The Chuck ToddCast
The Chuck ToddCast is a political podcast hosted by Chuck Todd, offering smart, no-nonsense political conversation. It goes beyond the headlines with conversations with top reporters, insiders, and newsmakers from D.C. to the heartland. The show features no scripts or spin, just real discussions about what's shaping politics and why it matters.
Episodes
Chuck’s Commentary - Donald Trump Ruined America 250 By Making It About Donald Trump + SCOTUS Proved It’s Not A “Trump Court”
Chuck Todd delivers a genuinely heartfelt lament that America's 250th anniversary — a moment that should have been enormous — has been shrunk, cheapened, and ultimately ruined by a president who turned the country's birthday into his own political rally. He argues the American experiment is a remarkable achievement worth celebrating in full, that "a more perfect union" is the single gr
Full Episode - Donald Trump Ruined America 250 By Making It About Donald Trump + Effective Governance Is The Winning Path for Democrats
Chuck Todd delivers a genuinely heartfelt lament that America's 250th anniversary — a moment that should have been enormous — has been shrunk, cheapened, and ultimately ruined by a president who turned the country's birthday into his own political rally. He argues the American experiment is a remarkable achievement worth celebrating in full, that "a more perfect union" is the single gr
Interview Only w/ Debbie Cox Bultan - Effective Governance Is The Winning Path for Democrats
Debbie Cox Bultan — CEO of the NewDEAL, a network of center-left state and local elected officials focused on delivering results rather than fighting culture wars — joins the Chuck Toddcast to make the case for the unglamorous, often-overlooked pragmatic wing of the Democratic Party. Bultan argues that the center-left's defining challenge is structural and almost temperamental: moderat
Chuck’s Commentary - The Military Reveals Trump Has Been Lying About The Iran War + Why “Tax The Billionaires” Isn’t That Simple
Chuck Todd opens with the Iran ceasefire collapsing as the U.S. and Iran trade strikes again — but the real story, he argues, is that the U.S. military just inadvertently revealed Trump was lying about the war all along. The targets American forces hit in this latest round were the very targets Trump claimed weeks ago had already been destroyed; either Iran somehow reconstituted its entire m
Full Episode - The Military Reveals Trump Has Been Lying About The Iran War + The Fired FTC Commissioner Sounding the Alarm on Corporate Power
Chuck Todd opens with the Iran ceasefire collapsing as the U.S. and Iran trade strikes again — but the real story, he argues, is that the U.S. military just inadvertently revealed Trump was lying about the war all along. The targets American forces hit in this latest round were the very targets Trump claimed weeks ago had already been destroyed; either Iran somehow reconstituted its entire m
Interview Only w/ Alvaro Bedoya - The Fired FTC Commissioner Sounding the Alarm on Corporate Power
Alvaro Bedoya — the former FTC Commissioner whom Trump fired in an unprecedented break with a century of agency-independence norms — joins the Chuck Toddcast to explain why his firing matters far beyond his own career, and what it reveals about the collision between corporate power and consumer protection in the Trump era. Bedoya makes the legal case plainly: removal "for cause" is cle
Chuck’s Commentary - Hegseth’s Purges At The Pentagon Are A Five-Alarm Fire + Trump Is Making Governing Impossible For Republicans
Chuck Todd opens with a programming note—the ToddCast moves to a Monday/Thursday schedule for July and August—before digging into the fallout from Zohran Mamdani-endorsed candidates sweeping New York's primaries. Chuck unpacks who powered the wins (younger, white progressives), argues that Mamdani's affordability focus rather than his endorsements was the real galvanizing force, and ex
Full Episode - Hegseth’s Purges At The Pentagon Are A Five-Alarm Fire + Will The Progressives Or The Center-Left Define The Democrats?
Chuck Todd opens with a programming note—the ToddCast moves to a Monday/Thursday schedule for July and August—before digging into the fallout from Zohran Mamdani-endorsed candidates sweeping New York's primaries. Chuck unpacks who powered the wins (younger, white progressives), argues that Mamdani's affordability focus rather than his endorsements was the real galvanizing force, and ex
Interview Only w/ Matt Bennett - Will The Progressives Or The Center-Left Define The Democrats?
