Politicology
Politics in America is transforming. We’re embarking on a new series to deepen our understanding of who we are, how we got here, and how we rebuild without repeating the mistakes of the past. Ron Steslow hosts academics, behavioral economists, social psychologists, politicos, philosophers, anthropologists, journalists, poets, and storytellers—and more—to discuss America’s political present and future and dive into the deeper problems we face as a nation. Email us questions or comments: podcast@politicology.com.
Episodes
December 19, 2025 • 68 mins
In this episode, Ron is joined by Hagar Chemali (Fmr. spokesperson for the U.S. Mission to the UN) to break down the Trump administration’s 2025 National Security Strategy—and why it reads like multiple agendas stitched together.
They dig into the document’s big shift toward the Western Hemisphere, what “partnership without shared values” really implies, and how the administration’s internal split—isolationists vs. international...
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December 12, 2025 • 72 mins
In this episode, Ron is joined by Lucy Caldwell (Board Advisor to the Renew Democracy Initiative) to confront the question hanging over Democratic politics: Can the Democratic Party keep pretending we’re not in a populist era?
Lucy breaks down the party’s internal struggle between centrists and insurgents—and why both sides are wildly overinterpreting recent election results. Using the Maine Senate race as a case study, they exam...
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December 11, 2025 • 46 mins
For the ad-free version of this episode, subscribe to Politicology+ at https://politicology.com/plus
Last weekend, eleven Politicology listeners from all over the country joined Ron and Mike in person for a salon style retreat called Unscripted: A Politicology Gathering.
They explored big questions like “What is the point of America?” and “What does it mean to be a citizen in the digital age?”
In this episode, those same listen...
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December 5, 2025 • 54 mins
Have you ever thought about what it means to be anonymous?
Have you considered what it means that you can walk down the street or go to the grocery store or out to dinner without someone you’ve never met knowing your name, everything you’ve posted online, or your political leanings?
Or when you go on a first date with someone, they’d walk in knowing your dating history, your political affiliations, your credit score or what groc...
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December 5, 2025 • 39 mins
Have you ever thought about what it means to be anonymous?
Have you considered what it means that you can walk down the street or go to the grocery store or out to dinner without someone you’ve never met knowing your name, everything you’ve posted online, or your political leanings?
Or when you go on a first date with someone, they’d walk in knowing your dating history, your political affiliations, your credit score or what groc...
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December 4, 2025 • 43 mins
For the ad-free version of this episode, subscribe to Politicology+ at https://politicology.com/plus
Molly McKew (writer and lecturer on Russian influence and information warfare) joins Ron to break down a whirlwind of revelations about Trumpworld’s back-channel contacts with the Kremlin—and what they mean for Ukraine’s survival.
Molly explains the leaked call where envoy Steve Witkoff coached the Kremlin on how to influence Don...
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November 28, 2025 • 76 mins
In a special Thanksgiving-week episode of The Weekly, Ron Steslow and Mike Madrid sit down to answer your questions — about the deep fractures emerging inside the Republican Party, the escalating ICE raids in smaller cities, the boundary between sharp-elbowed politics and institutional destruction, the rise of AI, and the future of American civic life.
In Politicology+ they unpack historian Gordon S. Wood’s recent Wall Street ...
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November 25, 2025 • 67 mins
For the ad-free version of this episode, subscribe to Politicology+ at https://politicology.com/plus
Last week, a “peace plan” to end the war in Ukraine leaked to the press. It would force Kyiv to abandon its NATO ambitions, cap its armed forces and shower Moscow with concessions.
In this episode Ron talks to Gabrielius Landsbergis (former Foreign Minister of Lithuania ) and Molly McKew (writer and lecturer on Russian influence a...
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November 21, 2025 • 75 mins
This week, Ron Steslow and Hagar Chemali (Fmr. spokesperson for the U.S. Mission to the UN) break down the newly released Epstein emails, what they show, what they don’t and why the national security implications are far bigger than the headlines.
They dig into Epstein’s attempts to insert himself into global politics including offering Russia “insight” on Donald Trump and the strange connection between Larry Summers and China’s B...
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November 14, 2025 • 75 mins
Washington just lived through a “Seinfeld shutdown”—a 43-day government closure over… basically nothing. Or was it nothing?
