PODCAST · news
Right Now With Perry Bacon
by The New Republic
A twice-weekly show about national politics with a focus on the radicalism of the Trump administration and tactics to combat it. The program features in-depth discussions with experts and politicians. It goes beyond the daily headlines to explain why things are happening and put them in a broader context. newrepublic.substack.com
Episodes
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The Blue Wave Is Coming to the States As Well
In the latest episode, Perry is joined by Chaz Nuttycombe of State Navigate to discuss the midterm outlook for state legislatures. Right Now with Perry Bacon: a twice-weekly show diving into U.S. politics, democracy, and the authoritarian threats facing America. Each episode, Perry strives to go...
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What Lula’s Struggles in Brazil Tell Us About Progressive Politics
In the latest episode, Perry is joined by Michael Paarlberg of Virginia Commonwealth University to discuss Brazil’s upcoming runoff. Right Now with Perry Bacon: a twice-weekly show diving into U.S. politics, democracy, and the authoritarian threats facing America. Each episode, Perry strives to…
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Trump Is Running Out of Foreign Policy Wins—and Options
In the latest episode, Perry is joined by Elizabeth Saunders to discuss the Iran war, Rubio’s Greece speech, and what a cornered Trump might do after the midterms. Right Now with Perry Bacon: a twice-weekly show diving into U.S. politics, democracy, and the authoritarian threats facing America....
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From Jesse Jackson to Trans Rights: How Democrats Triangulate
In the latest episode, Perry is joined by political scientist Paul Frymer to discuss whether Democrats treat transgender Americans as a “captured minority”—much like Black voters. Right Now with Perry Bacon: a twice-weekly show diving into U.S. politics, democracy, and the authoritarian threats...
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Why We Should Abandon the Term “Working Class”
In the latest episode, Perry is joined by Monica Potts, staff writer at The New Republic covering class politics, to discuss why “working class” has become a meaningless catch-all in political journalism—and why reporters should be far more specific instead. Right Now with Perry Bacon: a...
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What Kind of Liberalism is The Democratic Party Pushing?
In the latest episode, Perry is joined by historian Lily Geismar to discuss how professional-class dominance reshaped the Democratic Party — and whether a populist left can break through. Right Now with Perry Bacon: a twice-weekly show diving into U.S. politics, democracy, and the authoritarian...
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The Danger of the Democratic Party’s Obsession With the Center
The Democratic Party frequently campaigns on a promise of technical competence and professional management, but Chaotic Neutral author Ed Burmila argues that running simply as "better stewards of the system" is a fatal long-term strategy. Right Now with Perry Bacon: a twice-weekly show diving…
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How Purple-State Democrats Should Talk About Trans Issues
As a wave of Democratic candidates in swing and red districts distance themselves from LGBTQ+ advocacy, Evan Urquhart argues that attempting to win over moderate voters by sacrificing trans rights is a costly mistake. Right Now with Perry Bacon: a twice-weekly show diving into U.S. politics,...
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Is Trumpism About To Take Over Germany?
Right Now with Perry Bacon: a twice-weekly show diving into U.S. politics, democracy, and the authoritarian threats facing America. Each episode, Perry strives to go beyond daily headlines and actually connect the dots to what’s happening in America. ➡ View the Right Now vault on TNR’s website:...
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How Higher Ed Can Fight the Anti-DEI Movement
Perry and Natasha discuss how conservative strategists capitalized on campus divisions following the 2023 Gaza protests, why faculty across the country are facing growing surveillance concerns in their classrooms, why state-level bans targeting disciplines like sociology show the right recognizes...
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How Progressives Can Revive the Police Reform Movement
Despite years of procedural reforms, police in America continue to kill more than 1,000 people annually, and the political momentum from 2020 has faced massive pushback from both the right and the center. Alex Vitale, professor of sociology at Brooklyn College and author of The End of Policing,...
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How the 2020 Minneapolis Protests Set Up the City To Fight ICE
Minneapolis became ground zero for resistance to ICE in 2026—and Michelle Phelps, sociologist at the University of Minnesota and author of The Minneapolis Reckoning, argues that’s not a coincidence. She joins the show to trace how networks, muscle memory, and skepticism of official narratives…
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Why The Professors’ Union Got Behind El-Sayed
The American Association of University Professors made a rare move: endorsing Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan’s primary. Todd Wolfson, president of AAUP and a professor of journalism and media studies at Rutgers, joins the show to explain why. We discuss El-Sayed’s own family ties to the union, why...
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Why AOC’s “Woke” Comments Landed With a Thud
AOC called it “woke 1.0” and cited a local official calling it “crazy”—and Deva Woodly, professor of political science at Brown University and a fellow at the Kettering Foundation, joins the show to push back. We discuss what AOC actually said about Francesca Hong and the political moment around...
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Will Progressives Get Another Win in Wisconsin This Week?
