Runaway Country with Alex Wagner

As ballots start coming in, an increasingly desperate president is already meddling in the vote count. Alex sits down with Chris Hayes, host of MS NOW’s “All In,” to talk about the Alaska fiasco, how the media should be covering threats to democracy, and what might be waiting for us on the other side of Election Day. But first, how are state election officials responding to threats from the federal government? Journalist and author Barton Gellman has been reporting from the frontlines, and he comes on the show to share what, specifically, elections officials are worried about…and how they...

With the midterm elections only two weeks away, a lot of Democrats are feeling giddy about the prospects of flipping both houses of Congress. This week, Alex breaks down why overconfidence can be a risk, and why this will be a state by state, issue by issue battle until the end. She’s joined by Alex Seitz-Wald, Deputy Editor of the Midcoast Villager, who gives a local perspective on why the Senate race in Maine is still anyone’s call. Then Crooked media’s Nate Silver, author of the Silver Bulletin and co-host of Still Counting, joins to bre...

Just when you thought he could sink no lower, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth is now planning to livestream a public execution, carried out by American soldiers. Paul Rieckhoff—host of the Independent Americans podcast—shares how Hegseth’s murderous theatrics are sitting with veterans, his reaction to thousands of troops deploying to the Middle East, and why he thinks the war in Iran will only end when Trump leaves office. Then, Alex puts it all into context with Zeteo founder Mehdi Hasan: why the US is signing diesel deals with Russia, how Republicans are ramping up Islamophobia ahead of the...

Polls show Democratic candidates are leading or tied in several deep red states—places the left never thought they could win. So how optimistic should Democrats be that the midterms won’t just deliver a blue wave, but a full-on red collapse? To understand how bad all this actually looks for Republicans (and whether we can really trust the polls), Alex speaks to Charlie Cook, founder of the Cook Political Report. But first, what’s the mood like on the ground in Nebraska, where a leftward tilt appears to be on the horizon? Jane Kleeb, Chair of the Nebraska Democr...

As the electoral landscape is turning blue, Donald Trump is seeing red. To sooth his wounded ego, the White House is running pro-Trump ads during NFL games, illegally rescinding hundreds of millions of dollars from federal agencies, and threatening the Kennedy Performing Arts Center with demolition for not adding Trump’s name to the facade.

To understand the cost of the president's flailing narcissism, Alex chats with Leonard Slatkin, the former conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra—now on involuntary tour since the Kennedy Center's closure.

Then, she is joined by historian and On Tyranny auth...

President Trump’s acrimonious relationship with the press reached new heights after he banned MS NOW, Politico, and CNN from the White House — and other media organizations banded together to suspend the White House press pool.

This week Alex speaks to April Ryan, the longest serving Black White House correspondent and author of “Notes On A Blacklash: When A Black Woman Goes Viral”, about her own experience being a target of Trump’s verbal abuse and why it took the press so long to fight back. Then she speaks to Dan Pfeiffer, Pod Save America co-host and author of...

Less than two months before the midterms, the Supreme Court made a shockingly good decision and rejected a Trump rule that would have restricted mail-in ballots and possibly disenfranchised millions of voters. But Trump and Republicans are not done messing with the integrity of America’s elections.

This week, Alex is joined by Janai Nelson, President and Director-Counsel of the Legal Defense Fund, to discuss the gargantuan effort to defeat Trump’s executive order on mail-in voting. Then she’s joined by Kate Shaw, co-host of Crooked’s Strict Scrutiny, to talk about the desperate need for Supreme...

Nate Silver, Clare Malone, and Galen Druke discuss the most competitive Senate races heading into the midterms in this excerpt from their new podcast, Still Counting. To hear the rest, head over to Still Counting and subscribe! New episodes drop every Wednesday evening.

You can request a transcript by emailing [email protected]. Include the podcast name, episode title, and air date. Please allow 48 hours for delivery.