This week, Ron Steslow is joined by Peter Suderman (features editor at Reason and host of the Reason Roundtable) to unpack the weirdest shutdown in modern memory and the deeply broken healthcare system underneath it.
They dig into why Democrats picked this fight, why they folded even while winning the blame ...
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November 14, 2025 • 33 mins
Ron Steslow and Peter Suderman dive into the battle between the Abundance Agenda (Ezra Klein & Derek Thompson’s answer to America’s scarcity mindset) and the newly ascendant socialist wing embodied by New York City’s new mayor, Zohran Mamdani.
Related Reading:
The Atlantic - Mamdani Has a Point About Rent Control - The Atlantic
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November 7, 2025 • 66 mins
This week, Ron Steslow and Susan Del Percio (MSNBC political analyst and crisis communications expert) break down Tuesday night’s election results, Mamdani’s win in New York City, the blowout wins for moderate Democrats in New Jersey and Virginia, and how these wins highlight the identity crisis within the Democratic Party.
In Politicology+ they unpack the Trump tariffs and the oral arguments in one of the most watched Supreme...
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November 5, 2025 • 28 mins
Nick Gillespie and host Ron Steslow discuss AI, what it’s doing to us, and our relationship with what it means to be human.
Related media:
NBC - Some of her closest relationships are with chatbots. That's more common than you think.
Vox - The rise of chatbot “friends” | Vox
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October 31, 2025 • 67 mins
This week, Ron Steslow and Mike Madrid (Author of The Latino Century) discuss the proposed wealth tax on billionaires in California, the signs of worsening economic conditions, and how class warfare could dominate our politics.
In Politicology+ they discuss the redistricting wars, the Supreme Court case that could upend a central part of the Voting Rights Act, how Latinos becoming the largest minority group will make us rethink wh...
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October 24, 2025 • 84 mins
This week, Ron Steslow and Hagar Chemali (Fmr. spokesperson for the U.S. Mission to the UN) connect a headline-grabbing jewel heist at the Louvre to China’s push to dethrone the dollar.
Then, they turn to the escalating conflict with Venezuela: the strikes on alleged “drug boats,” CIA’s new covert action authority, and what’s really at stake for Maduro’s regime.
In Politicology+ they discuss the Gaza ceasefire, why early flare-up...
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October 15, 2025 • 36 mins
In our digital age, people have grown to see social media platforms as mere tools and applications.
Marcus Collins, the award-winning marketer, former digital strategist for Beyoncé, and author of "For The Culture", argues otherwise.
Join host Ron Steslow as he sits down with Marcus to unravel the deep-seated influence of culture on social media and our daily choices.
Marcus elaborates on his assertion that "social media is pe...
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October 10, 2025 • 57 mins
This week, Ron Steslow and Susan Del Percio (MSNBC political analyst and crisis communications expert) break down New York City’s mayoral race and what a likely Zoran Mamdani win would signal for Democrats, how “personality politics” and populism are reshaping both parties, and what’s driving the current government shutdown fight.
In Politicology+ they unpack the disturbing revelations surrounding Virginia Democratic Attorney...
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October 8, 2025 • 49 mins
We live in a loud world that’s getting louder.
We encounter noise all around us—from the chatter of polite conversations, to street noise in a big city, to the constant intrusion of the dings of notifications.
But what is all of this noise doing to us, and what does it mean to find quiet in the midst of it?
In fact, what is silence, anyway?
How can it affect our minds, our bodies, and our relationships?
Harvard and Oxford tra...
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October 3, 2025 • 66 mins
This week, Ron Steslow and Mike Madrid (Author of The Latino Century) trace a through-line from our screen-first, post-literate society to America’s escalating political violence.
In Politicology+ they continue the conversation, discussing the institutions, laws, and norms we’ve put in place to prevent violence from becoming a political tool, how they’re breaking down, and how we move forward.
Not yet a Politicology+ member? ...
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October 2, 2025 • 82 mins
This week, Ron Steslow and Hagar Chemali (Fmr. spokesperson for the U.S. Mission to the UN) break down the headlines and hidden stories from the United Nations General Assembly and the Trump administration’s surprise Gaza peace proposal.
In Politicology+ they discuss the future of Hagar’s show My World, and what it’s like to navigate media and geopolitics in today’s fractured landscape.
Not yet a Politicology+ member? Don’t m...
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