Impolitic with John Heilemann

Impolitic with John Heilemann

Join Puck’s chief political columnist, MSNBC/NBC News national affairs analyst, and best-selling author John Heilemann as he roams the corridors of power and influence in America on this twice-weekly interview show, taking you behind the scenes and beyond the headlines with the people who shape and shift our culture: icons and up-and-comers, incumbents and insurgents, moguls and machers in the overlapping worlds of politics, entertainment, tech, business, sports, media, and beyond. The conversations are rich and revealing, unrehearsed and unexpected … and reliably impolitic. A Puck-Audacy joint, new episodes drop every Wednesday and Friday.

Episodes

Does Kara Swisher Really Want to Live Forever? Should We?

April 13, 2026 • 55 mins
John welcomes longtime Silicon Valley chronicler, bestselling author, and host of two hit podcasts—“On with Kara Swisher” and “Pivot” with Scott Galloway—to discuss her new, six-part CNN docu-series “Kara Swisher Wants to Live Forever” on the science, culture, and business of longevity. Swisher weighs in on what’s real and what isn’t in the wellness industry, the narcissism driving the tech bro fascination with immortality, and why...
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George Conway’s Single-Issue Congressional Campaign: “Get the F*cker Out”

April 10, 2026 • 85 mins
John welcomes former NeverTrump Republican gadfly and current New York Democratic congressional primary candidate George Conway to discuss Donald Trump’s behavior this past week viz a viz the war in Iran and its implications for his presidency, the world, and the future of the MAGA movement. Conway also lays out the single-issue thrust of his campaign: removing Trump from office asap. To learn more about listener data and our pri...
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Melissa Murray: Bondi Booted & Blanche Belittled as SCOTUS Trips the Light Craptastic

April 6, 2026 • 69 mins
John welcomes NYU law professor, co-host of the Strict Scrutiny podcast, and MS Now legal analyst Melissa Murray to discuss Donald Trump's firing of Pam Bondi as attorney general and the future of the Justice Department. Murray weighs in on Bondi’s tenure, legacy, and potential replacements as AG—as well as the oral arguments before the Supreme Court last week in the birthright citizenship case. To learn more about listener data ...
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Jacob Frey: “If You Come For One of Us, You’re Coming for All of Us”

April 3, 2026 • 62 mins
John welcomes Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey to discuss his city’s harrowing battle this winter with ICE, CBP, and Donald Trump. Frey explains what it was like living under violent federal occupation; the combination of fierce resistance and neighborly love that enabled Minneapolis not just to emerge triumphant but set an example for other cities around the country; and why the embrace of Bruce Springsteen—who kicked off his spring N...
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Richard Blumenthal: Vanity & Vengeance in the Oval Office, Chaos & Confusion in Iran

March 30, 2026 • 71 mins
John welcomes Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal to discuss the ongoing impasse on Capitol Hill over funding D.H.S. (and the resulting T.S.A-related chaos at America’s airports) and reforming ICE, as well as the fierce debates over the SAVE Act and the war in Iran. Regarding the war, Blumenthal argues that “Donald Trump is boxing himself into putting troops on the ground”—and that the only winners in the conflict so far are Russ...
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John Ellis: The Escalation Trap & The TACO Temptation

March 27, 2026 • 82 mins
John welcomes John Ellis, founder and editor of the newsletters News Items and Political News Items, to discuss the military, economic, and political dynamics at play in the war in Iran; how Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's political stature has been enhanced by playing David to Donald Trump's Goliath and its influence on America's allies in Europe; and why the question of Trump’s mental fitness is the most important story in ...
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Jason Zengerle: War & Peace & MAGA’s Future in the Time of Tucker

March 23, 2026 • 84 mins
John welcomes Jason Zengerle, author of the new book “Hated by All the Right People: Tucker Carlson and the Unraveling of the Conservative Mind,” to discuss Carlson's opposition to Donald Trump's war in Iran. Zengerle explains Tucker's evolution from conventional (if contrarian) Republican to a leader of the nationalist, nativist, America First faction of the MAGA movement; how his embrace of racist and anti-Semitic tropes have onl...
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Bill Kristol: No Nukes, No Joy, No Easy Way Out in Iran

March 20, 2026 • 82 mins
John welcomes erstwhile neocon stalwart and current Bulwark seditor-at-large Bill Kristol to discuss the war in Iran, amid mounting signs that it is spiraling out of control. Kristol weighs in on the economic and military dynamics propelling the conflict; whether the U.S. is in danger of being ensnared in an escalation trap; the resignation of Trump’s top counterterrorism adviser, Joe Kent; Israel’s role in the war’s inception; and...
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Ken Burns: Talkin’ Bout a Revolution

March 16, 2026 • 72 mins
John welcomes acclaimed documentarian Ken Burns to discuss his latest PBS magnum opus, “The American Revolution.” Burns recounts the 10-year gestation of the six-part, 12-hour series, culminating with its fortuitous (but entirely coincidental) debut on the eve of the U.S. Semiquincentennial; how he assembled the remarkable array of Hollywood stars—Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep, Morgan Freeman, and dozens more—who voice the story’s key hi...
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Wendy Sherman: Incursions, Excursions, & Dire Straits (of Hormuz, That Is)

March 13, 2026 • 67 mins
John welcomes former Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman to discuss the war in Iran. Sherman, who led the U.S. team that negotiated the 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran, assesses the current state of the conflict as its scope widens and economic reverberations intensify; the ever-shifting rationales offered by Donald Trump and his administration for attacking Iran and their miscalculations as to how it would respond; and scenarios...
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Jake Sullivan: Death & Destruction All Day Long – And Then What?

