Inside the Hive

Is the Iran skirmish over? Or is this the beginning of something bigger? Gabriel Sherman, special correspondent for Vanity Fair, joins Nick to explain how this all went down inside the Trump White House, why anti-immigration scribe Steven Miller still has a job, why Don Jr. will go on to run for office, but Ivanka won't, and—perhaps most importantly—what Donald J. Trump told a Republican pollster last week when asked what the "J" in his middle name stood for. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Thanks to the rise of the smartphone, the last decade saw the most dramatic technological change in centuries. Over the next ten years, the same thing will happen to science, healthcare, and space travel. D.A. Wallach, a former rockstar turned biotech investor, joins Nick to kick off the year by debating the scientific predictions for the next decade, including whether we will soon be able to print human organs, if healthcare will become so advanced that living past 100 will become routine, or if only the rich will be afforded such advancements, and whether humans will live on Mars by 2030. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Is the American prison system the most broken part of this country? Believe it or not, prison reform might be the one issue Republicans and Democrats can agree on. Scott Budnick, the producer behind The Hangover and Just Mercy, joins Nick to elucidate the many pitfalls of the U.S. incarceration system, why over 6 million Americans are under correctional supervision, why America is the only country that jails kids for life, and why we need to start giving people a second chance. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

As the #MeToo movement continues to roil corporate boardrooms and Hollywood studios, the New Yorker’s Ronan Farrow has been at its forefront. The author of Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators, joins Nick to take listeners behind the scenes of his years-long reporting on Harvey Weinstein, Matt Lauer, and Les Moonves, among others. The two also discuss Jeffrey Epstein’s death, why Donald Trump and Bill Clinton still haven’t gone down, and why cancel culture sometimes misses the point. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Does the $120,000 sale of a banana duct-taped to a wall at Art Basel signify the decline of capitalism, or is just really clever P.R.? Stefan Simchowitz, the notorious art dealer, joins Nick to not only defend the banana, but to (genuinely) argue that it may be the greatest work of art since the Mona Lisa. Stick around to hear Nick and Stefan discuss an egg, consumerism, and the collective banality of social media. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Should we shut down the media complex in order to save democracy? Dylan Byers, senior media reporter at NBC News and MSNBC, joins Nick to talk about why news has become so divisive, why Bloomberg isn’t just another annoying billionaire, how to get Trump out of our heads, and why he thinks Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg aren’t as bad as the rest of America does. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Will 2020 be “The Battle of the Mayors,” in which former Mayor Mike Bloomberg takes on Mayor Pete Buttigieg to be the 2020 Democratic nominee? Senior Hive correspondent Emily Jane Fox joins Nick to talk about why the Democrats hate each other, if impeachment will hurt or hinder Trump’s reelection bid, and if the other former Mayor, Rudy Giuliani, really has an insurance policy on Trump. Stick around until the end of the show to talk turkeys and what we’re all grateful for this year. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The chaos inside the White House, from immigration to Ukraine, would still be a big secret if not for whistleblowers in the Trump administration. John Tye, a former government official turned whistleblower himself, joins Nick to talk about the rise of people leaking information from all corners of America, from the MeToo movement to Trump’s misdeeds to employees at Google decrying projects they see as uniquely evil. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Is Bernie right—has capitalism broken America beyond repair? Yancey Strickler, former CEO of Kickstarter and author of the book, “This Could Be Our Future,” joins Nick to explain how Wall Street, game theory, and the disgusting modern day-business habit of maximizing shareholder value, has destroyed our democracy, and how we can fix it. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Is Steve Bannon a white nationalist, a patriot, or something way more sinister? Academy Award-winning filmmaker Errol Morris joins Nick to discuss his new film about the Trump White House, the rise of the alt-right, and why Bannon might be the biggest hypocrite in the history of politics. Plus: the latest juicy gossip about disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices