Interesting Times

President Trump made more than $2 billion last year — far exceeding his presidential salary of $400,000. His growing fortunes are raising questions about his allegiance to investors, particularly foreign ones, as he makes policy decisions and shapes the direction of the country.
The contributing Opinion writer Christopher Caldwell and the Harvard law professor Jack Goldsmith discuss how the president has amassed this fortune, whether it’s legal and if the United States is becoming a kleptocracy.
Note: As we work on relaunching 'Interesting Times,' the show will feature a series of guest hosts in the coming months.
00:00 Why Trump’s Wealth Is Unusual
01:30 Presidential Ethics Before Trump
02:28 Trump’s Crypto and Foreign Money Flows
06:12 Is It a Kleptocracy?
07:36 What’s Unconstitutional About Trump’s Finances
10:43 The U.A.E. and Trump’s Foreign Policy
13:41 How Trump’s Weaponization Is Changing Government
16:42 What Congress Could Do
18:59 The Tit for Tat Weaponization
24:13 Can Trump Pardon Himself?
26:57 The “Deep-State” Crackdown
36:59 Oversight Norms and Voter Verdict
42:46 Closing Thoughts
(A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.)
Thoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times.



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“Interesting Times” is on a brief hiatus. Before we return next month, we’re bringing you an interview from “The Ezra Klein Show” with Ross Douthat about his 17 years as a conservative columnist at The New York Times. But Ross and Ezra go back even further, to the nascent days of political blogging. They talk about the seismic changes they’ve witnessed in the media industry over the years and the art of changing minds.

(A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website here.)

Thoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times.

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

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For my final episode as host of “Interesting Times,” I wanted a fitting finale — a conversation that encapsulates the ambition of this show: examining how seemingly radical ideas are steadily entering the mainstream of American politics, technology and culture. Few ideas are as radical as the hope of significant life extension and the quest to live forever.

My guest today thinks he can outrun death. After selling his tech company for hundreds of millions of dollars and experiencing a profound religious crisis, Bryan Johnson turned his own body into the ultimate science project, centered on an explicit mission: Don’t die.

But why does Johnson want to live forever, and what lessons can his algorithmically driven lifestyle bring to the rest of us?

It’s been an honor hosting this podcast and navigating these strange waters with you. “Interesting Times” will be back with new episodes and new hosts in the fall.

0:00 Why Bryan Johnson Wants to Defeat Death

1:18 The Core Premise of "Don't Die" vs. Immortality

3:26 Selling Braintree/Venmo & Personal Collapse

6:33 Leaving the Mormon Church & Searching for Meaning

7:45 Launching Project Blueprint: Body as Philosophy

11:35 Bryan Johnson’s Daily Longevity Routine & Biological Age Metrics

15:06 How AI Builds "Autonomous Health" for the Human Body

17:58 The Best Habits to Optimize Health: Sleep & Heart Rate

21:32 Blueprint Products, Supplements, & Testing

23:46 Reversing Biological Aging: Saunas & HBOT

25:24 Can Psychedelics Extend Lifespan? Psilocybin Longevity Trials

31:07 How Falling in Love Has Changed His Perspective

34:06 Diagnosed with an Incurable Autoimmune Disease

35:51 The Risk of Gerontocracy

53:53 Can Humanity Defeat Death? Societal & Philosophical Impacts

(A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.)

Thoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times with Ross Douthat.

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

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What does a liberal solution to the masculinity crisis look like? As men fall behind in the American educational system and the economy, they’re looking for meaning — and often find it in the wrong places.

My guest today is Scott Galloway, a professor at N.Y.U.’s Stern School of Business. Galloway is an unlikely masculinity guru — he’s a liberal academic, a business founder and a married father.

He had a lot to say about the social and economic reasons young men seem to be struggling, but he’s still optimistic about the future.

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

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American leaders are staying in office past their prime. Boomers are reluctant to relinquish control — from political offices to corner offices — to the detriment of their juniors. In a society where the elderly hold so much power, should younger generations revolt? 

My guest today is Samuel Moyn, a professor at Yale Law School, and he argues that American democracy is distorted by the power of the old. We discuss how seniors have hoarded wealth and influence and how Americans can renew an intergenerational compact.

0:00 The Tyranny of the Elderly

2:01 From Joe Biden to Mitch McConnell

4:19 Europe's Anti-Gerontocracy

5:15 Politicians are the ‘Tip of the Iceberg’

7:07 The Dark Side of Longevity

9:40 How Age Impacts Policy

15:10 The Age Wealth Gap

20:21 How About Millennials?

23:28 Age Limits and Youth Power

38:14 Care Hoarding and Family Burdens

44:54 The Assisted Suicide Debate

50:14 Personal Stakes

(A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.)

Thoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times with Ross Douthat.

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.