

The Realignment
The Realignment
The United States is in the midst of a dramatic political realignment with shifting views on national security, economics, technology, and the role of government in our lives. Saagar Enjeti and Marshall Kosloff explore this with thinkers, policymakers, and more.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Apr 20, 2021 • 1h 15min
118 | Dr. Kevin Sabet: 4/20 Special: America’s Decriminalizing Drugs, What’s Next?
Email us your thoughts about this episode, or any episode, at realignmentpod@gmail.comBuy a book using our bookshop link: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignmentDr. Kevin Sabet, President and CEO of Smart Approaches to Marijuana and author of Smokescreen: What the Marijuana Industry Doesn’t Want You to Know, joins The Realignment to reflect on the failures and success of the war on drugs, the effects of recent state decriminalization initiatives, his time as a drug policy official in the Bush and Obama administrations, and why the rise of a “commercialized,” multi billion dollar marijuana industry should be a cause for concern for opponents and of decriminalization/legalization alike.

Apr 15, 2021 • 1h 7min
117 | Elliot Ackerman, Part II: What Would a War with China Look Like?
Subscribe to The Realignment’s Substack, now released on Thursdays: https://therealignment.substack.com/
Check out Elliot and Admiral Stavridis’s Bookshop recommendations on the U.S. and China, foreign policy, and warfare: https://bookshop.org/lists/2034-admiral-james-stavridis-and-elliot-ackerman-book-recommendations
Elliot Ackerman, co-author of 2034: A Novel of the Next World War and Marine combat veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, joins The Realignment to follow up on the pod’s conversation with Admiral James Stavridis, the legacy of the “forever” wars in the Middle East and Central Asia, what history teaches us about a future U.S.-China conflict, and of course, the weakened state of the two-party system.

Apr 13, 2021 • 1h 27min
116 | Lisa Napoli: Understanding Media’s Past to Build Its Future
Bookshop link for Lisa’s books, plus recommendations discussed in the episode: https://bookshop.org/lists/the-realignment-episode-116-lisa-napoli-books-recommendations
Lisa Napoli, author of Susan, Linda, Nina & Cokie: The Extraordinary Story of the Founding Mothers of NPR and Up All Night: Ted Turner, CNN, and the Birth of 24-Hour News, returns to The Realignment to discuss the past, present, and future of the news media, and why the challenges and opportunities facing the industry today perfectly rhyme with those of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s.

Apr 8, 2021 • 1h 25min
115 | Frank DiStefano: The Next Realignment and Why America’s Parties Are Crumbling + Extended Q&A
Subscribe to Frank’s YouTube channel on realignments: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyI2l4jUJ-GqtbtMhCvsWzg
Frank DiStefano, author of The Next Realignment: Why America’s Parties Are Crumbling and What Happens Next, joins The Realignment to explain why realignments are a regular feature of American politics, the need to move beyond 20th century debates between conservatives and liberals, and why the collapse of the current party system will lead to renewal and reform.

Apr 6, 2021 • 1h 13min
114 | Glenn Greenwald: Securing Democracy and the Lessons from Bolsonaro’s Brazil
Glenn Greenwald, Co-Founder of The Intercept and author of Securing Democracy: My Fight for Press Freedom and Justice in Bolsonaro’s Brazil, joins The Realignment to discuss the past, present, and future of Brazil, America’s involvement in Latin America during and after the Cold War, and the legacy of the Edward Snowden leaks.
Check out our Bookshop store: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment

Apr 1, 2021 • 1h 5min
113 | Jonathan Cohn: Why the Ten Year War Over Obamacare Explains Everything About American Politics
We’ve built a special Bookshop selection on Obamacare, healthcare, and Medicare for All:
https://bookshop.org/lists/the-realignment-episode-113-obamacare-healthcare-reform-and-the-medicare-for-all-debate
Jonathan Cohn, a senior national correspondent at HuffPost and the author of The Ten Year War: Obamacare and the Unfinished Crusade for Universal Care, joins The Realignment to offer the definitive account of Obamacare’s successes and failures, the history of healthcare reform in America, and what the law’s survival despite countless attempts at repeal and unified Republican control of government says about the state of both parties.

Mar 30, 2021 • 1h 13min
112 | Josh Rogin: Inside Trump, Xi, and Biden’s Battle for the 21st Century
We’ve built a special booklist selection of 10 books to understand the U.S. and China: https://bookshop.org/lists/the-realignment-episode-112-u-s-china-book-list
Josh Rogin, Washington Post columnist and author of Chaos Under Heaven: Trump, Xi, and the Battle for the 21st Century, joins The Realignment to discuss U.S.-China relations under Obama, Trump, and Biden, how Trump and the CCP’s leadership misunderstood each other, why both country aren’t in a state of cold war, and more...

Mar 25, 2021 • 45min
111 | Admiral James Stavridis: What Could a World War with China Look Like?
Realignment Bookshop list of Admiral Stavridis and Elliot Ackerman’s book recommendations on the U.S. and China: https://bookshop.org/lists/2034-admiral-james-stavridis-and-elliot-ackerman-book-recommendations
Admiral James Stavridis, former Supreme Allied Commander at NATO and co-author (with Elliot Ackerman) of 2034: A Novel of the Next World War, joins The Realignment to offer a warning about the consequences “sleepwalking” into a military conflict with China along with the legacies of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and how dysfunction in the U.S. political system impacts foreign policy.

Mar 23, 2021 • 52min
110 | Alec MacGillis: Winning and Losing in Amazon’s “One-Click” America
Subscribe to The Realignment Substack: https://therealignment.substack.com/
Check out our Bookshop store: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignment
Alec MacGillis, senior reporter for ProPublica, joins The Realignment to discuss Fulfillment: Winning and Losing in One-Click America, how the rise and dominance of Amazon tells the story of 21st century America, and the impact of COVID-19 lockdowns on educations and workers.

Mar 18, 2021 • 1h
109 | Alex Kantrowitz: Are We About to Enter the Roaring 20’s? + Join The Realignment & Big Technology Podcast on Clubhouse on 3/18
Join our Thursday (3/18) Clubhouse event featuring Marshall, Saagar, Alex Kantrowitz, Jane Coaston, and Joe Weisenthal: https://www.joinclubhouse.com/event/M4wpJeka
Alex Kantrowtiz, writer and host of the Big Technology newsletter and podcast, rejoins The Realignment to discuss our new collaboration on Clubhouse and whether the (*knocks on wood*) post COVID 2020’s will be the new Roaring 20’s.