March 9, 2026 • 78 mins
John welcomes Jake Sullivan, former National Security Adviser to Joe Biden and a key architect of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, to discuss the war against the regime in Tehran as it enters its second week — with no clear plan, strategy, or end game in sight, and having blown the lid off a Pandora’s Box of potentially calamitous unintended consequences. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.a...
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Mark Kelly & Puck Superfriends: War Games & Texas Tea

March 6, 2026 • 76 mins
First, John welcomes Arizona Democratic senator, retired U.S. Navy captain, and former combat pilot Mark Kelly to discuss the Trump administration's shifting rationales for, and the huge strategic risks of, the war in Iran. Then John’s Puck partners Leigh Ann Caldwell and Abby Livingston assess the domestic political reaction to the unfolding conflict, plus the results of Tuesday’s Senate primaries in Texas and Kristi Noem’s travai...
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Scott Galloway: Resist & Unsubscribe, Boys & Men, Sam Altman & Agent Smith

March 2, 2026 • 75 mins
John welcomes back podcasting Ubermensch and personal-finance guru Scott Galloway to discuss his recent foray into activism with Resist & Unsubscribe—an “economic strike targeted at the companies driving the markets and enabling” President Trump. Galloway also weighs in on Sam Altman’s apparent preference for machines over humans; A.I. founders loudly fretting over the technology they created after cashing in and peacing out; and t...
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Amanda Carpenter: Trump’s Stale, Ceaseless, Clout-Chasing SOTU

February 25, 2026 • 57 mins
John welcomes former Republican Senate staffer Amanda Carpenter, who currently works for the non-profit Protect Democracy, to discuss the first State of the Union address of Donald Trump's second term — the interminable length and apparent aimlessness of which, she argues, obscured the ways it was designed to further lay the groundwork for Trump to interfere with the 2026 and 2028 elections. To learn more about listener data and ...
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Josh Steiner: The F*ckup Diaries

February 23, 2026 • 82 mins
John welcomes former Treasury Department chief of staff and Quadrangle Group cofounder Josh Steiner to discuss his new book, with former Sony Entertainment CEO Michael Lynton, “From Mistakes to Meaning: Owning Your Past So It Doesn’t Own You.” Currently a partner at SSW Partners, Steiner delves into the news-making screwup that headlined his career in government and the broader topic of life-altering blunders – how and why we make ...
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Al Sharpton: How Jesse Jackson Kept Hope Alive

February 20, 2026 • 62 mins
John welcomes Reverend Al Sharpton, founder and president of the National Action Network, to discuss the life and legacy of Reverend Jesse Jackson. Sharpton, whose relationship with Jackson – his friend, political mentor, personal taskmaster, and father figure – stretched back nearly 60 years, reflects on Jackson’s place in history as the preeminent civil rights leader of his time and pathbreaking political figure whose campaigns f...
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Marc Elias: Start the Steal

February 16, 2026 • 71 mins
John welcomes back Democratic election lawyer Marc Elias to discuss Donald Trump’s recent slew of suggestions about changing the way elections are run in the U.S.—and his apparent plans to mess with the November midterms. Elias also analyzes Attorney General Pam Bondi’s cringeworthy performance last week before the House Judiciary Committee, the Justice Department’s failure to secure indictments (at Trump’s behest) of the half-doze...
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Sally Jenkins: The Bad Bunny Bowl, Quad God Olympics, & WaPo Sports Section (R.I.P.)

February 13, 2026 • 76 mins
John welcomes acclaimed sportswriter and bestselling author Sally Jenkins to discuss the twin mega-stories this week where politics, culture, and elite athletics invariably come crashing together: the Super Bowl and Winter Olympics. Jenkins also weighs in on the heedless obliteration of the Washington Post’s vaunted sports desk, where Jenkins worked for three decades before joining The Atlantic last year. To learn more about list...
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Catherine Rampell: Trump is Making China Greater & America Dumber

February 9, 2026 • 72 mins
John welcomes Bulwark economics editor and MS Now host Catherine Rampell to discuss the fragile state of the Trump 2.0 economy and how the president’s policies — on China, tariffs, tech, manufacturing, and more — are undermining it in both the short and long term. Catherine also explains why Wall Street’s collective view that Trump’s pick to be the next Fed chair, Kevin Warsh, is an inflation hawk and fierce defender of the Fed's i...
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Alex Wagner: Minneapolis Mayhem & Epstein Files Fallout

February 6, 2026 • 72 mins
John welcomes back his pal Alex Wagner, host of the new Crooked Media podcast “Runaway Country” and author of “How The Hell with Alex Wagner" on Substack, to discuss the week’s three biggest political stories: the ongoing saga of Operation Metro Surge, which Alex covered on the ground in Minneapolis; fallout from the DOJ’s release of three million documents from the Jeffrey Epstein files; and Donald Trump’s ominous suggestion that ...
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