The Chuck ToddCast

Chuck Todd opens with a brutal verdict on the emerging Iran "deal": it's just a worse version of the Obama agreement Trump once tore up, Iran has effectively avoided every stated goal Trump and Israel set out to achieve, and Tehran retains control of the Strait of Hormuz — meaning this is unambiguously a loss for the United States, no matter how the administration tries to spin it. He argues Trump bit off far more than he could chew, that Bibi Netanyahu put his faith into Donald Trump (which never ends well), and that America's standing has been diminished in ways that will reverberate for years. Iran's regime won't be able to repress its own people forever, He notes, but the window to actually topple it during the protests was missed — and Gulf state allies will now be dealing with the Iranians for much longer than they bargained for, having quietly hoped the U.S. and Israel would do their dirty work for them. The political damage at home is just as severe. He cites the Wall Street Journal christening the past seven days as "the week that broke Trump's hold on Congress," with the president now underwater on every single issue, consumer confidence unlikely to recover before the midterms, the Senate unable to fund DHS through reconciliation because Trump makes bipartisan solutions impossible, and his January 6th slush fund producing a backlash that won't go away — with Republican senators visibly wavering. Chuck's verdict on the lame duck arriving early: this is a failed first two years of the Trump presidency, and the stronger his grip on the party, the weaker that party becomes in general elections. He blasts Todd Blanche for turning the DOJ into Trump's personal legal team (Blanche should be impeached, Todd argues, and nothing coming out of this DOJ can be trusted), tears into the long-awaited DNC autopsy of the 2024 loss as paralyzed, tone-deaf, and poorly thought-out — naming Ken Martin as the wrong person to lead the DNC and noting that the simple truth Democrats can't bring themselves to face is that the party is perceived as too liberal in a country with more conservatives than progressives. He flags Mike Duggan dropping out of the Michigan governor's race after his hoped-for contentious Democratic primary never materialized, and Tulsi Gabbard's resignation as DNI proving that the position itself was never really necessary Then, former Marine sniper AJ Pasciuti — author of the new book Dark Horse and host of the Combat Story podcast — joins the Chuck Toddcast for one of the most riveting and clear-eyed conversations about military service, leadership, and the realities of modern war. Pasciuti was 16 years old on September 11th, enlisted at 17, and eventually became the Marine who led the team that killed "Juba" — the notorious Iraqi sniper who uploaded videos of his American kills to the internet to taunt the U.S. military. He walks listeners through the entire hunt: how Marines studied Juba's uploaded footage to identify his patterns, how the team set a trap, how Pasciuti spotted Juba in his hide by catching the glint off the lens of a Sony Handycam, and how he knew within minutes that they'd gotten him — while emphasizing that he may have pulled the trigger but it was an entire team that brought Juba down. Pasciuti reflects on the strange experience of fighting enemies who saw themselves as freedom fighters rather than terrorists, why attention to detail is the trait that weeds out most sniper candidates, and how snipers are ultimately meant to combat the enemy emotionally as much as physically. The conversation broadens into a sweeping meditation on what military service teaches you about America — and where Pasciuti worries the country is heading. He calls the military one of the last bastions of the American dream, where opportunity is real but has to be earned, and argues that a culture promoting service to the greater good over the accumulation of wealth would make America measurably healthier.. Pasciuti is...