Matt Bennett — co-founder and executive vice president of the center-left think tank Third Way — joins the Chuck Toddcast to offer a pragmatist's anxious assessment of what the Mamdani-led DSA surge in New York actually means for the future of the Democratic Party. Bennett's central worry is whether the New York primaries represent a genuine "Tea Party moment" for the left — whic
Chuck’s Commentary - Mamdani Wins The New York Primaries + RIP Alan Greenspan
Chuck Todd breaks down a seismic primary night in New York, where Mamdani-backed Democratic Socialist candidates swept their races — and argues the DSA may be on the verge of becoming the far-left equivalent of the Freedom Caucus, a small but disciplined faction capable of making the establishment's life genuinely miserable. The most stunning data point: Chuck argues Chuck Schumer likely cou
Full Episode - Mamdani Wins The New York Primaries + Defending Pluralism At A Time Of Polarization
Chuck Todd breaks down a seismic primary night in New York, where Mamdani-backed Democratic Socialist candidates swept their races — and argues the DSA may be on the verge of becoming the far-left equivalent of the Freedom Caucus, a small but disciplined faction capable of making the establishment's life genuinely miserable. The most stunning data point: Chuck argues Chuck Schumer likely cou
Interview Only w/ Mayor David Holt - Defending Pluralism At A Time Of Polarization
Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt — the popular Republican who has won all three of his mayoral elections with at least 60% of the vote — joins the Chuck Toddcast to make an impassioned and deeply substantive case for pluralism as the foundation of the entire American experiment. Holt, who recently gave a notable speech on the subject, argues that the American system was fundamentally bui
Chuck’s Commentary - Trump Is The Worst Role Model President Ever + The Sharp Contrast Between Trump & Obama
Chuck Todd focuses this episode around a single, almost too-perfect metaphor: the reflecting pool Trump remade, where the paint is now visibly peeling off the concrete and the president is blaming vandals rather than his own shoddy work — a fitting symbol, Chuck argues, for a presidency defined by grandiose self-promotion and an inability to take responsibility for anything. He opens on the
Full Episode - Trump Is The Worst Role Model President Ever + Did The Boomers Really Ruin Everything?
Chuck Todd focuses this episode around a single, almost too-perfect metaphor: the reflecting pool Trump remade, where the paint is now visibly peeling off the concrete and the president is blaming vandals rather than his own shoddy work — a fitting symbol, Chuck argues, for a presidency defined by grandiose self-promotion and an inability to take responsibility for anything. He opens on the
Interview Only w/ Paul Taylor - Did The Boomers Really Ruin Everything?
Paul Taylor — former executive vice president of the Pew Research Center and author of This Is Getting Old — joins the Chuck Toddcast for a sweeping, data-rich conversation about the generation that has dominated American political life longer than any other: the Baby Boomers. Taylor's framing is striking — voters keep electing presidents born in 1946, and no generation in Americ
Interview only w/Ian Bremmer - How the Iran War Reshaped Global Power & Growing Concerns about Putin
Chuck is joined by Eurasia Group founder Ian Bremmer for an in-depth conversation about the aftermath of the Iran war, the future of the Middle East, and the growing geopolitical uncertainty facing America's allies. Bremmer explains why he believes the conflict has fundamentally altered regional dynamics, creating competing power blocs led by the UAE and Israel on one side and Saudi Arabia and its
Full Episode - The Real Cost of Trump's Iran Gamble + Ian Bremmer on How the Iran War Reshaped Global Power
Chuck opens the podcast with a wide-ranging look at what he sees as the long-term impact of the Trump administration's foreign policy. He argues that the United States has weakened many of the alliances and institutions that underpinned American influence for decades, raising questions about whether key partners in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East can still rely on Washington as a stable security
Chuck's Commentary - The Real Cost of Trump's Iran Gamble
Chuck takes a wide-ranging look at what he sees as the long-term impact of the Trump administration's foreign policy. He argues that the United States has weakened many of the alliances and institutions that underpinned American influence for decades, raising questions about whether key partners in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East can still rely on Washington as a stable security partner. In Ask
The Chris Mullin Interview: Run TMC, The Dream Team and Steph Curry
Chuck Todd and J.A. Adande talk with NBA Hall of Famer Chris Mullin to discuss the evolution of the Golden State Warriors from the Run TMC era to the Steph Curry dynasty. Mullin reflects on his time alongside Tim Hardaway and Mitch Richmond, explains why Run TMC was broken up before reaching its full potential, and shares how the We Believe Warriors helped reignite basketball in the Bay Area. As a
Interview Only w/Dominic Erdozain - Can America Live Up to Its Founding Principles?