Usually parents breathe a sigh of relief when kids go back to school, but with over 3,000 confirmed cases of Measles spreading across the US, the consequences of the Trump administration’s disinformation and vaccine skepticism are becoming clear.

This week Alex speaks to two pediatricians dealing with concerned and questioning parents, Dr. Deborah Greenhouse in South Carolina and Dr. Nathan Keller in Pennsylvania. Then she’s joined by the host of Crooked Media’s Hysteria, Erin Ryan, to talk about why Health and Human Services Secretary RFK Jr. deserves an “F” grade on the job, and how Democrats...

Has Trump created Farmageddon? Rising fuel and fertilizer costs due to the war with Iran, tariffs on goods because of the trade war with Canada, and a Farm Bill stuck in Congress have created a perfect storm of pain for American farmers.

This week Alex speaks to 5th generation Iowa farmer Joshua Manske, to get a real accounting of how the President’s red state agricultural base is feeling. Then she breaks down the big picture implications for Republicans ahead of the midterms with Brian Beutler, founder and author of the Substack newsletter Off Message, and the co...

President Trump has embarked on a pro-AI data center kick, causing a world of hurt for his own party. The gigantic, energy-guzzling factories are literally and figuratively steamrolling small rural communities—the very same voters Republicans need to clinch the midterms.

Politicians on both sides of the aisle are doing an about face on the issue, but will it be too little, too late? Alex speaks to Suzanne Bellsnyder, author of the Texas Rural Reporter substack, about what it’s like when your home becomes ground zero for data center development.

Then, she puts it all...

North Carolina is one of the most closely divided states in the country. But when it comes to political power, the story is much more complicated.

Jen, Mitch, and Errin explore the growing power of unaffiliated voters, the aftermath of Hurricane Helene's devastation, the fight over who controls state government, and why elections here are so often decided on the margins.

Guests: Jason Isbell, Former Gov. and Sen. candidate Roy Cooper, former Gov. Pat McCrory, State Senate Minority Leader Sydney Batch, Congressional candidate Jamie Ager

Democratic Socialists are racking up wins in primaries across the country, Tucker Carlson is conspiring with other exiled MAGA stars to form a third party, and polling shows that American voters are open to a system with more choices.

This week Alex speaks to four-time presidential candidate Ralph Nader about the threat the current political mood poses to both establishment Democrats and Republicans, and hears from Seth Bodnar about how he’s running a competitive race for a Montana Senate seat as an Independent.

Then she’s joined by Matt Welch, editor-at-large of Reason and co-h...

Up to 350,000 Haitians have now lost their Temporary Protected Status in the United States, and they are only one ethnic group among the more than 1.3 million people that the Trump administration wants out. 

This week Alex speaks to a woman in Florida named Harlaine, who has worked on the frontlines as a COVID nurse, lived in the US since she was just a child, and now faces the dangerous reality of being forced to return to Haiti. 

Then Alex speaks to The Bulwark’s Jonathan V. Last about the lack of empathy among Republican voters, and...

Donald Trump just got one step closer to stealing the next election. The Senate confirms a new head of National Intelligence: former US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton — a man who won't say who won the 2020 election.

This week, Alex looks into whether or not Trump will try to steal the midterms. She's first joined by Errin Haines, an Atlanta native, editor at large at The 19th, author of the Amendment newsletter, and co-host of Crooked’s newest show, Long Play, to talk about Georgia: the state Trump has focused his most inte...

Pete Hegseth wants a $1.5 trillion bump in Pentagon spending, and won’t say what it’s for. War in Iran reignites, and the Trump administration hides the number of injured American troops. Innocent people are killed by ICE, and the FBI is no longer allowed to investigate. Whenever there is conflict or scandal—whenever the facts threaten Donald Trump’s political agenda—the White House’s strategy is to keep the country in the dark. Alex is joined by two veterans, Paul Riekhoff, host of the Independent Americans podcast, and Rebecca Roberts from About Face: Veterans Against the War, to talk about h...

