The Political Scene | The New Yorker

One of Donald Trump’s few critics within his party is the libertarian-leaning senator Rand Paul, from Kentucky. Paul was recently the sole Republican to vote in favor of restricting the President’s power to make war in Iran. He also opposed Trump on tariff policy, and on his budget bill in 2025. “He loves voting ‘NO’ on everything,” the President fumed. Paul ran for President in 2016, and is considering another run for the White House in 2028. He talks with David Remnick about how he would differentiate himself from J. D. Vance and Marco Rubio; about his opposition to the attack on Iran; and about Pete Hegseth invoking Christianity in the war. “People quoting the Old Testament about smiting the enemy” concerns Paul greatly: “If this becomes Christians versus Muslims, I don’t see a quick end to a war.”
 Further reading: 

“The End of Limits on a President’s Wars,” by Ruth Marcus

“Why Rand Paul Ran Aground,” by Kelefa Sanneh

The Political Scene draws on the reporting and analysis found in The New Yorker for lively conversations about the big questions in American politics. Join the magazine’s writers and editors as they put into context the latest news—about elections, the economy, the White House, the Supreme Court, and much more. New episodes are available three times a week. 
Tune in to The Political Scene wherever you get your podcasts.

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The Washington Roundtable discusses the global consequences of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz with Edward Fishman, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and the author of the book “Chokepoints: American Power in the Age of Economic Warfare.” The group explores how Donald Trump’s embrace of economic weapons such as tariffs, along with his military escalation in Iran, has upended the world’s economy and weakened his popularity at home. “I think we have not seen the worst of this war yet,” Fishman says. “I don’t see how anyone can view that as a victory, and we all know Donald Trump doesn’t like to look like a loser.”
See the Washington Roundtable live at 92NY on June 4th.
This week’s reading:

“Trump and the Iran Deal That Wasn’t,” by Susan B. Glasser

“Donald Trump’s Triumphal Arch and the Architecture of Autocracy,” by Adam Gopnik

“How Big a Threat Are Iranian-Backed Cyberattacks?,” by Sue Halpern

“How Beijing Views the War in Iran,” by Isaac Chotiner

The Political Scene draws on the reporting and analysis found in The New Yorker for lively conversations about the big questions in American politics. Join the magazine’s writers and editors as they put into context the latest news—about elections, the economy, the White House, the Supreme Court, and much more. New episodes are available three times a week. 
Tune in to The Political Scene wherever you get your podcasts.

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The New Yorker staff writer Zach Helfand joins Tyler Foggatt to discuss his Profile of Linda McMahon, the Secretary of Education. They talk about the sweeping layoffs and downsizing at the Department of Education during Donald Trump’s second term—a fulfillment of a long-standing conservative effort to dismantle the agency—and the consequences for students and schools that rely on its services. They also explore how McMahon’s tenure as C.E.O. of World Wrestling Entertainment set her up to be one of Trump’s most reliable and effective Cabinet members, across both his terms—and why the President has long been drawn to McMahon, her husband, Vince, and the world of professional wrestling.
This week’s reading:

“How Professional Wrestling Prepared Linda McMahon for Trump’s Cabinet,” by Zach Helfand

“J. D. Vance’s Bumpy Ride,” by Amy Davidson Sorkin

“Donald Trump’s Triumphal Arch and the Architecture of Autocracy,” by Adam Gopnik

“What Nicolás Maduro’s Life Is Like in a Notorious Brooklyn Jail,” by Diego Lasarte

The Political Scene draws on the reporting and analysis found in The New Yorker for lively conversations about the big questions in American politics. Join the magazine’s writers and editors as they put into context the latest news—about elections, the economy, the White House, the Supreme Court, and much more. New episodes are available three times a week. 
Tune in to The Political Scene wherever you get your podcasts.

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Omer Bartov is an Israeli professor of Holocaust and genocide studies at Brown University. He grew up in a Zionist home and served as an officer in the Israel Defense Forces, but he has long been concerned about Israel’s use of military power. In a new book called “Israel: What Went Wrong?,” Bartov argues that Zionism has morphed into an ideology of extremism that led to genocide in Gaza following the Hamas attacks of October 7th. “There is growing criticism of American support for these kinds of Israeli policies, both on the American left and on the American right,” Bartov tells David Remnick. Bartov believes that Israel requires “shock therapy” because “it has not still come to identify the limits of its own power, because those limits are in Washington, DC and it's there that those limits have to be set.” “For Israel, that would be good, because I think Israel needs to be liberated from that kind of dependence on American power. I think, for American society and for American Jewry, that’s a very bad thing because there is a rise of . . . antisemitism from the Tucker Carlsons of the world, who are a rising force right now.”
Further reading: 

“Israel: What Went Wrong?,” by Omer Bartov

“A Holocaust Scholar Meets with Israeli Reservists,” by Isaac Chotiner

“How to Define Genocide,” by Isaac Chotiner

The Political Scene draws on the reporting and analysis found in The New Yorker for lively conversations about the big questions in American politics. Join the magazine’s writers and editors as they put into context the latest news—about elections, the economy, the White House, the Supreme Court, and much more. New episodes are available three times a week. 
Tune in to The Political Scene wherever you get your podcasts.

Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The Washington Roundtable discusses how the anti-corruption candidate Péter Magyar brought down Hungary's autocratic Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán, and what implications that victory holds for the far-right movements around the world that Orbán helped embolden. The panel is joined by Kim Lane Scheppele, a Princeton professor who has lived in Hungary and studied its democratic backsliding. Together, they unpack how Magyar’s campaign succeeded by connecting Orbán’s corruption to the everyday struggles of Hungarians, and how that approach might inform Democratic strategy in the 2028 Presidential election.
This week’s reading:

“America’s Orange Jesus,” by Susan B. Glasser

“The Hungarian Election Shows That Even Strongmen Can Lose,” by Andrew Marantz

“TMZ Gets Political,” by Paula Mejía

“Who Is the U.S. Negotiating with in Iran?,” by Sudarsan Raghavan

“ ‘The Peace President’ Gets Belligerent with Iran and the Pope,” by Robin Wright

“How Much Has the War in Iran Depleted the U.S. Missile Supply?,” by Garrett M. Graff

“How Project Maven Put A.I. Into the Kill Chain,” by Gideon Lewis-Kraus

“The Extremes of Israeli Public Opinion,” by Isaac Chotiner

The Political Scene draws on the reporting and analysis found in The New Yorker for lively conversations about the big questions in American politics. Join the magazine’s writers and editors as they put into context the latest news—about elections, the economy, the White House, the Supreme Court, and much more. New episodes are available three times a week. 
Tune in to The Political Scene wherever you get your podcasts.

Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices