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The Realignment

The Realignment

A Politics , News and Technology podcast

#182 in Politics · 🇵🇰
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About the show

The United States is in the midst of a dramatic political realignment with shifting views on national security, economics, technology, and the role of government in our lives. Saagar Enjeti and Marshall Kosloff explore this with thinkers, policymakers, and more.

Newest episodes

After the 2026 Midterms, the Democratic Party's Future is Left-Liberal Fusion with Danielle Lee Tomson, Rotimi Adeoye, and Ryan Geddie

1 hr 36 min

Dr. Danielle Lee Tomson on Fusionism: Towards a New Fusion: Why liberal fusionism is the future of a new style and approach to a politics that builds and unites Rotimi Adeoye's X thread on liberal fusionism: https://x.com/_rotimia/status/2118006634526158984?a=xPufcCNO-MRn9znB2js&s=42Ryan Geddie on Fusionism: The Fight After the Midterms Marshall Kosloff on Fusionism: The States Forum Journal: The Missing Liberal Story (see last section for fusionism thesis) On today's episode, Dr. Danielle Lee Tomson, Rotimi Adeoye of The New York Times, and independent YouTuber Ryan Geddie join The Realignment. Reacting to both the 2026 midterm results and the constant infighting among left-liberal factions post-2024, Marshall and guests argue that there is an opportunity to build a coherent worldview and agenda that spans across the ideological spectrum. This idea is called "fusionism." In this conversation, they discuss how they arrived at the fusionism thesis and where things can go next, leading into the 2028 election. 

Saagar Enjeti: What the Blue Tsunami Means for Trump, MAGA, and the Future of the GOP

55 min

Saagar Enjeti, Co-Host of Breaking Points and former Co-Host of The Realignment, returns to the podcast. In their conversation, Marshall and Saagar return to The Realignment's roots in covering debates about the future of conservatism and the GOP after Trump seized the reins of the movement and party in the 2016 election. They discuss how the midterms will and won't determine the outcome of the final two years of the Trump administration, MAGA's future prospects, their Texas-based interpretation of the results, and the path to rebuilding the GOP after 2028.

The Realignment x Aspen Ideas Festival: Economy | Former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, & Christos Makridis

52 min

Aspen Ideas Festival Economy: https://www.aspenideas.org/attend/economySession Description: Skepticism of free trade and globalization was once relegated to the political margins, but calls for government intervention now thunder through American economic debate. Does this reflect political polarization, distrust of institutions and corporate power, or a deeper reckoning with an economy that underserves too many people? As populist ideas reshape both the left and right, are we witnessing the emergence of a fundamentally different economic and political order?

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The newest 50 of 600 episodes

After the 2026 Midterms, the Democratic Party's Future is Left-Liberal Fusion with Danielle Lee Tomson, Rotimi Adeoye, and Ryan Geddie

1 hr 36 min

Dr. Danielle Lee Tomson on Fusionism: Towards a New Fusion: Why liberal fusionism is the future of a new style and approach to a politics that builds and unites Rotimi Adeoye's X thread on liberal fusionism: https://x.com/_rotimia/status/2118006634526158984?a=xPufcCNO-MRn9znB2js&s=42Ryan Geddie on Fusionism: The Fight After the Midterms Marshall Kosloff on Fusionism: The States Forum Journal: The Missing Liberal Story (see last section for fusionism thesis) On today's episode, Dr. Danielle Lee Tomson, Rotimi Adeoye of The New York Times, and independent YouTuber Ryan Geddie join The Realignment. Reacting to both the 2026 midterm results and the constant infighting among left-liberal factions post-2024, Marshall and guests argue that there is an opportunity to build a coherent worldview and agenda that spans across the ideological spectrum. This idea is called "fusionism." In this conversation, they discuss how they arrived at the fusionism thesis and where things can go next, leading into the 2028 election. 

Saagar Enjeti: What the Blue Tsunami Means for Trump, MAGA, and the Future of the GOP

55 min

Saagar Enjeti, Co-Host of Breaking Points and former Co-Host of The Realignment, returns to the podcast. In their conversation, Marshall and Saagar return to The Realignment's roots in covering debates about the future of conservatism and the GOP after Trump seized the reins of the movement and party in the 2016 election. They discuss how the midterms will and won't determine the outcome of the final two years of the Trump administration, MAGA's future prospects, their Texas-based interpretation of the results, and the path to rebuilding the GOP after 2028.

The Realignment x Aspen Ideas Festival: Economy | Former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, & Christos Makridis

52 min

Aspen Ideas Festival Economy: https://www.aspenideas.org/attend/economySession Description: Skepticism of free trade and globalization was once relegated to the political margins, but calls for government intervention now thunder through American economic debate. Does this reflect political polarization, distrust of institutions and corporate power, or a deeper reckoning with an economy that underserves too many people? As populist ideas reshape both the left and right, are we witnessing the emergence of a fundamentally different economic and political order?