Michigan has voted, and now Minnesota and Wisconsin are up next in the Democratic primary wars. Ryan Cooper, senior editor at The American Prospect, joins the show to look back at what the Michigan results revealed and look ahead at what’s coming this week. We discuss why electability arguments…
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What the Michigan Senate Race Tells Us About the Democratic Party
Abdul El-Sayed won Michigan’s primary by a narrow margin—and Julia Azari and Seth Masket, political scientists and former FiveThirtyEight colleagues, return to the show to dig into what happened. We go county by county, discussing what the map suggests about the racial and geographic coalition...
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Why Progressive Candidates Are Thriving in the Midwest
Michigan votes tomorrow, Wisconsin votes next week, and both primaries have become this cycle’s version of the New York primary—everyone left of center is watching. Anat Shenker-Osorio, who has run hundreds of Democratic focus groups since 2021, and Nathan Kalmoe, a professor who studies public...
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How AOC’s Foreign Policy Vision Is Different Than Biden’s
Everyone says they don’t know what AOC’s foreign policy is—but Jonathan Guyer, program director at the Institute for Global Affairs, argues that’s not quite right. He joins the show to break down his piece “AOC Meets World,” tracing how she went from a shaky, underprepared answer on...
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Will the Progressive Wave Knock Off Florida’s Debbie Wasserman Schultz
Debbie Wasserman Schultz decided to run in Florida’s newly redrawn 20th District instead of her old seat—and Elijah Manley, one of the primary challengers taking her on, joins the show to make his case. We discuss why he thinks seniority isn’t the same as results, his own background growing up...
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Is Sanders-AOC-Mamdani Left Stronger Than the Tea Party Was?
Progressive candidates just had a strong primary season—but is this a real realignment or a moment that fades? Julia Azari, professor at Marquette University, and Seth Masket, professor at the University of Denver, join the show to break down what’s actually driving the left’s wins. We go factor…
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All Politics Is Gender Politics
We talk about masculinity and politics constantly right now, but gender politics runs both ways—and it’s usually invisible when it comes to men. Danielle Kurtzleben, White House correspondent at NPR, and Meredith Conroy, political science professor and author of the Gender Gap Substack, join the...
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Trump Has Failed Where Many Authoritarians Succeed in One Critical Way
Trump has spent two years working through the authoritarian playbook—and Donald Moynihan, professor of political science and public policy at the University of Michigan, joins the show to score how far he’s gotten. We go category by category: controlling the bureaucracy (a nine out of ten),...
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What Should Replace What Trump Is Destroying?
Trump’s opponents keep talking about restoring what he’s broken—but Adam Gurry, publisher of Liberal Currents, joins the show to argue that going back to normal isn’t enough. We discuss the Reconstruction Papers, a collection of essays laying out a post-Trump policy vision across immigration,...
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The Good News Story in American Journalism
Right Now with Perry Bacon: a twice-weekly show diving into U.S. politics, democracy, and the authoritarian threats facing America. Each episode, Perry strives to go beyond daily headlines and actually connect the dots to what’s happening in America. ➡️ View the Right Now vault on TNR’s website:...
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Fighting Trump and the Oligarchs’ Assault on Higher Education
Yale just released a report on declining trust in higher education—and Education Secretary Linda McMahon loved it. Charlie Eaton, professor of economic sociology at UC Merced, and John Warner, writer at Inside Higher Ed, join the show to explain what’s really going on. We discuss why elite...
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Why This Year Could Be a Democratic Wave Election
Democrats are favored to win back the House—but don’t expect a 2006-style wave. Carrie Dan, managing editor of Cook Political Report, joins the show to break down the 2026 midterm map. We discuss why redistricting has already netted Republicans six to eight seats, why there are only 36 truly...
