Best WNYC Studios and The New Yorker Podcasts (2025)

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Why Is Leaving MAGA So Difficult? 22:53

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6h ago22:53

22:53

Only thirty per cent of the American public identifies with the MAGA movement, according to a recent NBC poll, but that coalition remains intensely loyal to Donald Trump in the face of scandals and authoritarian measures. Defections seem rare and come with the risk of reprisal, even from the President himself. Rich Logis is trying to make them less…

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From the Archives: Paavo Järvi Conducts Beautiful Music 44:36

12h ago44:36

44:36

Estonian conductor Paavo Järvi is one of the most in-demand maestros in the world, and one of Alec’s favorite conductors. Järvi is currently the chief conductor of the NHK symphony orchestra in Tokyo and the Tonhalle Orchester-Zürich. Over his career, he’s led orchestras in Paris, Frankfurt, Stockholm, Malmö, and, for the decade between 2001 and 20…

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Senator Chris Van Hollen on the Epstein Files, and the Leadership Crisis in Washington 26:50

1d ago26:50

26:50

Both major parties are experiencing a crisis of leadership in Washington. President Trump’s flip-flopping on the Epstein files acknowledges that, on this issue, at least, he has lost control of MAGA. For the Democrats, the collapse of their consensus on the government shutdown deepens a sense that the current leadership is ineffective. For all the …

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Daniyal Mueenuddin Reads "The Golden Boy" 1:07:54

2d ago1:07:54

1:07:54

Daniyal Mueenuddin reads his story “The Golden Boy” from the December 1, 2025, issue of the magazine. Mueenuddin is the author of the story collection “In Other Rooms, Other Wonders,” which was published in 2009 and won both the Story Prize and the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize. His first novel, “This is Where the Serpent Lives,” from which this stor…

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The Political Scene Live: A Year Since Trump’s Win, What Have We Learned? 46:01

4d ago46:01

46:01

The Washington Roundtable reflects on the first year since Donald Trump’s second win before a live audience at Harvard University’s Institute of Politics, on November 20th. The panel considers how cracks in the MAGA firmament may shape what’s next for the President and the Republican party. “American politics the last ten years have been dominated …

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Senator Chris Van Hollen on the Epstein Files, and the Leadership Crisis in Washington 27:18

4d ago27:18

27:18

Both major parties are experiencing a crisis of leadership in Washington. President Trump’s flip-flopping on the Epstein files acknowledges that, on this issue, at least, he has lost control of MAGA. For the Democrats, the collapse of their consensus on the government shutdown deepens a sense that the current leadership is ineffective. For all the …

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Family Estrangement Is on the Rise. Are Politics to Blame? 28:45

6d ago28:45

28:45

The New Yorker contributing writer Anna Russell joins Tyler Foggatt to discuss the rise of family estrangement in mainstream culture. Recent studies have found that more than a quarter of all Americans are currently estranged from a relative. They talk about how the idea of going “no contact” has gained traction in mainstream culture, the personal …

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Rewriting Art History at the Studio Museum in Harlem 16:12

7d ago16:12

16:12

The curator Thelma Golden is a major presence in New York City’s cultural life, having mounted era-defining exhibitions such as “Black Male” and “Freestyle” early on in her career. Golden is the Ford Foundation director and chief curator of the Studio Museum in Harlem, an institution, founded in 1968, that is dedicated to contemporary artists of th…

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Mallory McMorrow Wants Your Vote 37:04

8d ago37:04

37:04

Mallory McMorrow is a state senator representing Michigan’s 8th district and also a candidate for the United States Senate in the 2026 election. Mallory McMorrow currently serves as the Michigan Senate Majority Whip and is the first woman in state history to hold that position. A member of the Democratic Party, McMorrow represents the 8th district …

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Andrew Ross Sorkin on What 1929 Teaches Us About 2025 33:35

8d ago33:35

33:35

When President Donald Trump began his tariff rollout, the business world predicted that his unprecedented attempt to reshape the economy would lead to a major recession, if Trump went through with it all. But the markets stabilized and, in recent months, have continued to surge. That has some people worried about an even bigger threat: that overinv…

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Madhuri Vijay Reads "Lara's Theme" 1:03:20

9d ago1:03:20

1:03:20

Madhuri Vijay reads her story “Lara’s Theme,” from the November 24, 2025, issue of the magazine. Vijay is the author of the novel “The Far Field,” which won India’s J.C.B. Prize for Literature in 2019. She is at work on her second novel. Please help us improve New Yorker podcasts by filling out our listener survey: https://panel2058.na2.panelpulse.…

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Is the Epstein Scandal Trump’s Kryptonite? 36:12