The Realignment at WelcomeFest 2026 | The Difference Between Good and Bad Moderation with Steve Teles

51 min

Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/ Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment Email the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.com The Realignment host Marshall Kosloff and Niskanen Center Senior Fellow Steve Teles are set to appear at WelcomeFest 2026 today in Washington, DC. WelcomeFest is known as the biggest annual gathering of the political center. Steve will appear on a panel titled, "Building Centrist Abundance." Marshall will interview Senator Ruben Gallego and San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins on the center's lack of a broad story and worldview that can respond to an anti-status quo moment. Ahead of their appearances, Marshall and Steve discuss their problems with "moderation," an approach to politics associated with gatherings like WelcomeFest. While defending moderation as a personality and instinct, they differentiate between "higher" and "lower" forms of moderation and offer alternative approaches for politicians, organizations, and movements associated with the idea.

How the U.S. Can Deter China from Invading Taiwan in 2027 with Eyck Freymann

59 min

Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/ Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment Email the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.com After President Trump's visit to China with his summit with President Xi Jinping, Eyck Freymann, Hoover Fellow at Stanford University and author of Defending Taiwan: A Strategy to Prevent War with China, joins The Realignment. Eyck and Marshall to unpack the Taiwan question, America's interests in the island's fate, the One China policy, and the future of U.S.-China competition. They discuss Taiwan’s domestic politics, deterrence, semiconductors, gray-zone conflict, and what the coming years could mean for peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific.

How to Bring Back National Ambition - Inside the Build America Caucus with Rep. Josh Harder

58 min

Inclusive Abundance | "Abundance Agenda" Request for Proposals: https://www.inclusiveabundance.org/abundance-in-action/request-for-policy-proposals-the-abundance-agenda?returnUrl=%252Fabundance-in-action Axios | Exclusive: New group plots 2028 "Abundance" agenda: https://www.axios.com/2026/04/30/abundance-group-democrats-agenda WelcomeFest 2026 "Building to Win" Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/welcomefest-2026-registration-1982207415740?aff=040726sub Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/ Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment Email the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.com Congressman Josh Harder joins The Realignment to discuss why Americans increasingly feel the country has stopped working—and what it would take to rebuild trust in government. Harder explains the mission of the bipartisan “Build America Caucus,” why housing affordability has become a generational crisis, and how bottlenecks in permitting, infrastructure, and public administration undermine growth and optimism. Marshall and Josh debate abundance politics, private equity and housing, education reform, USAID, AI-era energy demand, and whether America needs to stop managing decline and start governing for outcomes again. Is the problem ideology—or competence? And can a politics of building restore a sense that the future will be better than the present?

Season Finale | Danielle Lee Tomson: Why the Future is Fusion

1 hr 21 min

Danielle Lee Tomson with Oxford University Press | Under the Influence: What's Real When America Feels Fake: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/under-the-influence-9780197847862?cc=us&lang=en& Danielle Lee Tomson Substack | Failure to Communicate: https://failuretocommunicate.substack.com/ Danielle Lee Tomson with the Hewlett Foundation | Weaving a Worldview: https://hewlett.org/library/weaving-a-worldview/ Marshall Kosloff with the States Forum Journal | The Missing Liberal Story: https://www.statesforum.org/the-missing-liberal-story/ Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/ Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment Email the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.com Danielle Lee Tomson, author of the forthcoming Under the Influence What's Real When America Feels Fake, returns to The Realignment. Wrapping-up this season of The Realignment, Marshall begins with an opening monologue summing up his takeaways from the post-2024 election period and what they mean for the future of American politics. Danielle then interviews Marshall about his Missing Liberal Story essay in the States Forum Journal. They discuss how Danielle's "authenticity gap" and book project sync with the need for the political center to tell a coherent story about the country's past, present, and future, why the left-liberal fusion is the path forward, and where the project needs to go next.

601 | Noam Scheiber: How the Revolt of the College-Educated Working Class Could Reshape America

56 min

Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/ Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment Email the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.com Noam Scheiber, New York Times reporter and author of Mutiny: The Rise and Revolt of the College-Educated Working Class, joins The Realignment. Marshall and Noam discuss how the rise and fall of the "college-for-all" economic model has left a generation of graduates (and non-graduates) feeling betrayed by the system, how downwardly-mobile college graduates are swinging to the economic left, which universities and government policies are responsible for the student debt crisis, and why the Biden administration's debt forgiveness program wasn't a political winner.

600 | Hannah Garden-Monheit: Why Voters Feel Government Doesn't Deliver - Lessons from the Biden Administration

1 hr 5 min

Roosevelt Institute | Building a More Effective, Responsive Government: Lessons Learned from the Biden-Harris Administration: https://rooseveltinstitute.org/publications/building-a-more-effective-responsive-government/ Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/ Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment Email the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.com Hannah Garden-Monheit, former Director of the Office of Policy Planning at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and co-author (with Tresa Joseph, of the Roosevelt Institute's report, Building a More Effective, Responsive Government: Lessons Learned from the Biden-Harris Administration, joins The Realignment. Marshall and Hannah discuss her interviews with 45 former Biden officials on their struggles with state capacity during the administration, why Marshall believes better "central casting" would better illustrate succesful governance, top recommendations for enhancing the federal governments ability to effectively deliver services and accomplish its goals, and the lessons for future state capacity efforts.

