Former Alberta Premier Jason Kenney on annexation threats, the unraveling of U.S.-Canada relations, and how Trump is forcing allies to rethink democracy, defense, and immigration. Plus: the Trump family’s astonishing U.A.E. crypto deal and Sara Jeannette Duncan’s The Imperialist.
David Brooks on moral collapse, the limits of politics, and what the neocons got right about America. Plus: Another ICE shooting in Minneapolis and Netflix’s Death by Lightning.
Fiona Hill on Putin’s long game, Trump’s transactional foreign policy, and the danger of mistaking size and bluster for real power. Plus: Trump’s grocery-price fiction and V. S. Naipaul’s Among the Believers.
The historian Timothy Naftali on Donald Trump’s presidential library, comparing the many scandals of the Trump presidency to those of Richard Nixon’s, and Trump’s foreign policy of American weakness. Plus: a head-spinning week of terrifying crises, and Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë.
David Rothkopf on how the Trump administration’s contempt toward planning all but ensures a mess in Venezuela. Plus: Donald Trump’s predatory worldview and Rudyard Kipling’s “Recessional.”
What did the United States just do?
Galaxy Brain’s Charlie Warzel joins David Frum to discuss how our online information became so untrustworthy and how we can fight back. Plus: Why America’s Founding Fathers would be appalled by Trump 250 years later, and Edward Berenson’s The Trial of Madame Caillaux.
The Atlantic’s Helen Lewis on the Riyadh Comedy Festival, why comedians are attracted to conspiracy theories, and the rise of the right-wing comedy-podcast industrial complex. Plus: the importance of NATO and David’s reflections on Edith Wharton’s Autres Temps.
The University of Michigan’s Will Thomas on how President Donald Trump is using cryptocurrencies to enrich himself and his allies. Plus: David on the attack at Bondi Beach and lessons on courage from Joseph Conrad’s Lord Jim.
Brennan Center President Michael Waldman on how Donald Trump could try to subvert the 2026 midterm elections, how he can be stopped, and what can be done to reform America’s electoral system. Plus: David on Trump’s silly award from FIFA.