The Decoded Podcast

Catastrophic earthquakes. Solar flares that bring down the entire power grid. The global rise of white supremacy. Journalist and historian Garrett Graff breaks down the other looming threats after the coronavirus pandemic. 

This episode originally aired May 8, 2020.

Garrett Graff is a journalist, director of cyber initiatives at The Aspen Institute, and author of multiple books, including The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11.
Jeremy Siegel is a host for POLITICO Dispatch.
Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO audio.
Jenny Ament is the senior producer of POLITICO audio.

Read more: Experts Knew a Pandemic Was Coming. Here’s What They’re Worried About Next.

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

By making local officials the gatekeepers for million-dollar businesses, states have unintentionally created a breeding ground for bribery and favoritism. POLITICO's Mona Zhang reports. This episode is the second in a two-part series on the unintended consequences of marijuana legalization laws.

Mona  Zhang is POLITICO's states cannabis policy reporter.
Jeremy Siegel is a host for POLITICO Dispatch.
Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO audio.
Jenny Ament is the senior producer of POLITICO audio.

Read more: How state marijuana legalization became a boon for corruption

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

Welcome to Ontario, Oregon, home of the tater tot — and now, a massive marijuana market for customers crossing the Idaho border. POLITICO's Natalie Fertig explains how the tiny town border town of 11,000 people became one of America's cannabis capitals — and what it means for other towns as weed legalization spreads. This episode is the first in a two-part series on the unintended consequences of marijuana legalization laws.

Natalie Fertig is POLITICO's federal cannabis policy reporter.
Jeremy Siegel is a host for POLITICO Dispatch.
Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO audio.
Jenny Ament is the senior producer of POLITICO audio.

Read more: Border weed: How the hometown of tater tots became a cannabis capital

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

We’re sick of it, too. So on today’s show, we’re not looking back at the past couple months of the Biden presidency — we’re looking forward to the next 100 days with POLITICO’s Anita Kumar. Plus, cruise lines could start operating again as soon as mid-July. And de Blasio wants a “full reopening” for New York City on July 1.

Anita Kumar is a White House correspondent and associate editor for POLITICO.
Jeremy Siegel is a host for POLITICO Dispatch.
Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO audio.
Jenny Ament is the senior producer of POLITICO audio.

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

It might feel like Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson are the center of the vaccine world, but there’s a lot more out there. POLITICO’s Sarah Owermohle breaks down everything you need to know about different vaccines in use globally. Plus, Biden is expected to invite lawmakers to the White House next week to discuss his big spending packages. And the Feds raid Rudy Giuliani’s home.

Sarah Owermohle is a health reporter for POLITICO.
Jeremy Siegel is a host for POLITICO Dispatch.
Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO audio.
Jenny Ament is the senior producer of POLITICO audio.

Read more in the POLITICO Pulse newsletter.

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

Florida politics are complicated. So is the future of the GOP. POLITICO’s Sabrina Rodriguez talks with Miami’s Republican mayor Francis Suarez about where Florida fits into that future — and the possibility of stepping onto the national stage in 2024. Plus, there will be no designated survivor for Biden’s joint address tonight. And the Capitol rioter who posed inside Pelosi’s office is released from D.C. jail.

Sabrina Rodriguez is an immigration correspondent for POLITICO.
Jeremy Siegel is a host for POLITICO Dispatch.
Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO audio.
Jenny Ament is the senior producer of POLITICO audio.

Read more: The Trump-rejecting Florida Republican who has a plan to fix the GOP

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

It’s the most diverse freshman class in the history of Congress. It’s also a group of lawmakers whose time in Washington has been marked by insurrection and hyper-polarization. POLITICO’s Eugene Daniels walks through conversations he had with three representatives from across the aisle: Byron Donalds, Nikema Williams and Ritchie Torres. Plus, the process of redrawing America’s political maps has begun. And the Justice Department launches a probe over Breonna Taylor's death.

Eugene Daniels is a White House reporter and Playbook co-author for POLITICO.
Jeremy Siegel is a host for POLITICO Dispatch.
Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO audio.
Jenny Ament is the senior producer of POLITICO audio.

Read more: They're coming in hot: The best quotes from our interviews with Congress' most diverse freshman class

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

For more than a century the U.S. has not formally recognized the killing of more than a million Armenians by the Ottoman Empire during WWI as genocide. Over the weekend, that changed. POLITICO’s Charlie Mahtesian explains what it means for Armenian Americans. Plus, the U.S. pledges aid to India amid a Covid surge. And a group of Senators Biden to push for Medicare expansion.

Charlie Mahtesian is the senior politics editor for POLITICO.
Jeremy Siegel is a host for POLITICO Dispatch.
Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO audio.
Jenny Ament is the senior producer of POLITICO audio.

Read more: 
Why Biden’s Armenian Genocide Declaration Really Is a Big Deal
'Of course it’s genocide': How Biden fulfilled a promise to Armenians that Obama wouldn’t

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

“If we miss this opportunity, God help us.” Joe Manchin and Lisa Murkowski. Two moderate senators smack in the middle — and on either side — of a split 50-50 Senate. On the first episode of Playbook Deep Dive, a new POLITICO podcast, the two friends open up in a rare interview with POLITICO’s Burgess Everett. They get personal: about reconciliation, frustration over the Senate’s hurdles — even why Murkowski hogs the best fishing holes. And Manchin reveals a major endorsement, heard first on this show.

Rachael Bade is a co-author of POLITICO Playbook.
Burgess Everett is co-congressional bureau chief at POLITICO.
Adrienne Hurst is a producer for POLITICO audio.
Annie Rees is a producer for POLITICO audio.
Jenny Ament is senior producer for POLITICO audio.
Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO audio.

Subscribe to Playbook Deep Dive.

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

The NRA is decimated and the GOP is out of power. For Sen. Chris Murphy, it’s an opportunity to do what’s been undoable for the past two decades. But as POLITICO’s Nicholas Wu reports, partisan gridlock might be unavoidable when it comes to gun legislation. Plus, Senate Democrats reject Republicans’ counterproposal to Biden’s infrastructure package. And 200 million Americans now have received vaccinations.

Nicholas Wu covers Congress for POLITICO.
Jeremy Siegel is a host for POLITICO Dispatch.
Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO audio.
Jenny Ament is the senior producer of POLITICO audio.

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