599 | Henry Tonks: The Realignments Comes for the Democrats - Lessons from Liberalism's 1970s-1990s Wilderness Years

1 hr 26 min

American Affairs | Henry Tonks - The Rise and Fall of the New Liberals: How the Democrats Lost Their Majority: https://americanaffairsjournal.org/2025/02/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-new-liberals-how-the-democrats-lost-their-majority/ Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/ Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment Email the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.com

598 | Madeline Hart: How to Mobilize the American Industrial Base, Embrace Heretics, and Deter WWIII

55 min

Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/ Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment Email the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.com Madeline Hart, Co-Founder of Palantir First Breakfast publication and co-author (with Shyam Sankar) of Mobilization: How to Reboot the American Industrial Base and Stop World War III, joins The Realignment. Marshall and Madeline discuss the need for embracing “heretics” in government, the case for “mobilization” as a means of deterring great power conflict and World War III, the roots of defense industry dysfunction in post-Cold War consolidation, and how the American people could materially benefit from investment in national defense.

597 | Michael Laskawy: Why States Are the Real Center of American Politics

51 min

The States Forum Journal's Latest Issue: https://www.statesforum.org/journals/issue-2/ The States Forum Substack: https://statesforum.substack.com/ Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/ Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment Email the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.com Michael Laskawy, Editor-in-Chief of The States Forum Journal, joins The Realignment. Marshall and Michael discuss why Americans are increasingly looking to the states for solutions to their problems, how The States Forum's belief in the "American Promise" as a worldview provides a means for addressing the factional fights within liberalism, and explore the implications of Marshall's States Forum Journal essay on "The Missing Liberal Story."

596 | Saagar Enjeti: What the Iran War Means for MAGA, the New Right, and the America First Movement

1 hr 4 min

Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/ Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment Email the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.com Saagar Enjeti, Co-Host of Breaking Points, returns to The Realignment. Marshall and Saagar discuss what the escalating conflict between the U.S., Israel, and Iran means for an "America First" movement and MAGA Republican Party that campaigned on promises to end the past two decades of American intervention in the Middle East.

States Forum Journal | Audio Essay: Marshall Kosloff on "The Missing Liberal Story"

20 min

The States Forum Journal | The Missing Liberal Story: https://www.statesforum.org/the-missing-liberal-story/ The States Forum Journal Substack | The Missing Liberal Story: https://statesforum.substack.com/p/the-missing-liberal-story NYT Article on The States Forum | https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/10/us/politics/democrats-states-forum.html Today's episode is an audio essay adapted from Marshall's States Forum Journal piece: The Missing Liberal Story. In the essay, Marshall lays out his case for why he believes liberalism’s most urgent task is to craft a compelling story that resonates with the electorate if there is any hope for changing our politics. The broader States Forum Journal issue focused on "Double Security" and features fourteen essays on federalism, democracy, and the role of states in safeguarding American governance.

595 | Ned Resnikoff: One Year In - Taking Abundance Back to Its Fundamentals

57 min

Roosevelt Institute | Lessons from YIMBYism: Taking “Abundance” Back to Its Fundamentals: https://rooseveltinstitute.org/publications/lessons-from-yimbyism/ Niskanen Summer Institute: https://www.niskanencenter.org/niskanen-summer-institute-democracy-that-works/ Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/ Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment Email the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.com Ned Resnikoff, Roosevelt Institute and author of Lessons from YIMBYism: Taking “Abundance” Back to Its Fundamentals, joins The Realignment. Marshall and Ned discuss the history of how YIMBY housing activism led to the broader abundance movement, how Abundance supporters should think about bipartisanship and navigating the various political factions on the left of right who find the ideas relevant, and the relevance of abundance/YIMBY policy tools like regulatory reform and public investment to the goal of increasing supply of vital goods like housing, medical care, and childcare.

594 | Steve Teles: Hard Lessons for Centrists Trying to Overcome the Mediocrity Challenge + Last Call for Niskanen Summer Institute Applications

1 hr 1 min

Niskanen Summer Institute: https://www.niskanencenter.org/niskanen-summer-institute-democracy-that-works/ Steve Teles | Varieties of Abundance: https://www.niskanencenter.org/abundance-varieties/ Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/ Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment Email the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.com Steve Teles, Niskanen Center Senior Fellow, returns to The Realignment. Marshall and Steve discuss how moderates, centrists, and the Abundance movement can navigate the anti-status quo/economic populist moment, why the modern center naturally trends towards milquetoast, aesthetic moderation, instead of boldly picking fights, and how the fights over school reform in the 2000s and 2010s (regardless of one's opinion of charter schools and unions) offer a better model. Plus, Marshall reminds undergraduates in the class of 2026 and later that Niskanen Summer Institute applications are due February 27th.

