, should you be concerned by all of this? Well, the people who keep leaking stories like this clearly are.Finally, as you may have heard, one of the more potent members of Trump's inner-circle is former Breitbart News' media maven Steve Bannon, who is a different sort of conservative than your standard issue Beltway Republican. One way in which he differs? He's a full-on...

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So, that happened. This week, something interesting started to occur. The Democrats...started listening to their base. After a weekend in which demonstrated erupted at major airports in protest of President Donald Trump's Muslim travel ban, Democrats in Washington have suddenly found some steel, standing with their supporters in the street and withdrawing a more readily offered rubber stamp in the Senate confirmation hearings. Can they possibly keep this up?Meanwhile, we need to talk about that executive order itself. Talk about a Friday news dump -- the Trump White House's directives, which initially barred refugees, travelers, and legal permanent residents alike from entering -- or re-entering -- the country caused disorder and chaos across the country, all of which the Trump administration is pretending to have not noticed. We will break down what we know, and what might come next.Finally, the new president had the opportunity to dip his toe in a fetid pond left behind by his predecessor -- the...

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So, that happened. This week, the wider world was introduced to Donald Trump's press secretary Sean Spicer, who christened his tenure in the White House Briefing Room with several days of big league lying. Now, this may not be Spicer's choice -- White House insiders have turned out by the dozens to tell multiple newspapers about how Trump's first week has been a tumultuous mess, with Trump lashing out at numerous petty slights. Spicer has been tasked with offering up forceful responses, to nonsensical complaints. And we have a highlight reel to share with all of you. Meanwhile, Trump has been taking numerous steps to begin the implementation of his policy preferences, including several geared toward the fulfillment of promises he's made about immigration. Naturally, that wall he wants to build, at taxpayer expense, has taken center stage. But there have, in this first week been some curious omissions and at least one surprising addition to his plans, all of which we will break down for you.Finally, as...

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So, that happened. This week, the parade of cabinet appointments continued in the Senate, as Trump's nominees continued to try to strut their stuff under what was often withering questioning from Senate Democrats. There should be little doubt that all of these people are going to be confirmed but it has to be said -- in another era, some of what these folks said during these hearings would have gotten them bounced from consideration. Welcome to the new normal, which is the old abnormal.Meanwhile, this week, the Huffington Post hosted a debate between seven candidates who are vying to lead the Democratic National Committee. At issue: who's doing the best coming to terms with the Democratic Party's catastrophic 2016, what reforms are coming to the committee to make their process fairer, and who has the best vision for the party's future. It was...what's the word? Oh, yes: disappointing. Very disappointing.Finally, the battle over Obamacare continues to, moderately simmer, I guess? The desire to repeal...

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So, that happened. So, everything happened! This was one of those weeks where the worst thing you could say is that the news wouldn't get any crazier. By mid-day on Tuesday, we were pretty convinced the most bonkers story was going to be the anti-vaccine alliance that president-elect Donald Trump forged with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. By the end of the day, however, CNN and Buzzfeed were breaking different aspects of a troubling intelligence community report that the Kremlin had compromising material on the president-elect. We'll break down the details, but I'll warn you, there is nothing good to be said about this.Meanwhile, late Wednesday night, the U.S. Senate cast a series of procedural votes that have been hailed as the first move in eventually scuttling the Affordable Care Act. Not necessarily a surprise, mind you, the Republican Party have long been threatening to repeal and replace the bill. But after taking this first move, what are Republican lawmakers going to do next. As it turns out, even they...

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So, that happened. Happy New Year everyone. On January 18th the Huffington Post will be hosting a debate between the declared candidates for the chair of the Democratic National Committee. The way things are shaping up, it's looking like the top contenders will be Minnesota Congressman Keith Ellison and Obama Labor Secretary Tom Perez. We'll continue to dig down into the distinctions between the two men and explain what's at stake.Meanwhile, incoming President Donald Trump has made a lot of promises about keeping the United States out of pointless military conflicts. But in Yemen, which has become a destructive proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran, Trump is inheriting quite the quagmire. It's been almost a year since he's had anything substantive to say about Yemen, so I guess we're going to be warning him that he'd better stop tweeting and start thinking about this.Finally, we're going to spend a little time on the legacy of outgoing President Barack Obama, with an eye on his judicial legacy -- the...

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This week, we are bidding farewell to to an old year and welcoming in a new one, because we are slaves to artificial constructs like calendars. But since this is a time for New Years' resolutions, we'll offer one up: let's try to do less moral grandstanding in 2017. And to explain why that's bad, we welcome University of Michigan post-doctoral research fellow Justin Tosi to the show.Meanwhile, with all the talk of an incoming administration, we sometimes forget that our politics are primarily shaped by figures who've actually been in town for a while. One in particular is our sometimes-reluctant Speaker of the House Paul Ryan. Not too long ago, Ryan was the de facto standard-bearer of conservative politics, but there's been a lot of changes lately. What does his future look like? We'll dig down into the Ryanology to find out.Finally, you the funny thing about unaccountable executive power is that once it's unleashed, it's hard to stuff it back in the box from which it came. Now, America's drone war...

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