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Conversations with Bill Kristol: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Bill Kristol
Conversations with Bill Kristol features in-depth, thought-provoking discussions with leading figures in American public life.
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- 2 days ago1h 5m
Ron Brownstein: The Trump Coalition Crumbles
We had not only a deep but a broad consensus in the country that this presidency has failed. I think it’s the broadest consensus that a president has failed since Jimmy Carter.”So argues Ron Brownstein, a Bloomberg Opinion columnist and senior CNN political analyst, assessing the results of a historic midterm election. Drawing on his expertise in electoral analysis and knowledge of American political history, Brownstein shares his perspective on what the results reveal about the state of our politics, the choices facing both parties, and the electoral dynamics heading into 2028. Most consequential for the long term, he argues, is the crumbling of the multiracial working-class coalition Trump built in 2024, which leaves Republicans back in a “demographic squeeze.” Looking ahead to the presidential race, Brownstein sees a map that could reach well beyond the handful of swing states that have decided recent elections. As he puts it: “We have shaken up the [electoral] board in a way that just hasn’t been true for a while.”
- 1 weeks ago55 min
Anne Applebaum on Trump’s Predatory Foreign Policy
“You have to look at the strange new thing about US foreign policy. It’s not being made by diplomats. It’s not being made just by Marco Rubio. It’s being made by this group of businesspeople connected to Trump.”So argues Pulitzer Prize winning historian Anne Applebaum in a wide-ranging Conversation about how private business interests connected to Trump are shaping US foreign policy towards Russia, Ukraine, Venezuela, and elsewhere. Drawing on her recent reporting from Venezuela, she describes how the administration propped up Maduro’s vice president and partnered with one of the country’s most notorious regime cronies. Pointing to the recent electoral success of an anti-corruption political movement in Serbia, and the defeat of Flávio Bolsonaro in Brazil, Applebaum argues that grassroots anti-corruption movements can prevail against the corruption and kleptocracy of authoritarian leaders.
- 3 weeks ago1h 10m
Steve Rosen: New Military Challenges in the Age of AI, Drones, and Cyberattacks
"For the first time ever, the United States homeland cannot be taken for granted as a secure rear area against non-nuclear attacks."So argues Steve Rosen, professor emeritus of government at Harvard, in a bracing Conversation on the radically new security environment created by AI, precision strike weapons including drones, and cyber capabilities. Because these technologies give a distinct advantage to the offense, Rosen contends the US must "think about ways of similarly putting adversary assets at risk." He also explains what twentieth-century history can teach us about mobilizing the nation's resources in government, industry, and the wider community of experts, to counter critical threats to America and the free world.
- Sep 30, 202658 min
Phillips O’Brien on Ukraine, Iran, and What’s Next
Where do things stand in the wars in Ukraine and Iran? What are the implications of these wars for military technology, the future of warfare, and our highly fluid geopolitical environment?In this Conversation, Phillips O'Brien, the distinguished military historian and author of the indispensable Phillips's Newsletter on Substack, shares his perspective on the two major wars. O’Brien also considers the ramifications for US-China military and technological competition, the future of the Middle East, and the faultlines in Europe. This is an unusually incisive analysis of both the facts on the ground and the larger and gathering geopolitical threats we face.
- Sep 18, 202656 min
David Axelrod on the 2026 Midterms: How Big a Wave?
We are less than seven weeks away from Election Day, and early voting already has begun in some states. To discuss where things stand and where American politics might go after the midterms, we are joined again by David Axelrod, chief strategist for Barack Obama’s presidential campaigns in 2008 and 2012. Axelrod shares his perspective on how the election might play out when Trump “is in a deep hole and keeps on digging.” He explains how the fundamentals point toward a historically bad year for Republicans—with a war and tariffs, unmistakably the president's own doing, felt acutely by voters through rising energy costs. Kristol and Axelrod also discuss how the Democratic Party is dealing with the rise of economic populism, and where both parties might go in terms of ideology and character of candidates as we look toward the presidential race in 2028.
- Aug 27, 20261h 7m
Doug Sosnik on Two Different Elections: 2026 and 2028
"We're 60 days away from a completely different political environment. And I think people are underestimating how different it's going to be, and how volatile it's going to be without really any moorings for either party." So argues Doug Sosnik, former political director for Bill Clinton, one of the shrewdest analysts of American politics, and the author of an indispensable new Substack. In this detailed and wide-ranging Conversation on the midterms, 2028, and the instability of American politics, Sosnik explains what polls and historical precedents can and cannot capture about our volatile electorate. Sosnik and Kristol discuss the the strength of populist forces, the challenges facing both parties in the lead up to 2028, and why 2029 may be the beginning of a new era in American political history.
- Aug 7, 20261h 6m
Eric Edelman: Trump and the American Military
Where do things stand with the military in Trump’s Second Term? What are the consequences of a shortage of munitions in the conduct of the Iran War? What should we make of the firings of senior military leaders? In this Conversation, Eric Edelman, former Under Secretary of Defense and former ambassador to Turkey and Finland, shares his perspective on what he describes as increasing dysfunction in the military and its civilian leadership. Edelman points to the consequences of Trump’s departure from the military decision-making processes typical of past administrations. Edelman also reflects on the politicization of promotion and other military procedures. As he puts it: “It takes a lot of time and effort to build the kind of military that we have had, that we’ve grown used to having since the 1980s-1990s…. It doesn’t take long to tear it down.”
- Jul 24, 20261h 1m
Don Kettl: The Trump Administration and the Politicization of the Civil Service
"Am I worried? A lot. Why? Because they’re not done yet. And it’s not just the president, but the efforts of those around him and on the outside supporting him who have a very huge and fundamental and reshaping ideology, driving an effort to … increase the president’s power even further. And this dramatically weakens the power of Congress." So argues the distinguished political scientist and leading authority on the workings of American government, Don Kettl. According to Kettl, Trump in his second term has tried to make "loyalty to the president" the ultimate litmus test for government service. He argues that, by ignoring standards of merit and competence, Trump mostly has had the effect of gutting government rather than reforming it—with dangerous consequences for the country.
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