Historian Dominic Erdozain — author of To Love a Country — joins the Chuck Toddcast for a deeply thoughtful conversation about the difference between Americanism and the actual promise of America, and what it means to love a country honestly rather than mythologically. Erdozain argues that Joe Biden's "this is not who we are" framing of Trump-era nationalism was simply not accurate &md
Chuck's Commentary - Reaction to Tuesday's elections + Failure for Trump in Iran
Chuck Todd reacts to Tuesday's elections and what the fallout means for both parties. Then he discusses the latest on the US-Iran deal and why it's already a failure for the Trump administration, and why the Kennedy Center and White House ballroom drama signals the beginning of the end for the Trump era. Also, he discusses the most underreported story of the week. Plus, the Top 5 most underrated e
Full Episode - Reaction to Tuesday's elections + Failure for Trump in Iran + Can America Live Up to Its Founding Principles?
Chuck Todd reacts to Tuesday's elections and what the fallout means for both parties. Then he discusses the latest on the US-Iran deal and why it's already a failure for the Trump administration, and why the Kennedy Center and White House ballroom drama signals the beginning of the end for the Trump era. Plus, he discusses the most underreported story of the week.Then historian Dominic Erdozain &m
Chuck’s Commentary - Trump Gets A “Deal” While Throwing Himself A Party
Chuck Todd opens on the surreal split-screen of a president desperate to manufacture a legacy: in the same stretch of days, Trump announced a "deal" with Iran, and hosted a UFC fight on the White House lawn. He argues the Iran deal is barely a deal at all — it's an agreement to begin a new negotiation, the diplomatic equivalent of trying to salvage a tie from a war that was always an own goa
Full Episode - Trump Gets A “Deal” While Throwing Himself A Party - Why Hispanics Are Now The Swing Vote In America… And How To Reach Them
Chuck Todd opens on the surreal split-screen of a president desperate to manufacture a legacy: in the same stretch of days, Trump announced a "deal" with Iran, and hosted a UFC fight on the White House lawn. He argues the Iran deal is barely a deal at all — it's an agreement to begin a new negotiation, the diplomatic equivalent of trying to salvage a tie from a war that was always an own goa
Interview Only w/ Daniel Alegre - Why Hispanics Are Now The Swing Vote In America… And How To Reach Them
Daniel Alegre — CEO of TelevisaUnivision, the largest Spanish-language media company in the world — joins the Chuck Toddcast for a genuinely revealing conversation about the single most misunderstood bloc in American politics: the Hispanic vote. Alegre's central argument is one both parties keep failing to internalize — the Hispanic vote is now an issues vote, not a reliably Demo
Chuck’s Commentary - The Iran Ceasefire Has…Ceased + The Voters You Don’t Hear From Actually Decide American Elections
Chuck Todd opens with the grim news that the Iran conflict is hot again as both sides resume exchanging strikes — and his blunt assessment is that nothing has actually changed since Trump was begging for a deal a month ago. He argues Trump has mismanaged this war from the very beginning with no clear goal, that he and Israel started it with vastly different objectives, and that he stubbornly
Full Episode - The Iran Ceasefire Has…Ceased + How Will America Remember Football in 200 Years?
Chuck Todd opens with the grim news that the Iran conflict is hot again as both sides resume exchanging strikes — and his blunt assessment is that nothing has actually changed since Trump was begging for a deal a month ago. He argues Trump has mismanaged this war from the very beginning with no clear goal, that he and Israel started it with vastly different objectives, and that he stubbornly
Interview Only w/ Chuck Klosterman - How Will America Remember Football in 200 Years?
Cultural critic Chuck Klosterman — author of But What If We're Wrong?, The Nineties, and now a new book simply titled Football — joins the Chuck Toddcast for a fascinating, genre-bending conversation that's part memoir, part sports analysis, and part thought experiment about how a singular American obsession will be remembered centuries from now. Klosterman frames the book as a "living
Chuck’s Commentary - Graham Platner Won His Primary… But Can He Beat Susan Collins? + Voters Are Future Focused & Demanding Change
Chuck Todd opens with the resolution of a story he's been tracking for weeks: Graham Platner cruised to victory in Maine, comfortably clearing 70% even with Janet Mills' name still on the ballot — which he says means the scandals that had Platner in "save my campaign" mode turned out to be far less than a five-alarm fire. The deeper lesson, Chuck argues, is uncomfortable but revealing: for a
Full Episode - Graham Platner Won His Primary… But Can He Beat Susan Collins? + Can An Independent Break The GOP Stranglehold In Tennessee?
