The Commentary Magazine Podcast

We must not hope for the best while expecting the worst today; today is a day to celebrate while cautiously looking forward. Jonathan Schanzer joins us to talk about the terms of the deal that will bring the Israeli hostages home while ensuring Israel retains military options and territory in Gaza—a better deal for Israel than most of us ever expected would be the final case. How did it happen? What happens next? Give a listen.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Eliana Johnson joins the podcast today to talk about the unprecedented attack-dog performance on Tuesday in a Senate hearing by Attorney General Pam Bondi, who decided to treat her oversight committee as though they were enemies whom she had every right to attack in personal terms. Is this a new model going forward? And what's this with the idea that a Harvard professor shooting a gun near a synagogue was just hunting rats? Give a listen.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jonathan Schanzer joins the podcast to discuss the ways in which the maligned Israeli approach to the war in Gaza may have, in fact, made its victory this week possible—and if there is no end at hand, establishes its grim but necessary path forward. Programming note: No podcast on Tuesday, October 7, in observance of Sukkot. Give a listen.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We return to daily podcasting in the wake of a horrible car-ramming-stabbing spree at a synagogue in Manchester, followed by a massive pro-terrorism demonstration right outside 10 Downing Street. The bloodlust for Jewish lives and security has only grown in the two years since October 7. Why? And how can it be stopped? Give a listen.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

So the federal government has "shut down," which it really hasn't, actually, and here we go again. Or will this really be a huge showdown, given that three Democrats have already voted against it and show they don't want to play this game (another six and the shutdown ends). Also: what is this ludicrous "scoop" from human dreidel Barak Ravid about how Trump had to yell at Netanyahu to get Bibi to agree to a deal that gives Bibi everything he wants? Give a listen.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There is much to discuss about Donald Trump's historic proposal for ending the war in Gaza: how the media has reacted, what it says about the Trump administration's support for Israel, and how each of us think Hamas will respond. Give a listen.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Does Donald Trump help or hurt himself by using the weapons of the presidency as personal tools for revenge? This is apart from the question of whether his doing so is simply turnabout-as-fair-play or simply an outrageous misuse of his power. Give a listen.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The indictment of James Comey causes us to go down memory lane remembering how destructive Comey was of the good working order of law and politics in matters involving both parties. Give a listen.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We're back from Rosh Hashanah to sing the glories of Donald Trump's controversial United Nations speech, which is only controversial because he isn't saying what the elites want him to say. And we try to make sense out of what seems like a huge shift on Trump's part in the direction of supporting Ukraine. Give a listen.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The massive memorial for Charlie Kirk in Arizona was more of a Christian revivalist meeting than the funeral of a political figure. What does it herald for the United States? And why does the "recognition" of a non-existent Palestinian state not worry us as much as you might expect? Give a listen.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices