This is the second installment of “How Bad Is It,” a recurring series in which the staff writer Andrew Marantz joins Tyler Foggatt to conduct a health check on American democracy. They discuss how Donald Trump has bullied media companies, why it’s troubling that some outlets are seeking to settle lawsuits with the Administration, and how the role of social media in public discourse has changed during the second Trump Administration. Plus, an interview with the prominent Hungarian journalist Márton Gulyás, who’s on the show to discuss a new bill making its way through the Hungarian parliament which is designed to quell the free press, and what a potential crackdown may tell us about the future of American media.

This week’s reading:

“Donald Trump’s Politics of Plunder,” by Evan Osnos
“Donald Trump’s War on Gender Is Also a War on Government,” by Paisley Currah
“The Criminalization of Venezuelan Street Culture,” by Oriana van Praag
“J. D. Vance Warns Courts to Get in Line,” by Ruth Marcus
“In Chicago, Will the Pope Bump Last?,” by Geraldo Cadava

To discover more podcasts from The New Yorker, visit newyorker.com/podcasts. To send feedback on this episode, write to themail@newyorker.com.

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Gary Steger

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