The Al Franken Podcast
A five-time Emmy winning SNL comedy writer/producer, joins a four-time #1 NYT bestselling author, a three-time highest-rated national progressive radio host, a two-time Grammy winning artist, and a former US Senator. So, it gets a little crowded in the booth when Al talks public policy and sometimes political comedy with notable guests. Think “The Daily” without the resources of the NYTimes.
Latest episodes
Jul 19, 2020 • 56min
17: Dahlia Lithwick on SCOTUS 2019-20 Term and Trump's Commutation of Roger Stone's 40-Month Sentence
Al and Dahlia discuss the Court's top decisions, including Bostock, which held that federal law prohibits employment discrimination agains LGBT workers, and whether Alito's dissent in that case was "very gay."
Jul 12, 2020 • 57min
16: Epidemiologist Abdul El-Sayed Blames the Latest Covid Spikes on Guess Who?
Al and Former Detroit Public Health Commissioner on the Mistakes Trump Keeps Making.
Jul 5, 2020 • 56min
15: Democratic Election Lawyer Marc Elias Talks to Two Texas Teenagers About Winning Them the Right to Vote By Mail in November
Recent high school graduate Rajit Gulhati contacted Al for guidance on how he and his friends could vote by mail. So, Al brought in Democratic super lawyer Marc Elias.
Jul 4, 2020 • 7min
1: A Fourth of July Conversation with Thomas Jefferson
Al sits down with the author of the Declaration of Independence on the anniversary of our nation's birth
Jun 28, 2020 • 54min
14: Melvin Carter Talks About Being St. Paul’s First Black Mayor and the Son of a Cop
St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter Discusses the Aftermath of George Floyd’s Murder
Jun 21, 2020 • 53min
13: Frm. Obama Speechwriter David Litt Explains How the GOP Has Systematically Undermined Democracy.
In his new book: Democracy: In One Book or Less fmr. Obama speechwriter and NY Times bestselling author brings fascinating and often startling detail to all the ways the GOP thwarts democracy.
Jun 14, 2020 • 54min
12: Atlantic Writer George Packer on How the Pandemic and George Floyd’s Murder have Laid Bare America’s Weaknesses
Packer and Al discuss the how a corrupt political class, a heartless economy, systemic racism, and Donald Trump have led to the failures Americans have been witness to and the victims of these last several months.
Jun 7, 2020 • 54min
11: Donna Edwards and Al Discuss Race, Cops, and Photo Ops
Former Congresswoman Edwards talks about being the mother of a young black man and whether George Floyd's murder has finally brought us to an inflection point.
May 31, 2020 • 52min
10: NEA President Lily Eskelsen García on Teaching During a Pandemic and a DeVos
The host (and former member of the Senate Education Committee) and the president of the National Education Association talks about an important subject: how awful Betsy DeVos is. But also, education.
May 27, 2020 • 6min
1: COVID-19 Trailer
This COVID-19 pandemic is arguably the greatest global crisis since World War II. Since the coronavirus hit, Al has been talking with guests about the various aspects of this horrible scourge. To date, guests include:
Andy Slavitt, former head of Medicare/Medicaid;
Austan Goolsbee, former Chair of the President's Council of Economic Advisors;
Dr. Leana Wen, former president of Planned Parenthood; and
Michael Lewis, author of the Fifth Risk.