11d ago36:12

36:12

The Washington Roundtable discusses the trove of Jeffrey Epstein correspondence released by Congress this week, the fractures it has caused in the Republican Party, and the potential political ramifications for President Trump. Their guest is the investigative reporter Michael Isikoff, who has spent decades reporting on major scandals in American p…

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Andrew Ross Sorkin on What 1929 Teaches Us About 2025 34:05

11d ago34:05

34:05

When President Donald Trump began his tariff rollout, the business world predicted that his unprecedented attempt to reshape the economy would lead to a major recession, if Trump went through with it all. But the markets stabilized and, in recent months, have continued to surge. That has some people worried about an even bigger threat: that overinv…

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How Zohran Mamdani Won, and What Comes Next 43:18

13d ago43:18

43:18

The New Yorker staff writer Eric Lach joins Tyler Foggatt to discuss Zohran Mamdani’s victory in the New York City mayoral race, and what his time in office might look like. They talk about some of his early appointments to his administration and how his ambitious agenda may be at odds with other wings of the Democratic Party. They also look at how…

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Patti Smith on Her Memoir “Bread of Angels,” Fifty Years After Her Début Album, “Horses” 40:01

14d ago40:01

40:01

Patti Smith’s album “Horses” came out fifty years ago, on November 10, 1975, launching her to stardom almost overnight. An anniversary reissue came out this year, to rapturous reviews. Yet being a rock star was never Smith’s intention: she was a published poet before “Horses” came out, and had also written a play with Sam Shepard. Music was an afte…

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From the Archives: Steve Jones: From Sex Pistol to Lonely Boy 38:21

15d ago38:21

38:21

Coming from a challenging, working class upbringing in the United Kingdom, Steve Jones discovered his outlet in music - as founding guitarist of the groundbreaking punk rock band the Sex Pistols. Despite the release of only one album,”Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols,” the band changed the course of music and history - vocalizing iss…

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What Resistance Means to Governor J. B. Pritzker 26:28

15d ago26:28

26:28

Few Democratic officials have been more outspoken in opposition to the Trump Administration than J. B. Pritzker, the governor of Illinois. He seems almost to relish antagonizing Trump, who has suggested Pritzker should be in jail. Meanwhile, ICE and Border Patrol have targeted Chicago, and elsewhere in Illinois, with immigration sweeps more aggress…

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Paul Yoon Reads "The New Coast" 41:07

16d ago41:07

41:07

Paul Yoon reads his story “The New Coast,” from the November 17, 2025, issue of the magazine. Yoon is the author of five books of fiction, including the novels “Run Me to Earth” and “Snow Hunters,” which won the 2014 New York Public Library’s Young Lions Fiction Award, and the story collection “The Hive and the Honey,” which was published in 2023. …

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The Washington Roundtable Answers Your Questions 43:15

18d ago43:15

43:15

The Washington Roundtable kicks off the 2026 election season by answering questions from listeners about the forces most likely to shape next year’s midterm elections. They discuss the ascendancy of Zohran Mamdani in New York City, bitter redistricting battles in the states, the high number of elected officials retiring, and much more. Plus, the ho…

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What Resistance Means to Governor J. B. Pritzker 27:08

18d ago27:08

27:08

Few Democratic officials have been more outspoken in opposition to the Trump Administration than J. B. Pritzker, the governor of Illinois. He seems almost to relish antagonizing Trump, who has suggested Pritzker should be in jail. Meanwhile, ICE and Border Patrol have targeted Chicago, and elsewhere in Illinois, with immigration sweeps more aggress…

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Have the Democrats Figured Out How to Win Again? 32:01

20d ago32:01

32:01

The New Yorker staff writer Benjamin Wallace-Wells joins Tyler Foggatt to discuss Democrats’ sweeping victories in the first major elections of Donald Trump’s second term. They talk about what the results—from Zohran Mamdani’s record-turnout win in New York City to victories in the Virginia and New Jersey gubernatorial races—reveal about Trump’s we…

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From In the Dark: “Blood Relatives” 44:27

21d ago44:27

44:27

The New Yorker contributing writer Heidi Blake has been investigating a new story for the Pulitzer Prize-winning podcast In the Dark. This season is about one of the most notorious crimes in modern British history: the Whitehouse Farm murders, in which five members of a family were killed at a rural estate in England in the mid-nineteen-eighties. J…

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Journalist Zoë Schlanger Describes What Happens When a Plastic City Burns 39:38

22d ago39:38

39:38

Zoë Schlanger is an author, journalist, and current staff writer at the Atlantic, where she covers the newsletter “The Weekly Planet”. Schlanger has written for major outlets such as Newsweek, Quartz, Wired, The New York Times, The Nation, Time Magazine, and NPR. Schlanger is also the author of the 2024 book The Light Eaters: How the Unseen World o…

WNYC Studios And The New Yorker Podcasts