Best Josh Barro Podcasts (2025)

1
No Capes, Real Peace: U Thant's UN and What We Lost 42:15

Play Pause

25m ago42:15

42:15

Historian and grandson of third secretary-general of the United Nations U Thant, Thant Myint-U, discusses Peacemaker: U Thant and the Forgotten Quest for a Just World—how the UN once brokered real ceasefires (Cuban Missile Crisis, India-Pakistan 1965), why its stature faded, what decolonization changed, and Myanmar's present. A reminder that boring…

1
Alicia Wanless — “The Ecology of Information” 33:15

1d ago33:15

33:15

Carnegie Endowment’s Alicia Wanless argues that disinformation isn’t new—it’s just our latest pollutant. In The Information Animal, she maps centuries of “information ecosystems,” from King Charles I’s pamphlet floods to the social-media deluge, and shows why attempts to “detoxify” them often fail. We trace the analogies between DDT and digital out…

1
Immigration, with Matt Yglesias 1:21:44

12h ago1:21:44

1:21:44

Matt Yglesias joins Josh, Megan and Ben to discuss immigration: why (and how) the Biden administration bungled the issue so badly and how the Democratic party could start to regain voters' trust on the issue. Also in this episode: the problem of “the algorithm” and how it's really a problem of the audience with its bias toward negativity; Helen And…

1
Michael Kirk — "RFK Jr.'s Latest Addiction: Attention" 43:46

1d ago43:46

43:46

Frontline's Michael Kirk discusses The Rise of RFK Jr., charting Kennedy's path from sex and drug addiction to what Kirk calls "an addiction to validation." He describes a man driven by grievance, and details how the alliance between Kennedy and Trump built the so-called "MAHA movement," and why it may collapse under its own contradictions. Plus: a…

1
Michael Townsend & Jeremy Workman: "Secret Mall Apartment" 33:26

3d ago33:26

33:26

Michael Townsend and director Jeremy Workman tell the wild true story of an eight-artist collective that built a hidden home inside Providence Place Mall—part prank, part art project, and a pointed reply to gentrification. They revisit grainy 2003–07 footage, a tape-art 9/11 memorial, and the logistics (and ethics) of living behind a cinderblock wa…

1
Chris Murphy: “Congress needs to take war powers back.” 23:26

5d ago23:26

23:26

Mike revisits his 2019 conversation with Senator Chris Murphy on the AUMF — the two-decade-old law still used to justify U.S. military strikes from Yemen to the Caribbean. Plus, a new strike on a Venezuelan vessel raises questions about presidential authority and transparency. We trace how “temporary” wartime powers became permanent policy, and wha…

1
Lisa Graves: On The Roberts Court's Power Play 39:17

5d ago39:17

39:17

Lisa Graves joins to discuss Without Precedent: How Chief Justice Roberts and His Accomplices Rewrote the Constitution and Dismantled Our Rights—from court "capture" networks to why she sees the recent immunity ruling and emergency-docket moves as system-tilting, not umpiring. She and our host spar over what counts as a "constitutional crisis," con…

1
Drake's Not Like Us (Familiar With Defamation Law) 19:12

6d ago19:12

19:12

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.serioustrouble.show Letitia James has been indicted, as President Trump’s retribution campaign continues. (So has John Bolton, but that happened after we recorded.) While the Bolton indictment has a forbidding, professional feel, the James indictment does not, and is likely to be vul…

1
EP 28 | Jonah Goldberg and Zee Cohen-Sanchez 1:03:11

6d ago1:03:11

1:03:11

Hamas hostages, Trump and autocracy, and the strangely quiet shutdown — we tackle all three. Why Trump’s blunt style played in the Middle East, whether “competitive authoritarianism” really fits his second-term instincts and enablers, and who’s taking the fall for Obamacare-premium brinkmanship. Plus: goat-grinders (pointless rebrands at Max and Ap…

1
Not Even Mad: Jonah Goldberg & Zee Cohen-Sanchez 1:06:06

7d ago1:06:06

1:06:06

Hamas hostages, Trump and autocracy, and the strangely quiet shutdown — we tackle all three. Why Trump’s blunt style played in the Middle East, whether “competitive authoritarianism” really fits his second-term instincts and enablers, and who’s taking the fall for Obamacare-premium brinkmanship. Plus: goat-grinders (pointless rebrands at Max and Ap…