Chuck Todd opens with the resolution of a story he's been tracking for weeks: Graham Platner cruised to victory in Maine, comfortably clearing 70% even with Janet Mills' name still on the ballot — which he says means the scandals that had Platner in "save my campaign" mode turned out to be far less than a five-alarm fire. The deeper lesson, Chuck argues, is uncomfortable but revealing: for a
Interview Only w/ Lauren Pinkston - Can An Independent Break The GOP Stranglehold In Tennessee?
Lauren Pinkston — the independent candidate for governor of Tennessee — joins the Chuck Toddcast to make the case that the deepest problem in her state isn't left versus right, it's the near-total absence of two-party competition that has allowed one-party rule to calcify into something genuinely unhealthy. Pinkston, who was raised in an evangelical environment where she was taught tha
Chuck’s Commentary - Trump’s Decline Is Obvious…But Republicans Refuse To Acknowledge It + The 60 Minutes Story Isn’t About Scott Pelley… It’s About The Ellisons
Chuck Todd opens with an uncomfortable truth Republicans are doing everything possible to avoid acknowledging: Trump turns 80 next week, his physical and mental decline is increasingly visible to anyone paying attention, and the GOP is now repeating exactly the same mistake Democrats made by ignoring Joe Biden's obvious deterioration. The cruelest irony: Trump literally built his entire 2024 campa
Full Episode - Trump’s Decline Is Obvious…But Republicans Refuse To Acknowledge It + America’s AI Liability Crisis & Constitutional Breaking Points
Chuck Todd opens with an uncomfortable truth Republicans are doing everything possible to avoid acknowledging: Trump turns 80 next week, his physical and mental decline is increasingly visible to anyone paying attention, and the GOP is now repeating exactly the same mistake Democrats made by ignoring Joe Biden's obvious deterioration. The cruelest irony: Trump literally built his entire 2024 campa
Interview Only w/ David French - America’s AI Liability Crisis & Constitutional Breaking Points
David French — New York Times columnist, veteran constitutional attorney, and one of the sharpest legal thinkers writing today — joins the Chuck Toddcast for a riveting conversation about how the legal system is straining to handle a world being remade by AI, an out-of-control executive branch, and the slow erosion of America's basic constitutional architecture. French opens with the c
BONUS EPISODE - Can Josh Turek Flip An Iowa Senate Seat From Red To Blue?
Chuck Todd revisits his interview with Iowa Democratic senate candidate and four-time Paralympian and gold medalist Josh Turek for a deeply personal and politically sharp conversation. Josh shares his remarkable journey—from being born with spina bifida caused by his father’s exposure to Agent Orange, to discovering wheelchair basketball as a pathway to college, to becoming one of the
Dynastic - Chuck Todd & J.A. Adande tell the fascinating (and frustrating) history of the Warriors
Chuck Todd & J.A. Adande tell the complete history of The Golden State Warriors, who certainly didn't become a dynasty overnight. Long before Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and the NBA's greatest three-point revolution, the Warriors were one of the most fascinating—and frustrating—franchises in professional sports. Chuck & J.A. take you from their origins as one of the NBA'
Chuck’s Commentary - A Growing Number Of Republicans Are Breaking From Trump + Todd Blanche Has ZERO Chance Of Getting Confirmed
Chuck Todd opens with what he calls the unmistakable arrival of a "YOLO caucus" in the Senate — a growing number of congressional Republicans who are simply done capitulating to Trump, evidenced by John Thune publicly declaring there's no need to "weaponize" the DNI position and by the broader sense that the non-Trump part of the GOP is openly preparing to move on. He argues Trump is doing e
Full Episode - A Growing Number Of Republicans Are Breaking From Trump + The Chicago Cubs Owner Trying To Fix How America Gets Its News
Chuck Todd opens with what he calls the unmistakable arrival of a "YOLO caucus" in the Senate — a growing number of congressional Republicans who are simply done capitulating to Trump, evidenced by John Thune publicly declaring there's no need to "weaponize" the DNI position and by the broader sense that the non-Trump part of the GOP is openly preparing to move on. He argues Trump is doing e
Interview Only w/ Todd Ricketts - The Chicago Cubs Owner Trying To Fix How America Gets Its News
Todd Ricketts — Chicago Cubs co-owner and founder of Freespoke, the search engine that labels news sources with media bias ratings — joins the Chuck Toddcast for a wide-ranging conversation that bridges the increasingly intertwined worlds of media, technology, and professional sports. Ricketts makes the case that when people are given genuinely good information from across the ideologi
Chuck’s Commentary - Tuesday Was A REALLY Good Night For Democrats + Top 5 Republican REBUKES Of Donald Trump In Term #2
Chuck Todd walks through a primary night that was, in his words, a really good night for Democrats — and one that may have just answered whether 2026 is shaping up as a genuine blue wave. The night's biggest single story came out of Iowa, where Zach Lahn pulled off a stunning upset of Randy Feenstra in what Chuck characterizes as a "MAHA vs. MAGA" race — Trump endorsed the establishmen
Full Episode - Tuesday Was A REALLY Good Night For Democrats + Can A Democrat Win Statewide In Florida?
