

Radio Atlantic
The Atlantic
The Atlantic has long been known as an ideas-driven magazine. Now we’re bringing that same ethos to audio. Like the magazine, the show will “road test” the big ideas that both drive the news and shape our culture. Through conversations—and sometimes sharp debates—with the most insightful thinkers and writers on topics of the day, Radio Atlantic will complicate overly simplistic views. It will cut through the noise with clarifying, personal narratives. It will, hopefully, help listeners make up their own mind about certain ideas.The national conversation right now can be chaotic, reckless, and stuck. Radio Atlantic aims to bring some order to our thinking—and encourage listeners to be purposeful about how they unstick their mind.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Jan 22, 2021 • 38min
Biden: The Candidate for the Trump Moment
Isaac Dovere reflects on the inauguration of President Joe Biden, the path through an election year like no other, and what the momentous changes of 2020 mean for our politics.You’ll also notice a change in this podcast feed. With the 2020 campaign closing on Inauguration Day, The Ticket will, for now, be ending. We’re working on new podcasts here at The Atlantic though and on February 4th, we launch our new show The Experiment, examining the contradictions and ideals at the heart of the American experiment. You’ll find the first episode here on this feed, so stay subscribed. And, as always, thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jan 8, 2021 • 26min
John Bresnahan Helps Us Understand What The Hell Just Happened
John Bresnahan has covered Congress for decades, recently as Politico’s Capitol Hill bureau chief and now as co-founder of Punchbowl News. He describes what he saw from inside the building as a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol this week — and what implications the searing event could have going forward.Support this show and all of The Atlantic's journalism by subscribing at: theatlantic.com/supportus Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dec 17, 2020 • 20min
Jim Clyburn
The House majority whip from South Carolina gave Joe Biden the key endorsement of his candidacy. What does the civil rights veteran want to see from his party — and the President-elect — in 2021? How will Democrats bridge the divide between progressives advocating for change and Biden preaching a ‘return to normalcy?’ And with Clyburn chairing the new president’s inauguration committee, what does he expect from a very unusual transfer of power?This interview was recorded as part of an Atlantic Live event on December 17th, 2020.Support this show and all of The Atlantic's journalism by subscribing at: theatlantic.com/supportus Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dec 4, 2020 • 25min
Gabe Sterling
As conspiracy theories about the Georgia vote count have escalated into threats, a state election official rebuked President Trump and blamed him for the environment voting administrators now face. Despite being a lifelong Republican, Gabe Sterling worries about where he finds his party. The president and Georgia’s elected Republicans seem to be in open war with one another. How far could the dangerous rhetoric take things? And what does it mean for Georgia's run-off elections in January to decide control of the Senate?Support this show and all of The Atlantic’s journalism by becoming a subscriber at www.theatlantic.com/supportus Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nov 20, 2020 • 33min
Ed Yong
A quarter-million Americans have now died of COVID-19. The spread of the virus is as bad as it’s ever been. And it’s almost certainly going to get much worse. But with the president abdicating responsibility and refusing to begin a transition, it feels as if we’re headed into unthinkable danger without any sense of who’s in charge.Staff writer Ed Yong wrote about America’s unpreparedness for a pandemic in 2018 and his reporting has led the conversation about the coronavirus for months now. He joins the show to explain how the country got to this point, what he thinks a Biden administration could do come January, and why he’s more hopeful about a society sticking together in a disease than he was two years ago.Support this show and all of The Atlantic’s journalism by becoming a subscriber at www.theatlantic.com/supportus Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nov 13, 2020 • 36min
Abigail Spanberger
The Virginia Congresswoman shares her concerns over President Trump’s post-election actions and what she considers the lessons of 2020 for her fellow Democrats.Before coming to Congress as part of the Democratic wave in 2018, Spanberger spent her career as an undercover operative in the CIA. She talks about what it was like going from a false alias to a congressional seat, why she ran in the first place, and what she thinks when people compare her group of friends in Congress to the ‘Squad.’Support this show and all of The Atlantic’s journalism by becoming a subscriber at theatlantic.com/supportus Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oct 29, 2020 • 28min
Brian Stelter
Between the pandemic and President Trump, election night this year will be unlike any other. As usual, television news networks are the narrators of our democracy, but what will they do if the president claims an unconfirmed victory? With the stakes so high, will they apply the lessons they learned these past four years?CNN’s Brian Stelter shares his thoughts on broadcasting the president’s words live, how important the Fox News alternate universe will be, and what television news’s future is in a Biden presidency or a Trump second term.Support this show and all of The Atlantic’s journalism by becoming a subscriber at www.theatlantic.com/supportus Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oct 23, 2020 • 32min
Tony Schwartz
The man who wrote The Art of the Deal reflects on Donald Trump, his presidency, and what the coming weeks could bring. Schwartz says Trump’s “primary motivation is dominance” and “there is nothing Trump fears more than failure.” And with the election little more than a week away, Schwartz thinks Trump believes he’s going to lose, “probably even more than he did four years ago.”Support this show and all of The Atlantic’s journalism by becoming a subscriber at theatlantic.com/supportus Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oct 9, 2020 • 41min
Hillary Clinton
The former Secretary of State and 2016 Democratic nominee discusses President Trump, the pandemic, and election disinformation.Support this show and all of The Atlantic’s journalism by becoming a subscriber at theatlantic.com/supportus Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sep 30, 2020 • 24min
Barton Gellman
With the election only weeks away, President Trump is down in the polls, sowing doubt about the integrity of the vote, and refusing to commit to a peaceful transfer of power. When he accepted his party’s nomination at the Republican National Convention on August 24th, Trump summarized his position: “The only way they can take this election away from us is if this is a rigged election.”What happens if a president loses reelection, but won’t accept the outcome? Staff writer Barton Gellman tried to answer that question in the cover story of this month’s Atlantic. He joins Edward-Isaac Dovere to explain what he found. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices