The Chuck ToddCast

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 anything resembling strong AI governance policies. Vogel argues that good governance means corporate leadership must take direct responsibility for AI deployment, walks through her five best practices for responsible AI adoption, and pushes back on the idea that federal preemption should override state-level regulation — noting that companies are pushing hard against state regulation precisely because they know most of the actual rules will be written in court cases over the next few years. She warns that we're seeing tremendous investment in AI without commensurate ROI so far, that gender and regional gaps in AI adoption are already emerging, and that the public urgently needs to be empowered with real knowledge about AI's upsides as well as its risks. Vogel asks the question that should keep every executive up at night: are we actually ready for AI to make decisions without humans in the loop? And she argues that transparency — letting employees and consumers see how AI errors play out — will be absolutely essential to safe deployment. Then former Deputy National Security Advisor Anne Neuberger joins to discuss what global AI governance should look like between superpowers, and whether the arms race framing between the U.S. and China is actually helpful or harmful. Neuberger argues AI is fundamentally different from nuclear regulation because it's being developed by the private sector rather than by governments, and questions whether it was a mistake to let the private sector spearhead this technology in the first place. Drawing on her cybersecurity background, she walks through how governments learned to combat ransomware: extending existing rules for fiat currencies to cover cryptocurrencies (which had helped criminals evade detection), disincentivizing ransom payments, and helping companies recover without paying — a template she argues could apply to AI regulation. Neuberger says AI drug development should be an international win-win rather than a zero-sum arms race, but acknowledges the national security applications make competition unavoidable, with advantages now measured in months rather than years and dangerously inadequate military-to-military communication between the U.S. and China. They debate whether an "FDA for AI models" might be necessary, that existing regulations can be updated to cover AI without requiring new legislation, and that AI will ultimately transform defensive cybersecurity by allowing companies to double-check their infrastructure at scale. Her bottom line: laws always trail technology, but governments have key roles to play in identifying cyber risks, helping companies patch their infrastructure, and ensuring America's defenders aren't left behind as Chinese models close the six-month gap. Try ShipStation free for 60 days with full access to all features, No credit card needed! Go to https://ShipStation.com and use code TODDCAST for 60 days for free! Thank you Wildgrain for sponsoring. Visit http://wildgrain.com/TODDCAST and use the code "TODDCAST" at checkout to receive $30 off your first box PLUS free Croissants for life! Link in bio or go to https://getsoul.com & enter code TODDCAST for 30% off your first order. Timeline: (Timestamps may vary based on advertisements) 00:00 Chuck Todd’s introduction 02:45 Miriam Vogel joins the Chuck ToddCast 03:00 Equal AI’s mission is to establish AI guardrails 04:15 American consumers are extremely skeptical of big tech 05:00 Tech companies need to address users’ concerns & questions 07:00 Less than 1% of companies have strong AI governance policies 08:30 Some...

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 war. He warns we're only at the beginning of the inflation problem and that Democrats can simply point to Trump's broken promises of lower costs and no wars — they don't even need to make a "for" case, just a sustained "against" case — but cautions that despite all of this, Democrats still have a serious brand problem that no economic data alone will fix. He argues the failed Virginia redistricting effort exposed the deeper issue: Democrats talk like the resistance but are viewed as institutionalists, while Republicans still behave like raw partisans, and the rise of independent voters represents a fundamental protest against both available parties — something that should worry Democrats more than Republicans because the GOP has already shown a willingness to blow up the system. He makes a sweeping argument that until the last decade, Democrats were a reform-focused party, but the Trump era has pushed them into becoming defenders of institutions at exactly the moment when public trust in institutions had collapsed. He closes with observations from the Musk-Altman trial, which he says has been revealing about the personalities actually building AI — with OpenAI employees testifying to Altman's lying and the internal chaos, and so much tech ego on display that the public, already feeling burned by big tech, is only going to grow more skeptical. 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 anything resembling strong AI governance policies. Vogel argues that good governance means corporate leadership must take direct responsibility for AI deployment, walks through her five best practices for responsible AI adoption, and pushes back on the idea that federal preemption should override state-level regulation — noting that companies are pushing hard against state regulation precisely because they know most of the actual rules will be written in court cases over the next few years. She warns that we're seeing tremendous investment in AI without commensurate ROI so far, that gender and regional gaps in AI adoption are already emerging, and that the public urgently needs to be empowered with real knowledge about AI's upsides as well as its risks. Vogel asks the question that should keep every executive up at night: are we actually ready for AI to make decisions without humans in the loop? And she argues that transparency — letting employees and consumers see how AI errors play out — will be absolutely essential to safe deployment. Then former Deputy National Security Advisor Anne Neuberger joins to discuss what global AI governance should look like between superpowers, and whether the arms race framing between the U.S. and China is actually helpful or harmful. Neuberger argues AI is fundamentally different from nuclear regulation because it's being developed by the private sector rather than by governments, and questions whether it was a mistake to let the private sector spearhead this technology in the first place. Drawing on her cybersecurity background, she walks through how governments learned to combat ransomware: extending existing rules for fiat currencies to cover cryptocurrencies (which had helped criminals evade detection), disincentivizing ransom payments, and helping companies recover without paying — a...

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 war. He warns we're only at the beginning of the inflation problem and that Democrats can simply point to Trump's broken promises of lower costs and no wars — they don't even need to make a "for" case, just a sustained "against" case — but cautions that despite all of this, Democrats still have a serious brand problem that no economic data alone will fix. He argues the failed Virginia redistricting effort exposed the deeper issue: Democrats talk like the resistance but are viewed as institutionalists, while Republicans still behave like raw partisans, and the rise of independent voters represents a fundamental protest against both available parties — something that should worry Democrats more than Republicans because the GOP has already shown a willingness to blow up the system. He makes a sweeping argument that until the last decade, Democrats were a reform-focused party, but the Trump era has pushed them into becoming defenders of institutions at exactly the moment when public trust in institutions had collapsed. He closes with observations from the Musk-Altman trial, which he says has been revealing about the personalities actually building AI — with OpenAI employees testifying to Altman's lying and the internal chaos, and so much tech ego on display that the public, already feeling burned by big tech, is only going to grow more skeptical. Finally Chuck reveals his bonus TWO ToddCast Top 5 lists, the top 5 2028 Democratic hopefuls who have run for president before, and the top who haven’t. He also answers listeners’ questions in the “Ask Chuck” segment. Try ShipStation free for 60 days with full access to all features, No credit card needed! Go to https://ShipStation.com and use code TODDCAST for 60 days for free! Thank you Wildgrain for sponsoring. Visit http://wildgrain.com/TODDCAST and use the code "TODDCAST" at checkout to receive $30 off your first box PLUS free Croissants for life! Link in bio or go to https://getsoul.com & enter code TODDCAST for 30% off your first order. Timeline: (Timestamps may vary based on advertisements) 00:00 Chuck Todd’s introduction 01:30 Trump gets defensive with reporters over bad inflation report 03:00 Economy is in worse shape directly because of Trump’s policies 03:45 Trump has zero answers for the bad state of the economy 04:45 Dow still hasn’t gotten back over 50k since Bondi’s viral moment 05:45 AI investment is the only thing propping up the economy 06:30 We are weeks away from the end of the Iran war… at minimum 07:45 Despite the bad economy, Democrats still have a brand problem 08:30 We are only at the beginning of the inflation problem 09:15 Dems can point to Trump breaking promise of lower costs & no wars 10:00 Dems don’t even have to make a “for” case, just an “against” case 11:00 Another variable is what the political maps look like by the midterms 12:15 The issue for the Dems is what the party stands for… what’s its identity? 13:00 Dems ‘28 hopefuls need to, and will jump in early 13:45 Dems failed redistricting in VA exposed a problem with the party 15:45 Dems talk like resistance but are viewed as institutionalists 16:30 GOP still behaves more like raw partisans 17:15 South Carolina would have risked disaster by carving up Clyburn’s seat 18:45 Backlash to SCOTUS gutting Voting Rights Act could juice Dem turnout 19:45 Why do both parties seem against reforming the system overall? 21:15 Politics has become completely nationalized and it’s a problem 21:45 Until the last decade, the Democrats were a reform focused party 23:00 The Trump era has pushed Dems into...