1
Jonathan Mahler: The Tabloids That Made The City That Made the Country 48:14

8d ago48:14

48:14

Mahler walks us through The Gods of New York: Egotists, Idealists, Opportunists, and the Birth of the Modern City, 1986–1990—how a late-'80s crucible of crime, crack, and tabloids minted characters like Spike Lee ("the coolest guy in America"), Al Sharpton, Donald Trump, Ed Koch, and Rudy Giuliani. We revisit Howard Beach, Yusuf Hawkins, Do the Rig…

1
Welcome to Central Air! 1:30:33

8d ago1:30:33

1:30:33

This is the first episode of Central Air, a weekly politics podcast from and for the political center. Every other part of the political spectrum has a podcast — so, why not us? Josh Barro, Megan McArdle and Ben Dreyfuss talk about the state of the political center, and the exciting new initiatives that focus on what centrists are for, not just wha…

1
Cory Doctorow: Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It 35:52

9d ago35:52

35:52

Doctorow lays out his "enshittification" playbook—how tech platforms lure users, trap businesses, then extract value from both—tying it to interoperability, right-to-repair, and DMCA lock-ins, with Facebook as Exhibit A. He explains why incremental state laws can break Big Tech's coalitions better than sweeping federal reforms. Meanwhile, Venezuela…

1
SCOTUS’s Shadow Docket, Calibrated + Steven Vladeck 35:22

12d ago35:22

35:22

Mike previews the new Supreme Court term: Colorado’s conversion-therapy ban, transgender athlete cases out of Idaho and West Virginia, a Louisiana Voting Rights Act fight, and a Rastafarian grooming claim, then dials in the panic meter on the “shadow docket”: what it is, why Trump’s emergency-order wins look so lopsided, and where concern beats cat…

1
Funny You Should Mention: Steph Tolev 1:07:34

12d ago1:07:34

1:07:34

Season 3 of Funny You Should Mention begins with the “Filth Queen” herself Steph Tolev to explore why gross can be smart, how crowd work goes viral, Bill Burr’s boost to her career, and the Canadian comedy grind. Big laughs, sharp ideas, adult themes. We also get into slapstick dummies, family lore, and why Boston brings the best chaos. Come for th…

1
Race To Trial 15:21

13d ago15:21

15:21

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.serioustrouble.show James Comey has been arraigned and has a trial date of January 5. Both his lawyer and the judge appear set on moving rapidly to trial, and the government is rushing to be ready. We discuss the motions it sounds like Comey's legal team will file, which likely will …

1
Plestia Alaqad: “The Eyes of Gaza,” Witness and Journalist 51:48

14d ago51:48

51:48

Today on the Gist, a tough conversation with Plestia Alaqad about what she saw in Gaza and how she frames it for a global audience. They dig into sympathy versus credence, terminology like IDF versus IOF, the Al-Ahli Hospital claim, and whether journalism requires shared vocabulary. Plus, a spiel on U Thant, transliteration, and the “clean” versus …

1
Jake Tapper and the Race Against Terror 35:55

14d ago35:55

35:55

Today on The Gist. Jake Tapper breaks down the first U.S. criminal trial of a foreign combatant: why prosecutors chose court over Gitmo, and the painstaking sleuthing that turned a shaky confession into a conviction. We talk DOJ institutional memory, the politics orbiting the Comey case, and why trials rather than commissions lock terrorists away. …

1
Obama CDC Director Tom Frieden: “'Believe in Science' Is a Terrible Idea.” 37:35

15d ago37:35

37:35

1
Steven Pinker: “Common Knowledge Changes Everything” 37:39

16d ago37:39

37:39

1
Diane Foley on America’s Hostage Blind Spot 29:12

19d ago29:12

29:12

Diane Foley, founder of the Foley Foundation and mother of slain journalist James Foley, joins Mike to discuss America’s fragmented hostage-recovery system, wrongful detentions, and why the U.S. response lags far behind countries like Israel. In the Spiel, Mike looks at the 20-point Gaza plan, Israeli hostages, and the very different ways nations v…

