The Best People with Nicolle Wallace

Aaron Sorkin is acutely aware of the criticism that his work is too optimistic — and with “The Social Reckoning,” he’s doubling down. “I just like when an audience feels two inches taller than they did when they walked in,” he tells Nicolle. The Oscar-and-Emmy award-winning writer and director has inspired countless political hopefuls with “The West Wing,” including Nicolle, who envisioned a place for herself in the White House after watching Allison Janney’s portrayal of Press Secretary C.J. Cregg. Sorkin follows up 2010’s “The Social Network” by assessing Facebook in the age of Trump: telling the story of whistleblower Frances Haugen’s decision to release internal documents surrounding misinformation and potential harms from the platform, alongside a now older Mark Zuckerberg as he reckons with the power of the technology he’s created. Sorkin chose to intentionally release the movie prior to the upcoming midterms — knowing that, if there’s a moment for optimism, it’s right now.

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If Michael Lewis has a superpower, it’s the ability to make anything — even the most esoteric subject — interesting. Now, one of the country’s biggest nonfiction writers is tackling Elon Musk, DOGE, his attempts to gut the federal government — and the public servants who resisted him. In “Blockers," named after Musk’s term for the public servants who pushed back against DOGE, Lewis puts the spotlight on six unsung heroes of the federal bureaucracy who did what they could to save the agencies they served. Speaking to Nicolle, Lewis says that “it’s a miracle” these people chose to do the jobs they do, and that DOGE ended up being a “great distraction” that caused chaos and allowed Donald Trump to seize control of the government. Lewis says he wants us to pay attention to the stories of these federal employees because they remind us of our "better selves."

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Judge Esther Salas knows what it’s like to overcome a dark moment. On July 19th, 2020, the U.S. district judge suffered a devastating loss: a man who had been a plaintiff in her court years prior murdered her only son and severely injured her husband. Speaking with Nicolle about the state of the country amidst growing political violence and President Trump’s charged rhetoric against judges, Judge Salas says she thinks America could learn from her personal experience: “Norms have been broken, rules have been shattered,” she observed. “But just like we’ve done in the past, we’re gonna pick up the pieces.” With an unbending belief in the sanctity of the American justice system and a willingness to forgive, Judge Salas teaches us rebuilding is possible, even at its most daunting.

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Anthony Scaramucci has stories to tell. He joins Nicolle for this special episode as part of the new “Nicolle Wallace Presents: 92NY on MS NOW” series to discuss the roots of our political divisions: the uniquely American conditions that allowed Trump to ascend to the nation’s highest office. The two former White House communications directors discuss Scaramucci’s new book, “All the Wrong Moves,” his 11-day tenure at the Trump administration and the path forward and away from this difficult moment. “I think it will end in darkness for Donald Trump,” he says. But “it'll end with a brighter horizon for America — cause we're gonna fix this.” 

“Nicolle Wallace Presents: 92NY on MS NOW” will bring conversations from the 92nd Street Y in Manhattan to MS's weekend lineup. The series will feature conversations led by Nicolle and Rachel Maddow with figures including Robert Downey Jr., Ari Emanuel, and Malcolm Gladwell. Tune in Sunday, October 4th at 8pm ET to catch the first episode.

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Pete Buttigieg thinks this is a “make-or-break” moment in American politics. As Americans continue to struggle economically and President Trump’s focus seems elsewhere, the former US Secretary of Transportation argues that the moments in history that were the hardest "mattered the most,” asserting that “the 2020’s are gonna be remembered like that.” Buttigieg looks ahead to what he’d like to see if Democrats take control of government after the midterms, including a big one: Supreme Court reform. He also hopes there will be accountability from Pete Hegseth for the ways in which the Iran War has affected America’s international reputation, and for Marco Rubio to answer for lying to Congress about the devastating impacts of gutting USAID. Above all else, however, Buttigieg’s call is for everyday citizens: “The biggest, most important thing you get to do is vote.”

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Meet the man who just won the first round in one of the biggest First Amendment fights in years. Ted Boutrous Jr. has been the lawyer behind some of the cases that have made history in recent years: from the fight for marriage equality to then-CNN correspondent Jim Acosta’s lawsuit to get his press badge back when the Trump White House revoked it in 2018. Now, he’s representing CNN, Politico and MS NOW after Donald Trump revoked the press credentials of their journalists over coverage he didn’t like. Nicolle spoke with Boutrous just after a judge ordered the Trump administration to restore the press access of the three outlets. Boutrous told Nicolle that revoking White House access for three news organizations is “like nothing we’ve ever seen before” — and that in this moment, it’s more important than ever to “hold the line” in the fight for press freedom.