Former Marine sniper AJ Pasciuti — author of the new book Dark Horse and host of the Combat Story podcast — joins the Chuck Toddcast for one of the most riveting and clear-eyed conversations about military service, leadership, and the realities of modern war. Pasciuti was 16 years old on September 11th, enlisted at 17, and eventually became the Marine who led the team that killed "Juba" — the notorious Iraqi sniper who uploaded videos of his American kills to the internet to taunt the U.S. military. He walks listeners through the entire hunt: how Marines studied Juba's uploaded footage to identify his patterns, how the team set a trap, how Pasciuti spotted Juba in his hide by catching the glint off the lens of a Sony Handycam, and how he knew within minutes that they'd gotten him — while emphasizing that he may have pulled the trigger but it was an entire team that brought Juba down. Pasciuti reflects on the strange experience of fighting enemies who saw themselves as freedom fighters rather than terrorists, why attention to detail is the trait that weeds out most sniper candidates, and how snipers are ultimately meant to combat the enemy emotionally as much as physically. The conversation broadens into a sweeping meditation on what military service teaches you about America — and where Pasciuti worries the country is heading. He calls the military one of the last bastions of the American dream, where opportunity is real but has to be earned, and argues that a culture promoting service to the greater good over the accumulation of wealth would make America measurably healthier.. Pasciuti is openly worried about political leadership infecting the values of the military, makes the case that empathy must be viewed as a strength rather than a weakness in military leadership, and insists his book is political but not partisan — it's about values. He offers a vital warning that the Taliban proved asymmetrical warfare can defeat a stronger foe, that drone warfare is dangerously dehumanizing combat by reducing casualties to dollars and cents, and that the most important thing any soldier carries home is their soul intact — something he says becomes harder every year as the social contract between America and its veterans erodes. Pasciuti describes seeing fear rather than hatred in the eyes of a dying enemy combatant, a moment that has stayed with him, and explains why he can't support any politician who describes a political opponent as an enemy. He shares his experience running for city council and personally knocking on thousands of doors, his frustration with the financial barriers to entry in modern politics, and his belief that current discourse simply doesn't allow for real dialogue. He closes with the most powerful observation of the episode, made for Memorial Day: the holiday isn't about those who came home — it's about those who didn't — and anyone calling for war should be required to first sit down and have a conversation with a Gold Star family. Link in bio or go to https://getsoul.com & enter code TODDCAST for 30% off your first order. Refresh your wardrobe with Quince. Go to https://Quince.com/chuck for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. 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! Timeline: (Timestamps may vary based on advertisements) 00:00 AJ Pasciuti (Dark Horse) joins the Chuck ToddCast 02:00 If you wrote the book 10 years ago, how would it have been different? 03:30 You gain extra perspective about “why” when more time has passed 04:15 Leadership is currently in very short supply 06:15 The book is a love letter and thank you to people who shaped AJ’s life 08:15 The military is one of the last bastions of the American dream 09:15 Was 16 years old on 9/11 and the attack inspired AJ to enlist at 17 10:15 How did you identify that you had the skills to be a...

Former Senator, Tennessee Governor, and Education Secretary Lamar Alexander joins the Chuck Toddcast to discuss his new memoir The Education of a Senator and an offer his extraordinary perspective on American politics shaped by five decades in public life — including the surreal experience of being sworn in as governor under emergency circumstances because his predecessor was openly selling pardons for cash and eventually went to prison for selling whiskey licenses. (For listeners absorbing the news of Trump's modern pardon market, the historical echoes are impossible to miss.) Alexander shares stories that capture an entirely different era: how he had to govern in a bipartisan manner from day one to handle the scandal he inherited, how an inquiry surfaced about springing MLK's killer from prison, and how Southern governors of his generation had to drag their states out of the 1950s and into something resembling modernity. Alexander argues that style matters enormously in politics — and reveals that he predicted Trump's presidency years before it happened, because he saw clearly that American politics was being consumed by money and media in ways that disincentivized actual legislating. He walks through his theory of education reform, defends "No Child Left Behind"'s standards-based approach, and offers the wonkish but fascinating idea he once pitched to Reagan: have states and the federal government swap administration of Medicaid and K-12 education. The conversation broadens into Alexander's diagnosis of what's gone wrong with American politics and the path back. He argues that partisan primaries have created more ideologically extreme candidates than the system can absorb, and that people will always find ways around campaign finance limits — meaning the real fix has to be structural. Alexander offers a remarkable assessment of recent presidents: governor is the best preparation for the presidency, Carter didn't understand Washington when he arrived but Clinton did, and George W. Bush was the most "normal guy" of the modern era. He reflects on his famous healthcare debates with Obama (both gave each other notes afterwards rather than playing for spectacle), shares his concerns about state budgets becoming dangerously reliant on vice taxes, and asks the question no Republican can answer honestly anymore: could you propose raising the gas tax in today's GOP? Alexander is candid about Trump's mixed legacy — the party had become ossified and Trump did break it open, but pardoning the January 6th rioters was a profound error because the peaceful transfer of power is the single most important element of American democracy. He warns that we lack genuine two-party competition right now, that the next Republican nominee needs a fundamentally different temperament than Trump, and that the lack of character and morality in modern politics may be dissuading exactly the kind of people we most need to run. Link in bio or go to https://getsoul.com & enter code TODDCAST for 30% off your first order. Refresh your wardrobe with Quince. Go to https://Quince.com/chuck for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. 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! Timeline: (Timestamps may vary based on advertisements) 00:00 Sen. Lamar Alexander joins The Chuck ToddCast 01:30 Being a senator vs. being a governor 02:30 There are always 8-10 senators that are better than the rest 03:15 Ted Kennedy was an incredibly effective senator 04:45 The governor he succeeded was selling pardons for cash 06:30 The prior governor eventually went to jail for selling whiskey licenses 08:15 There was an inquiry about springing MLK Jr.’s killer from prison 09:30 Had to work in a bipartisan manner on day 1 to handle the scandal 10:30 Southern governors had to bring southern states out of the 50’s 12:45 How...

