This week I’m pleased to host TLP’s friend Adam Jentleson—the founder and CEO of the Searchlight Institute, former Chief of Staff to Senator John Fetterman, and former Deputy Chief of Staff to Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid—to make the case that the Democratic Party has built a billion-dollar idea machine and gotten almost nothing useful out of it.

* Why do the progressive groups shaping Democratic policy seem to only represent the views and priorities of their own college-educated staffers? How do they keep getting away with it?

* Why did prioritizing climate change become shorthand for “liberal elite”—and should Democrats stop talking about it entirely if they actually want to fix it?

* Is there any potential 2028 candidate who would be willing to embrace “80-20” issues and break away from activist orthodoxy the way Donald Trump broke away from his party in 2015?

In addition to his role at Searchlight, Jentleson is the author of an excellent book on the complicated history of the U.S. Senate and the filibuster, Kill Switch: The Rise of the Modern Senate and the Crippling of American Democracy.

A transcript of this podcast is available at the top of the post page on our website.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.liberalpatriot.com

In this week’s episode of the TLP Podcast, I’m thrilled to speak with Wall Street Journal writer at large Pamela Paul about her new article on the battles over civic literacy in leading universities and why the Democratic Party struggles to adjust to reality on gender ideology and other matters even as public opinion shifts against them. From campus monoculture to Planned Parenthood’s mission creep and the broader crisis of institutional trust, we unpack how cultural politics has reshaped the center-left—and what it means for 2026 and beyond.

Prior to the Journal, Paul was previously at The New York Times, where she was most recently an opinion columnist and longtime editor of the NYT Book Review. Before joining the Times, she was a contributing writer to Time magazine and a correspondent for The Economist.

Please listen in on a fascinating discussion and subscribe to the podcast if you don’t already.

A transcript of this podcast is available at the top of the post page on our website.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.liberalpatriot.com

Why do elites in both political parties keep misreading the public?

In today’s episode of The Liberal Patriot Podcast, I speak with journalist Mike Pesca to unpack the surprising voter ID consensus, the “scalpel vs. chainsaw” problem in modern politics, media tribalism, Bari Weiss and CBS, and the Democrats’ struggle between moderation and resistance.

Mike is an award-winning journalist and podcast host whose work spans public radio, print, and television. ​He is the creator and host of The Gist, the longest-running daily news podcast in history; moderator of Not Even Mad, a political debate podcast; and host of Funny You Should Mention, a co-production with the Comedy Cellar, where he conducts in-depth interviews with stand-up comedians.

Are we stuck in a permanent overreaction cycle in politics—or is there still room for reform? Please listen in to find out!

A transcript of this podcast is available on our website at the top of the post page.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.liberalpatriot.com

On today’s episode of The Liberal Patriot Podcast, I talk with Iowa state legislator and U.S. Senate candidate Josh Turek about why Donald Trump’s populism resonated with working-class voters—and why it ultimately failed to deliver. We examine faux populism, rural economic decline, tariffs, health care, and what genuine working-class politics would require beyond slogans and culture war performance.

Turek is one of the first candidates endorsed by The Bench, a new organization dedicated to supporting Democrats like Josh who are trying to win competitive elections and flip seats in red areas by representing the values and policy desires of working-class voters and their families in a pragmatic manner.

A transcript of this podcast is available at the top of the page on our website.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.liberalpatriot.com

Is America the victim of its own economic success?

In this episode of The Liberal Patriot Podcast, I speak with Niskanen Center senior vice president Brink Lindsey about why material abundance in America no longer translates into national meaning, cohesion, or progress. We discuss capitalism’s limits, performative politics, declining birth rates, and what it would take to move from mass plenty to genuine flourishing.

Brink is the author of a great new book published this month, The Permanent Problem: The Uncertain Transition from Mass Plenty to Mass Flourishing, and writes his own newsletter, also called The Permanent Problem, right here on Substack.

A transcript of this podcast is available on the post page of our website (click the button at the top of the page).

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.liberalpatriot.com

On this week’s episode of The Liberal Patriot Podcast, I talk with geologist and energy expert Scott Tinker about why affordable, reliable energy is the foundation of human progress. We examine energy poverty, the limits of renewables, and why many climate policies collide with physics, economics, and lived reality—especially for the world’s poorest people.