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 itself. Spitz argues that the Stones gave us the foundation of the rock and roll sound and that, in many ways, there is no rock and roll today — modern musicians are producers more than performers, and now in their 80s the Stones are essentially one of the last bands keeping the form alive. He explains why their decision to flirt with politics in the 60s and then back off actually helped them endure, traces their close friendship with The Beatles , and describes Mick and Keith's strange but enduring marriage as the central engine of the band — held together by their shared love of playing live. The conversation digs into the surprising musical and cultural backstory of how the Stones became the Stones — including the fascinating history of how white British kids embraced the blues more than American kids did. Spitz pays beautiful tribute to drummer Charlie Watts as the heart and soul of the group — a jazz lover who only played rock because it paid the bills and who, along with Ian Stewart, kept the band in line for decades — and discusses the profound effect of losing him on the band's chemistry. He explains why the Stones keep playing well into their 80s, why great guitarists are now a rare commodity with no real innovators emerging, and why Mick has stayed in such great shape. Spitz offers his verdict on the Stones' place in music history — they've come to understand themselves as the greatest rock band, and he agrees — and reveals what's next for him: a book about John Lennon's second act. He closes with a fascinating thought experiment posed by Chuck: if Mick Jagger had been killed and John Lennon had lived, would the trajectories of the two bands have completely switched? Try ShipStation free for 60 days with full access to all features, No credit card needed! Go to https://ShipStation.com and use code TODDCAST for 60 days for free! Thank you Wildgrain for sponsoring. Visit http://wildgrain.com/TODDCAST and use the code "TODDCAST" at checkout to receive $30 off your first box PLUS free Croissants for life! Link in bio or go to https://getsoul.com & enter code TODDCAST for 30% off your first order. Timeline: (Timestamps may vary based on advertisements) 00:00 Bob Spitz (Rolling Stones Biographer) joins the Chuck ToddCast 02:00 How long have you been thinking about writing this biography? 03:15 Keith Richards biography was a phenomenal book, but only Keith’s view 04:30 The Stones longevity as a group makes them more compelling 06:00 The Stones gave us the foundation of the rock and roll sound 07:15 There is no rock and roll today, musicians are producers now 09:15 In their 80’s, the Stones are still keeping rock and roll alive 10:30 The Stones flirted with being political, then backed off 11:15 Their lack of taking a stand actually helped them endure 12:45 The Stones became great friends with the Beatles 14:00 Mick Jagger & Paul McCartney explored joint business ventures 15:30 Without Paul or Mick, both bands may not have been financially viable 16:15 Mick & Keith seemed like a strange marriage, but they made it work 18:15 The music kept the band together, they love to play and perform 19:30 You have to see the Stones in concert to truly appreciate them 20:45 They’ve had countless “Farewell Tours” and always come back 22:00 Mick has kept in great shape, his father was a fitness celebrity 23:30 Fans pitted the Beatles vs. The Stones, but the bands never did 25:30 How did white British kids embrace the blues more than American kids? 26:15 American GI’s left their blues records behind in the UK 27:45 Chuck Berry was a...

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. He notes that Democrats passed the Virginia map without ever bothering to figure out how the courts would rule, and that both Obama and Governor Spanberger spent serious political capital pushing a referendum that was always legally vulnerable. He pushes back hard on left-wing commentary framing the ruling as partisan: the Virginia Supreme Court isn't full of partisans — they're technocrats, and Democrats just spent years arguing for norms and process and then ignored norms and process. His central argument is that Democrats will never win a race to the bottom with Trump's GOP, that the "fight fire with fire" mentality is a huge strategic mistake, and that Democrats can absolutely win in newly created swing districts with the right candidates if they go back to persuading voters and building coalitions rather than treating voters as the problem. He argues that Democrats are still likely to win both the House and Senate in the midterms — proof that Trump has done nothing to improve the GOP's image and that the path back to a winning Democratic coalition is still wide open if the party chooses to take it. Then, 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 itself. Spitz argues that the Stones gave us the foundation of the rock and roll sound and that, in many ways, there is no rock and roll today — modern musicians are producers more than performers, and now in their 80s the Stones are essentially one of the last bands keeping the form alive. He explains why their decision to flirt with politics in the 60s and then back off actually helped them endure, traces their close friendship with The Beatles , and describes Mick and Keith's strange but enduring marriage as the central engine of the band — held together by their shared love of playing live. The conversation digs into the surprising musical and cultural backstory of how the Stones became the Stones — including the fascinating history of how white British kids embraced the blues more than American kids did. Spitz pays beautiful tribute to drummer Charlie Watts as the heart and soul of the group — a jazz lover who only played rock because it paid the bills and who, along with Ian Stewart, kept the band in line for decades — and discusses the profound effect of losing him on the band's chemistry. He explains why the Stones keep playing well into their 80s, why great guitarists are now a rare commodity with no real innovators emerging, and why Mick has stayed in such great shape. Spitz offers his verdict on the Stones' place in music history — they've come to understand themselves as the greatest rock band, and he agrees — and reveals what's next for him: a book about John Lennon's second act. He closes with a fascinating thought experiment posed by Chuck: if Mick Jagger had been killed and John Lennon had lived, would the trajectories of the two bands have completely switched? Finally, Chuck hops into the ToddCast Time Machine to revisit the Supreme Court’s Brown vs. Board of Education decision and explains that the courts have been forced to rule on major structural changes to American society when congress refuses to legislate. He also answers listeners’ questions in the “Ask Chuck” segment. Try ShipStation free for 60 days with full access to all...