Chuck Todd walks through a primary night that was, in his words, a really good night for Democrats — and one that may have just answered whether 2026 is shaping up as a genuine blue wave. The night's biggest single story came out of Iowa, where Zach Lahn pulled off a stunning upset of Randy Feenstra in what Chuck characterizes as a "MAHA vs. MAGA" race — Trump endorsed the establishmen
Interview Only w/ Jerry Demings - Can A Democrat Win Statewide In Florida?
Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings — the former Orlando police chief turned local executive who is now running for governor of Florida — joins the Chuck Toddcast for a candid conversation about the challenges of being a Democrat in modern Florida and the lessons his unusual career path (accountant, then cop, then mayor) brings to executive leadership. Demings reveals that Governor Ron D
Chuck’s Commentary - Character Is Destiny In Politics + Iran Has Turned Into A Costly Stalemate
Chuck Todd opens with the latest from the Iran war's increasingly costly stalemate, arguing Trump doesn't actually want a deal — he wants the ability to declare an accomplishment without ever looking like he capitulated, the same trick he ran with NAFTA and the JCPOA where he ripped up agreements only to sign nearly identical ones under new names. June, Chuck warns, is when the energy shock
Full Episode - Character Is Destiny In Politics + The Independent Mayor Making The Case For Post-Partisan Politics
Chuck Todd opens with the latest from the Iran war's increasingly costly stalemate, arguing Trump doesn't actually want a deal — he wants the ability to declare an accomplishment without ever looking like he capitulated, the same trick he ran with NAFTA and the JCPOA where he ripped up agreements only to sign nearly identical ones under new names. June, Chuck warns, is when the energy shock
Interview Only w/ Mayor Yemi Mobolade - The Independent Mayor Making The Case For Post-Partisan Politics
Colorado Springs Mayor Yemi Mobolade — the independent who won a culturally conservative city by running as a true centrist who refuses to be boxed into either party — joins the Chuck Toddcast to make the case that quality-of-life governance still beats partisanship when voters are actually given the chance to choose it. Mobolade, who adapted his governing principles from Abraham Linco
Chuck’s Commentary - Why The Sun Belt Could Realign American Politics + Dems Have A Path To The Majority… If They’re Willing To Take It
Chuck Todd uses the fallout from the Texas runoff to identify a much bigger pattern emerging across the Sun Belt — and argues we may be watching a generational realignment of American politics in real time. For decades, Southern states moved steadily from blue to red, with the Sun Belt providing the demographic engine of every Republican majority and Democrats traditionally finding their pat
Full Episode - Why The Sun Belt Could Realign American Politics + Imagining the Worst to Prevent It From Happening
Chuck Todd uses the fallout from the Texas runoff to identify a much bigger pattern emerging across the Sun Belt — and argues we may be watching a generational realignment of American politics in real time. For decades, Southern states moved steadily from blue to red, with the Sun Belt providing the demographic engine of every Republican majority and Democrats traditionally finding their pat
Interview Only w/ Elliot Ackerman & James Stavridis - Imagining the Worst to Prevent It From Happening
Novelist Elliot Ackerman and retired Admiral James Stavridis — the former NATO Supreme Allied Commander — join the Chuck Toddcast to discuss their new novel 2084 and to deliver some deeply uncomfortable warnings about where war, technology, and great-power competition are actually headed. The duo, whose previous collaboration 2034 imagined a U.S.-China war, are quick to clarify that th
Full Episode - Ken Paxton’s Victory Gives Dems An Opportunity In Texas - Tackling Trump’s Rampant Corruption & Pay To Play Politics
Chuck Todd opens with Ken Paxton's runoff blowout over John Cornyn — a result that confirms Texas Republicans remain the base of what eventually grew into MAGA nationally, that the insurgent wing of the GOP consistently wins in the state, and that Paxton is somehow simultaneously the least electable nominee Republicans could have picked and still electable enough to make this a real fight. H
Interview Only w/ Virginia Kase Solomon - Tackling Trump’s Rampant Corruption & Pay To Play Politics
