Runaway Country with Alex Wagner
Being an American right now is a wild ride. Every day brings a new controversy, breathless media narratives, and the same loud voices rushing in to score political points. Then another Truth Social post drops and the circus moves on. But all that noise is drowning out the actual story. On her new podcast Runaway Country, veteran journalist Alex Wagner talks to the voices at the center of the headlines: from the fringes of the resistance, to the marrow of MAGA, to the many people who’ve found themselves smack-dab in the crosshairs of a fight they never asked for. Because if you want to understand our unreal times, you’ve got to talk to the very real people who are experiencing it all first-hand. Join Alex as she brings together the stories of everyday Americans trapped in our national car with no brakes, alongside conversations with some of the smartest thinkers in politics. Buckle up, this road could lead anywhere. New episodes every Thursday wherever you get your podcasts, and @RunawayCountryWithAlexWagner on YouTube. If you have a story to share, send us an email or one-minute voice note at runawaycountry@crooked.com.
Episodes
Leave it to travel delays during Spring Break to turn America’s focus to immigration again. This week, as Congress debates over funding and reforms to ICE, and Markwayne Mullin is sworn in as new Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Alex brings our attention back to the ongoing tactics the Trump administration is using to target immigrants and tear families apart. First she speaks to Stephanie Villarreal, whose h...
Rightwing billionaire takeovers, journalists getting arrested, and endless misinformation. Welcome to the current state of American journalism. This week, Alex speaks to former CNN correspondent Jim Acosta about how legacy news organizations caved to President Trump and the critical role of independent media.
She’s also joined by Jason Zengerle, author of “Hated By All the Right People: Tucker Carlson and the Unraveling of the...
This week Alex travels to Minneapolis to see first hand how the community is responding to the terrorizing presence of ICE and the killing of ICU nurse Alex Pretti. She shines a light on the grassroots efforts of mothers mobilizing to help both students and teachers who fear being targeted, and speaks to Reverend Dan Johnson about how his congregation has been impacted as well the very un-Christian nature of this administration’s t...
Even police chiefs in Minnesota are calling out ICE tactics as race-based and out of line. This week, Alex focuses on what comes next — from conditions at ICE detention centers, to the long-term impacts this lawless use of force will have on communities. First Alex speaks to David Wilson, an immigration attorney in Minneapolis about the horrible treatment and lack of medical care his clients are facing. Then she’s joined by MS NOW ...
Since an ICE agent shot and killed Renee Good in Minneapolis, President Trump and MAGA have labeled her a “domestic terrorist” and come up with one reason after another to justify her death. This week Alex interviews Michel Moore, the former Chief of Police for the Los Angeles Police Department, to hear how law enforcement is interpreting the event. Then she speaks to The Bulwark’s Tim Miller to question the parallel realities Amer...
2026 has started off with strikes on Venezuela, the kidnapping of President Nicolas Maduro, and a brazen slew of threats from President Trump against Greenland, Colombia, Cuba, Mexico, and Iran. This week, Alex speaks to Venezuelans about what their hopes and fears are for the future of their country. Then she's joined by Pod Save America's Jon Favreau and Pod Save the World's Ben Rhodes to break down the absolute insanity of Trump...
Are President Trump’s tariffs illegal? Will the independence of federal agencies be a thing of the past? Is birthright citizenship about to be taken away? These are just a few of the consequential questions before a Supreme Court that's hell-bent on destroying obstacles to President Trump's executive power. Alex talks to two plaintiffs at the center of of these cases, Toymaker Rick Woldenberg and former FTC Commissioner Rebecca Sla...
Under the leadership of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, the Pentagon is in disarray. From a lack of transparency on extrajudicial strikes in the Caribbean, to the Signalgate scandal, to kicking out the Pentagon press corp – this administration has put a leader at the helm who is both embarrassing and a threat to national security. This week, Alex hears from The Atlantic’s Nancy Youssef about what it’s like covering the defense beat...
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