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. He notes that Democrats passed the Virginia map without ever bothering to figure out how the courts would rule, and that both Obama and Governor Spanberger spent serious political capital pushing a referendum that was always legally vulnerable. He pushes back hard on left-wing commentary framing the ruling as partisan: the Virginia Supreme Court isn't full of partisans — they're technocrats, and Democrats just spent years arguing for norms and process and then ignored norms and process. His central argument is that Democrats will never win a race to the bottom with Trump's GOP, that the "fight fire with fire" mentality is a huge strategic mistake, and that Democrats can absolutely win in newly created swing districts with the right candidates if they go back to persuading voters and building coalitions rather than treating voters as the problem. He argues that Democrats are still likely to win both the House and Senate in the midterms — proof that Trump has done nothing to improve the GOP's image and that the path back to a winning Democratic coalition is still wide open if the party chooses to take it. Finally, Chuck hops into the ToddCast Time Machine to revisit the Supreme Court’s Brown vs. Board of Education decision and explains that the courts have been forced to rule on major structural changes to American society when congress refuses to legislate. He also answers listeners’ questions in the “Ask Chuck” segment. Try ShipStation free for 60 days with full access to all features, No credit card needed! Go to https://ShipStation.com and use code TODDCAST for 60 days for free! Thank you Wildgrain for sponsoring. Visit http://wildgrain.com/TODDCAST and use the code "TODDCAST" at checkout to receive $30 off your first box PLUS free Croissants for life! Link in bio or go to https://getsoul.com & enter code TODDCAST for 30% off your first order. Timeline: (Timestamps may vary based on advertisements) 00:00 Chuck Todd’s introduction 01:45 Democrats pissed away political capital in VA, then map was tossed 05:30 Reaction on the left to Virginia ruling has been like an election loss 07:00 It’s understandable that Democrats wanted to fight fire with fire 07:45 Democrats passed VA map without knowing how the courts would rule 08:30 Obama and Spanberger wasted political capital for nothing 09:45 Dems have argued for norms + process that court said they didn’t follow 10:30 Electing the judiciary is terrible for the rule of law 11:15 The VA Supreme Court aren’t partisans, they’re technocrats 12:30 Left wing commentary assumes it was a partisan decision… it wasn’t 14:00 Dem leadership in VA misled the party & the public on referendum 15:45 We still don’t know what the maps will look like in the south after redistricting 16:30 GOP has the redistricting advantage now, but courts may intervene 17:30 VA court may give courage to other courts to stop the gerrymandering 18:45 Democrats will never win a race to the bottom with Trump’s GOP 20:15 Democrats can win in newly created swing districts with right candidates 22:00 The “fight fire with fire” mentality is a huge mistake by the Dems 23:00 Democracy is eroded when both parties play scorched earth politics 24:15 Dems should be trying to persuade and coalition build 26:00 Republicans treat voters as the problem, Dems shouldn’t do the same 27:15 Dems want to be held to a higher standard, but don’t like it when they are 28:30 Dems did real damage to their credibility with Virginia redistricting 30:00 Trump has done nothing to improve the GOP’s image, Dems can still win 31:45...

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 the Iran war and there's now no way out without national humiliation: the goals of the conflict have constantly been changing, and Trump effectively told the Iranians where his political weaknesses were and they called his bluff. He notes the absurdity of America blockading the Strait specifically because we're mad that it's been blockaded, observes that the firing hasn't actually ceased despite the supposed ceasefire, and offers a withering verdict on the president himself: "Trump is just not a smart guy, he's an insult artist," surrounded by people who don't have the nation's interests in mind. They explore whether China could end up being the country Trump needs to bail him out in Iran, whether a nuclear Iran could benefit Putin (would he actually sell them one?), and notes the Gulf states are tired of this. He warns that securing the Strait of Hormuz requires ground troops Trump is too afraid to commit, that the Iranian regime is nothing like Venezuela's and won't fold, and that Trump never prepared the country for pain at the pump. The conversation broadens into Williamson's structural diagnosis of American politics, and his unsentimental view of where this is all headed. He argues that politics has become like religion, especially for the most religious, which is why Trump's coalition won't fracture even when farmers are being destroyed by Trump's own policies and still vote for him. He says Trump's declining popularity isn't restraining his decision-making at all, that Republicans are already assuming a midterm wipeout, and that Trump will be impeached if Democrats take the House — and should be — though he acknowledges it may not be the smartest political move. They dig into whether both American parties are at genuine risk of collapse, arguing their decline has been a huge loss for the country: celebrity and social media have filled the vacuum, with communication ability now mattering more than actual governing competence. He half-jokes that Taylor Swift could be president if she wanted to be, dismisses the idea that Stephen Colbert could carry a progressive banner, and closes with a genuinely dark prediction: America is losing its identity, may simply be too rich for its own good, and is heading for a low so bad that most Americans aren't prepared for it. Finally, he answers listeners’ questions in the “Ask Chuck” segment. Try ShipStation free for 60 days with full access to all features, No credit card needed! Go to https://ShipStation.com and use code TODDCAST for 60 days for free! Protect your family with life insurance from Ethos. Get up to $3 million in coverage in as little as 10 minutes at https://ethos.com/chuck. Application times may vary. Rates may vary. Link in bio or go to https://getsoul.com & enter code TODDCAST for 30% off your first order. Timeline: (Timestamps may vary based on advertisements) 00:00 Kevin Williamson (The Dispatch) joins the Chuck ToddCast 01:15 Trump made a colossal mistake with Iran war 01:45 We can’t get out of Iran war without being humiliated 03:00 The goals of the war have constantly been changing 04:30 Iran can’t win a battle with the U.S. but its45 sphere of influence is bigger 06:00 Trump told the Iranians what his weaknesses are, they called his bluff 07:00 The firing has not ceased, there’s no actual ceasefire 07:30 We’re blockading a Strait because we’re mad it’s blockaded… 08:30 Trump is just not a smart guy, he’s an insult artist 09:15 The people around Trump don’t have the nation's interests in mind 10:00 Rubio looks good because the people around Trump are so bad 12:00...

