The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart

Kathryn Anne Edwards, a labor economist and public policy writer, joins Jon to examine why workers have lost power while costs rise. They explore wage stagnation, corporate concentration, weakened unions, employer-tied benefits, unemployment policy, and AI’s threat to deepen inequality. Edwards outlines a new economic floor, while Jon tackles questions about impeachment, press secretaries, and daylight saving time.

Josh Turek, an Iowa politician, disability advocate, and four-time Paralympian, joins the conversation about his “prairie populist” Senate campaign. They explore Iowa’s rural-urban realignment, healthcare and farm crises, corruption, tariffs, and winning skeptical voters beyond party labels. Plus, Jon tackles listener questions about political messaging, Democratic power, and the Sixers.

Pedro Sánchez, Spain’s prime minister and Socialist Party leader, joins Jon Stewart to discuss multilateralism, climate action, migration, and the far right’s rise across Europe. They explore renewable energy, AI oversight, misinformation, and reforming the UN. Sánchez also previews a feminist global agenda, while Stewart takes aim at political spectacle, Trump TV, Kennedy Center scaffolding, and Melania Trump’s workload.

Lindsay Owens, an economist, policy advocate, and Groundwork Collaborative president, joins a lively discussion of corporate price gouging. Topics include algorithmic price fixing, personalized checkout prices, surveillance pricing, planned obsolescence, rent-setting software, and market concentration. They also tackle political theater, Supreme Court power, and the hotly debated question of when Halloween decorating should begin.

Jonathan Swan, an Australian-American New York Times political journalist and White House reporter, joins a probing conversation about Trump’s transformed second administration. They explore loyalist power structures, Iran policy, immunity, source protection, and the limits of accountability. Swan also reveals the preparation behind compelling political interviews, while Stewart tackles satire, media consolidation, and Trump’s self-centered 9/11 narrative.

Krystal Ball, a progressive commentator focused on economic populism, and Saagar Enjeti, a conservative-leaning commentator known for right-wing critiques, join Jon Stewart. They debate media integrity, how populist energy challenges both parties, the economics-versus-culture conflict, and whether true economic populism or a new unifying leader can break through.

John Fetterman, U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania known for his unconventional style and progressive-leaning record. He talks about tensions within the Democratic Party and why he breaks from the left. He discusses leverage, the filibuster, and concerns about electability. He explains why Israel and the Gaza war shape his positions and warns about rising extremes and antisemitism.

Cory Doctorow, science fiction author and digital-rights activist, riffs on AI hype versus reality. He dissects how AI supercharges surveillance, labor exploitation, corporate consolidation, and pricing tricks. Cory unpacks centaurs versus reverse centaurs and why market incentives drive harmful automation. He closes with remedies around antitrust, labor power, and privacy law.

Zohran Kwame Mamdani, newly elected NYC mayor and democratic socialist focused on housing and affordability. He talks about translating campaign promises into governing, the $12B fiscal shortfall and tough budget tradeoffs, a bold childcare expansion, rent freezes and tenant protections, plans to build 200,000 affordable homes, and community-centered public safety strategies.

Austan Goolsbee, economist and president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, offers a concise tour of how the Fed is structured and why its independence matters. He walks through policymaking, what interest rates can and cannot achieve, crisis responses from 2008 to COVID, and the Fed’s everyday operational roles. Short, clear, and unexpectedly lively.