Chuck Todd walks through a primary night that should make every elected Republican break out in a cold sweat — Democrats outvoted Republicans by 100,000 votes in Georgia. He argues we now have a fully formed "woke right" — and Trump is leading it. The man who built his political brand on refusing to conform to anyone's mindset has become the most aggressive cancel culture warrior in American politics, ending the careers of Republicans who cross him. The downstream consequences are catastrophic for the GOP: Republicans will now have to dump enormous money into Texas to defend a seat that was supposed to be safe, and Texas joins North Carolina and Ohio as an expensive trio Republicans will struggle to defend. Trump appears either clueless or in denial that he's systematically setting his own party up for massive failure, but Chuck notes a "YOLO caucus" is quietly emerging among Senate Republicans who know they're toast and may act more independently. He closes with a moving tribute to Barney Frank, who died at 86 after 32 years in Congress — the architect of Dodd-Frank, the first openly gay member of Congress, who came out in 1987 at the height of the AIDS crisis and endured Gingrich-era homophobia that he felt punished him beyond what any straight politician would have faced. Frank's parting message to today's Democrats sits at the center of Todd's episode and arguably explains why the party keeps losing winnable elections: "Don't litmus test yourselves into oblivion." Then. former Senator, Tennessee Governor, and Education Secretary Lamar Alexander joins the Chuck Toddcast to discuss his new memoir The Education of a Senator and an offer his extraordinary perspective on American politics shaped by five decades in public life — including the surreal experience of being sworn in as governor under emergency circumstances because his predecessor was openly selling pardons for cash and eventually went to prison for selling whiskey licenses. (For listeners absorbing the news of Trump's modern pardon market, the historical echoes are impossible to miss.) Alexander shares stories that capture an entirely different era: how he had to govern in a bipartisan manner from day one to handle the scandal he inherited, how an inquiry surfaced about springing MLK's killer from prison, and how Southern governors of his generation had to drag their states out of the 1950s and into something resembling modernity. Alexander argues that style matters enormously in politics — and reveals that he predicted Trump's presidency years before it happened, because he saw clearly that American politics was being consumed by money and media in ways that disincentivized actual legislating. He walks through his theory of education reform, defends "No Child Left Behind"'s standards-based approach, and offers the wonkish but fascinating idea he once pitched to Reagan: have states and the federal government swap administration of Medicaid and K-12 education. The conversation broadens into Alexander's diagnosis of what's gone wrong with American politics and the path back. He argues that partisan primaries have created more ideologically extreme candidates than the system can absorb, and that people will always find ways around campaign finance limits — meaning the real fix has to be structural. Alexander offers a remarkable assessment of recent presidents: governor is the best preparation for the presidency, Carter didn't understand Washington when he arrived but Clinton did, and George W. Bush was the most "normal guy" of the modern era. He reflects on his famous healthcare debates with Obama (both gave each other notes afterwards rather than playing for spectacle), shares his concerns about state budgets becoming dangerously reliant on vice taxes, and asks the question no Republican can answer honestly anymore: could you propose raising the gas tax in today's GOP? Alexander is candid about Trump's mixed legacy — the party had become ossified and Trump did...