1
Jonah Blank: “Very Quickly and Then Very Slowly” in Nepal 34:51

20d ago34:51

34:51

South Asia expert Jonah Blank explains how a Gen-Z–driven uprising—fueled by social media, flaunted elite wealth, and ubiquitous VPNs—toppled Nepal’s government. He sketches a country where remittances power daily life, institutions lack public trust, and political parties play musical chairs. Also: Trump fires another U.S. attorney and pressures M…

1
EP 27 | Ben Wizner and Ilya Shapiro 1:03:33

20d ago1:03:33

1:03:33

Free speech under heat: the ACLU’s Ben Wizner and the Manhattan Institute’s Ilya Shapiro square off (and sometimes align) on the “ethos” of the First Amendment—from the Ball State firing over Charlie Kirk comments to cancel culture, government jawboning, and campus heckler’s vetoes. We dig into the Supreme Court’s shadow docket and unitary-executiv…

1
Not Even Mad: Ben Wizner & Ilya Shapiro 1:02:34

21d ago1:02:34

1:02:34

Free speech under heat: the ACLU’s Ben Wizner and the Manhattan Institute’s Ilya Shapiro square off (and sometimes align) on the “ethos” of the First Amendment—from the Ball State firing over Charlie Kirk comments to cancel culture, government jawboning, and campus heckler’s vetoes. We dig into the Supreme Court’s shadow docket and unitary-executiv…

1
Grand Jury Shopping 19:42

21d ago19:42

19:42

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.serioustrouble.show We know more this week about indictment of James Comey. Maybe the grand jury vote was weak, but an indictment is an indictment, right? Maybe not. We discuss how Comey’s attorneys are likely to seek dismissal of the indictments. Meanwhile, we have some more detail …

1
Yaakov Katz - While Israel Slept: Winning Tunnels, Losing Time 44:58

21d ago44:58

44:58

Yaakov Katz co-author with Amir Bohbot, of While Israel Slept: How Hamas Surprised the Most Powerful Military in the Middle East, traces the failures that led to October 7 and how Israel's security establishment misread Hamas's strength and intent. He explains how world opinion, hostage leverage, and casualty ratios constrain Israel differently in …

1
KJ Steinberg, on The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox 37:30

22d ago37:30

37:30

We talk with KJ Steinberg, showrunner of Hulu’s The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox, about concentrating on Knox’s perspective while still showing how others perceived her, and the legal tightropes that shaped the series. She details the refracted structure (episodes from the prosecutor’s to the co-defendant’s POVs) and why the story follows Knox throu…

1
Amanda Knox — “You don’t have to be a psychopath to wrongly convict somebody.” 33:31

24d ago33:31

33:31

Knox recounts confronting prosecutor Giuliano Mignini and explores how certainty, incentive structures, and “alternate realities” turned her story into a sprawling international conspiracy. She parses the feedback loop between media and Italian justice, and why today’s true-crime-savvy public might have questioned the case sooner. Also: the 21 poin…

1
Is Masculinity A Prison? - Mike on Open to Debate 41:51

26d ago41:51

41:51

Listen to the full debate on Open to Debate’s podcast channel or watch it on YouTube: https://bit.ly/MikePesca Men are falling behind in our society, and some point to traditional ideas of masculinity as the cause. What does it mean to “be a man” today, and how do labels like toxic masculinity impact that question? For some men, masculinity is a co…

1
Stop Making Us Defend James Comey 21:59

26d ago21:59

21:59

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.serioustrouble.show James Comey has been indicted, charged with making a false statement and obstruction of justice. Now, the government will try to prove he lied to Congress when he said he never “authorized someone else at the FBI to be an anonymous source in news reports” about th…

1
Andrew J. Taylor: “Blue-Collar Voters Don’t Want Blue-Collar Politicians” 31:58

27d ago31:58

31:58

We talk with North Carolina State political scientist Andrew J. Taylor about his new book, A Tolerance for Inequality: American Public Opinion and Economic Policy, probing why voters often prefer public goods and tax cuts over classic redistribution—and how policy frequently tracks aggregate opinion more than pundits admit. Taylor also explores why…

