The Political Scene | The New Yorker

The comedian and actor Robby Hoffman, known for her role on the HBO show “Hacks” and her début Netflix comedy special, “Wake Up,” joins Tyler Foggatt at the Cascade PBS Ideas Festival, in Seattle, for a conversation about social class and politics. Growing up as one of ten kids, Hoffman developed a world view that has never fit neatly into the left-vs.-right political dichotomy, and instead focusses her comedy on what she believes is the real defining divide in America: the rich versus the poor. “Classism is the conversation. The haves versus the have nots is the conversation. How much worse does it need to get for you to realize that’s what it’s all been about?” Hoffman says. She and Foggatt also discuss why Hoffman thinks Republicans and Democrats are often more alike than different, and why Donald Trump’s form of humor has given him a political advantage.
This week’s reading:

“Chronicle of a Disaster Foretold,” by David Remnick

“The Torture Chamber of British Politics Crushes Its Latest Prime Minister,” by Sam Knight

“How the Trump Administration Pushed Judges to Deport Children,” by E. Tammy Kim

“Who Is the Real Kevin Warsh?,” by John Cassidy

“The Teen Believers in a Christian America,” by Eliza Griswold

“J. D. Vance’s Contemptuous Conversion Memoir,” by Jessica Winter

Tune in to The Political Scene wherever you get your podcasts.

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The former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sat down with David Remnick at the 92nd Street Y, in New York, on Monday evening, after the Trump Administration announced a memorandum of understanding to end its war in Iran. Remnick asked whether the United States lost this war. “Yes,” Clinton replied. “The United States has come out weaker. Iran has come out stronger.” According to Clinton, Israel repeatedly tried to pressure the Obama Administration into backing a similar action in Iran, but she didn’t take the bait. “They would say things like ‘Our planes are on the tarmac,’ ” Clinton recalled. “And I’d say, ‘Well, good luck. Great. Why are you doing this?’ ” They also discuss Joe Biden’s decision to run for a second term, and its fateful consequences. “He made a terrible mistake,” she said. Had Biden stayed with his plan of serving for one term, “I believe whoever emerged . . . would have beaten Donald Trump.”
 Further reading and listening: 

“Hillary Clinton on the Psychology of Autocrats,” an episode of The Political Scene 

“Hillary Clinton Explains What Happened,” an episode of The New Yorker Radio Hour

“The Broadway Life of Hillary Clinton,” by Michael Schulman

“Curtis Sittenfeld’s ‘Rodham’ Offers the Catharsis of Uncomplicated Regret,” by Nora Caplan-Bricker

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 writers Vinson Cunningham, Naomi Fry, and Louisa Thomas join Tyler Foggatt to discuss three recent collisions of sports and politics. Cunningham and Foggatt talk about President Donald Trump’s appearance at a Knicks game during the team’s championship run, which evoked a mixed reception from New Yorkers and complicated an otherwise celebratory week in the city. Then Fry and Foggatt discuss the U.F.C. fight that Trump hosted on the White House lawn—in celebration of America’s two-hundred-and-fiftieth anniversary, and his own birthday—and how it merged the aesthetics and politics of Trump’s second term. Finally, Thomas joins Foggatt to discuss the World Cup and how the Administration’s immigration policies, the Iran war, and America’s precarious standing on the international stage are impacting one of the world’s premier sports and cultural events.
Listen to Critics at Large wherever you get your podcasts.
This week’s reading:

“Fight Night at the White House,” by Naomi Fry

“Will Americans Start to Care About the World Cup Now?,” by Louisa Thomas

“Lessons in Fanhood from the Knicks,” by Vinson Cunningham

“Can the World Cup Transcend Donald Trump?,” by Ishaan Tharoor

“The World Cup and the Changing Psyche of the Haitian Diaspora,” by Doreen St. Félix

“How the Moroccan World Cup Team Became a Symbol of the Global South,” by Dan Greene

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. 

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When Rachel Goldberg-Polin’s son, Hersh, was taken hostage by Hamas on October 7, 2023, she became a prominent spokesperson for the families of Israeli hostages. Throughout Hersh’s captivity, and then after his murder, Goldberg-Polin, who was born in Chicago and emigrated to Israel in 2008, argued that Israel’s priority should be to bring the hostages home, and that the killing of all innocents, Israeli and Palestinian, must stop. She advocated with Israeli politicians, Pope Francis, and other leaders, and she addressed the Democratic National Convention in 2024. She recently spoke with David Remnick about her new book, “When We See You Again,” and how she has continued her work as a public figure despite unending grief. “People are desperate for us to be angry . . . to feel things that I think that they assume they would feel if they were in the position that we are in. But the truth is, I’m open to feeling anything,” she reflects. “I put Hersh in the ground on September 2, 2024. After that, I’m in a completely different universe.” 
Further reading: 
“Gaza’s Broken Politics,” by Mohammed R. Mhawish
“The End of Israel’s Hostage Ordeal,” by Ruth Margalit
“Why Hamas Agreed to Release the Hostages,” by Isaac Chotiner
“Hope and Grief in Israel After the Gaza Ceasefire Deal,” by Ruth Margalit

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 Donald Trump’s eightieth birthday, on Sunday, with a look at the pageantry and spectacle surrounding the planned U.F.C. fight on the South Lawn of the White House. The panel contrasts Trump’s desire to project power and masculinity with his recent pattern of disinhibition: from allegedly falling asleep at important meetings and the N.B.A. Finals to angry outbursts at reporters, including such politically damaging statements as “I love the inflation.” Is the President fading, physically and politically? “It’s not about the age; it’s about the behavior,” the staff writer Evan Osnos says. “It’s about the clear fact that his conduct, his cognitive function, his behavior is declining.”
This week’s reading:

“What Jill Biden Doesn’t Say in Her White House Memoir,” by Amy Davidson Sorkin

“Can the World Cup Transcend Donald Trump?,” by Ishaan Tharoor

“The Supreme Court’s Latest Blow to Black Voters’ Rights,” by Ruth Marcus

“Is Elon Musk’s SpaceX Really Worth $1.75 Trillion?,” by John Cassidy

“Has Nancy Mace’s Crusade Against Sexual Violence Ruined Her Career?,” by Moira Donegan

“For the Nation’s Birthday, Making It Harder to Become an American,” by Jonathan Blitzer

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