Chuck Todd walks through a primary night that should make every elected Republican break out in a cold sweat — Democrats outvoted Republicans by 100,000 votes in Georgia. He argues we now have a fully formed "woke right" — and Trump is leading it. The man who built his political brand on refusing to conform to anyone's mindset has become the most aggressive cancel culture warrior in American politics, ending the careers of Republicans who cross him. The downstream consequences are catastrophic for the GOP: Republicans will now have to dump enormous money into Texas to defend a seat that was supposed to be safe, and Texas joins North Carolina and Ohio as an expensive trio Republicans will struggle to defend. Trump appears either clueless or in denial that he's systematically setting his own party up for massive failure, but Chuck notes a "YOLO caucus" is quietly emerging among Senate Republicans who know they're toast and may act more independently. He closes with a moving tribute to Barney Frank, who died at 86 after 32 years in Congress — the architect of Dodd-Frank, the first openly gay member of Congress, who came out in 1987 at the height of the AIDS crisis and endured Gingrich-era homophobia that he felt punished him beyond what any straight politician would have faced. Frank's parting message to today's Democrats sits at the center of Todd's episode and arguably explains why the party keeps losing winnable elections: "Don't litmus test yourselves into oblivion." Finally, he answers listeners’ questions in the “Ask Chuck” segment. Predict the action all the way through the finals. Sign up now for your twenty-five dollar bonus on https://fanduel.com/predicts Link in bio or go to https://getsoul.com & enter code TODDCAST for 30% off your first order. Refresh your wardrobe with Quince. Go to https://Quince.com/chuck for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. 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! Timeline: 00:00 Chuck Todd’s introduction 02:30 Georgia Republican senate race headed to runoff 04:00 Democrats outvoted Republicans by 100k votes in Georgia 05:30 Breakdown of primary results from Idaho 06:00 An independent has a better chance to win in Idaho than a Dem 06:30 Brad Little was able to stand up to Trump & survive 07:00 You can’t oppose Trump and be a Republican in good standing 08:00 We now have a “woke right” that Trump is leading 08:45 Trump’s initial appeal was not having to conform to a certain mindset 09:30 Cancel culture is now Trump targeting any Republican who crosses him 10:45 Republicans can’t oppose taxpayer funding for Trump’s ballroom 11:30 Trump is as defensive about Epstein as he was about Russia 12:45 There’s a lot of circumstantial evidence with Trump/Epstein 13:15 Trump angry that Lauren Boebert won’t drop Epstein 14:00 Ken Paxton’s election denialism is what won him Trump’s support 15:15 Cassidy and Cornyn supported 90% of Trump’s agenda…wasn’t enough 15:45 Elected Republicans know that Trump can end their career in a primary 17:00 It’s Trump’s party but he’s setting it up for massive failure 17:45 GOP senators relieved they don’t have to vote for ballroom funding 18:15 There’s a growing YOLO caucus in the Republican senate 19:15 Republicans will have to spend way more money in Texas now 20:00 Cornyn has raised $400m for Republicans 22:15 Trump seems clueless or in denial that the GOP is set up to fail in the fall 23:45 Paxton is so corrupt he belongs nowhere near political power 24:15 Talarico can beat Paxton, but it will be close 25:00 Trump doesn’t usually spend money that doesn’t help Trump 26:30 Republicans are now playing defense…do they concede NC? 28:30 Texas, NC and Ohio become an expensive trio for GOP to defend 29:00 Several other potential Democratic senate pickups 35:00 Barney Frank passes away...

Chuck Todd and J.A. Adande legendary Steelers running back and fullback Rocky Bleier, as Dynastic goes deeper into the Pittsburgh Steelers dynasty. From winning a national championship at University of Notre Dame… to being drafted into both the NFL and the Vietnam War… to fighting his way back from devastating injuries to become a 4-time Super Bowl champion, Rocky’s story is one of the most unbelievable journeys in football history. There are also some incredible behind-the-scenes stories involving Franco Harris, Joe Biden, the Steelers locker room culture, and the leadership principles that helped build one of the greatest dynasties in sports history. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chuck Todd opens with a wave of primary night results that all point the same direction: Thomas Massie has lost his reelection bid, Trump's grip on the GOP base is as strong as ever, and the president just endorsed Ken Paxton in Texas — a move that's great for Trump personally and disastrous for the Republican Party, which will now have to pour enormous money into a Senate seat that was supposed to be safe. Democrats outvoted Republicans in Georgia, with African-American turnout spiking in the aftermath of the Supreme Court gutting the Voting Rights Act — exactly the kind of backlash dynamic that could reshape the entire midterm map. The night's verdict: good for Trump, bad for the GOP. But he argues the deeper, more dangerous story isn't electoral — it's the systematic normalization of corruption that Trump is engineering in plain sight. He's turning the Republican Party into a kleptocracy, selling pardons that erase prison sentences and massive financial penalties, raising prices for ordinary Americans while amassing a personal fortune, and just secured a DOJ get-out-of-jail-free card for his family on tax evasion. The genius of Trump's strategy, Chuck argues, is that he understands corruption can be absorbed into the culture if it carries no meaningful penalty. He reminds listeners that Bill Clinton survived his scandals only because the economy was booming; corruption becomes a voting issue when people's lives get worse, and Trump's policies are now unraveling the American economy at exactly the wrong moment for him. The real warning sits in the structural pattern: once corruption becomes politically survivable, it