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John Heilemann thinks it’s time for America to change the channel on President Trump. The “Impolitic” podcast host and chief political columnist at Puck sees the Commander for what he is: a “loser” for the Republican party using the White House as a “giant profit-making self-enrichment grift.” He and Nicolle discuss Trump’s various attempts to interfere with American elections, reflect on “Game Change” — the Heilemann co-penned book that was turned into a 2012 film starring Sarah Paulson as Nicolle Wallace — and reminisce about their time together on-air. They also discuss exponentially growing technological threats as AI figureheads begin sounding the alarm about their own products and discuss how, ironically, this could be the nonpartisan issue to mend a divided political climate. “I think it’s going to reshape our politics,” says Heilemann, noting that, for all of its terrifying implications, “it’s an enormous opportunity, politically” for whoever can take the lead. 

A Note to Listeners: As the 2026 midterm elections heat up, MS NOW is headed to the Lone Star State. Join more than a dozen of your favorite hosts - including Rachel Maddow, Lawrence O'Donnell, Jen Psaki, Michael Steele, Ali Velshi and more - in Arlington, Texas on September 26 for a day of community and conversation about the issues that matter most to you. Get your tickets at ms.now/together.

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Dan Harris knows that the most important fight is the one happening within. Reflecting on his journey of self-regulation, the former ABC anchor recalls a news report on Good Morning America on a warm June morning in 2004 where he — very publicly — had a panic attack live on-air. It was a huge wake up call for Harris, he says. “I realized I needed to change my life.” More than two decades later, the “10% Happier” podcast host joins Nicolle days after the debut of his two new series: MS NOW’s “The Week in Sanity” and “Never Worry Alone.” They discuss the benefits of meditation, argue against the toxicity of modern wellness culture and assert that despair is one of the enemies of democracy. In an anxious and polarized political climate, Harris encourages people to lean on each other, noting that “trying to do it alone is a really reliable route to suffering.” In fact, if salvation exists from pessimism about the future, it’s in the form of love. “When you do good, it feels good.”

“The Week in Sanity” and “Never Worry Alone” are available to MS NOW Members. Become an MS NOW Member by visiting ms.now/membership.

A Note to Listeners: As the 2026 midterm elections heat up, MS NOW is headed to the Lone Star State. Join more than a dozen of your favorite hosts - including Rachel Maddow, Lawrence O'Donnell, Jen Psaki, Michael Steele, Ali Velshi and more - in Arlington, Texas on September 26 for a day of community and conversation about the issues that matter most to you. Get your tickets at ms.now/together.

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Julia Curlee brings stories of a remarkable career, recounting her time as a CIA analyst and as an intelligence briefer for Vice President Mike Pence. She begins, however, by talking about the most “unremarkable” aspects of her tenure: up until she was fired in 2025 by the Trump administration for being transgender, Curlee recalls a tolerant government and a good working relationship with Pence. The former Vice President “used the intelligence community the way it was designed,” she tells Nicolle, as opposed to some current intelligence personnel who concern themselves only with “providing the president with information that he wants to hear.” She points to this shift as one of many examples of how the second Trump term is exponentially more dangerous than the first, addressing the United States’ declining international reputation amidst the war in Iran and the ways in which the government uses internal division as a tool to distract from their failure to improve the lives of Americans. And still, she refuses to stand down in the fight to preserve democracy: “This is my country, too.” 

Here is Julia’s piece in The Atlantic: The Wrong Kind of American

A Note to Listeners: As the 2026 midterm elections heat up, MS NOW is headed to the Lone Star State. Join more than a dozen of your favorite hosts - including Rachel Maddow, Lawrence O'Donnell, Jen Psaki, Michael Steele, Ali Velshi and more - in Arlington, Texas on September 26 for a day of community and conversation about the issues that matter most to you. Get your tickets at ms.now/together.

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This week, we’re revisiting an episode we recorded back in May with MSNOW’s own Chris Hayes. Please enjoy! We’ll be back with a new episode next week.

Chris Hayes’ antidote to anxiety is always curiosity. Whether on TV with "All In," on his podcast (aptly named “Why Is This Happening?”), or writing about our waning attention spans in his latest book, he looks to make sense of this era’s firehose of information by seeking out the reasons behind the very human decisions we make. This curiosity prompted a deep dive series on his podcast into artificial intelligence: "The AI End Game," tracing AI's evolution to how it will impact our democracy and what guardrails need to be applied. This week, Chris joins Nicolle to talk about how Democrats can rebuild faith in government in a “low trust” democracy, what we can learn from our political past “while not being obsessed with it and trapped in it” and what deeper questions we should be asking about AI. And in his search to understand this technology, he discovered an unintended source of inspiration because “it brings us back in some ways to what we find beautiful and thrilling about being human.”

Search "Why Is This Happening? The Chris Hayes Podcast" to listen to the full series, "The AI End Game."

A Note to Listeners: As the 2026 midterm elections heat up, MS NOW is headed to the Lone Star State. Join more than a dozen of your favorite hosts - including Rachel Maddow, Lawrence O'Donnell, Jen Psaki, Michael Steele, Ali Velshi and more - in Arlington, Texas on September 26 for a day of community and conversation about the issues that matter most to you. Get your tickets at ms.now/together.

Sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts to listen to this show and other MS podcasts without ads. You'll also get exclusive bonus content and early access to new episodes of "The Best People."

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