Virginia Kase Solomon — president of Common Cause, one of the country's oldest and most respected pro-democracy organizations — joins the Chuck Toddcast to deliver a clear-eyed assessment of just how broken American self-government has become, and what it might actually take to fix it. Kase Solomon argues that Trump's corruption has gone so far beyond anything in modern history that it
Full Episode - Trump’s Iran Deal Is Worse Than The Deal He Tore Up + A Marine Sniper’s Message on Service, Sacrifice, and Country
Chuck Todd opens with a brutal verdict on the emerging Iran "deal": it's just a worse version of the Obama agreement Trump once tore up, Iran has effectively avoided every stated goal Trump and Israel set out to achieve, and Tehran retains control of the Strait of Hormuz — meaning this is unambiguously a loss for the United States, no matter how the administration tries to spin it. He argues
Interview Only w/ AJ Pasciuti - A Marine Sniper’s Message on Service, Sacrifice, and Country
Former Marine sniper AJ Pasciuti — author of the new book Dark Horse and host of the Combat Story podcast — joins the Chuck Toddcast for one of the most riveting and clear-eyed conversations about military service, leadership, and the realities of modern war. Pasciuti was 16 years old on September 11th, enlisted at 17, and eventually became the Marine who led the team that killed "Juba
Chuck’s Commentary - Trump Made The Midterms MUCH Harder For Republicans + Rest In Peace, Barney Frank
Chuck Todd walks through a primary night that should make every elected Republican break out in a cold sweat — Democrats outvoted Republicans by 100,000 votes in Georgia. He argues we now have a fully formed "woke right" — and Trump is leading it. The man who built his political brand on refusing to conform to anyone's mindset has become the most aggressive cancel culture warrior in Am
Full Episode - Trump Made The Midterms MUCH Harder For Republicans + A Statesman's Warning About Where American Politics Is Headed
Chuck Todd walks through a primary night that should make every elected Republican break out in a cold sweat — Democrats outvoted Republicans by 100,000 votes in Georgia. He argues we now have a fully formed "woke right" — and Trump is leading it. The man who built his political brand on refusing to conform to anyone's mindset has become the most aggressive cancel culture warrior in Am
Interview Only w/ Lamar Alexander - A Statesman's Warning About Where American Politics Is Headed
Former Senator, Tennessee Governor, and Education Secretary Lamar Alexander joins the Chuck Toddcast to discuss his new memoir The Education of a Senator and an offer his extraordinary perspective on American politics shaped by five decades in public life — including the surreal experience of being sworn in as governor under emergency circumstances because his predecessor was openly selling
Dynastic - Chuck Todd & J.A. Adande interview Steelers legend Rocky Bleier about his INCREDIBLE life
Chuck Todd and J.A. Adande legendary Steelers running back and fullback Rocky Bleier, as Dynastic goes deeper into the Pittsburgh Steelers dynasty. From winning a national championship at University of Notre Dame… to being drafted into both the NFL and the Vietnam War… to fighting his way back from devastating injuries to become a 4-time Super Bowl champion, Rocky’s story is on
Chuck’s Commentary - Trump’s Corruption Is A Threat To The Republic + Trump Keeps Purging The Republican Party
Chuck Todd opens with a wave of primary night results that all point the same direction: Thomas Massie has lost his reelection bid, Trump's grip on the GOP base is as strong as ever, and the president just endorsed Ken Paxton in Texas — a move that's great for Trump personally and disastrous for the Republican Party, which will now have to pour enormous money into a Senate seat that was supp
Full Episode - Trump’s Corruption Is A Threat To The Republic + What's Really Driving the American Political Crisis & Polarization?
Chuck Todd opens with a wave of primary night results that all point the same direction: Thomas Massie has lost his reelection bid, Trump's grip on the GOP base is as strong as ever, and the president just endorsed Ken Paxton in Texas — a move that's great for Trump personally and disastrous for the Republican Party, which will now have to pour enormous money into a Senate seat that was supp
Interview Only w/ Sean Westwood - What's Really Driving the American Political Crisis & Polarization?