becomes politically reproducible. Then, Dartmouth political scientist Sean Westwood — director of the Polarization Lab and one of the leading researchers studying why American politics has become so toxic — joins the Chuck Toddcast with a counterintuitive opening argument: America has actually been more polarized in the past than it is now, and polarization itself is a normal feature of democracy. What changed is that the Cold War spent four decades artificially suppressing American polarization by giving the country a unifying external adversary; once the Soviet Union collapsed, the Pat Buchanan wing of the GOP emerged from hibernation and the country returned to its more natural fractious state. The real threat, Westwood argues, isn't disagreement — it's the structural changes that have allowed disagreement to metastasize into something all-consuming. He walks through the menu of possible reforms — ranked choice voting, all-party primaries, stronger party control over nominations — and is refreshingly candid about the tradeoffs: every fix comes with its own problems, moving from a two-party to a multi-party system would be enormously difficult (most multi-party democracies still end up with two dominant parties anyway), and the most realistic reform is simply restoring stronger party control, though Congress will never vote for anything that threatens its own members. The conversation broadens into a sweeping diagnosis of what's actually broken. Westwood argues we're creating a world where if you don't opt-in to politics, you simply won't encounter it — meaning voters increasingly lack the basic information needed to hold elected officials accountable. He warns that any election denialism from one side gives the other side a permission slip to do the same, that America is experiencing more democratic backsliding than most observers want to admit, and that AI-powered microtargeting is about to make the information environment dramatically more disruptive than anything we've seen so far. Westwood identifies the Senate's malapportionment as the single most destructive feature of American politics, and observes that interracial marriage used to be the great cultural wedge before being replaced by raw partisanship — meaning partisan identity has now absorbed every other source of social division. He notes that...

Dartmouth political scientist Sean Westwood — director of the Polarization Lab and one of the leading researchers studying why American politics has become so toxic — joins the Chuck Toddcast with a counterintuitive opening argument: America has actually been more polarized in the past than it is now, and polarization itself is a normal feature of democracy. What changed is that the Cold War spent four decades artificially suppressing American polarization by giving the country a unifying external adversary; once the Soviet Union collapsed, the Pat Buchanan wing of the GOP emerged from hibernation and the country returned to its more natural fractious state. The real threat, Westwood argues, isn't disagreement — it's the structural changes that have allowed disagreement to metastasize into something all-consuming. He walks through the menu of possible reforms — ranked choice voting, all-party primaries, stronger party control over nominations — and is refreshingly candid about the tradeoffs: every fix comes with its own problems, moving from a two-party to a multi-party system would be enormously difficult (most multi-party democracies still end up with two dominant parties anyway), and the most realistic reform is simply restoring stronger party control, though Congress will never vote for anything that threatens its own members. The conversation broadens into a sweeping diagnosis of what's actually broken. Westwood argues we're creating a world where if you don't opt-in to politics, you simply won't encounter it — meaning voters increasingly lack the basic information needed to hold elected officials accountable. He warns that any election denialism from one side gives the other side a permission slip to do the same, that America is experiencing more democratic backsliding than most observers want to admit, and that AI-powered microtargeting is about to make the information environment dramatically more disruptive than anything we've seen so far. Westwood identifies the Senate's malapportionment as the single most destructive feature of American politics, and observes that interracial marriage used to be the great cultural wedge before being replaced by raw partisanship — meaning partisan identity has now absorbed every other source of social division. He notes that Democrats have created litmus tests that will never win in rural America and that many modern legislators simply don't have governing skills but are very good at getting attention because humans are predisposed to focus on threat and conflict. Westwood's most haunting closing observation: telling voters they no longer live in a democracy can become a self-fulfilling prophecy, and that's a risk both sides need to take far more seriously than they currently do. Link in bio or go to https://getsoul.com & enter code TODDCAST for 30% off your first order. Refresh your wardrobe with Quince. Go to https://Quince.com/chuck for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. 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! Timeline: (Timestamps may vary based on advertisements) 00:00 Sean Westwood joins the Chuck ToddCast 01:15 The origin of the Polarization Lab? 02:45 Partisanship is the area where negativity is rewarded 03:30 America has been more polarized in the past than it is now 05:15 The Cold War suppressed polarization 06:00 Once the Cold War ended, the Pat Buchanon wing of GOP emerged 07:00 Polarization is normal in a democracy 07:45 Structural changes that led to polarization are the threat 08:30 Potential “relief valves” to ease polarization 09:30 Structural changes come with both improvements & negatives 10:15 Ranked choice voting can lead to district in election outcomes 11:30 Stronger party control is the easiest and most realistic fix 12:15 Moving from two parties to multi party would be incredibly...