593 | Austin Ahlman and Ben Winsor: Seven Hard Lessons on Economic Populism

1 hr 43 min

Liberty and Power: 7 Hard Lessons Democrats Must Learn in 2026 Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/ Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment Email the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.com The Open Market Institute's Austin Ahlman and Ben Winsor join The Realignment. Marshall, Austin, and Ben discuss their recommendations on how to effectively wield economic populism in an anti-status quo moment, when polling is and isn't useful, the complicated realities behind the terms "centrist" and "moderate," populist critiques of the abundance agenda, lessons from FDR's campaigns and presidency, and why the center isn't meeting the moment.

592 | Laura Field: How the MAGA New Right Took Power - From the Flight 93 Essay to Trump 2024

1 hr 23 min

Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/ Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment Email the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.com Laura Field, author of Furious Minds: The Making of the MAGA New Right, joins The Realignment. Marshall and Laura discuss the intellectual movement behind Trumpism and the rise of the MAGA New Right, the intellectual branches of the movement: the Claremont Institute, Postliberals, and the National Conservatives, how cultural conflict became the engine of New Right movement-building, the future of higher education, and why the center-left's obsession with "policy" leaves it vulnerable to populist movements with ideas and language that speak to deeper questions of meaning in 21st century America.

591 | Saikat Chakrabarti: Building a New Consensus - How to Move America from "Failure Mode" to "Mission Mode"

56 min

New Consensus | Mission for America: https://www.newconsensus.com/mfa New Consensus | Reading List: https://www.newconsensus.com/library Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/ Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment Email the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.com Saikat Chakrabarti, President and co-founder of New Consensus, joins The Realignment. Marshall and Saikat discuss why an anti-status-quo moment requires more from government and politics than "making the DMV work better," his framework for moving government from "failure mode" to "mission mode," the politics of immigration after ICE's crackdown in Minnesota and the killing of two American citizens, the return of ideology to Democratic Party circles, and why the center needs to start believing in big goals, and the left needs to embrace pragmatism.

590 | Brink Lindsey: How the 21st Century Mugged a Libertarian

1 hr 2 min

*Gallup, not Axios as cited in episode, reporting on higher liberal identification: https://news.gallup.com/poll/700499/new-high-identify-political-independents.aspx Niskanen Center Hypertext Substack: Brink Lindsey | Abundance of What - The Permanent Problem Excerpt: https://hypertext.niskanencenter.org/p/abundance-of-what-abundance-for-what Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/ Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment Email the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.com Brink Lindsey, Niskanen Center Senior Vice President and author of The Permanent Problem: The Uncertain Transition from Mass Plenty to Mass Flourishing, joins The Realignment. Marshall and Brink discuss how an intellectual "mugging" from the 21st century drove his evolution from "professional libertarian" to what he calls a "brokeness liberal," why liberal democratic capitalism is in the middle of a legitimacy crisis, how his "captured economy" thesis from 2017 offers an anti-status quo frame for the center-left and center-right, the different interpretations of the word "liberal," the next frontiers of the abundance debate, and the looming challenges and opportunities posed by the rise of AI.

589 | Danielle Lee Tomson: When the Story Breaks: MAGA, Liberalism, and the Battle to Define Reality

1 hr 15 min

Failure to Communicate Substack: https://failuretocommunicate.substack.com/ Danielle Lee Tomson: https://failuretocommunicate.substack.com/p/the-authenticity-gap Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/ Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment Email the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.com Dr. Danielle Lee Tomson, author of the Failure to Communicate Substack and the forthcoming Under the Influence: What's Real When America Feels Fake, returns to The Realignment. Marshall and Danielle revisit her concept of the "authenticity gap": the growing mismatch between our expectations and lived reality, and its defining role in America's turn to populism, why technocratic campaigning and politics crowds out meaning, culture, and first-order questions, why effective storytelling is a critical candidate and movement skillset, and why the next phase of left-liberal politics will require fusion between feuding camps, not factional warfare.

588 | George M. Dougherty: Beyond "Unmanned": How Drones Are (and Aren't) Rewriting Warfare

1 hr 8 min

Niskanen Summer Institute: https://www.niskanencenter.org/niskanen-summer-institute-democracy-that-works/ Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/ Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment Email the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.com George M. Dougherty, author of Beast in the Machine: How Robotics and AI Will Transform Warfare and the Future of Human Conflict, joins The Realignment. Marshall and George discuss how robotics and AI are triggering a military revolution as consequential as mechanization a century ago, why the real story isn't "drones" but "universal precision: a 100-1000x leap in lethality on the battlefield, the need to rethink offense, defense, and initiative, how small states and non-state actors are innovating faster than the U.S. and legacy defense ecosystems, and what today's equivalent of the outmoded WWII battleship is.