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 that beyond the immediate political damage to Trump, the war has handed China tremendous long-term leverage, AI spending is the only reason the U.S. economy hasn't already tanked, and asymmetric warfare has once again proven it can beat superpower militaries. He argues Trump's request for $1 billion in taxpayer funds for a White House ballroom is political suicide — if Obama had made the same ask, the media firestorm would have been deafening — and that Congress approving the money would be handing Democrats an enormous political gift. He flags the FBI's new investigation into Virginia Democrat Louise Lucas, warns that nothing coming from Trump's DOJ can be trusted at face value, and argues the trumped-up charges against James Comey create reasonable doubt about every other case the administration brings. He warns the administration is actively poking the bear with African American voters in ways that could supercharge Black turnout and reshape the midterm calculus, flags the FBI investigation related to The Atlantic's story on Kash Patel's drinking (the bureau denies investigating the reporter, but the careful language suggests a leak investigation exists. He closes with a beautiful and personal commencement-style address to the graduating class of 2026 as his daughter prepares to walk. Then, 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 the Iran war and there's now no way out without national humiliation: the goals of the conflict have constantly been changing, and Trump effectively told the Iranians where his political weaknesses were and they called his bluff. He notes the absurdity of America blockading the Strait specifically because we're mad that it's been blockaded, observes that the firing hasn't actually ceased despite the supposed ceasefire, and offers a withering verdict on the president himself: "Trump is just not a smart guy, he's an insult artist," surrounded by people who don't have the nation's interests in mind. They explore whether China could end up being the country Trump needs to bail him out in Iran, whether a nuclear Iran could benefit Putin (would he actually sell them one?), and notes the Gulf states are tired of this. He warns that securing the Strait of Hormuz requires ground troops Trump is too afraid to commit, that the Iranian regime is nothing like Venezuela's and won't fold, and that Trump never prepared the country for pain at the pump. The conversation broadens into Williamson's structural diagnosis of American politics, and his unsentimental view of where this is all headed. He argues that politics has become like religion, especially for the most religious, which is why Trump's coalition won't fracture even when farmers are being destroyed by Trump's own policies and still vote for him. He says Trump's declining popularity isn't restraining his decision-making at all, that Republicans are already assuming a midterm wipeout, and that Trump will be impeached if Democrats take the House — and should be — though he acknowledges it may not be the smartest political move. They dig into whether both American parties are at genuine risk of collapse, arguing their decline has been a huge loss for the country: celebrity and social media have filled the vacuum, with communication...

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 that beyond the immediate political damage to Trump, the war has handed China tremendous long-term leverage, AI spending is the only reason the U.S. economy hasn't already tanked, and asymmetric warfare has once again proven it can beat superpower militaries. He argues Trump's request for $1 billion in taxpayer funds for a White House ballroom is political suicide — if Obama had made the same ask, the media firestorm would have been deafening — and that Congress approving the money would be handing Democrats an enormous political gift. He flags the FBI's new investigation into Virginia Democrat Louise Lucas, warns that nothing coming from Trump's DOJ can be trusted at face value, and argues the trumped-up charges against James Comey create reasonable doubt about every other case the administration brings. He warns the administration is actively poking the bear with African American voters in ways that could supercharge Black turnout and reshape the midterm calculus, flags the FBI investigation related to The Atlantic's story on Kash Patel's drinking (the bureau denies investigating the reporter, but the careful language suggests a leak investigation exists. He closes with a beautiful and personal commencement-style address to the graduating class of 2026 as his daughter prepares to walk. Finally, he answers listeners’ questions in the “Ask Chuck” segment. Try ShipStation free for 60 days with full access to all features, No credit card needed! Go to https://ShipStation.com and use code TODDCAST for 60 days for free! Protect your family with life insurance from Ethos. Get up to $3 million in coverage in as little as 10 minutes at https://ethos.com/chuck. Application times may vary. Rates may vary. Link in bio or go to https://getsoul.com & enter code TODDCAST for 30% off your first order. Timeline: (Timestamps may vary based on advertisements) 00:00 Chuck Todd’s introduction 04:30 Saudis have denied U.S. military access to bases & airspace 06:00 Trump is only going to get the nuclear deal 2.0 at best 07:30 Iran can’t keep this going as well, both sides being squeezed 08:30 U.S. can’t claim any net positive from this war 09:30 This is bad for Trump politically, but it’s bad for the US long-term 10:15 Trump has handed China tremendous leverage 11:00 AI spending is the only reason the U.S. economy hasn’t tanked 12:30 Asymmetric warfare beats superpower militaries 14:15 Greenlighting $1B in taxpayer funds for ballroom is political suicide 15:15 If Obama made the same ask, there would be a media firestorm 16:00 Congress giving Dems a huge political gift by approving funds 17:15 FBI launches investigation into Virginia dem Louise Lucas 18:30 You can’t trust the narratives from Trump’s DOJ 20:00 Trumped up charges against Comey create doubt in other cases 20:45 Administration is poking the bear with African Americans voters 22:00 Supercharged black turnout would change midterm election calculus 23:00 FBI investigation into Atlantic story about Kash Patel’s drinking 23:45 FBI denies investigating the reporter who broke the story 24:30 Denial language suggests a leak investigation exists 26:00 Worried about the future and for this graduating class 28:30 Chuck’s advice for the graduating class of 2026 29:15 Graduates are heading into a very uncertain future 29:45 Adulthood is not a race, don’t always need to hurry 31:00 The first job you take isn’t your forever job 32:00 Don’t confuse a setback with failure 32:45 Respect your elders and respect experience 35:00 Don’t be embarrassed by your struggles or disregard someone...

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 career-ending move in the GOP, that Thomas Massie's upcoming primary will be a critical test of Trump's intra-party strength, and that Trump has effectively postponed the perception that he's a lame duck — even as the Iran war continues to crater his standing with the broader public. He flags Ohio as setting up to look like a real swing state in 2026, with Vivek Ramaswamy's polarizing style creating an opening for highly-regarded former Ohio Health Director Amy Acton, and notes that Iowa and Ohio could both move back toward genuine battleground status. Hethen walks through his fascinating recent participation in a political crisis simulation premised on the idea that January 6th wasn't an anomaly — three teams (Institutionalists, Nationalists, and Capitalists) competed for power, and the entire exercise revolved around who could get the capitalists on their side, since their core interest was simply enrichment and instability. The most revealing detail: in the simulation, Congress barely existed and had no measurable impact on outcomes, which Chuck argues mirrors reality and exposes the deeper problem facing American democracy. His blunt verdict: America doesn't actually have a polarization problem — it has a Congress problem, because weak legislatures inevitably create strong executives, Trump simply filled the vacuum a broken Congress created, and the looming gerrymandering wars (with at least eight states set to redraw their maps before 2028) will make Congress even less functional and more purely partisan than it already is. Then, 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 model behind a paywall, why most newspapers won't even print these days unless they're certain it won't cost them money (and the surprising fact that there's a national shortage of available printers), and how the paper has built its reputation by covering everything from Mobile's local government to scandals in the wealthy parts of town and irresistible animal stories — both of which they say reliably grow audience faster than anything else. Trice and Holbert preview the upcoming Tuberville-Jones gubernatorial race, which they expect to be surprisingly close, and offer a withering assessment of outgoing Governor Kay Ivey's "very inactive" tenure. They walk through the political divide in Alabama where coastal Mobile often feels left out of the conversation, the surprising audience appeal of youth and high school sports coverage, and the looming threat of the Nexstar-Tegna merger gutting even more local newsrooms across the country. The conversation broadens into the practical realities of running a sustainable local newsroom in 2026. Trice and Holbert explain that the public has been trained to expect news for free, that reaching younger audiences now requires aggressive use of social media platforms and video content, and that live events have become an increasingly important revenue stream for papers like theirs. Trice and Holbert observe that small businesses are still reaching out about advertising — proof that print journalism continues to have a market — and close with a fascinating observation about how coastal Southern cities like Mobile tend to be less polarized than the rest of the South, with a genuine sense of...

