TuskCast

Thanks so much to all who tuned in to watch Julia Azari and me comment on the State of the Union Address in real time! It’s definitely a clunky format, but it was better than watching alone. You can watch above or listen to the podcast version.Thanks for reading Tusk! This post is public so feel free to share it. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit smotus.substack.com/subscribe

I was honored to be invited to a discussion with The New Republic’s Perry Bacon Jr today. We talked about a pretty wide range of things — including ICE’s killing of Renée Good, the seizure of Venezuelan oil, the Department of Justice investigation of Jerome Powell, etc. — which I broadly classify as eroding US democracy, even if they don’t directly affect our ability to vote. We also discussed what Democrats learned from the 2024 election and what that may tell us about 2028. I hope you’ll give us a listen!Tusk is a reader-supported publication. To support this work, please become a paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit smotus.substack.com/subscribe

If you didn’t get to see this Substack Live interview yesterday, I encourage you to check it out today. I chatted with USC political scientist Sherry Zaks (Sherry Z) about their new book on how well rebel groups in civil wars transition into political parties once the war ends. I (naturally) wanted to know how well this explained what we’ve seen in U.S. political parties. I was particularly interested in Sherry’s thoughts on whether the modern Democratic Party could have more of a service-oriented approach like the FMLN in El Salvador or Tammany Hall in the 1800s, winning voter loyalty that way. Plus Sherry describes a dessert that would probably meet the Supreme Court’s definition of obscene. I hope you’ll check this out!Podcast version available here.Tusk is a reader-supported publication. To support this work, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit smotus.substack.com/subscribe

I had a chat yesterday with Colorado Democratic political consultant ian silverii. He’s the founder of The Bighorn Company, and he’s worked in the Colorado House of Representatives and directed ProgressNow Colorado. He also occasionally teaches at the University of Denver and co-hosts the excellent Get More Smarter podcast.We discussed how Democrats are interpreting the 2025 elections, what kind of candidates they should be seeking for 2026, and how those candidates should be speaking to voters. Ian’s a big “Let Democrats Be Democrats” proponent, and we get into what it means to be authentic, whether demographics are destiny, and the degree to which Donald Trump has scrambled all useful candidate advice. I hope you’ll listen in! (Podcast version available here.)Tusk is a reader-supported publication. To support this work, please become a paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit smotus.substack.com/subscribe

I was honored to be joined by Denver 9News anchor Kyle Clark for a lunchtime chat on Tuesday, in which we discussed modern political journalism. We got into all sorts of subjects — the challenges facing local media and why it’s still so important, how journalists deal with increasing threats to their safety, what media bias actually looks like, and the consolidation of media, even in places like Denver. We also discuss whether getting a job as a journalist (if you can get one!) is a good idea. If you’re at all interested what’s happening in political journalism these days, I strongly encourage you to listen in. Here’s a link to the podcast version. Tusk is a reader-supported publication. To support this work, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit smotus.substack.com/subscribe

If you didn’t get a chance to watch my Substack Live video interview with Alan Greenblatt, who recently left his position as editor of Governing, you can watch it above. We discuss various institutions — media organizations, universities, large corporations, and more — that have changed their policies and, arguably, their values to accommodate threats by the Trump administration. Alan talks about why he left this post, gives examples of others who have found ways to push back against unreasonable demands, and offers advice for others looking for ways to be heard. I hope you’ll give this a listen!Tusk is a reader-supported publication. To support this work, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit smotus.substack.com/subscribe

If you missed our History Lunch Live session yesterday, here’s the video of presidential historian Alexis Coe interviewing me on the Study Marry Kill site. (You should definitely subscribe to that.)Tusk is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a paid subscriber.We cover a lot of ground, including conspiracy theories, Marjorie Taylor Greene’s breaks with MAGA, historical precedents for Trump’s most aggressive military and policing actions, the evolution of modern political parties, accountability in elections, and much, much more. I’m grateful to Alexis for the conversation and hope to bring her on this site at some point soon. And thanks to all who joined in and asked questions and clicked “like” a bunch of times. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit smotus.substack.com/subscribe

I was fortunate to run into former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson multiple times during my recent trip to the Iowa caucuses. I give him a lot of credit for being incredibly congenial (and chatting with several of my student) and for seeing through a presidential nomination contest that was clearly not going his way. Tusk is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.At any rate, I recently reached out to him to ask him about his experiences as a 2024 presidential candidate. We talked about a number of different things, including changes in the Republican Party over the past decade, how much those changes are just about Donald Trump, how changes in the party today mirror what was going during Ronald Reagan’s takeover between 1976 and 1980, and things Hutchinson and other candidates might have done differently over the past year. I hope you’ll find this interesting. I did. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit smotus.substack.com/subscribe

The beginning of March will see more than a dozen Republican primaries and caucuses, through which Donald Trump could effectively secure the presidential nomination. It may also see the opening of the first of four criminal cases against the former president. Should the criminal justice system be working more quickly in this environment — both because a criminal conviction or acquittal would be important to primary and general election voters, and because Trump could have pardon power next year? Or would speeding things up be a miscarriage of justice?To address these and other questions, I speak to Professor Sam Kamin of the University of Denver’s Sturm College of Law. We cover a lot of ground, and particularly dig into the question of whether the political or legal system has done a worse job of constraining Trump’s most anti-democratic tendencies. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit smotus.substack.com/subscribe

I’m planning to do several podcast episodes in the run-up to the caucuses and primaries that start next month. The first one is a conversation that Julia Azari and I recently had in which we discuss McKay Coppins’ book Romney: A Reckoning. We discuss a lot in there, including what Romney’s career tells us about the Republican Party over the past decade, what authenticity is, how anti-Trumpers tried to prevent Trump’s nomination in 2016, whose careers have been the most affected by Trump, and more. I hope you enjoy the discussion!Tusk is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit smotus.substack.com/subscribe

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit smotus.substack.com/subscribe