Chuck Todd opens with a wave of primary night results that all point the same direction: Thomas Massie has lost his reelection bid, Trump's grip on the GOP base is as strong as ever, and the president just endorsed Ken Paxton in Texas — a move that's great for Trump personally and disastrous for the Republican Party, which will now have to pour enormous money into a Senate seat that was supposed to be safe. Democrats outvoted Republicans in Georgia, with African-American turnout spiking in the aftermath of the Supreme Court gutting the Voting Rights Act — exactly the kind of backlash dynamic that could reshape the entire midterm map. The night's verdict: good for Trump, bad for the GOP. But he argues the deeper, more dangerous story isn't electoral — it's the systematic normalization of corruption that Trump is engineering in plain sight. He's turning the Republican Party into a kleptocracy, selling pardons that erase prison sentences and massive financial penalties, raising prices for ordinary Americans while amassing a personal fortune, and just secured a DOJ get-out-of-jail-free card for his family on tax evasion. The genius of Trump's strategy, Chuck argues, is that he understands corruption can be absorbed into the culture if it carries no meaningful penalty. He reminds listeners that Bill Clinton survived his scandals only because the economy was booming; corruption becomes a voting issue when people's lives get worse, and Trump's policies are now unraveling the American economy at exactly the wrong moment for him. The real warning sits in the structural pattern: once corruption becomes politically survivable, it becomes politically reproducible. Finally, Chuck presents his ToddCast Top 5 list of primary elections that will have the biggest impact on the general election in November, and answers listeners’ questions in the “Ask Chuck” segment. Predict the action all the way through the finals. Sign up now for your twenty-five dollar bonus on https://fanduel.com/predicts Link in bio or go to https://getsoul.com & enter code TODDCAST for 30% off your first order. Refresh your wardrobe with Quince. Go to https://Quince.com/chuck for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. 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! Timeline: (Timestamps may vary based on advertisements) 00:00 Chuck Todd’s introduction 01:00 Thomas Massie loses re-elect. Trump still has grip over GOP 02:00 Trump endorsing Ken Paxton is good for him, bad for the GOP 03:15 Republicans will have to dump a ton of money into Texas 04:00 Endorsement is a gut punch for Cornyn, who had momentum 06:30 Georgia Republican governor & senate races headed to runoff 07:45 Rick Jackson has bragged about writing a million dollar check to Trump 08:15 Will Trump co-endorse in the GA governor’s race? 08:45 Democrats had higher turnout than GOP in Georgia 09:30 African-American turnout higher after gutting of Voting Rights Act 11:45 Trump’s endorsement really matters in a GOP primary 14:15 Election deniers turn off general election voters in swing states 15:30 Trump is not making decisions that are in the best interest of the GOP 18:00 Overall, a good night for Trump, a bad night for the Republican party 19:00 Corruption only becomes a voting issue when voters’ lives get worse 19:30 Clinton survived scandal because the economy was booming 20:00 Trump is normalizing corruption & selling of the presidency 20:45 Trump is stealing from taxpayers to create a slush fund 21:15 DOJ gives the Trumps a get-out-of-jail free card for tax evasion 22:00 Trump’s survival has come from convincing voters all politicians are corrupt 22:45 Trump’s policies are unraveling the American economy 23:30 Trump understands corruption can be absorbed into the culture 24:45 The danger is that corruption carries no meaningful penalty...