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 model behind a paywall, why most newspapers won't even print these days unless they're certain it won't cost them money (and the surprising fact that there's a national shortage of available printers), and how the paper has built its reputation by covering everything from Mobile's local government to scandals in the wealthy parts of town and irresistible animal stories — both of which they say reliably grow audience faster than anything else. Trice and Holbert preview the upcoming Tuberville-Jones gubernatorial race, which they expect to be surprisingly close, and offer a withering assessment of outgoing Governor Kay Ivey's "very inactive" tenure. They walk through the political divide in Alabama where coastal Mobile often feels left out of the conversation, the surprising audience appeal of youth and high school sports coverage, and the looming threat of the Nexstar-Tegna merger gutting even more local newsrooms across the country. The conversation broadens into the practical realities of running a sustainable local newsroom in 2026. Trice and Holbert explain that the public has been trained to expect news for free, that reaching younger audiences now requires aggressive use of social media platforms and video content, and that live events have become an increasingly important revenue stream for papers like theirs. Trice and Holbert observe that small businesses are still reaching out about advertising — proof that print journalism continues to have a market — and close with a fascinating observation about how coastal Southern cities like Mobile tend to be less polarized than the rest of the South, with a genuine sense of community that gets lost in the national conversation about red-state politics. Try ShipStation free for 60 days with full access to all features, No credit card needed! Go to https://ShipStation.com and use code TODDCAST for 60 days for free! Thank you Wildgrain for sponsoring. Visit http://wildgrain.com/TODDCAST and use the code "TODDCAST" at checkout to receive $30 off your first box PLUS free Croissants for life! Link in bio or go to https://getsoul.com & enter code TODDCAST for 30% off your first order. Timeline: (Timestamps may vary based on advertisements) 00:00 Ashley Trice & Rob Holbert (Lagniappe) join the Chuck ToddCast 01:30 Origin story of Lagniappe 03:45 The paper started off free, now is a subscription model behind paywall 05:30 Most papers wait to print unless they know it won’t cost them money 07:00 There’s a shortage of printers available for publications 09:15 Striving to be Alabama’s best investigative newspaper 11:15 Governor’s race between Tuberville & Jones will be close 13:00 Kay Ivey has been a very inactive governor 14:30 When did local governments understand you were going to cover them? 18:00 There’s a big political divide in Alabama, and Mobile feels left out 19:00 Is youth & high school sports an audience builder? 20:00 Scandals in the rich part of town & animal stories really grow audience 21:00 Nexstar & Tegna merger will gut more local newsrooms 22:45 People have been trained that they don’t have to pay for news 23:15 Have to use social media platforms & video to reach younger audience 25:00 What do you do in the live event space and are those money makers? 27:30 It takes more reporters for coverage that creates dedicated subscribers 29:30 Airbus & shipbuilding have been big economic growth drivers in Mobile 31:00 The “commuter schools” have really grown in recent years in Alabama 33:30 Are there formalized local news networks regionally that could help you? 35:00 No...

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 career-ending move in the GOP, that Thomas Massie's upcoming primary will be a critical test of Trump's intra-party strength, and that Trump has effectively postponed the perception that he's a lame duck — even as the Iran war continues to crater his standing with the broader public. He flags Ohio as setting up to look like a real swing state in 2026, with Vivek Ramaswamy's polarizing style creating an opening for highly-regarded former Ohio Health Director Amy Acton, and notes that Iowa and Ohio could both move back toward genuine battleground status. He then walks through his fascinating recent participation in a political crisis simulation premised on the idea that January 6th wasn't an anomaly — three teams (Institutionalists, Nationalists, and Capitalists) competed for power, and the entire exercise revolved around who could get the capitalists on their side, since their core interest was simply enrichment and instability. The most revealing detail: in the simulation, Congress barely existed and had no measurable impact on outcomes, which Chuck argues mirrors reality and exposes the deeper problem facing American democracy. His blunt verdict: America doesn't actually have a polarization problem — it has a Congress problem, because weak legislatures inevitably create strong executives, Trump simply filled the vacuum a broken Congress created, and the looming gerrymandering wars (with at least eight states set to redraw their maps before 2028) will make Congress even less functional and more purely partisan than it already is. Finally, Chuck presents his ToddCast Top 5 gubernatorial one-party droughts that are most likely to end in 2026, and answers listeners’ questions in the “Ask Chuck” segment. Try ShipStation free for 60 days with full access to all features, No credit card needed! Go to https://ShipStation.com and use code TODDCAST for 60 days for free! Thank you Wildgrain for sponsoring. Visit http://wildgrain.com/TODDCAST and use the code "TODDCAST" at checkout to receive $30 off your first box PLUS free Croissants for life! Link in bio or go to https://getsoul.com & enter code TODDCAST for 30% off your first order. Timeline: (Timestamps may vary based on advertisements) 00:00 Chuck Todd’s introduction 01:15 Indiana primaries show that Trump still has juice with his party 02:15 $13 million was spent to influence around 100k voters 04:15 Trump has created new urgency to redistrict in the south 05:30 Being on the wrong side of Trump will end your career in the GOP 06:15 Thomas Massie’s primary will be telling about Trump’s strength 08:15 Trump has postponed the perception that he’s a lame duck in his party 09:15 Iran is not going to get better for Trump, and the polling is brutal 11:30 Indiana showed that Trump hasn’t lost his fastball with the GOP 12:30 Ohio is setting up to look like a swing state in 2026 14:30 Vivek Ramaswamy is polarizing and has said some politically dumb things 16:30 Amy Acton is highly regarded for her leadership during Covid 18:30 It’s possible that Iowa and Ohio move back toward battleground status 19:00 Chuck participated in a political crisis simulation 21:15 Premise of simulation was January 6th wasn’t an anomaly 21:45 Three teams: Institutionalists, Nationalists and Capitalists 23:00 Entire simulation revolved around who could get capitalists on their side 24:30 Capitalists want enrichment & instability 25:15 In the simulation, congress barely existed, had no impact 26:15 Stress tests begin with the assumption congress is ineffective 26:45 Congress is supposed to be the...

