Trump has just about done it again—and the country’s largely swinging further to the right on down-ballot candidates and even some ballot initiatives. Why couldn’t the Harris campaign pull it off, and what do other key losses for the Democrats say about what Americans want?

Guest: David Faris, politics professor at Roosevelt University and contributing writer for Slate.

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Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme and Rob Gunther. 

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It’s been a strange election—Trump being shot at on stage; Biden dropping out—but also a very familiar one, with the same issues, same rhetoric, and same deadlocked, dysfunctional Congress waiting on the other side.

How long will the political Groundhog Day last—and what will it take to break this cycle?

Guests: Osita Nwanevu, contributing editor at the New Republic and columnist at The Guardian.

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Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme and Rob Gunther.

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The worst part about the election being tomorrow is knowing that we (almost definitely) won’t know the results tomorrow.

Guests:

Ari Berman, voting rights reporter for Mother Jones

Kadia Goba, political reporter for Semafor

Isaac Saul, founder of the Tangle newsletter

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Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme and Rob Gunther.

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Voters in swing states are being subjected to constant political messages—on billboards, commercials and, increasingly, via text messages. But are dozens of “make a plan to vote” texts you’re receiving going to make a difference?

Guest: Jacob Neiheisel, political science professor at the University at Buffalo 

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Disclosure in Podcast Description: A Bond Account is a self-directed brokerage account with Public Investing, member FINRA/SIPC. Deposits into this account are used to purchase 10 investment-grade and high-yield bonds. As of 9/26/24, the average, annualized yield to worst (YTW) across the Bond Account is greater than 6%. A bond’s yield is a function of its market price, which can fluctuate; therefore, a bond’s YTW is not “locked in” until the bond is purchased, and your yield at time of purchase may be different from the yield shown here. The “locked in” YTW is not guaranteed; you may receive less than the YTW of the bonds in the Bond Account if you sell any of the bonds before maturity or if the issuer defaults on the bond. Public Investing charges a markup on each bond trade. See our Fee Schedule. Bond Accounts are not recommendations of individual bonds or default allocations. The bonds in the Bond Account have not been selected based on your needs or risk profile. See https://public.com/disclosures/bond-account to learn more.

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How did Elon Musk go from a poster to someone pumping millions of dollars towards Donald Trump? And what’s he hoping to get for doing so?

Guest: Max Chafkin, Bloomberg Businessweek columnist. 

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They believe they are the law. They believe the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump. They’re determined not to let it happen again. Meet the constitutional sheriffs.

Guest: David Gilbert, reports on disinformation, online extremism and election hucksters for WIRED.

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Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme and Rob Gunther.

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It’s gone to Trump once and Biden once. Now, there’s a slight but very real chance that the entire election will turn based on how Nebraska’s second congressional district—with its singular electoral college vote—goes.

Guest: Paul Kane, congressional reporter at the Washington Post.

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Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme and Rob Gunther.

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The hardest-to-reach portion of the electorate remains “undecided” at this point of the election cycle, but the outcome depends on which campaign can convince them to join their side.

Guest: Michael Podhorzer, Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress (CAP) and author of the substack Weekend Reading.

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Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme and Rob Gunther.

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In a presidential race as tight as this one, a few thousand votes—in the right states—could be the difference. Is the Green Party candidate Jill Stein set up to be that difference, like so many Democrats believe she was in 2016?

Guest: Matt Flegenheimer, correspondent for the New York Times specializing in long-form profiles of political figures.

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Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme and Rob Gunther.

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He didn’t find his grandfather. But traveling to, photographing, and uploading his grandfather’s memorial stone gave him something else. 

Guest: Tony Tran, senior tech editor at Slate and author of the feature “My Weekends with the Dead.”

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