The episode examines Paul Manafort’s career arc from Republican political consultant to global fixer, focusing on how he helped corporations, oligarchs, and authoritarian leaders “launder” their reputations and secure influence in Washington. Franklin Foer argues that Manafort both exploited and accelerated the erosion of political norms, using tools like lobbying, PR, and quasi-democratic elections to make corrupt actors seem legitimate, with Ukraine’s Viktor Yanukovych and Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska as central examples. The hosts connect Manafort’s personal and financial unraveling to his decision to join the Trump campaign, framing his indictment as both an exposure of long-running practices and a potential deterrent that has already prompted belated compliance with foreign-agent d...

Current and former White House officials say Chief of Staff John Kelly has hurt West Wing morale by privately insulting President Trump’s intelligence, portraying himself as the person preventing disaster, and making comments some staffers found inappropriate, including remarks about women being more emotional than men and sympathetic statements about former aide Rob Porter during the domestic abuse controversy. They describe a gap between Kelly’s public image as a disciplined stabilizer and what they see as an undisciplined, indiscreet leadership style that has contributed to reduced influence and speculation about his departure. The White House and Kelly deny or downplay key allegations, saying he has a candid relationship with the president, staff still respects him, and any contentious...

The episode looks at how prepared the world is for the next major pandemic, using the 1918 flu as a benchmark and contrasting today’s medical advances with modern vulnerabilities like dense urban living, global air travel, and the rise of new pathogens. Ed Yong reports from places including the Democratic Republic of Congo and U.S. public health labs and hospitals to show how frontline preparedness depends on underfunded, often invisible systems and workers, and how crises repeatedly trigger a “panic and neglect” cycle as political attention and money surge and then fade. The conversation explores how fear, misinformation, and xenophobia can worsen outbreaks and distort policy, arguing that border closures and demagoguery are counterproductive compared with calm leadership, trust-building,...

The episode centers on Trump’s Helsinki press conference with Vladimir Putin, focusing on how Trump publicly cast doubt on U.S. intelligence, created moral equivalence between the U.S. and Russia, and then issued shifting, implausible walk-backs that raised questions about presidential judgment and credibility on the world stage. The hosts debate whether Trump’s behavior reflects insecurity about the legitimacy of his election or something more sinister, and they explore how even “just words” can have real geopolitical consequences by aiding Russia’s broader effort to undermine Western alliances and democratic ideals. They also examine the muted response from Republicans in Congress and discuss what meaningful oversight or election-protection actions might be possible, while doubting the e...

Stephen Colbert riffs on Donald Trump’s claim that “what you’re seeing and reading is not what’s happening,” using it to frame a broader critique of the administration’s dishonesty and escalating authoritarian instincts. The segment focuses on Trump’s consideration of stripping security clearances from former officials who criticize him, why those clearances matter for national security continuity, and the White House and GOP responses, including Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ defense, Rand Paul’s insinuations about “monetizing” access, and Paul Ryan downplaying it as mere trolling. Through satire, Colbert argues the issue is less about ethics or secrecy and more about using government power to punish dissent and demand loyalty.

Chris Hayes talks with law professor and New York attorney general candidate Zephyr Teachout about how corruption should be defined and why modern legal standards—especially the Supreme Court’s narrow quid pro quo approach in cases like Bob McDonnell and in campaign finance—have weakened tools to prevent public officials from using office for private gain. They connect those ideas to Trump-era conflicts of interest, focusing on the emoluments clauses, foreign and domestic spending at Trump properties, and why New York’s attorney general could play a pivotal role in investigating and prosecuting corruption tied to Trump’s business empire. The conversation also touches on historical anti-corruption reforms, how money in politics reshapes priorities through dependency and “servility,” and wha...

Early reports from Bob Woodward’s forthcoming book depict senior Trump administration officials privately describing President Trump as unintelligent, erratic, and difficult to brief on basic national security and policy matters. The accounts include aides intervening to block impulsive actions, such as Gary Cohn removing a draft letter withdrawing from a trade agreement, and quotes attributed to John Kelly, James Mattis, and Rex Tillerson expressing contempt for Trump’s grasp of issues. Woodward also reports Trump’s lawyers argued he should not testify in the Mueller investigation because he could not reliably tell the truth and would damage U.S. credibility if a transcript leaked. The article adds an example of Trump misstating John McCain’s Vietnam service and argues Woodward’s reportin...

The episode examines whether democracy is in decline by comparing the United States’ constitutional design with recent democratic backsliding in Europe. Jeffrey Rosen argues that James Madison’s “cooling” mechanisms meant to curb mob passion have been eroded by polarization, social media, and a more direct, personality-driven presidency, making deliberation and cross-party compromise harder. Anne Applebaum traces how polarization in Poland (and parallels like Brexit) shifted politics from economic debates to fights over identity and national belonging, showing how democracies can be weakened when a determined minority changes rules to entrench power. The conversation explores how disinformation, echo chambers, and distrust of shared facts intensify these trends, and whether American instit...

Chris Hayes replays a conversation with legal scholar and former Obama White House counsel Kate Shaw about how the Trump administration’s approach to governance has repeatedly run into legal trouble, from courts blocking major initiatives like the travel ban and the DACA rescission to broader ethics and compliance problems inside the White House. They argue these setbacks reflect rushed, poorly run policymaking and a weak transition that left basic institutional processes and legal guardrails underdeveloped, while also exposing how much of government relies on enforceable law versus informal norms. A central theme is how Trump’s public statements and tweets—especially around issues like the travel ban, Justice Department independence, and even blocking users on Twitter—create legal and ins...