587 | Mike Konczal: What’s Actually Driving the Affordability Crisis + Announcing the Niskanen Summer Institute for Undergrads

42 min

Niskanen Summer Institute: https://www.niskanencenter.org/niskanen-summer-institute-democracy-that-works/ The Affordability Framework: https://economicsecurityproject.org/news/introducing-the-affordability-framework-a-tool-for-understanding-americas-affordability-crisis/ Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/ Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment Email the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.com

586 | Oliver Libby: Strong Floor, No Ceiling - A Radical Moderate's Case for Reigniting the American Dream

59 min

Oliver Libby Forbes Profile: https://www.forbes.com/sites/nelldebevoise/2025/11/11/why-americas-next-big-idea-isnt-about-doing-more--its-about-building-smarter/ Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/ Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment Email the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.com Oliver Libby, civic investor and author of Strong Floor, No Ceiling: Building a New Foundation for the American Dream, joins The Realignment. Marshall and Oliver discuss his post-2024 Strong Floor, No Ceiling framework: a strong floor below which Americans shouldn't fall (healthcare, education, work, housing, opportunity), and no ceiling on aspiration and growth (with rules), why Americans are giving up on the American dream, what a successful national service program would look like (and why previous versions failed to meet their promise), how wealth and power stress the social contract, and why an alternative to MAGA hasn't arrived yet.

585 | Chris Matthews: The Politics of Authenticity and Why Robert F. Kennedy Still Matters

56 min

Hardball Substack: https://thechrismatthews.substack.com/ Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/ Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment Email the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.com Chris Matthews, former host of MSNBC's Hardball (now on Substack) and author of Lessons from Bobby: Ten Reasons Robert F. Kennedy Still Matters, joins The Realignment. Marshall and Chris discuss Robert F. Kennedy's legacy after last month's 100-year centenary of his birth, what his life, career, and assassination meant for American liberalism, the politics of working-class and rural Americans, RFK's ability to surmount racial divisions, and why authenticity matters more than surface-level branding, as demonstrated by the careers of President Trump, Representative AOC, Senator Bernie Sanders, and Senator John Fetterman.

584 | Shadi Hamid: A Skeptic's Case for American Power

1 hr 3 min

Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/ Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment Email the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.com Shadi Hamid, Washington Post Columnist and author of The Case for American Power, returns to The Realignment. Marshall and Shadi discuss his case for American power despite one's opposition to the country's past and present misuse of power, his intellectual journey from Iraq War protestor to power advocate, why polls find that Democrats and the left-liberals are increasingly unpatriotic, and why Democratic Party elites lacked the credibility to make the strongest case against Trump in 2024.

583 | William D. Hartung & Ben Freeman: The Pentagon's Trillion Dollar War Machine and the Debate Over America's Role in the World

1 hr 6 min

Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/ Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment Email the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.com The Quincy Institute's William D. Hartung and Ben Freeman, authors of Trillion Dollar War Machine: How Runaway Military Spending Drives America into Foreign Wars and Bankrupts Us at Home, join The Realignment. Marshall, William, and Ben debate and discuss the origins of America's proposed record trillion-dollar Pentagon budget, why the budget spirals upwards despite every 21st-century president's promise to disengage abroad and invest at home, the role of money and corruption in U.S. foreign policy decisions, the proper use of American power abroad, and the origin of our foreign policy debacles in Afghanistan, Iraq, Gaza, and Ukraine.

582 | George Packer: The Emergency - The Post-Literate Age and the Unwinding of American Liberalism

56 min

The Atlantic | A Post-Literate Age: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/10/journalism-literature-media-trump/684752/ Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/ Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment Email the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.com George Packer, Staff Writer at The Atlantic and author of The Emergency, returns to The Realignment. Marshall and George discuss his new work of Fiction: The Emergency, his transition back to fiction after works of journalism in an increasingly post-literate society, the resonance of the book's theme of living through imperial collapse, boredom, and a lack of faith, why the American liberal project feels lost today in an era of populist backlash, and why the themes of his previous books, The Unwinding and Blood of the Liberals, are critical to anyone looking to chart America's path forward.

581 | Jeffrey Rosen: Hamilton vs. Jefferson and the Battle Over Government Power in 21st Century America

53 min

Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/ Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment Email the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.com Jeffrey Rosen, President of the National Constitution Center and author of The Pursuit of Liberty: How Hamilton vs. Jefferson Ignited the Lasting Battle Over Power in America, returns to The Realignment. Marshall and Jeffrey discuss how debates over Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson's ideas about the power of government has shaped America's political debates since the 18th century, whether our struggle to make government work effectively to accomplish its goals results from too much Jeffersonianism, why political philosophy isn't just an academic interest, and how Presidents Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump's project of attacking the administrative state and the government power will stand the test of time.

580 | Jake Tapper: How to Fight and Prosecute Forever Wars from Al Qaeda to Venezuelan Strikes and Mexican Drug Cartels

36 min

Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/ Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment Email the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.com Jake Tapper, CNN host and author of Race Against Terror: Chasing an Al Qaeda Killer at the Dawn of the Forever War, joins The Realignment. Marshall and Jake discuss the saga of the first and only successful prosecution of an Al Qaeda fighter in American courts, why the Obama administration failed to shut down Guantanamo Bay, whether terrorism is best fought by civilian or military means, and the applicability of the post-9/11 approach to fighting terrorism to the Trump administration's airstrikes against Venezuelan boats that the Pentagon claims traffic drugs and cartel organizations in Mexico.