Dartmouth political scientist Sean Westwood — director of the Polarization Lab and one of the leading researchers studying why American politics has become so toxic — joins the Chuck Toddcast with a counterintuitive opening argument: America has actually been more polarized in the past than it is now, and polarization itself is a normal feature of democracy. What changed is that the Co
Full Episode - Trump’s China Trip Was A Disaster For Democracy + Bill Cassidy’s Political Career Is Over
Chuck Todd opens with the political obituary of Bill Cassidy, the Louisiana senator whose primary defeat is the latest and clearest evidence that there is simply no room left in the Republican Party for anyone who ever had qualms about Donald Trump. He argues Cassidy's downfall was as much self-inflicted as Trump-driven: he had the spine to vote to convict in the second impeachment trial but never
Full Episode - Trump Goes Hat In Hand To China + Trump’s Policies Have Been Disastrous For The American Economy
Chuck Todd opens by previewing Mark Zandi's sobering economic forecast from this episode and arrives at a simple, devastating conclusion: every single policy decision Trump has made has made the economy worse, tax refunds have already been gobbled up by inflation, and the math guarantees voters will feel even worse by the midterms — meaning Republicans on the ballot should be furious with th
Interview Only w/ Mark Zandi - Trump’s Policies Have Been Disastrous For The American Economy
Mark Zandi — chief economist at Moody's Analytics and one of the most quoted forecasters in America — joins the Chuck Toddcast to deliver a remarkably sobering verdict on where the economy actually stands: without the $700 billion currently being poured into AI investment, the United States would already be in or close to recession. The latest CPI and PPI reports came back ugly and ugl
Chuck’s Commentary - Trump Can’t Defend His Bad Economy + Democrats Have Lost Their “Reformer” Image
Chuck Todd opens with Trump getting visibly defensive with reporters over a brutal new inflation report — and argues the bad economy is in worse shape directly because of Trump's policies, with the president himself having zero answers for the data. He notes that AI investment is essentially the only thing propping up the economy, and that we are at least weeks away from the end of the Iran
Full Episode - Trump Can’t Defend His Bad Economy + Can Government Effectively Regulate The AI Arms Race?
Chuck Todd opens with Trump getting visibly defensive with reporters over a brutal new inflation report — and argues the bad economy is in worse shape directly because of Trump's policies, with the president himself having zero answers for the data. He notes that AI investment is essentially the only thing propping up the economy, and that we are at least weeks away from the end of the Iran
Interview Only w/ Miriam Vogel & Anne Neuberger - Can Government Effectively Regulate The AI Arms Race?
This episode of the Chuck Toddcast features a deep dive into the AI governance crisis with two of the leading experts in the field. First, Miriam Vogel — president and CEO of EqualAI — joins the show to explain her organization's mission of establishing meaningful AI guardrails at a moment when American consumers are deeply skeptical of big tech and less than 1% of companies have anyth
Chuck’s Commentary - Democrats Wasted Political Capital In Virginia…For Nothing + Why SCOTUS Is Forced To Do The Job Of Congress
Chuck Todd delivers an analysis of the Virginia Supreme Court's decision tossing out the Democratic redistricting map — arguing Democrats pissed away enormous political capital for absolutely nothing and that the reaction on the left has been wildly out of proportion, treating the ruling like an election loss when it was actually a predictable consequence of trying to fight fire with fire. H
Full Episode - Democrats Wasted Political Capital In Virginia…For Nothing + What Makes The Rolling Stones “The World’s Greatest Rock Band”
Chuck Todd delivers an analysis of the Virginia Supreme Court's decision tossing out the Democratic redistricting map — arguing Democrats pissed away enormous political capital for absolutely nothing and that the reaction on the left has been wildly out of proportion, treating the ruling like an election loss when it was actually a predictable consequence of trying to fight fire with fire. H
Interview Only w/ Bob Spitz - What Makes The Rolling Stones “The World’s Greatest Rock Band”
Acclaimed music biographer Bob Spitz — author of definitive biographies of The Beatles and Led Zeppelin and now The Rolling Stones: The Biography, his five-year deep dive into the world's greatest rock and roll band — joins the Chuck Toddcast for a deeply enjoyable conversation about why the Stones have endured for over six decades and what their longevity says about the state of music
Chuck’s Commentary- Chuck’s Message To The Class Of 2026 + Trump’s DOJ Has No Credibility
Chuck Todd opens with the latest from the Iran war: the Saudis have now denied the U.S. military access to strikes from their bases and airspace, the U.S. cannot claim any net positive from this conflict, and Trump's best realistic outcome is some version of the Obama nuclear deal 2.0. He notes that both sides are being squeezed — Iran can't keep this going forever either — but warns t
Full Episode - Chuck’s Message To The Class Of 2026 + Trump Has No Way Out Iran War Without Humiliation