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 collapse — there should have been a Marshall Plan for Russia along the lines of what was done for Germany and Japan after World War II, and both Yeltsin and Putin (in his early years) actively lobbied to join the Western order. Clinton was hesitant to help Russia economically, the 1994 midterm results pushed him away from foreign policy ambition entirely, and the eventual pivot toward NATO expansion in Eastern Europe — rather than transforming NATO into something genuinely inclusive — froze Russia out and is exactly when Putin's worldview hardened into the revanchism we're dealing with today. Shapiro extends this analysis to 2008, calling the financial crisis another massive missed opportunity: Obama had to bail out the banks, but his failure to insist on a parallel bailout for Main Street allowed the elites to rescue themselves while imposing austerity on everyone else, which directly fueled the right-wing populism now reshaping politics across the West. The conversation pivots to what comes next. Shapiro is clear that the good policies of the 2030s won't be a rehash of the New Deal — they need to address modern realities. He argues governments need to help workers be flexible rather than redistributing wealth through politically toxic taxation, advocating instead for portable health insurance and portable child care that follows the worker. Shapiro makes a forceful case for immigration as the only realistic answer to America's demographic challenges, noting that Spain and Poland are economically outperforming much of Europe specifically because they've embraced immigration to support aging populations. He warns that we're living in a world disturbingly similar to the 1930s — if ordinary people don't benefit from economic growth, they will not continue supporting the existing order — and notes that right-wing populists don't actually have answers; they just attack the elites. Shapiro argues Trump is inadvertently benefiting China enormously, but cautions that authoritarian governments are fundamentally bad at managing complex economies, so it's still unlikely China's model wins the 21st century. Shapiro closes by warning that the anti-Trump coalition has become too big to govern, but that if Zohran Mamdani succeeds in New York, it could meaningfully energize progressive politics nationally — proof that the road forward requires real ideas about power, not just opposition to Trumpism. Try ShipStation free for 60 days with full access to all features, No credit card needed! Go to https://ShipStation.com and use code TODDCAST for 60 days for free! Thank you Wildgrain for sponsoring. Visit http://wildgrain.com/TODDCAST and use the code "TODDCAST" at checkout to receive $30 off your first box PLUS free Croissants for life! Link in bio or go to https://getsoul.com & enter code TODDCAST for 30% off your first order. Timeline: (Timestamps may vary based on advertisements) 00:00 Ian Shapiro (After the Fall) joins The Chuck ToddCast 01:30 How long did you work on the book? 03:15 The lack of a Marshall Plan for Russia was a missed opportunity 04:00 Russia should have been dealt with like Germany & Japan after WW2 05:00 Yeltsin & Putin lobbied to join the west & we blew that opportunity 06:15 Clinton was hesitant to help Russia economically 07:30 ‘94 midterm results dissuaded Clinton from focusing on foreign policy 09:00 Clinton pivoted from rapprochement NATO expansion in eastern Europe 10:00 There were opportunities to transform NATO into something else 11:30 NATO feels necessary again, we’re back in another cold war 12:30 What if we had...

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 even 22% of his own 2024 voters don't believe he's kept his promises, and that his approval has collapsed with younger voters even as it holds up with the elderly. In a particularly striking finding, only 1 in 10 Americans approve of Trump naming things after himself, and even the "own the libs" voters can't get behind that particular vanity. Todd warns this is a political disaster in the making for Republicans: the enthusiasm gap is now massive in the Democrats' favor, and the Iran war is polling more unpopular than the worst polling ever recorded for Iraq or Vietnam. Yet despite all this, neither party's brand has actually improved with swing voters — both parties still carry almost identical unfavorability ratings, voters of both parties don't even want their leaders to work across the aisle anymore, and the political incentives are now firmly aligned with confrontation rather than compromise — creating an enormous opportunity for independent candidates that neither major party seems prepared to address. On Iran, he says there is no political room for Trump to escalate militarily — his only real escalation option would be ground troops, which would risk total political collapse — and predicts the eventual deal will look like whatever framework the Iranians put forward. He flags a striking recent Tucker Carlson interview in which Carlson was forced to face hard facts, observing that Tucker increasingly looks like a combination of Pat Buchanan and Roger Ailes who is genuinely trying to build a political movement of his own. He returns to the case for expanding the House of Representatives as the fix for the Supreme Court's Voting Rights Act ruling, warns that Republicans could pay a serious political price if Southern voters perceive the GOP as actively trying to disenfranchise Black voters and closes with the news that Janet Mills has dropped out of the Maine Senate race — leaving Democrats now trying to coalesce around Graham Platner, in what Chuck says feels increasingly like a mirror image of the 2016 presidential campaign. Then, 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 collapse — there should have been a Marshall Plan for Russia along the lines of what was done for Germany and Japan after World War II, and both Yeltsin and Putin (in his early years) actively lobbied to join the Western order. Clinton was hesitant to help Russia economically, the 1994 midterm results pushed him away from foreign policy ambition entirely, and the eventual pivot toward NATO expansion in Eastern Europe — rather than transforming NATO into something genuinely inclusive — froze Russia out and is exactly when Putin's worldview hardened into the revanchism we're dealing with today. Shapiro extends this analysis to 2008, calling the financial crisis another massive missed opportunity: Obama had to bail out the banks, but his failure to insist on a parallel bailout for Main Street allowed the elites to rescue themselves while imposing austerity on everyone else, which directly fueled the right-wing populism now reshaping politics across the West. The conversation pivots to what comes next. Shapiro is clear that the good policies of the 2030s won't be a rehash of the New Deal — they need to address modern realities. He...

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 even 22% of his own 2024 voters don't believe he's kept his promises, and that his approval has collapsed with younger voters even as it holds up with the elderly. In a particularly striking finding, only 1 in 10 Americans approve of Trump naming things after himself, and even the "own the libs" voters can't get behind that particular vanity. Todd warns this is a political disaster in the making for Republicans: the enthusiasm gap is now massive in the Democrats' favor, and the Iran war is polling more unpopular than the worst polling ever recorded for Iraq or Vietnam. Yet despite all this, neither party's brand has actually improved with swing voters — both parties still carry almost identical unfavorability ratings, voters of both parties don't even want their leaders to work across the aisle anymore, and the political incentives are now firmly aligned with confrontation rather than compromise — creating an enormous opportunity for independent candidates that neither major party seems prepared to address. On Iran, he says there is no political room for Trump to escalate militarily — his only real escalation option would be ground troops, which would risk total political collapse — and predicts the eventual deal will look like whatever framework the Iranians put forward. He flags a striking recent Tucker Carlson interview in which Carlson was forced to face hard facts, observing that Tucker increasingly looks like a combination of Pat Buchanan and Roger Ailes who is genuinely trying to build a political movement of his own. He returns to the case for expanding the House of Representatives as the fix for the Supreme Court's Voting Rights Act ruling, warns that Republicans could pay a serious political price if Southern voters perceive the GOP as actively trying to disenfranchise Black voters and closes with the news that Janet Mills has dropped out of the Maine Senate race — leaving Democrats now trying to coalesce around Graham Platner, in what Chuck says feels increasingly like a mirror image of the 2016 presidential campaign. Finally, Chuck hops into the ToddCast Time Machine to revisit the Hindenburg disaster and how it was the origin of “breaking news”, and also answers listeners’ questions in the “Ask Chuck” segment. Try ShipStation free for 60 days with full access to all features, No credit card needed! Go to https://ShipStation.com and use code TODDCAST for 60 days for free! Thank you Wildgrain for sponsoring. Visit http://wildgrain.com/TODDCAST and use the code "TODDCAST" at checkout to receive $30 off your first box PLUS free Croissants for life! Link in bio or go to https://getsoul.com & enter code TODDCAST for 30% off your first order. Timeline: (Timestamps may vary based on advertisements) 00:00 Chuck Todd’s introduction 08:30 New polling shows Americans have no confidence in Trump 09:15 Trump’s approval has cratered with independent voters 10:00 Trump is only above his approval rating on taxes, immigration and border 10:45 The only people that approve of Trump are his base 12:45 The polling shows a massive repudiation of Trump 14:15 Trump’s trustworthiness is lower than any past president 16:45 Only 78% of Trump voters believe he’s kept his promises 18:15 Trump’s highest approval is with older voters, collapsed with younger voters 20:00 Only 1 in 10 Americans approve of Trump naming things after himself 21:00 Even the “own the libs” voters don’t like Trump naming things after himself 24:30 Republicans expected ethics in government to improve & they haven’t 25:45 Both parties still have almost identical...