ICE agents have killed two men in the last 10 days. Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was fatally shot in Houston, Texas on July 7th, as was Joan Sebastian Guerrero on July 13th in Biddeford, Maine. On this week’s show, Alex looks at the lawless and race based nature of the Trump administration’s immigration policies, and how Americans are reacting to them. She’s first joined by Juan Proaño, CEO of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), to talk about the Araujo family’s tragic loss and how Latino communities across the country are feeling. Then Alex speaks to...

The Maine Senate race has been thrown into complete disarray after serious allegations of sexual assault emerged against Graham Platner. This week Alex speaks to Dan Kleban, U.S. Senate candidate and co-founder of the Maine Beer Company, about how Democratic voters in Maine are feeling in the wake of Platner’s campaign implosion, and why they don’t want Washington meddling in their elections. Then she’s joined by democratic strategist Adam Jentleson to talk about what comes next, how this scandal impacts Democrats’ chances to take over the Senate, and how to read into wins by both Democrat...

This week we bring you an episode from Assembly Required with Stacey Abrams. Stacey Abrams has committed her career to bold political advocacy and voting rights. In this episode, Stacey opens the show by answering audience questions about the Supreme Court’s recent ruling on the Voting Rights Act, and what it means for our democracy. Then she’s joined by Jane Fonda, who explains why she’s revived the Committee for the First Amendment, a group originally supported by her father in the 1940’s. Stacey and Jane also talk about the Trump administration’s attacks against Jimmy Kimmel, why the Wa...

Take one poll with a grain of salt, but what about a TON of polls? From white middle class voters, to rural Americans, and even Evangelicals, the numbers show that Trump is losing his most ardent supporters. This week Alex speaks to “The Clean Clothing Chick” Hannah Dunning, who explains why MAHA is disappointed with the president. Then she’s joined by the Bulwark’s Jonathan V. Last to find out what we can take away from Trump’s flailing public support, losing Iran deal, and stalled agenda.

Is there anything that Vice President JD Vance hasn’t messed up? From political messaging, to lecturing the Pope about theology, Vance’s public appearances are often cringe inducing. But this week, Alex digs into the pernicious actions he’s taking behind the scenes. First she’s joined by California Attorney General Rob Bonta who reveals how much damage Vance’s anti-fraud task force is doing to legitimate businesses, and impacting those who need their services like hospice care. Then Alex speaks to Majority Report host Sam Seder about what it means to have a dishonest and bad actor like Vance wait...

The levels of corruption Americans are witnessing are both historic and astounding. This week, Alex speaks to ProPublica reporter Robert Faturechi, who broke the story that the Department of Defense gave a $620,000,000 loan to a company affiliated with Donald Trump Jr. Then she’s joined by Pod Save the World host Ben Rhodes to talk about how everything from the UFC cage match on the White House lawn, to Ivanka Trump’s island development in Albania are indicative of the unprecedented grift, and limitless appetite for self enrichment of the Trump family.

Be sure to pick up a co...

A new chapter of ICE terror has begun, but instead of taking place on the street—where agents are held accountable by protesters and their phones—mistreatment and coercion is now happening behind the closed doors of ICE detention facilities. These private prisons are operated by a company with close ties to the Trump administration, and have such abominable conditions that detainees at several facilities are waging hunger strikes. To get an idea of the mistreatment immigrants are facing, Alex speaks with Melissa Shepard, an attorney with Immigration Defenders Law Center, whose clients are given dirty water and spoiled food, reta...

Could reality TV star Spencer Pratt become Mayor of Los Angeles? And could Trump’s endorsement of Ken Paxton cause Texas to go blue? This week, Alex dives into all things primaries to see if we can read the tea leaves for what awaits both Republicans and Democrats in the future. She’s joined by Nikki Laurenzo, anchor and political reporter for FOX40 in Sacramento, to break down the chaotic and still very undecided races shaping California politics. Then she speaks to Crooked Media’s Dan Pfeiffer, co-host of Pod Save America and author of the Message Box newsletter, to get a...

