The Josh Marshall Podcast

Josh, David and TPM reporter Josh Kovensky discuss their top takeaways from the Mueller report and how Congress is likely to act on it. Josh also shares how taking apart a Grady’s container is reminiscent of slaughtering an animal. Listen

Investigative reporter Anna Merlan of Gizmodo Media Group’s special projects desk discusses her new book, Republic of Lies, about conspiracy theories in the U.S. Josh, Allegra and Anna discuss Pizzagate, QAnon, the JFK and MLK assassinations, and the role these phenomena play in contemporary politics. Pre-order her book here. Listen

Author and journalist Garrett Graff, who has a new e-book out about Robert Mueller and who has interviewed Mueller numerous times, talks about Attorney General Bill Barr’s bungled summary of the special counsel’s report and Mueller’s team’s response. Check out Graff's book here. Listen

The former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York chats with us about his decades of experience in law enforcement and on Capitol Hill, his friend James Comey, and the Russia probe-related work the SDNY is currently doing. Preet's new book is Doing Justice: A Prosecutor's Thoughts On... Listen

Josh Marshall, David Taintor and Josh Kovensky dive into the story of Cindy Yang, a complicated figure in the Trump world. Yang owns a number of massage parlors that have been accused of links to prostitution — but she also launched a consultancy that appears to sell access to Trump... Listen

Josh Marshall and David Taintor discuss the Donald Trump-Kim Jong Un summit in Vietnam, what might come out of it, what their relationship has already achieved, and their unusual letters to one another. Then: We consider the prospect of a pardon for Paul Manafort, who will soon be sentenced. Listen

Josh, David Taintor, and investigative reporters Tierney Sneed and Josh Kovensky explore a report from CNN that the Russia probe will wrap up as early as next week and what will likely happen to its many loose ends. They also talk about Roger Stone and Paul Manafort’s latest legal proceedings,... Listen

Tierney Sneed joins Josh and David from TPM’s Washington, D.C., bureau to discuss the path forward for Congress’ newly announced plan to avert a government shutdown and to debrief on last week’s contentious hearing with Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker. Then, David and Josh dig into that series of allegations... Listen

Reporter Josh Kovensky briefs us on the potential scandals surrounding the Trump inaugural committee, an organization he’s been looking into for weeks but that was subpoenaed last night. And TPM’s executive publisher, Joe Ragazzo, joins us to discuss a rough two weeks for the news media, in which thousands of... Listen

Josh and David discuss Trump’s resplendent capitulation to Nancy Pelosi on the State of the Union and, later, on the shutdown fight. Then, investigative reporter Josh Kovensky sits in to chat about Roger Stone’s indictment and House Democrats' many questions for Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker, which they’ll get to... Listen

Josh, David and TPM's editor for special projects and prime, John Light, run through the winners of TPM's annual Golden Duke awards, named for the scandal-plagued former member of Congress Randy "Duke" Cunningham. From Michael Cohen to Rudy Giuliani to Jacob Wohl to Scott Pruitt, we look back at the... Listen

TPM investigative reporter Tierney Sneed describes the scene in the courtroom where Michael Flynn was set to be sentenced Tuesday. The judge had harsh words for the former national security advisor before coming to an agreement with Flynn's lawyers to delay Flynn's sentencing. Listen

The New Republic's Jeet Heer talks about how the late Toronto Mayor Rob Ford was a precursor to President Trump. As a native Canadian, he also talks about his "continental" view of politics and his thoughts on the Russia probe. Listen

Preeminent civil war historian James McPherson, the George Henry Davis ’86 Professor Emeritus of United States History at Princeton University, joins Josh Marshall to discuss the fraut politics of 1850s and 1860s — and where we see their echoes today. Listen

Seth Hettena, author of "Trump/Russia," talks about Donald Trump's pursuit of a real estate deal in Moscow dating back decades. Now that Michael Cohen has admitted that he pursued the Moscow real estate project deep into the 2016 campaign, we revisit Seth's reporting on why Trump wanted the deal so... Listen

Robert Mueller's quiet period appears to be over. On Thursday he struck a deal with Michael Cohen, who pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about the proposed Trump Tower deal in Moscow. And Roger Stone associate Jerome Corsi continues to spiral on live TV. TPM reporters Tierney Sneed and Josh... Listen

Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) joins the podcast to talk about the changing political dynamics in his home state. He also gives his take on the ongoing debate within the Democratic Party about whether Nancy Pelosi should retake the speaker's gavel. Listen

TPM reporter Tierney Sneed has been covering a trial in NYC on a controversial question that Wilbur Ross has pushed for on the Census. If Ross prevails, the question could have the effect of dramatically shifting political power away from Democratic areas and toward Republican ones. Tierney helps us break... Listen

Washington Post writer Greg Sargent talks about his new book, "An Uncivil War," which focuses on current threats to American democratic institutions and how the left can capture a new pro-democracy spirit and run with it. Listen

While most of the country focused on the results of the U.S. House and Senate races, Democrats also had a big night in state legislative elections. Future Now's Daniel Squadron is back on the podcast to discuss the results of state-level elections, where Democrats may gain as many as 400-plus... Listen

On the eve of Election Day, TPM's senior political correspondent Cameron Joseph breaks down the state of the 2018 race. Josh and Cameron take us through the key races that could determine control of the House and even Senate. Listen

TPM reporters Tierney Sneed and Josh Kovensky catch us up on the latest developments in the Mueller probe, which has been relatively quiet as the midterm elections fast approach. Tierney also takes us inside a particularly bizarre story involving conservative grifters targeting Robert Mueller's reputation. Listen

Former New York state Sen. Daniel Squadron, the executive director of Future Now, a group that tries to turn state legislatures blue, explains why state races are so important. He lays out several scenarios for how state elections could go on Election Day. Listen

After a brief hiatus, we are back. This week we are diving into the 2018 campaign as we enter the final stretch of election season. We discuss a few key races to watch and why what’s going on in state elections is just as important to pay attention to as... Listen

TPM’s own Tierney Sneed and Caitlin MacNeal have been covering Paul Manafort’s legal woes for months. On this week’s episode, they share what it was like to cover his weeks-long trial in Virginia and his guilty plea last week. They also discuss where the Mueller investigation goes from here. Listen

Josh talks to former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper about his new book, “Facts and Fears: Hard Truths from a Life in Intelligence.” Their conversation ranges from his early days in the military during Vietnam to the Obama presidency and President Trump’s perplexing relationship with Russia. “I’ve seen a... Listen

Historian Rick Perlstein talks to Josh about how the 1960 presidential election helped catalyze decades of bogus voter fraud claims which we’re still hearing, constantly, today. Listen

We talk to fabled Watergate figure John Dean, Richard Nixon’s White House Counsel who was part of the cover-up and then went to the authorities. Find out why Dean trusted Nixon not to cross some lines he believe Trump will cross. Is Dean talking to Michael Cohen’s lawyer? And how... Listen

Marcy Wheeler, the investigative journalist behind the blog Empty Wheel, joins the podcast to dig deeper into the infamous Trump Tower meeting. She also shares one aspect of the Trump-Russia story that people aren't necessarily following closely enough. Image Credit: Getty Images / TPM Illustration Listen

We attempt to pick up the pieces Rudy Giuliani left all over cable news this week. Did Trump's lawyer inadvertently reveal damaging information about his client, or was his revelation of yet another Trump Tower meeting part of his master plan all along? Image Credit: Getty Images / TPM Illustration Listen