1
Justin Driver: “The Fall of Affirmative Action” 41:38

28d ago41:38

41:38

Yale Law’s Justin Driver argues that SFFA v. Harvard/UNC broke with precedent and embraced a faux “colorblindness,” spotlighting the Court’s creative reading of Grutter’s 2028 “sunset.” He lays out the early fallout—sharp drops in Black enrollment at elite schools, Asian American gains, and the perverse incentive for applicants to “essay their trau…

1
Laura Spinney on the Language That Conquered the World 31:36

28d ago31:36

31:36

Laura Spinney joins to discuss her new book Proto: How One Ancient Language Went Global, tracing the unlikely rise of Indo-European and why most of the world now speaks it. Also, a look at the Dallas ICE field office shooting in the broader context of political violence and how we categorize it. And in the Spiel: Jimmy Kimmel’s comeback monologue, …

1
Sadie Dingfelder on Mosquito Magnets and Who Tastes Best to Bugs 26:22

1M ago26:22

26:22

President Trump mangles acetaminophen and issues a sweeping “don’t take Tylenol” decree. Are some people truly more attractive to mosquitoes than others? Sadie Dingfelder joins to walk through decades of mosquito studies, from Gambian huts filled with human volunteers to modern lab assays with paraffin membranes, and explains why carbon dioxide, sw…

1
Andrew Fox on “Slam Frank”: Make Something Dangerous 51:11

1M ago51:11

51:11

The writer-composer behind the viral Slam Frank (an Anne Frank musical staged as if by the most social-justice-forward regional theater) explains why he pushes rules to their reductio ad absurdum and why “art should lift up the people who are beneath me.” Fox walks through a contentious table read, a Change.org backlash, and the joy/rage of craftin…

1
JD Vance, Jimmy Kimmel, and America’s Radical Underground 14:13

1M ago14:13

14:13

It’s the Saturday show. One from the week, one from the vault. First, a look at JD Vance on the mic with Charlie Kirk and the culture wars of today. Then, we rewind a decade to my interview with Brian Burrow, author of Days of Rage, on the radical underground and the turbulence of the 1970s. Produced by Corey Wara Production Coordinator Ashley Khan…

1
Brendan Nyhan: Measuring Political Violence Without Panic 29:38

1M ago29:38

29:38

Dartmouth's Brendan Nyhan explains why headline-grabbing polls inflate support for "partisan violence" and how careful survey design finds under 10% backing for felony-level force, far less than in many democracies. He traces how elite cues shape perceived threats and warns against pretextual crackdowns. Also: a look at Jimmy Kimmel's removal and a…

1
Federal Censorship Commission 18:39

1M ago18:39

18:39

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.serioustrouble.show Disney has “indefinitely” ceased airing Jimmy Kimmel Live under pressure from FCC chairman Brandon Carr and from Nexstar and Sinclair, two major owners of ABC affiliate stations, which themselves faced significant pressure from Carr. It is illegal for federal offi…

1
EP 26 | Michael A. Cohen and Jamie Kirchick 1:00:16

1M ago1:00:16

1:00:16

Michael A. Cohen and Jamie Kirchick discuss the Charlie Kirk assassination and the immediate retreat to priors — who’s weaponizing grief, what counts as incitement, and whether “fascistic” vs. “authoritarian” language clarifies or inflames. Plus, the TikTok law end-run and why process crimes don’t move voters the way visible force does. In Goat Gri…

1
Not Even Mad: Michael A. Cohen and Jamie Kirchick 1:01:21

1M ago1:01:21

1:01:21

Michael A. Cohen and Jamie Kirchick discuss the Charlie Kirk assassination and the immediate retreat to priors — who’s weaponizing grief, what counts as incitement, and whether “fascistic” vs. “authoritarian” language clarifies or inflames. Plus, the TikTok law end-run and why process crimes don’t move voters the way visible force does. In Goat Gri…

