The Commentary Magazine Podcast
Commentary is America's premier monthly magazine of opinion: General, yet Jewish. Highly variegated, with a unifying perspective.
Episodes
May 16, 2024 • 64 mins
We split on who has the upper hand in the coming debates, but all agree there are risks and rewards and that the race could use a little shaking up. Less shook up, it appears, is American public opinion when it comes to Israel and the Palestinians, which remains firmly in the latter's camp. And the COVID reckoning is speeding up. Give a listen.
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May 15, 2024 • 72 mins
The offer this morning from Joe Biden to debate Donald Trump twice, in June and September, was semi-accepted by Trump a few minutes after it was proposed, so the game might be afoot. Why does Biden want this? What could it mean? And what do the very interesting primary results last night suggest about the state of the Republican party in particular? Give a listen.
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May 14, 2024 • 71 mins
Is the Trump trial about crimes he supposedly committed or just simply a litany of ways in which the former and maybe future president just seems to be a rotten guy? And what are we to make of the new connections between American wokesters and actual Middle East jihadists who want the mass murder of the Jews? Give a listen.
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May 13, 2024 • 65 mins
A new New York Times poll not only has terrible news for Joe Biden, it reveals how wrong-headed his electoral concerns are when it comes to Israel and Palestine. Also, we end the show with an AI-generated song about COMMENTARY from our own Eli Lake. Give a listen!
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May 10, 2024 • 73 mins
We begin with a clip of an interview with Joe Biden in 2019 saying the idea of withholding military aid from Israel would be unthinkable to him. And we're off and running with the question of just how damaging and destructive his moves this past week have been. Plus: can you "slut-shame" a porn star? Give a listen.
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May 9, 2024 • 60 mins
Taking the measure of Biden's decision to impose a kind of arms embargo on Israel when he sought the arms in the first place is our task today. Our answers are not complimentary. Give a listen.
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May 8, 2024 • 68 mins
The news that the Biden administration has deliberately chosen to withhold certain armaments from Israel despite the passage of the aid bill last month is a landmark moment not only in the peculiar behavior of the White House toward the Jewish state since October 7 but also in the annals of American warfare. We don't try to win wars any longer; are we now committed to ensuring that other nations can't win wars either? Give a listen...
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May 7, 2024 • 66 mins
Today we sort through conflicting accounts of the Hamas ceasefire agreement that wasn't and discuss the leverage that Israel will now gain by going into Rafah. We also reflect on the straightforward anti-American fury of pro-Hamas protests and the Kristi Noem trainwreck. Give a listen.
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May 6, 2024 • 56 mins
A landmark podcast episode in which we all take turns claiming the situation between America and Israel and between college campuses and the rest of the country is worse. Who's right? What is worse? And what's the TV show you should watch but shouldn't Google anything about if you want to enjoy it? Give a listen.
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May 3, 2024 • 55 mins
Was Joe Biden's at-long-last three minute statement about the unrest on college campuses sufficient for the moment, or the least he could do, or not even the least he could do? We discuss this and the fact that the protestors are asking for sexual aids and pass-fail grades, and whatever happened to elementary shame. Give a listen.
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May 2, 2024 • 72 mins
Donald Trump is solidifying his case against Joe Biden, and it's eerily similar to Joe Biden's case against Donald Trump in 2020—there's chaos everywhere and the president is responsible. Polling suggests Trump has the better of the argument, especially since Democrats are split even on as basic an issue as opposing anti-Semitism. Give a listen.
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May 1, 2024 • 71 mins
The Columbia encampment is shut down and the students who occupied a campus building are charged with burglary. A mile north of Columbia, cops are attacked by protestors, who are promptly zip-tied and thrown into an NYPD bus. Order is being restored, but for how long? Give a listen.
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April 30, 2024 • 78 mins
Dan Senor, co-author of The Genius of Israel, reports on his recent trip there and how torn the Israeli people are between the fate of the hostages and the country's final push against Hamas in Rafah. And how the protests in the United States are only emboldening Hamas. Give a listen.
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April 29, 2024 • 73 mins
Today Adam J. White joins the podcast, and first we discuss whether the pro-Hamas cry-bullies will have the ability to function in life beyond the campus. Then we take up the Supreme Court's response to arguments over Donald Trump's immunity and presidential immunity in general. The justices seem warmer to immunity than the liberal commentariat would like. And after the Court rules, how will the lower courts respond? Give a listen.
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April 26, 2024 • 68 mins
Noam Blum joins the podcast today to discuss the strategy Hamas is pursuing to stave off the Israeli action in Rafah—the use of a hostage video to freeze Israeli society in place and turn the conversation away from victory and toward rescue. What are the consequences? Give a listen.
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April 25, 2024 • 66 mins
Today we discuss the state of play between universities and the pro-Hamas encampment movement, and we consider Mike Johnson's seeming declaration of a counter movement. Speaking of encampments, why are tents proliferating in urban areas and what does it say about society? We also talk about the terrible new GDP numbers, why no one took a victory lap after Joe Biden signed the foreign aid bill, and much more. Give a listen.
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April 22, 2024 • 61 mins
The refusal both of Columbia University officials and New York City's mayor to confront and end the siege of the school's campus and the open threats to Jews is the culmination of 40 years of academic rot, and we describe why. Also: The House passes aid to Israel, Ukraine, Taiwan, and moves to end Chinese Communist control of TikTok. Is this a new path forward or a one-off success for House Speaker Johnson? Give a listen.
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April 19, 2024 • 78 mins
Jonathan Schanzer joins the podcast for an immediate after-action report on the details of the Israeli strike on Iran, whether deterrence has been reestablished, and how last night might represent the most significant game-changing moment in recent Middle Eastern history. And what's this? Columbia University throws the book at the Hamas-supporting tent city on its campus and has the NYPD arrest more than 100 people? Is this a game-...
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April 18, 2024 • 76 mins
That's the advice of podcast guest Liel Leibovitz, zooming in from Tel Aviv to discuss the Columbia hearings before the House yesterday and how the anti-Semitism revealed there has unmistakable echoes of past horrors—and threatens future horrors. Give a listen.
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April 17, 2024 • 67 mins
Joe Biden is having a good month at the polls, but Donald Trump is finding new and inventive ways to campaign for president despite his humiliating courtroom experience—will it help? And do Israelis want a strong strike against Iran or not? And what is Mike Johnson doing? Give a listen.
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