This week, Alex digs into the nearly unfathomable corruption of President Trump’s settlement with the Department of Justice, including the $1.776 billion “Anti-weaponization Fund”. She speaks to Michael Fanone, a former DC Metropolitan police officer who was at the Capitol on January 6th to see how he feels about his taxpayer money potentially going to the insurrectionists who attacked him. Then Alex is joined by Andrew Weissman, attorney and author of the new book, Liar’s Kingdom. They talk about the lawsuit against the IRS that started this, and whether Trump actually has the legal immunity the settlement promises.

Redistricting battles are spreading like wildfire in both red and blue states, and increasingly the fate of America’s electoral system is at the mercy of the courts. This week, Alex speaks to Virginia Representative Suhas Subramanyam about how Democrats in the state are planning to fight fire with fire after a major setback for their efforts to redraw voting lines, and she hears from New York State Senator Mike Gianaris about the risks of diluting minority and progressive votes. Then Alex speaks to Stacey Abrams, host of Crooked Media’s Assembly Required, about the Supreme Court’s gutting of the Vo...

Has Trump corrupted our justice system beyond repair? The latest indictment of former FBI Director James Comey is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of damage that this administration has done. This week, Alex speaks to former US Attorney Mike Gordon about the purging of staff who investigated Trump or January 6th and the appointment of unqualified attorneys at every level. Then she speaks to Strict Scrutiny host Kate Shaw about the seashell indictment, the huge number of pardons already issued by Trump, and what steps will have to be taken to revive American justice.

This week, the President AND the press came under attack. After an attempted shooting at the White House Correspondents Dinner, the Trump administration was quick to blame the media and threaten ABC over a joke that hurt their feelings. On this episode, Alex speaks to Brian Stelter, CNN’s Chief Media Analyst, about the chaos in the Washington Hilton and the FCC’s unprecedented threats against networks. Then Alex speaks to Simon Ostrovsky, a special correspondent for PBS NewsHour, who recounts his harrowing capture in Ukraine in 2014 while reporting and talks about the need for the press to push back agai...

Instead of pumping the brakes on the Iran war, President Trump is breaking the pumps. This week Alex looks at how high gas prices are impacting Americans, and why they’ve long been considered an existential political threat. First, she speaks to an Uber driver and a gas station owner to get first hand accounts of the financial toll of the war. Then Alex is joined by Derek Thompson, writer and host of the Plain English podcast, to break down the other ways financial strain is going to spread across industries and wallets, and why it feels like one crisis af...

President Trump has a God problem. After criticizing the Pope and posting an image of himself as Jesus online, Trump has caused an uproar among his Christian base. This week, Alex speaks to Pastor Doug Pegitt about the crisis of conscience many faith leaders and parishioners are facing as their political leanings and moral beliefs collide. Then, she’s joined by Jennifer Palmieri, former White House Communications Director under President Obama and Senior Advisor to the Clinton and Harris campaigns, to talk about the power of the Catholic swing vote and how Democrats could win over religious voters.

The President of the United States has officially gone mad. That can be the only conclusion after Trump’s genocidal threats this week to destroy the entire country of Iran, before announcing a two week ceasefire. This week Alex looks at the consequences of the mad king’s actions both abroad and at home. First, she speaks to Mohamed Arrachedi, the Arab world and Iran network coordinator for the International Transport Workers’ Federation, to hear about the dire conditions thousands of seafarers are living in while they remain trapped on ships because of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Then s...

How can we make sense of America’s senseless war with Iran? This week, Alex asks if President Trump’s web of corruption extends to his foreign policy. First she speaks to Sarah Leah Whitson, the former Executive Director of DAWN (Democracy for the Arab World Now), to see how much sway Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman holds over Trump. Then, PSA co-host Jon Lovett joins the pod to talk about how America will claw its way back once this administration is done extracting from it for profit.

