Inside the Hive

As the 2024 Democratic National Convention rolls on, host Brian Stelter talks with Vanity Fair special correspondent Molly Jong-Fast, as she runs around Chicago, and Michael Calderone, editor of Vanity Fair’s the Hive, in New York. Jong-Fast describes the vibes around the United Center as Democrats appear both anxious about the election and pleased with their candidate. She notes the heavy police presence around the city and explains the difference between the fabulous convention parties (John Legend hosted by JB Pritzker) and the fake convention parties (read: panels). Calderone highlights the effectiveness of the programming so far, including the 2008 energy seen on night 2 as the Obamas take the stage. He remarks on how media coverage of the conventions and presidential candidates have changed, with the huge number of influencers and content creators present at this convention. The big question is whether Kamala Harris and Tim Walz can meet voters where they are, no matter the medium. Look out for special editions of Inside the Hive each morning this week. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Guests include Maggie Coughlan, a senior editor who reveals the intersection of internet culture and politics, and Joe Hagan, a correspondent capturing the convention's vibrant energy. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Jasmine Crockett discuss the future of the party, while Kamala Harris emphasizes the importance of personal storytelling to connect with voters. The discussion dives into the shifting dynamics and strategic approaches at the DNC, creating a theatrical atmosphere reminiscent of the Oscars, filled with political unity and grassroots enthusiasm.

To say that there has been a “vibe shift” among Democrats is an understatement. Since taking Joe Biden’s mantle as the presumptive Democratic nominee, Kamala Harris has ushered in an unmistakable wave of positivity within the party. The joy and optimism suffusing her campaign have thus proven powerful antidotes to the fear and anger being sold by Donald Trump. That is, according to MSNBC analyst Anand Giridharadas, who has been writing extensively about the political potency of emotions in his popular newsletter, The Ink. In the latest episode of the Inside the Hive, Giridharadas discusses why everyone is picking up such “good vibes” from Harris and running mate Tim Walz—and how the duo pulled Democrats out of their anti-Trump doom loop. “You have to compete with authoritarianism by doing some of the things it does: by commanding attention, by catering to feeling, by making people feel like they can see a future,” he says. “The Harris campaign has somehow tapped into that.” Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode, host Brian Stelter speaks about Kamala Harris’s surging campaign and new VP pick, Tim Walz, with Eugene Daniels, a Politico White House correspondent and Playbook co-author. Daniels, who has spent years closely covering the vice president, speaks about her challenges inside the Biden White House, relationship with the news media, and shifting communications style as she has ascended to the top of the Democratic ticket.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

It used to be that Silicon Valley was considered a blue bastion, and supported social causes like education, public health and climate action. But, if that perception wasn’t already crumbling before now, then it was utterly shattered in 2024. This past month has seen countless tech elites flock behind Donald Trump as their candidate of choice in the presidential election, leaving many in the media scratching their heads—and wringing their hands. But not for Roger McNamee, the veteran venture capital investor, who, on the latest episode of Inside the Hive, breaks down all the financial incentives at play and unpacks why tech leaders are “abandoning” the values they seemingly once held. “Their belief in cryptocurrency and their belief that low taxes and lack of regulation are essential to the prosperity of the tech industry,” he says. “These guys historically had an omerta. They did not speak ill of each other. And basically over the past six weeks or so, the political disagreements have come out into the open.” Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Today, we're bringing you a special preview of the new season of the New Yorker investigative podcast In the Dark, hosted by Madeleine Baran. The series examines the killings of twenty-four civilians in Haditha, Iraq, and asks why no one was held accountable for the crime.In Episode 1, a man in Haditha, Iraq, has a request for the In the Dark team: Can you investigate how my family was killed?In the Dark is available wherever you get your podcasts. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Kamala Harris is up against a whole lot. As the presumptive Democratic nominee, she’s fighting against years of political malaise among her own voters, while competing against a man who has a cult-like following within his base. But these challenges, as Hillary Clinton learned herself in 2016, hardly get at the biggest question mark: Is America finally ready for a woman in the White House? That’s the subject of this week’s episode of Inside the Hive, which features NBC News Capitol Hill Correspondent Ali Vitali, who unpacks the long-standing gender inequities of performing on the national stage, the unique challenges faced by the vice president, and what a Harris victory might mean in the decades to come. “The more Black people, the more women who you see in positions of power, the more you realize, ‘Hey, this is normal. Of course, when they run, they can win,’” Vitali says. “And that's partly why we’re seeing this coalescing around Kamala Harris right now.” Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Love thy neighbor: It’s one of the most commonly uttered Biblical verses in the Christian faith. But when it comes to Christian nationalism, the movement doesn’t always practice what it preaches. Such is the subject of Inside the Hive’s latest episode featuring Katherine Stewart and Sam Perry, two experts on the religious right who discuss why Christian nationalists are now “much more ideological than theological,” how Donald Trump has wielded them as a political voting bloc, and why the former president’s failed assassination only reinforces his messiah-like mythology. “Everybody's saying it’s providence, he was saved by God,” says Stewart. “We’ve had eight or more years of this…A sector of the movement has, frankly, consistently framed the contemporary political landscape as being one of spiritual warfare.” Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

What would America actually look like under a second Trump term? Few resources paint a clearer picture than the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, the right’s blueprint for a vast overhaul of the federal bureaucracy, as well as a playbook of immediate executive actions that could annihilate decades of Democratic progress in days. This week, the former president sought to disown the document, but Vanity Fair’s Molly Jong-Fast and Jeff Sharlet, are more than a little skeptical. And, on the latest episode of Inside the Hive, the two discuss precisely what voters should fear most in the 900-page plan—from mass deportations to crackdowns on reproductive rights—and whether the country truly condones or even wants a fascist MAGA makeover. “The majority will accept fascism,” says Sharlet. “I’ve never seen a country where that wasn’t true.” Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Chris Hayes of MSNBC’s “All In with Chris Hayes" joins Inside the Hive host Brian Stelter for a special episode—unplanned on a holiday break, but here we are. As President Biden's disastrous debate performance and the "catastrophe" of the SCOTUS immunity ruling converge in an existential question about America's future, Stelter and Hayes—who recently launched a series called The Stakes in his Why Is This Happening? podcast feed—parse the crush of headlines, and offer new behind-the-scenes details from the debate that has become an inflection point for the history books. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices