The Best People with Nicolle Wallace

In a media market saturated with content, Oliver Darcy breaks the fourth wall—turning the lens back on the content makers shaping today’s news. The veteran media reporter and “Status” newsletter founder is known for delivering must-read scoops and industry analysis. In this episode, Darcy joins Nicolle to analyze the depths of corporate capitulation to Donald Trump, how MAGA media stars are commanding the attention economy through rampant conspiracy pedaling, and why America's information environment is increasingly unhealthy. He warns that “the antibodies that were fighting the sickness” are being depleted. But Darcy also sees glimmers of optimism: from citizen protests to independent journalists, Americans are waking up.

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Against the backdrop of the shocking U.S. capture of President Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela, renowned historian and Substack superstar Heather Cox Richardson is back with Nicolle, bringing her unique capacity to explain our current state of play through a historically tinted lens. As Trump’s actions abroad rattle the post-World War II international order, Heather warns of a political era that adheres more to the strongman politics of autocratic leaders like Vladimir Putin than it ever has before. Together, Cox Richardson and Nicolle trace an evolving list of national concerns: a president in clear decline, a Congress unwilling to act, and a Republican Party abandoning its core principles in real time.
And if you haven't heard Nicolle’s first conversation with Heather, please give it a listen here: Heather Cox Richardson:“People are Starved for Facts”
Note: This episode was recorded on January 7, 2026.

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Happy New Year! This week, we’re revisiting an episode we recorded back in September with the iconic folk singer, songwriter, and activist, Joan Baez. Please enjoy! We’ll be back with new episodes next week.
Legendary singer and activist Joan Baez still marches in protests; but she also performs in a circus, dances with drag queens and does whatever else she can to maintain a sense of joy and laughter. Baez has spent her career equally at home on the political frontlines as behind a guitar. But as the world has changed, so has how she calculates risk. She thinks if she were to be arrested now – as opposed to 58 years ago – it would be “scary in a way that I was not scared back then.” But, she tells Nicolle, “social change cannot happen until somebody's willing to take a risk."

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As we reflect on 2025 and prepare for the new year, we thought it would be a good time to share an episode we recorded back in September that blends themes of comedy, friendship, and community. Please enjoy this “Best of the Best” with Nicolle’s dear friend and former co-host, Rosie O’Donnell.
Rosie O’Donnell has never shied away from a microphone. And while her decades-long public feud with Donald Trump has at times been fodder for tabloids, she is quite clear that her decision to move to Ireland, her ancestral home, was all about her family and her own self-preservation. Rosie and Nicolle first met as co-hosts thrown together to debate on “The View”, but they developed a friendship that continues today. This episode shows the breadth of that connection, as Rosie reflects on the continual chaos Trump brings to the country each day, shares some memories about “The View” and Barbara Streisand, and issues a call to action for people feeling lost: find your community.

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