Chuck Todd opens with the latest from the Iran war: the Saudis have now denied the U.S. military access to strikes from their bases and airspace, the U.S. cannot claim any net positive from this conflict, and Trump's best realistic outcome is some version of the Obama nuclear deal 2.0. He notes that both sides are being squeezed — Iran can't keep this going forever either — but warns t
Interview Only w/ Kevin Williamson - Trump Has No Way Out Iran War Without Humiliation
Conservative writer Kevin Williamson — National Correspondent for The Dispatch and one of the sharpest voices on the right — joins the Chuck Toddcast for a wide-ranging and characteristically blunt conversation about Trump's Iran disaster, the collapse of the political parties, and what kind of country America is becoming. Williamson argues Trump made a colossal mistake getting into th
Chuck’s Commentary - Trump Staves Off Lame Duck Status In Indiana Primaries + America Has A “Congress Problem”
Chuck Todd opens with the morning-after analysis of Indiana's primary results, which he says show Trump still has plenty of juice with his own party — roughly $13 million was spent to influence about 100,000 voters, and the results have created new urgency for Republican-led states across the South to redistrict before the midterms. He notes that being on the wrong side of Trump remains a ca
Full Episode - Trump Staves Off Lame Duck Status In Indiana Primaries + How a Free Alt-Weekly Became Alabama's Best Investigative Paper
Chuck Todd opens with the morning-after analysis of Indiana's primary results, which he says show Trump still has plenty of juice with his own party — roughly $13 million was spent to influence about 100,000 voters, and the results have created new urgency for Republican-led states across the South to redistrict before the midterms. He notes that being on the wrong side of Trump remains a ca
Interview Only w/ Ashley Trice & Rob Holbert - How a Free Alt-Weekly Became Alabama's Best Investigative Paper
Ashley Trice and Rob Holbert — co-publishers of Lagniappe, the alt-weekly turned investigative newspaper covering Mobile and Alabama's Gulf Coast — join the Chuck Toddcast to share the origin story of how their independent publication has grown into the region's premier investigative voice. They explain how Lagniappe started as a free paper and has now transitioned to a subscription mo
Chuck’s Commentary - Trump’s Polling Numbers Should Terrify The GOP + Trump Has No Good Options For Iran War
Chuck Todd unpacks a wave of devastating new polling that shows Americans have lost confidence in Trump across nearly every metric, with his approval cratering among independents and only his hardcore base still standing by him. He notes Trump is underwater on virtually every issue except taxes, immigration, and the border — that his trustworthiness is lower than any past president, that eve
Full Episode - Trump’s Polling Numbers Should Terrify The GOP + Why The West Is Living In A 1930s-Style Crisis Again
Chuck Todd unpacks a wave of devastating new polling that shows Americans have lost confidence in Trump across nearly every metric, with his approval cratering among independents and only his hardcore base still standing by him. He notes Trump is underwater on virtually every issue except taxes, immigration, and the border — that his trustworthiness is lower than any past president, that eve
Interview Only w/ Ian Shapiro - Why The West Is Living In A 1930s-Style Crisis Again
Yale political scientist Ian Shapiro — author of the new book After the Fall — joins the Chuck Toddcast for a wide-ranging conversation about the missed opportunities of the post-Cold War era and what it would take to actually fix what's broken in the global political economy. Shapiro argues America fundamentally squandered its chance to integrate Russia into the West after the Soviet
Chuck’s Commentary - SCOTUS Guts The Voting Rights Act… Uncapping The House Would Fix It + The “Woke Right” Has Emerged
Chuck Todd dives into the Supreme Court's latest ruling further hollowing out the Voting Rights Act and walks through what it actually means in practice — including the very real possibility that several Southern states will now try to redistrict, creating a messy political landscape that won't necessarily benefit Republicans in the way they hope. He traces the history back to the 1990s Geor
Full Episode - SCOTUS Guts The Voting Rights Act… Uncapping The House Would Fix It + Will Progressives Reshape The Democratic Party?
Chuck Todd dives into the Supreme Court's latest ruling further hollowing out the Voting Rights Act and walks through what it actually means in practice — including the very real possibility that several Southern states will now try to redistrict, creating a messy political landscape that won't necessarily benefit Republicans in the way they hope. He traces the history back to the 1990s Geor
Interview Only w/ Adam Green - Will Progressives Reshape The Democratic Party?
Adam Green — co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee — joins the Chuck Toddcast to make the case that pragmatic economic populism is the Democratic Party's path back to a durable majority, and to push back hard on the conventional wisdom that "moderate" means "centrist." Green argues the public has lost faith in both political and economic systems and is hungry for cand
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