579 | Liam Kerr: Deciding to Win: A Centrist Autopsy of the Post-2024 Democratic Party and the Center's Missing Story

1 hr 23 min

Deciding to Win Report: Deciding To Win – Toward A Common Sense Renewal of the Democratic Party Semafor: Left-wing ideas have wrecked Democrats’ brand, new report warns GOP Autopsy Report: RNCreport03182013.pdf Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/ Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment Email the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.com

The Realignment Live from the Aspen Ideas Festival | Reihan Salam: How Did We Get Here? NYC Working Class Immigrants, the Right's H1B Debate, and the New Cultural Politics of Immigration

27 min

Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/ Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment Email the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.com Last week, Marshall interviewed Reihan Salam, President of the Manhattan Institute, at Newark's Aspen Ideas Festival: Economy. Marshall and Reihan discussed culture's impact on the economy and politics through the lens of immigration. They cover the struggles of multigenerational working-class immigrants facing a new cultural and economic landscape and the right's increasing turn against H1B visas and high-skilled immigration through the lens of Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy's comments about American children choosing sleepovers over hard work.

578 | Frank DiStefano: The Realignment and America's 21st Century "Crisis of Legitimacy"

1 hr 11 min

Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/ Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment Email the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.com Frank DiStefano, author of The Next Realignment: Why America's Parties Are Crumbling and What Happens Next and the Renew the Republic Substack, returns to The Realignment. Marshall and Frank discuss why they were attracted to the idea of a "realignment" before it was cool and obvious, why the breakdown of parties and institutions is fundamentally about a "crisis of legitimacy," the importance of building an ideological movement versus focusing on political parties, and why the abundance agenda, especially in its less wonky versions, is a useful vehicle for forcing institutions to answer the "what are we trying to do here," question.

Giselle Hale: Moving Abundance from Op-Eds to Action - Why Local Elected Officials Are the Missing Piece of the Puzzle

1 hr 1 min

https://abundanceelected.com/about-us/ https://www.axios.com/2025/09/03/democrats-abundance-movement-group Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/ Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment Email the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.com Giselle Hale, Managing Partner at the Abundance Network and former Mayor of Redwood City, CA, joins The Realignment. Marshall and Giselle discuss Abundance Network's newly announced Abundance Elected Network, a community of local elected officials in city and county government interested in abundance and state capacity. They discuss why the local government version of the abundance discourse is completely different than the national level, think tank and pundit debate, how local officials are operationalizing abundance ideas, and what an outcomes-centered politics could look like.

575 | Doug Most: Pragmatism in Action - WWII Shipbuilding, the Arsenal of Democracy, and Today’s Challenges

40 min

Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/ Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment Email the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.com Doug Most, author of Launching Liberty: The Epic Race to Build the Ships That Took America to War, joins The Realignment. Marshall and Doug discuss the untold story of the construction of Liberty Ships, the massive cargo vessels that carried tanks, jeeps, food, and ammunition to allied forces in World War II. The conversation explores the parallels between World War II problem-solving and contemporary debates about infrastructure, industrial policy, and the private sector's role in government, the importance of bringing a "problem-solving" approach to government, and how the pragmatic choice of emphasizing "ugly duckling" ships over Hitler's obsession with engineering marvels made all the difference.

574 | Nancy Scola: The Anti-Monopoly Summit, Abundance 2025, & National Conservatism - What D.C.’s Conference Season Really Revealed

1 hr 9 min

Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/ Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment Email the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.com Nancy Scola, reporter and journalist focused on the battle of ideas in Washington, returns to The Realignment. Marshall and Nancy discuss the three big ideas-focused conferences in DC in September: The new right National Conservatism Conference, Abundance 2025, and this week's Anti-Monopoly Summit. They cover the competing stories and ideas discussed at these events, the degree to which each convening contradicts the others, the difficult task of holding bipartisan gatherings during a time of polarization and factionalism, and how politicians can use ideas to build their political brands during an era of anti-establishment and voter skepticism.

573 | Danielle Lee Tomson: The Story & Authenticity Gap - Why the Center-Left Keeps Losing the Plot

1 hr 20 min

Failure to Communicate Substack: https://failuretocommunicate.substack.com/ Danielle Lee Tomson: https://failuretocommunicate.substack.com/p/beyond-messaging Danielle Lee Tomson: https://failuretocommunicate.substack.com/p/the-authenticity-gap Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/ Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment Email the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.com Danielle Lee Tomson, author of the forthcoming Under the Influence: What's Real When America Feels Fake, joins The Realignment. Marshall and Danielle discuss the right's multi-decade project of participatory, oppositional media, and why the effort culminated in President Trump's 2024 election victory. They unfavorably contrast the center-left's post-2024 response, with its focus on top-down marketing, "ideas" disconnected from a broader story and understanding of the country, highlight the importance of storytelling when it comes to creating the "common sense" that oppositional movements require, and compare and contrast the worldviews and stories of the left, right, and center.

