Purposely Negative

This week, Emily Bazelon, David Plotz, and guest host David Leonhardt discuss the GOP's failed witch hunt against Jack Smith and bizarre moments from the hearing, the Supreme Court's decision to allow the Trump administration's cruel third-country deportations to continue for now ...  Show more

David Plotz talks with journalist Annie Lowrey about her new book The Time Tax: How the Government Wastes Our Time—and How to Fix It, an investigation into the hours Americans lose to broken bureaucracy, from 12-hour tax filings to multiyear waits for housing vouchers and buildin ...  Show more

Emily, John and David discuss Russia’s war crimes; Disney’s reaction to “don’t say gay”; and Amazon’s first union.Here are some notes and references from this week’s show:Andrew Exum for The Atlantic: “The Russian Military Has Descended Into Inhumanity”Noam Scheiber for The New Y ...  Show more

Emily, John and David discuss Donald Trump’s attempts to seize voting machines, the racist attacks on the yet-to-be-named SCOTUS nominee, and they are joined by Joseph Allen, director of the Healthy Buildings program at Harvard University's T. H. Chan School of Public Health, to ...  Show more

Emily and David are joined by guest host Juliette Kayyem to discuss the arming of Ukraine, how to prepare for the next pandemic or catastrophe, and daylight savings time debates.Here are some notes and references from this week’s show:Megan Garber for The Atlantic: “The Grim Stag ...  Show more

Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson and David Plotz discuss the approaching midterms, inflation, and whether social media is imperiling U.S. democracy—with guest Simon Bazelon.Here are some notes and references from this week’s show:Simon Bazelon for Slow Boring: “Democrats Are Sleepwa ...  Show more