1
Christian Duguay Brings the Valley Heat 29:33

1M ago29:33

29:33

Christian Duguay, creator of Valley Heat, breaks down how Doug Duguay, his in-show alter ego, works within a 51% fictional universe. Tight sound design and ad-jingle microplots create an absurd world populated with Canadian foosball biker gangs and rogue car washes. Duguay traces the show’s improv roots and why “I’ll take that” became its guiding e…

1
Garrett Graff: “Russia Sought Division More Than Victory” 30:34

1M ago30:34

30:34

Garrett Graff, host of the Long Shadow podcast, argues that Russia’s 2016 interference was about sowing distrust in U.S. democracy—weakening Clinton if she won, or destabilizing the system either way. He revisits the Access Hollywood–email leak overlap, the forgotten U.S. warning about Russian meddling, and how other nations have since borrowed the…

1
Garrett M. Graff on “Long Shadow” and the Internet’s Descent Into Outrage 37:56

1M ago37:56

37:56

Writer and historian Garrett Graff discusses the fourth season of his podcast Long Shadow, which charts how the internet devolved from a tool of hope to one of outrage and division. He traces that shift to specific corporate choices—especially Facebook and YouTube prioritizing profit by feeding anger and conspiracy. Graff argues that these unregula…

1
Mike Pesca on The Good Fight Club 43:40

1M ago43:40

43:40

Today on The Gist, we air some of Mikes appearance on The Good Fight Club Podcast. Please note that this was recorded on September 10th, before the shooting of Charlie Kirk. You can listen to the rest of the podcast using the link below. The Good Fight Club: Russian Drones in Poland, Low Literacy in Schools, and Can Anyone Rein in Trump? Produced b…

1
Bill McKibben: “Energy From Heaven, Not From Hell” 39:04

1M ago39:04

39:04

Bill McKibben discusses his new book Here Comes the Sun: A Last Chance for the Climate and a Fresh Chance for Civilization, making the case for renewables as civilization’s best hope. He has long argued that we can’t save the planet without a massive overhaul of how we live, but here he answers a challenge to whether that was ever right. McKibben d…

1
Surprising Federal Crimes 39:54

1M ago39:54

39:54

This week’s show takes a look at federal charges in the widely discussed Charlotte train murder case. Murder, of course, is not generally a federal crime, but because the murder happened on a train, the Feds have charged it as a violation of 18 USC § 1992, which prohibits “an act, including the use of a dangerous weapon, with the intent to cause de…

1
Aaron Sibarium on Charlie Kirk, Retribution, and the Cycle of Violence 38:46

1M ago38:46

38:46

Aaron Sibarium of the Washington Free Beacon reflects on his recent full-hour interview with Charlie Kirk, which aired just a week before Kirk’s assassination. He recalls Kirk’s reach across conservative factions and his surprising focus on debate and voter mobilization rather than pure outrage. The conversation widens to the risks of political vio…

1
Ryan Evans on Drones, Ground War, and Ukraine’s Fight for Survival 27:59

1M ago27:59

27:59

Ryan Evans, founder of War on the Rocks, breaks down the grinding land war in eastern Ukraine, the tactical role of drones, and how morale and leadership shape the battlefield. He points to Zelensky’s missteps, the weapons still needed, and what “winning the ground” really means. Also: Russia sends drones into Poland, forcing Trump into a test of N…

1
Nim Shapira: Torn Between Empathy and Erasure 31:29

1M ago31:29

31:29

Filmmaker Nim Shapira discusses Torn, his documentary on the hostage posters put up—and torn down—across New York after October 7th. He reflects on free speech, empathy, and why erasing someone else’s pain won’t shorten a war. Also: a protest in Nepal over a social media ban topples the prime minister. Plus: Israel’s strikes on Hamas leaders in Qat…

1
Christine Wenc: The Onion’s Straight Face Made It Funnier 28:48

1M ago28:48

28:48

Christine Wenc joins to discuss Funny Because It’s True: How The Onion Created Modern American News Satire, recalling its Wisconsin roots, AP-style discipline, and newsroom battles over absurd details. She traces the paper’s arc from gas-station rent money to online cult influence, and the tension between preachiness and bite. Plus, the Ambazonian …