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 candidates who tell a clear story about power — pointing to Maine's Graham Platner, Texas's James Talarico, and New York's Zohran Mamdani as examples of progressives who project authentic energy and pragmatic problem-solving rather than ideological purity. He contends that both major parties have already collapsed reputationally even if they haven't yet collapsed structurally, that Democrats could have passed a $12 minimum wage years ago if they'd been willing to compromise, and that recruiting 77-year-old Janet Mills against Platner is symbolic of everything wrong with Chuck Schumer's approach to the Senate. Green is blunt: if Democrats sweep the midterms but leadership remains unchanged, it actually hurts them in 2028 — a Democratic Senate majority should not be read as a validation of Schumer. They discuss why he Democratic brand is so damaged in red and rural states that independent candidates may be the best path to power in places like Montana and Nebraska, and that having someone like Platner in Senate leadership would dramatically improve Democratic performance in rural America. The conversation digs into the deeper strategic and policy questions facing the party. Green argues Democrats should lead with economic alignment over cultural alignment and that Dems should not put reproductive rights forward as their headline issue if they want to rebuild trust in the heartland. He pushes for progressive lawmakers to assert real leverage against their own leadership, advocates lowering the threshold for discharge petition, and makes the case that getting rid of the filibuster would help Democrats rebuild trust with voters who are tired of seeing nothing get done. Green is open to limited cooperation with Trump if Democrats win both chambers but warns the party shouldn't trim its sails just to get a signature. He explains why the PCC backed Talarico over Crockett , names UAW president Shawn Fain as a potential dark-horse candidate, and floats Stephen Colbert as a genuinely intriguing possibility because performance matters in a media-saturated era. Green argues Talarico, Platner, and Abdul El-Sayed all tell a coherent story about power that voters are hungry to hear, but ultimately, the candidate who runs as a genuine disruptor is the one most likely to win, because the current system is so visibly failing the public. Thank you Wildgrain for sponsoring. Visit http://wildgrain.com/TODDCAST and use the code "TODDCAST" at checkout to receive $30 off your first box PLUS free Croissants for life! Protect your family with life insurance from Ethos. Get up to $3 million in coverage in as little as 10 minutes at https://ethos.com/chuck. Application times may vary. Rates may vary. Link in bio or go to https://getsoul.com & enter code TODDCAST for 30% off your first order. Timeline: (Timestamps may vary based on advertisements) 00:00 Adam Green (Progressive Change Committee) joins The Chuck ToddCast 02:30 What does it mean to be a pragmatic progressive? 03:45 The mission is to show economic populism can win in swing races 05:00 Graham Platner is a great storyteller, not a policy wonk 06:30 Several progressive candidates project strong masculine energy 08:00 Balancing incrementalism vs. progress 08:45 Mamdani is showing that you can be both progressive & pragmatic 09:45 Misconception is that “moderate” means centrist 10:30 The progressives are demanding a rebalancing of the power dynamics 11:00 Public doesn’t trust the political and economic system, wants change 11:45 How vulnerable are both parties to collapse at some point? 12:30 Both...

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 Georgia reapportionment that led to major GOP pickups by packing Black Democratic voters into fewer districts, but warns this round of Southern redistricting will create more swing districts. He uses the moment to make the case for what he sees as the real structural fix to America's representation crisis: uncapping the House of Representatives to allow it to grow with population the way the founders originally intended, with Madison himself arguing the chamber would always need to expand. He argues that a bigger House would lower the barrier for third parties, minimize the outsized impact of the Electoral College, dramatically reduce the incentive to gerrymander — and crucially, this change wouldn't exclusively benefit either party. His framing is simple: stop fighting over the chairs at the table and increase the size of the table itself. He then pivots to what he calls the rise of the "woke right" — citing the second Comey indictment as exhibit A, noting that the right has now embraced exactly the kind of oversensitivity they once accused the left of engaging in, and pointing out it's no accident that Pam Bondi wouldn't bring the Comey case but Todd Blanche will. He flags that the FCC's attacks on Jimmy Kimmel will badly backfire, dismisses the Hegseth congressional hearing as a useless exercise where everyone was just chasing viral moments, and argues that Hegseth himself is suffering from a bad case of "internet brain" — actively politicizing the military while failing to make a coherent case for why the Iran war was ever necessary. He closes with a pointed observation about the entire administration: nobody around Trump believes any criticism of him is ever valid, and they appear to genuinely think voters are stupid enough to never notice. Then, 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 candidates who tell a clear story about power — pointing to Maine's Graham Platner, Texas's James Talarico, and New York's Zohran Mamdani as examples of progressives who project authentic energy and pragmatic problem-solving rather than ideological purity. He contends that both major parties have already collapsed reputationally even if they haven't yet collapsed structurally, that Democrats could have passed a $12 minimum wage years ago if they'd been willing to compromise, and that recruiting 77-year-old Janet Mills against Platner is symbolic of everything wrong with Chuck Schumer's approach to the Senate. Green is blunt: if Democrats sweep the midterms but leadership remains unchanged, it actually hurts them in 2028 — a Democratic Senate majority should not be read as a validation of Schumer. They discuss why he Democratic brand is so damaged in red and rural states that independent candidates may be the best path to power in places like Montana and Nebraska, and that having someone like Platner in Senate leadership would dramatically improve Democratic performance in rural America. The conversation digs into the deeper strategic and policy questions facing the party. Green argues Democrats should lead with economic alignment over cultural alignment and that Dems should not put reproductive rights forward as their headline issue if they want to rebuild trust in the heartland. He pushes for progressive lawmakers to...