572 | Season Premiere: Steve Teles on The Realignment's New Home at Niskanen & Where Abundance Goes Next After Last Week's Conference + A Note on Charlie Kirk

1 hr 2 min

Must-Read on Political Violence in America: Days of Rage: America's Radical Underground, the FBI, and the Forgotten Age of Revolutionary Violence Jerusalem Demsas in The Argument on Abundance vs. National Conservatism: A Tale of Two Ballrooms Steve Teles on "The Varieties of Abundance: Varieties of Abundance - Niskanen Center New Cascadian Abundance Substack: What is Cascadian Abundance? - by Kelly Jiang Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/ Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment Email the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.com Steve Teles, Niskanen Senior Fellow and Johns Hopkins University Professor, returns to The Realignment. After a brief note on Charlie Kirk's assassination yesterday in Utah, Marshall and Steve discuss their takeaways from last week's Abundance 2025 Conference in DC, tensions between the left-liberal wings of the Abundance project and the right-wing, "Dark Abundance" crew, the contrast between the dueling Abundance and National Conservatism conferences, and where the broader effort goes next after the previous week's events.

571 | Steve Teles: The Varieties of Abundance - Why Abundance Isn't Left, Right, or Center

48 min

Varieties of Abundance: https://www.niskanencenter.org/abundance-varieties/ PDF Version: https://www.niskanencenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Varieties-of-Abundance.pdf Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/ Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment Email the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.com Steve Teles, Senior Fellow at the Niskanen Center, returns to The Realignment. Ahead of next week's 2025 Abundance in DC, Marshall and Steve discuss his new Niskanen Center paper on "The Varieties of Abundance." In Steve's telling, despite broad agreement within the Abundance movement on the need to increase supply, challenge existing incumbents who benefit from scarcity, and the critical role of enhanced state capacity in addressing America's challenges, there are existing and potential varieties of Abundance across the ideological and geographic spectrums. Just as the late 19th- and early 20th-century Progressive Movement held a shared critique of the industrial-era American state, different actors took the project in different directions. Theodore Roosevelt, Herbert Hoover, and Woodrow Wilson were all progressives, but operated in separate camps. In Steve's telling, abundance is already operating accordingly. In the paper, he identifies six varieties of Abundance: Red Plenty, Cascadian Abundance, Liberal Abundance, Moderate-Abundance Synthesis, Abundance Dynamism, and Dark Abundance. The aim of the paper is not to be overly inside-baseball, but to offer readers and listeners a framework for understanding the diversity of actors, institutions, and ideologies that have positively engaged with the Abundance framework.

570 | Dan Wang: China's Engineering State, America's Lawyerly Society, and the Competition for the 21st Century

1 hr 12 min

Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/ Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment Email the Show: realignmentpod@gmail.com Dan Wang, Research Fellow at Stanford University's Hoover History Lab and author of Breakneck: China's Quest to Engineer the Future, joins The Realignment. Marshall and Dan discuss China's quest to become a techno-industrial superpower, how China's "engineering state" contrasts with America's "lawyerly society," why China has successfully built megaprojects vs. America's stalled efforts at industrial policy, high speed rail, and electrification, whether both countries have entered into a cold war, and the downsides of the engineering states top-down control.

569 | The Shah's Fall, Khomeini's Rise, and What It Means for the U.S. and Iran Today

50 min

REALIGNMENT NEWSLETTER: https://therealignment.substack.com/ PURCHASE BOOKS AT OUR BOOKSHOP: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment Email Us: realignmentpod@gmail.com Scott Anderson, author of King of Kings: The Iranian Revolution: A Story of Hubris, Delusion, and Catastrophic Miscalculation, joins The Realignment. Marshall and Scott discuss the historical legacy of the rise and fall of the Shah of Iran, how the rise of religious fundamentalism reshaped America's relationship with Iran and the broader Middle East, President Carter's misread of the Iranian Revolution in the context of the Cold War, and survey the aftermath of the joint U.S.-Israel strikes on Iran's nuclear program this past June.

568 | Jon Lee Anderson: Was Afghanistan the Graveyard of America's Empire?

1 hr 0 min

REALIGNMENT NEWSLETTER: https://therealignment.substack.com/ PURCHASE BOOKS AT OUR BOOKSHOP: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment Email Us: realignmentpod@gmail.com Jon Lee Anderson, New Yorker Staff Writer and author of To Lose a War: The Fall and the Rise of the Taliban, joins The Realignment. Marshall and Jon discuss the legacy of America's 20-year war in Afghanistan, how policymakers and the military struggle to define "victory" during wartime, why post-WWII conflicts and the end of the norm of "total war" has made it harder to "win," and why, despite achieving the goal of ending the country's status as a safe haven for terror, eliminating Osama bin Laden, and initially removing the Taliban from power, the U.S. still lost the war.