From 2000-2024, Tinker was Director of the Bureau of Economic Geology and State Geologist of Texas. He is currently CEO of Tinker Energy Associates and executive producer and host of PBS Energy Switch, an energy and climate talk series appearing in over 100 million households nationwide.

Please listen in on a fantastic discussion and subscribe to the TLP Podcast if you don’t already.

A transcript is available on the website at the top of page.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.liberalpatriot.com

This week, I speak with my AEI colleague, Sally Satel, a practicing psychiatrist and lecturer at the Yale University School of Medicine, about the rapid ideological transformation inside American medicine. Satel explains how medical associations shifted from clinical excellence toward activist missions, how flawed research, such as the now-debunked study claiming that black infant mortality could be halved if more black doctors cared for black newborns, shaped public debate, and how public-health leaders undermined public trust during the Covid pandemic.

Please listen in on a great discussion or read the transcript here on our website, available at the top of the page.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.liberalpatriot.com

What do voters actually want—and why do so many politicians keep getting it wrong? This week I talk with the great Simon Bazelon about the real data behind voter shifts, why popular narratives miss the mark, and what a winning path forward for Democrats really looks like.

Simon is the lead author of a terrific new report, “Deciding to Win: Toward a Common Sense Renewal of the Democratic Party.” This report, released by our friends at Welcome, is a must read for anyone involved in Democratic politics:

In order to take back Congress and the presidency, Democrats need to understand the political and strategic landscape we face. Deciding to Win aims to provide the most comprehensive account to date of why Democrats lost and what our party needs to do to win again. We draw on thousands of election results, hundreds of public polls and academic papers, dozens of case studies, and surveys of more than 500,000 voters we conducted since the 2024 election. Deciding to Win argues that since 2012, highly educated staffers, donors, advocacy groups, pundits, and elected officials have reshaped the Democratic Party’s agenda, decreasing our party’s focus on the economic issues that are the top concerns of the American people. These same forces have pushed our party to adopt unpopular positions on a number of issues that are important to voters, including immigration and public safety. To win again, Democrats need to listen more to voters and less to out-of-touch donors, detached party elites, and Democratic politicians who consistently underperform the top of the ticket.

Please check out Simon’s report and listen in on the discussion!

A transcript of this podcast is available on our website.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.liberalpatriot.com

Why did America stop building? My AEI colleague James Pethokoukis joins the podcast this week to explain how cultural pessimism, bad policy, and bipartisan fear of disruption stalled progress in strengthening America’s economy. From nukes to AI, we explore what went wrong—and how to fix it.

Please listen in on the discussion and check out James’s excellent 2023 book, The Conservative Futurist: How to Create the Sci-Fi World We Were Promised.

A transcript of this podcast is available on our website.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.liberalpatriot.com

This week, I’m thrilled to welcome Massachusetts Fourth District Representative Jake Auchincloss to the podcast. Congressman Auchincloss is serving his third term in office and currently works on the House Committee on Energy & Commerce with a particular focus on issues including healthcare, clean energy, gun violence, and a strong middle class. From his bio:

Jake was born and raised in Newton, Massachusetts, the son of a surgeon and a scientist. They showed him the value of curiosity and hard work. From the moment he could read, Jake loved American history.

After graduating from Harvard College, Jake joined the Marines. He commanded infantry in Afghanistan and special operations in Panama.

Upon returning home, Jake continued his service as a three-term city councilor in Newton. While working at City Hall on nights and weekends, Jake built a career in business, running product development at both a Fortune 100 insurance company and a cybersecurity startup. He has degrees in economics and finance from Harvard University and MIT Sloan.

Today, Jake lives in Newton with his wife, Michelle, and their children, Teddy, Grace, and Audrey (along with their Labrador Retriever, Donut).

After a decade defined by division and distrust in politics, Congressman Auchincloss believes America is ready to rebuild the country and civic life. We talk about post-Trump politics, restoring confidence in democracy, and what it takes to create a pragmatic, forward-looking center in American life.

Please listen in on or watch a wonderful discussion!

A transcript of this podcast is available on the post page on our website.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.liberalpatriot.com