Leave it to travel delays during Spring Break to turn America’s focus to immigration again. This week, as Congress debates over funding and reforms to ICE, and Markwayne Mullin is sworn in as new Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Alex brings our attention back to the ongoing tactics the Trump administration is using to target immigrants and tear families apart. First she speaks to Stephanie Villarreal, whose husband has been detained despite being a DACA recipient. Then Alex speaks to Jonathan V. Last, editor of The Bulwark, about how to keep a spotlight on immigration, especially wh...

With the war against Iran now in its third week, it has become devastatingly clear that President Trump and his administration have no strategy for the conflict. This week, Alex speaks to Retired Master Sgt. Wes Bryant, a former senior advisor in the Pentagon’s Civilian Protection Center of Excellence, about how Secretary of War Pete Hegseth gutted the team responsible for limiting civilian deaths prior to the attacks on Iran. Then Alex speaks to former Senator and MS Now analyst Claire McCaskill about the political ramifications of the war. From rising gas prices and MAGA revolt, to the rejection by...

Over a week into the war with Iran, the casualties, global economic fallout, and incoherence of the Trump administration are all growing. This week Alex speaks to Senator Adam Schiff about Democrats’ attempts to put Congress back into the decision maker’s seat and how to bring transparency to a conflict costing American lives. Then, she speaks to Rachel Maddow, NYT Bestselling author and host at MS Now, about what a political and moral catastrophe the war is, how we got here, and why the only winner so far seems to be Vladimir Putin.

While the Trump administration wages war against Iran and broadens their military scope in the northern hemisphere, there are more subtle campaigns being pushed here at home – like the one to convince women to do nothing more than have babies and stay at home. This week, Alex speaks to former trad wife and host of “The Wake Her Up Podcast”, Sharon Johnson, about her upbringing in the Mormon Church, what it was like to discover she could have agency and choice in her late thirties, and how she feels about trad wives trending. Then Alex is joined by host of Crooke...

Rightwing billionaire takeovers, journalists getting arrested, and endless misinformation. Welcome to the current state of American journalism. This week, Alex speaks to former CNN correspondent Jim Acosta about how legacy news organizations caved to President Trump and the critical role of independent media.

She’s also joined by Jason Zengerle, author of “Hated By All the Right People: Tucker Carlson and the Unraveling of the Conservative Mind”, to analyze how Carlson brought fringe ideas into mainstream discourse.

Order Jason Zengerle's book here and use the code ALEX.

President Trump has torn down the East Wing of the White House, re-named the Kennedy Center, and proposed an “Independence Arch”. This week, Alex speaks to architect Neil Flanagan about the damage being done to Washington’s historic buildings, as well as the feasibility of his future projects. Then, she’s joined by Heather Cox Richardson, historian and author of the Substack, “Letters from an American” to analyze how the remaking of America’s capitol lines up with the tried and true methods of authoritarian leaders.

The latest release of more than three million Epstein files has exposed the vast network of powerful and ultra-rich elites who were part of Jeffrey Epstein’s social and business circle. This week, Alex speaks to journalist Kurt Andersen about the way people at the highest echelons of politics, business, academia, and beyond co-mingle. Then, she’s joined by The Bulwark’s Sarah Longwell to discuss whether or not this issue might finally bring about some political consequences for President Trump and his administration.

From a raid on an election office in Fulton County, Georgia, to a call to nationalize federal elections…President Trump is making it clear that his next target is our Democracy itself. This week, Alex speaks to Fulton County Commissioner Marvin Arrington about why he’s challenging the FBI’s seizure of voting records. Then, she’s joined by Faiz Shakir, founder of More Perfect Union, to break down the significance of a flipped seat in Texas, and what the Democrats’ prospects are in this fall’s midterm elections.