Chuck Todd opens with the political obituary of Bill Cassidy, the Louisiana senator whose primary defeat is the latest and clearest evidence that there is simply no room left in the Republican Party for anyone who ever had qualms about Donald Trump. He argues Cassidy's downfall was as much self-inflicted as Trump-driven: he had the spine to vote to convict in the second impeachment trial but never the spine to actually defend the vote, owning it while constantly running from it on the trail. Cassidy could have run as an independent and didn't, gave up the last shreds of his credibility by voting to confirm RFK Jr., and put himself in the worst possible position to defend the toughest vote of his career. He uses the moment to make a broader argument: the Republican Party no longer believes in morals, ethics, or character, the leaders of both parties are damaging their own institutions in pursuit of raw power, and the country desperately needs more independents and third parties to break the duopoly. Trump, Chuck reminds listeners, is the scorpion of the fable — he will sting you every time, regardless of what you've done for him. The bigger story, though, is Trump's stunning 180 on China — a complete reversal that has produced near-total silence from the GOP's once-deafening chorus of China hawks. He argues Trump has gone from confrontation to pure transaction with Beijing, that he appears willing to sell out Taiwan as leverage, and that he's effectively treating American arms sales to Taipei as bargaining chips in a trade negotiation. The contrast with Nixon's trip to China is glaring: Nixon went with a coherent strategy, Trump went without one. For decades America positioned itself as the defender of democracy worldwide, but that role is now genuinely in question — Pacific allies are nervous about Chinese aggression, rightfully so if America is prepared to trade away Taiwan, and Trump is signaling to the world that you simply cannot count on the United States anymore. He argues that the most damning indictment of the modern GOP is the fact that Trump is visibly screwing up on the world stage and not a single Republican will say so. He closes with a more hopeful note from his commencement address at John Carroll University, praising the school's political journalism program for teaching students morality and empathy, and reflecting that this graduating generation has been forced to adapt and develop resilience in ways no class before them ever had to. Finally, Chuck hops into the ToddCast Time Machine to revisit the fraught opening of the Brooklyn bridge and the campaign to overcome the public’s fear about a new technology. He also answers listeners’ questions in an extended edition of “Ask Chuck”. Predict the action all the way through the finals. Sign up now for your twenty-five dollar bonus on https://fanduel.com/predicts Link in bio or go to https://getsoul.com & enter code TODDCAST for 30% off your first order. Refresh your wardrobe with Quince. Go to https://Quince.com/chuck for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. 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! Timeline: (Timestamps may vary based on advertisements) 00:00 Chuck Todd’s introduction 03:45 Bill Cassidy’s vote to convict Trump cost him his senate seat 04:45 Closed GOP primary will favor Trump endorsed candidates 06:30 Only 3 Republicans left in congress who voted to impeach 09:00 Cassidy was 2nd worst performing of all GOP who voted to convict 09:30 Cassidy never defended his vote during the campaign 11:45 Cassidy could have run as an independent, but chose not to 13:00 More senators would have voted to convict on a secret ballot 14:30 Cassidy owned his vote, but always ran away from it 16:00 Cassidy gave up his credibility by voting to confirm RFK Jr. 16:45 There is no room in the GOP for people...

Mark Zandi — chief economist at Moody's Analytics and one of the most quoted forecasters in America — joins the Chuck Toddcast to deliver a remarkably sobering verdict on where the economy actually stands: without the $700 billion currently being poured into AI investment, the United States would already be in or close to recession. The latest CPI and PPI reports came back ugly and uglier, oil shocks from the Iran war will keep prices elevated through 2027 even if the war ended tomorrow (Zandi says don't expect $3 gas again until then), real disposable income has been flat or falling for a year, FHA mortgage delinquencies are at their highest level since the Great Recession, and the bottom 40% of earners are living genuinely paycheck to paycheck. Zandi pushes back on lazy comparisons to the 1970s — conditions were objectively worse then, with a self-reinforcing wage-price loop that took a brutal recession to break — but warns that nominating Kevin Warsh as Fed chair specifically to cut rates would risk replaying exactly that movie, and that a policy of low rates at any cost would be catastrophic. The deeper diagnosis is brutal: employment was growing steadily and inflation was easing until Liberation Day, when both reversed simultaneously — meaning Trump's tariffs are the most obvious thing to cut, and the question of who actually benefits from them gets harder to answer every month. The mass deportation policy is costing the country roughly 0.5-0.7% of GDP growth that normal immigration would have provided, with agriculture, construction, hospitality and services taking direct hits. Zandi sees economic weakness most pronounced in the South and West, healthcare-anchored cities like Philadelphia outperforming Florida and Texas, and a national debt now exceeding GDP that's setting the conditions for a potential bond market sell-off — with global investors already being advised to diversify away from the dollar as America deglobalizes and the world quietly pulls away. His most striking observation: the fixes are all sitting on the shelf. America doesn't need new ideas to solve any of this — it needs the political will to use the ones we already have, and that will probably won't materialize until a genuine crisis forces it. By the midterms, voters will be feeling the worst of it, and while partisan media can try to spin the numbers all it wants — reality is much harder to spin. Timeline: (Timestamps may vary based on advertisements) 00:00 Mark Zandi joins the Chuck ToddCast 00:45 CPI inflation and PPI inflation reports came back ugly & uglier 02:00 The through lines are ugly and going to get worse due to oil prices 02:45 Even if the war ended today, higher prices would last all year 03:15 Inflation has been accelerating under Trump, was on track under Biden 04:15 Inflation was worse during Covid combined with start of Ukraine war 07:00 Economy and stagflation were much worse in the 70s than now 07:45 Conditions different from 70s, there was a self-reinforcing loop in 70s 08:30 The only way out of 70s stagflation was a very severe recession 09:15 Kevin Warsh nominated for Fed chair to lower interest rates 10:00 If Warsh cuts interest rates, we risk a repeat of the 70s 10:45 A policy of low rates at any cost would be catastrophic 11:15 Rate cuts won’t happen since they are set by a board 11:45 Economy won’t have time to recover in time for the midterm elections 13:00 Partisan media can try to spin the economy, but reality is hard to spin 14:15 We won’t be back to $3/gallon gas until 2027 most likely 14:45 Last 3 months, the economy got a boost due to tax refunds that are fading 16:00 Real disposable income has fallen or stayed stagnant the past year 16:45 Bottom 40% earners are struggling badly, living paycheck to paycheck 17:45 FHA mortgage delinquency rates are rising, highest since great recession 19:00 Things will feel worse economically by the midterm election 20:30 Without $700B in AI investment,...