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 Georgia reapportionment that led to major GOP pickups by packing Black Democratic voters into fewer districts, but warns this round of Southern redistricting will create more swing districts. He uses the moment to make the case for what he sees as the real structural fix to America's representation crisis: uncapping the House of Representatives to allow it to grow with population the way the founders originally intended, with Madison himself arguing the chamber would always need to expand. He argues that a bigger House would lower the barrier for third parties, minimize the outsized impact of the Electoral College, dramatically reduce the incentive to gerrymander — and crucially, this change wouldn't exclusively benefit either party. His framing is simple: stop fighting over the chairs at the table and increase the size of the table itself. He then pivots to what he calls the rise of the "woke right" — citing the second Comey indictment as exhibit A, noting that the right has now embraced exactly the kind of oversensitivity they once accused the left of engaging in, and pointing out it's no accident that Pam Bondi wouldn't bring the Comey case but Todd Blanche will. He flags that the FCC's attacks on Jimmy Kimmel will badly backfire, dismisses the Hegseth congressional hearing as a useless exercise where everyone was just chasing viral moments, and argues that Hegseth himself is suffering from a bad case of "internet brain" — actively politicizing the military while failing to make a coherent case for why the Iran war was ever necessary. He closes with a pointed observation about the entire administration: nobody around Trump believes any criticism of him is ever valid, and they appear to genuinely think voters are stupid enough to never notice. Finally, he answers listeners’ questions in the “Ask Chuck” segment, weighs in on the DNC choosing NOT to release their 2024 autopsy, and reacts to the expansion on the NCAA basketball tournament. Try ShipStation free for 60 days with full access to all features, No credit card needed! Go to https://ShipStation.com and use code TODDCAST for 60 days for free! Thank you Wildgrain for sponsoring. Visit http://wildgrain.com/TODDCAST and use the code "TODDCAST" at checkout to receive $30 off your first box PLUS free Croissants for life! Protect your family with life insurance from Ethos. Get up to $3 million in coverage in as little as 10 minutes at https://ethos.com/chuck. Application times may vary. Rates may vary. Link in bio or go to https://getsoul.com & enter code TODDCAST for 30% off your first order. Timeline: 00:00 Chuck Todd’s introduction 01:30 Supreme Court further hollows out the Voting Rights Act 03:00 You may see several states in the south try to redistrict 06:00 We have a serious representation issue in congress 07:30 In the 90’s Georgia reapportionment led to major GOP pickups 09:00 Led to more black Dems in congress, but less Dems in congress 10:00 Redistricting won’t be clean for GOP in this political climate 10:30 Redistricting will create more swing districts in the south 12:15 You may see racially charged Dem primaries in new districts 13:45 Uncapping the House of Representatives could solve this issue 14:15 House expanded based on population growth 16:15 Right now the house is not representative of the people 17:45 Multi-member districts also provide better representation 19:00 Bigger house would create less need for gerrymandering 20:00 Expanding house would minimize the impact of electoral college 21:30 Expanded house would lower barrier to entry for third...

The Pittsburgh Steelers became one of the most successful and enduring franchises in sports history. But their dynasty wasn’t built the way most people think. Chuck Todd and J.A. Adande tell the Steelers history like it has never been told. It starts with a moment everyone knows—the Immaculate Reception—but the real story begins long before that. For decades, the Steelers were one of the worst-run teams in football. They ignored the draft, missed on generational talent, and lacked any clear identity. Then everything changed. At the center of it all was Chuck Noll, a coach who completely reset the organization’s philosophy. Paired with cornerstone players like Mean Joe Greene and a front office that found talent in places other teams ignored, the Steelers quietly assembled one of the greatest draft runs in sports history. This episode dives into the hidden advantages that fueled their rise—from overlooked talent pipelines to cultural cohesion inside the locker room—and why their success wasn’t just about stars, but about structure, discipline, and long-term thinking. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Atima Omara — Democratic political strategist, longtime activist, and author of the new book The Instigators — joins the Chuck Toddcast for a wide-ranging conversation about who actually decides American elections, why Democrats keep losing despite favorable demographics, and what a winning coalition looks like in 2028. Omara opens by dismantling the conventional wisdom that white moderate swing voters are the deciding force in elections, arguing that the 2024 contest was lost on mobilization rather than persuasion — Trump won at the margins, not in a landslide, and many blue states were won by surprisingly thin margins. She points out that Kamala Harris was behind before she even started because she had to succeed an unpopular Biden, but they credit Harris with saving three to four Senate seats that Biden would have lost outright. Omara walks through the political leverage Black women in Virginia exercised after the Ralph Northam blackface scandal — pushing for real legislative change rather than just symbolic accountability — and uses that as a case study in how activist coalitions can wield power smartly. The conversation turns to the structural challenges facing the Democratic coalition and what comes next. Omara makes the case that Republican advocacy is a constant, year-round operation while Democrats only mobilize during election years — a fundamental asymmetry that has allowed Republican messaging to dominate the cultural spaces and media ecosystem. She argues the left needs to get dramatically better at cultural messaging, that the activist class has helped Democrats make progress but has also made the party more rigid in ways that hurt it electorally, and that organizations like the Working Families Party are doing important work trying to push the Democratic Party from within. They both reflect on whether the two-party duopoly can survive — Americans clearly want the flexibility of a multiparty system but are stuck with this one. She offers a fascinating cultural analysis of why one-third of the electorate effectively grew up in a non-multiracial democracy, why events like the Tulsa massacre still aren't taught in most public schools, and why the South disproportionately sets the tone for American (and especially Republican) politics. They close by handicapping the 2028 Democratic field. Thank you Wildgrain for sponsoring. Visit http://wildgrain.com/TODDCAST and use the code "TODDCAST" at checkout to receive $30 off your first box PLUS free Croissants for life! Protect your family with life insurance from Ethos. Get up to $3 million in coverage in as little as 10 minutes at https://ethos.com/chuck. Application times may vary. Rates may vary. Link in bio or go to https://getsoul.com & enter code TODDCAST for 30% off your first order. Timeline: (Timestamps may vary based on advertisements) 00:00 Atima Omara (The Instigators) joins The Chuck ToddCast 01:30 Misconception that white moderate swing voters decide elections 03:15 Black women pushed for legislation after Ralph Northam blackface scandal 06:15 Activists were smart in using their political leverage in Virginia 08:15 Democrats can try to find some common cause with Trump voters 09:30 2024 election was lost on mobilization, not persuasion 10:45 Trump won on the margins, it wasn’t a resounding win 12:00 Lots of blue states were won with small margins in ‘24 13:00 It was hard for Harris to succeed a very unpopular Biden 14:00 Harris was behind before she started 14:30 Harris saved 3-4 senate seats that Biden would have lost 15:45 What ideological arguments work & don’t work with black women? 17:30 Messaging around criminal & environmental justice needs to capture humanity 19:15 Activists don’t see politicians putting together even piecemeal reform 20:15 Even with full control, Democrats couldn’t pass voting rights legislation 22:15 LBJ had to play hardball with senators to pass the Voting Rights Act 24:00 Most major legislation gets passed...