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The Winning Issue—If Only Democrats Will Grab It
As tech billionaires build out massive, energy-hungry infrastructure to power artificial intelligence, a surprising bottom-up resistance is uniting communities across the country. Astra Taylor—documentary filmmaker, Debt Collective co-founder, and co-author of an upcoming book on fascism with…
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How Democrats Defeat Trump’s Identity Politics | Right Now With Perry Bacon
Frustration with the political establishment isn’t only about economic issues and won’t be solved simply by focusing on gross domestic product growth, inflation, or affordability. That’s the argument of Justin Gest, a policy and government professor at George Mason University. Gest has studied…
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Trump Is Desperately Grasping for an Exit Strategy in Iran
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Democratic Voters Don’t Want Vanilla Centrism
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Why So Many of Trump’s Authoritarian Moves Have Failed
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Trump Invaded Iran Because Fascists Are Imperialists Too
Fascist leaders nearly always try to invade other countries, says University of Toronto philosophy professor Jason Stanley, author of the 2018 book How Fascism Works. So President Trump’s decisions to overthrow the governments in Venezuela and Iran were not unexpected, even though some analysts…
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US Strikes Iran: What This Means For the World | Right Now With Perry Bacon
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Why Crockett v. Talarico Has Come Down to the Wire in Texas | Right Now With Perry Bacon
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How Georgia’s Senators Are Shaping The Democratic Party | Right Now With Perry Bacon
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What Democrats Can Learn from the Struggles of Britain's Labor Party | Right Now With Perry Bacon
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Today's Democrats Should Learn From Jesse Jackson | Right Now With Perry Bacon
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Mamdani Is Showing His Pragmatic Side as Mayor | Right Now With Perry Bacon
In his first month as New York City’s mayor, Zohran Mamdani has endorsed candidates aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America—and also centrist incumbent New York Governor Kathy Hochul. He reached a deal with Hochul to expand childcare but remains at loggerheads with her over his…
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These Democrats Are Best Positioned to Win the 2028 Nomination | Right Now With Perry Bacon
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The Religious Left Is a Leader in the ICE Resistance | Right Now With Perry Bacon
The “religious right” has long been a key part of Republican politics. But the role of the faithful in the GOP is shifting, says David Buckley, a political science professor at the University of Louisville and expert on the role of religion in politics. With Roe v. Wade overturned, conservative...
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Why Anti-Trump Resistance Is Succeeding | Right Now With Perry Bacon
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ICE: Past and Present
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Trump Is Destroying Higher Ed. Here’s How Democrats Can Rebuild It | Right Now With Perry Bacon
The Trump administration has laid siege to colleges, cutting their funding and launching ridiculous investigations. But the administration took advantage of preexisting frustrations with higher education, says Marshall Steinbaum, an economics professor at the University of Utah and fellow at the...
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Why Trump Is Losing Ground Even in This Deep-Red State | Right Now With Perry Bacon
President Trump’s approval is dropping across the country, even in states that backed him strongly in 2016 and 2020. That’s partly why Democrats did so well in elections in 2025. Aftyn Behn was one of those Democrats. In a December special election in a U.S. House district in the Nashville area...
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Trump Is Running a “Global Mafia” | Right Now With Perry Bacon
President Trump has sometimes been described as antiwar or isolationist. That’s totally wrong, says Matt Duss, executive vice president for the Center for International Policy. He was also a top foreign policy aide to Senator Bernie Sanders during his 2020 presidential campaign. What Trump really...
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Elizabeth Warren’s Bold Plan for Democrats to Win in 2026—and 2028 | Right Now With Perry Bacon
Senator Elizabeth Warren says Democrats need to be a “big tent” party that includes more working-class voters. But that tent should not be expanded to billionaires, she argues, unless the super-wealthy support higher taxes on the rich and corporations and expanded social programs. She also says…
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Trump’s Authoritarianism Is Getting Worse | Right Now With Perry Bacon
By the end of last year, President Trump was declining politically, with his poll numbers plunging and members of the Republican Party increasingly distancing themselves from him. But Trump isn’t chastened. His moves early in 2026 are as authoritarian as ever, overthrowing the Venezuelan...
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Trump Plays Imperialist While Americans Need Help at Home | Right Now With Perry Bacon
Democrats in Congress and the broader public must signal their opposition to the Trump administration overthrowing the Venezuelan government or the president will feel emboldened to take other such radical acts, says Leah Greenberg, co-executive director of Indivisible. In the latest edition of...
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The US Deposed Maduro. Now What? | Right Now With Perry Bacon
President Trump’s decision to have U.S forces attack Venezuela and capture President Nicolás Maduro was one of the most radical of his administration, says Elizabeth Saunders, a Columbia University political science professor who specializes in American foreign policy. While the U.S. has deposed...
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Collective Action: The Way Out of Authoritarianism | Right Now With Perry Bacon
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
A twice-weekly show about national politics with a focus on the radicalism of the Trump administration and tactics to combat it. The program features in-depth discussions with experts and politicians. It goes beyond the daily headlines to explain why things are happening and put them in a broader context.
newrepublic.substack.com
HOSTED BY
The New Republic
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Right Now With Perry Bacon have?
Right Now With Perry Bacon currently has 1000 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Right Now With Perry Bacon about?
A twice-weekly show about national politics with a focus on the radicalism of the Trump administration and tactics to combat it. The program features in-depth discussions with experts and politicians. It goes beyond the daily headlines to explain why things are happening and put them in a broader...
How often does Right Now With Perry Bacon release new episodes?
Right Now With Perry Bacon releases new episodes frequently with a large back catalog of 1000 episodes. Check the episode list for recent publication dates.
Where can I listen to Right Now With Perry Bacon?
You can listen to Right Now With Perry Bacon on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Right Now With Perry Bacon?
Right Now With Perry Bacon is created and hosted by The New Republic.
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