Chuck Todd opens by previewing Mark Zandi's sobering economic forecast from this episode and arrives at a simple, devastating conclusion: every single policy decision Trump has made has made the economy worse, tax refunds have already been gobbled up by inflation, and the math guarantees voters will feel even worse by the midterms — meaning Republicans on the ballot should be furious with the president, and those in swing districts have no choice but to start distancing themselves from his policies now. But the real heat in this episode comes from his analysis of Trump's trip to Beijing to meet Xi Jinping, which he frames as the diplomatic equivalent of going hat in hand. He argues there's simply no winning a trade war with China, that scrapping the TPP and the JCPOA will go down as two of the most colossal strategic mistakes of the modern era, and that Trump's combined Iran and China policies have somehow managed to strengthen both adversaries simultaneously — to the point that his foreign policy decisions are starting to make him look, in Chuck’s words, like a Manchurian candidate. The world is now beginning to view the United States itself as the global boogeyman, and Trump's presidency is doing damage to America's long-term standing that will take a generation to repair. The brutal irony, he notes, is that Trump now needs more from China than China needs from America: China is the only country with real leverage over Iran, defenders of Taiwanese independence are quietly terrified that Trump could trade them away for an economic off-ramp, and Xi gets to sit across the table from a desperate American president whose negotiating position keeps eroding by the day. Then, Mark Zandi — chief economist at Moody's Analytics and one of the most quoted forecasters in America — joins the Chuck Toddcast to deliver a remarkably sobering verdict on where the economy actually stands: without the $700 billion currently being poured into AI investment, the United States would already be in or close to recession. The latest CPI and PPI reports came back ugly and uglier, oil shocks from the Iran war will keep prices elevated through 2027 even if the war ended tomorrow (Zandi says don't expect $3 gas again until then), real disposable income has been flat or falling for a year, FHA mortgage delinquencies are at their highest level since the Great Recession, and the bottom 40% of earners are living genuinely paycheck to paycheck. Zandi pushes back on lazy comparisons to the 1970s — conditions were objectively worse then, with a self-reinforcing wage-price loop that took a brutal recession to break — but warns that nominating Kevin Warsh as Fed chair specifically to cut rates would risk replaying exactly that movie, and that a policy of low rates at any cost would be catastrophic. The deeper diagnosis is brutal: employment was growing steadily and inflation was easing until Liberation Day, when both reversed simultaneously — meaning Trump's tariffs are the most obvious thing to cut, and the question of who actually benefits from them gets harder to answer every month. The mass deportation policy is costing the country roughly 0.5-0.7% of GDP growth that normal immigration would have provided, with agriculture, construction, hospitality and services taking direct hits. Zandi sees economic weakness most pronounced in the South and West, healthcare-anchored cities like Philadelphia outperforming Florida and Texas, and a national debt now exceeding GDP that's setting the conditions for a potential bond market sell-off — with global investors already being advised to diversify away from the dollar as America deglobalizes and the world quietly pulls away. His most striking observation: the fixes are all sitting on the shelf. America doesn't need new ideas to solve any of this — it needs the political will to use the ones we already have, and that will probably won't materialize until a genuine crisis forces it. By the midterms, voters will be...

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...