567 | Sam D'Amico & Noah Smith: Why Electricity Is Eating the World - How the Electric Tech Stack Will Dominate the 21st Century

54 min

Noah Smith's Substack: www.noahpinion.blog Impulse Labs: www.impulselabs.com Fast Company on Impulse Labs: Innovation by Design 2024: Impulse Labs' new induction cooktop is a step up from your gas stove - Fast Company REALIGNMENT NEWSLETTER: https://therealignment.substack.com/ PURCHASE BOOKS AT OUR BOOKSHOP: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment Email Us: realignmentpod@gmail.com Sam D'Amico, Founder & CEO of Impulse Labs, and Noah Smith, author of the Noahpinion Substack, join The Realignment. Marshall, Noah, and Sam discuss how the "Electric Tech Stack," a combination of advances in batteries, motors, power electronics, and computing, will reshape everything from kitchen appliances to warfare. They argue that electricity will increasingly "eat" the world, that China has seized the lead in the race to electrification, and make the case for a serious industrial policy.

566 | Osita Nwanevu: The Case for a New American Founding: Rethinking Democracy After 2024

59 min

REALIGNMENT NEWSLETTER: https://therealignment.substack.com/ PURCHASE BOOKS AT OUR BOOKSHOP: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment Email Us: realignmentpod@gmail.com Osita Nwanevu, author of The Right of the People: Democracy and the Case for a New American Founding, joins The Realignment. Marshall and Osita discuss a "re-founding" of America at the level of the post-Civil War Reconstruction Amendments, why the current political system has left many Americans disillusioned with pro-democracy promises and rhetoric, the failure to leverage the 2008 Financial Crisis and 2020 COVID epidemic to force systemic change, and his case for radical reforms to the legislative branch, elections, the workplace, and Supreme Court.

565 | Daniel Squadron: Rebuilding American Liberalism from the States Up

59 min

NYT: New Democratic Group Says Answer to the Party’s Woes Lies With the States States Forum Journal: Adam Pritzker & Daniel Squadron - First Principles in the 11th Hour REALIGNMENT NEWSLETTER: https://therealignment.substack.com/ PURCHASE BOOKS AT OUR BOOKSHOP: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment Email Us: realignmentpod@gmail.com Daniel Squadron, former New York legislator and Co-Founder of the States Forum, joins The Realignment. Marshall and Daniel discuss why the center-left and the Democratic Party lack the kind of coherent worldview of the MAGA right, why real political power and the opportunity to build and test new ideas lies in the states, not just D.C., the importance of ideas vs. "messaging," and the case for centering the themes of representative democracy, fair markets, effective government, and personal freedom at the center of the left-liberal project.

564 | Steve Teles: What Democrats Can Learn from the GOP's Trump-Era Upheaval

42 min

REALIGNMENT NEWSLETTER: https://therealignment.substack.com/ PURCHASE BOOKS AT OUR BOOKSHOP: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment Email Us: realignmentpod@gmail.com The Niskanen Center's Steve Teles returns to The Realignment for a wide-ranging discussion about the Democratic Party's evolution during the Trump-era and what lessons it can and can't take from the GOP's experience under Trump. Marshall and Steve unpack how Democratic Party factions - from abundance-focused reformers to the new "Common Sense Democrats" - mirror and diverge from the GOP's 2010s-era "Reform Conservative" movement. They explore the challenge of offering new ideas after rejection at the ballot box, the role of candidates like NYC's Zohran Mamdani, and why signaling change requires taking on your own side.

563 | Sam Tanenhaus: William F. Buckley Jr. and the Battle for Political Ideas

52 min

Can the GOP Be a Party of Ideas? https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/06/magazine/can-the-gop-be-a-party-of-ideas.html REALIGNMENT NEWSLETTER: https://therealignment.substack.com/ PURCHASE BOOKS AT OUR BOOKSHOP: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment Email Us: realignmentpod@gmail.com Sam Tanenhaus, author of Buckley: The Life and the Revolution That Changed America, joins The Realignment. Marshall and Sam unpack Buckley's influence on today's political landscape, how his ideas, debates, and style shaped postwar conservatism, the rise of MAGA conservatism after the 2012 election, the ideas vacuum on the left, and why developing a coherent worldview, beyond following the polls and vibes, matters more than ever post-2024.

562 | Oren Cass: American Compass and the Right's Trump-Era Realignment

56 min

REALIGNMENT NEWSLETTER: https://therealignment.substack.com/ PURCHASE BOOKS AT OUR BOOKSHOP: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment Email Us: realignmentpod@gmail.com Oren Cass, Founder and Chief Economist of American Compass and editor of The New Conservatives: Restoring America's Commitment to Family, Community, and Industry, returns to The Realignment. Marshall and Oren discuss the evolution of the conservative movement since the 2016 election, the fifth anniversary of American Compass, and the organization's new volume covering the new right's perspective on trade, immigration, labor, family, industry policy, technology, and more...

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