The podcast dives into the recent catastrophic wildfires in L.A., highlighting the incompetence of local officials amidst predictable disasters. It contrasts California's glorious past with its current challenges. The vibrant history of Haight-Ashbury is explored, showcasing the rise of the hippie movement alongside its darker realities. Political shifts, from bipartisanship to a Democratic stronghold, are discussed, revealing how changes in governance have affected public services and urgency in crises. Finally, the narrative calls for reflection on California's future.

Former President Donald Trump shares insights into his populist appeal, likening it to the historical wave driven by figures like Andrew Jackson. He explores how disillusionment with the elites has fueled contemporary politics. Trump's story is framed as a part of a longer American tradition of populism, contrasting his rise with Jackson's chaotic inauguration. The discussion highlights the cyclical and emotional connections of populism to the working class, raising questions about the implications for his second term.

Sometimes the news moves so fast, you have to look closely to know if you’ve seen it before. And that’s what this show is about. Breaking History breaks down the news, by breaking down history. We cover everything from LBJ and the Roman Republic to Donald Trump and the chaos at Columbia. This twice a month show from The Free Press delivers the best historians, authors, and reporters by mining the archives of human experience to figure out the present. George Santayana wrote, “Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Tune in to Breaking History to resist the repetition. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Discover how Jewish songwriters shaped the landscape of Christmas music, crafting beloved classics like 'White Christmas' and 'Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer.' Explore the cultural significance of these iconic tunes and the rich histories of their creators, many of whom fled persecution in Europe. Learn about the unique blend of Jewish tradition and American holiday spirit, revealing a story of unity and inclusivity that transcends cultural boundaries. It's a fascinating dive into the melodies that have become part of the fabric of Christmas celebrations.

*This episode originally ran on November 12, 2024 on Honestly with Bari Weiss* Even your most optimistic Mar-a-Lago member didn’t see Donald Trump winning the popular vote and taking all seven swing states. He even came within five points of taking the Democratic stronghold of New Jersey!So, what on earth does the Democratic Party do next? They can stay the course and resist. It’s what they did the last time Trump won.In the aftermath of Trump’s 2016 victory, America was stunned. Every time he opened his mouth, Trump exploded political norms, and the Democratic Party responded in kind. Being a mere opposition party—at least at that moment for the Democrats—was not strong enough for this situation they believed. Instead they needed to become a resistance.And while Democrats won in 2020, the resistance ultimately did not work. Democrats spent a decade telling Americans that Trump was an existential threat, yet Americans didn’t care. The Democrats’ goal was to scrub Trump from future history. Instead, he now controls it. Democrats need to look inward if they want to have a shot at winning in 2028. They need to act like an opposition, not a resistance. Eli tells the story of how a few centrist renegades saved the Democrats from oblivion 40 years ago. In 1984, after Ronald Reagan’s 525–13 Electoral College landslide over Walter Mondale, the Democrats were not just in disarray—they were on life support. And yet, eight years later, they found their savior: a young governor from Arkansas named Bill Clinton. And they remade their party. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

*This episode originally ran on November 2, 2024 on Honestly with Bari Weiss* Bullshit is an American tradition. Think the theatrics of P.T. Barnum, miracle products sold ad nauseam on television in the 1980s and, of course, politicians. Who can forget President Bill Clinton saying “It depends upon what the meaning of the word is is” during his grand jury testimony in the Monica Lewinsky scandal?And then there’s Donald Trump. He presents as a man with no fact-checking filter, someone happily buying his own convenient bullshit. That’s not quite the same thing as lying. That isn’t to say Trump doesn’t lie. He’s a politician, after all. But he exists outside the binary of truth and lies. It’s the netherworld of flimflam, hyperbole, sales pitches, and ad copy delivered with all the quiet dignity of a wet T-shirt contest. Donald Trump is a very modern artist, weaving a barrage of anecdotes, fake and real statistics, gossip, and memes into a nebulous and suggestive species of patter. Democrats have tried to paint Trump as an American Hitler, a Russian agent, a man consumed with evil and hatred. But what they fail to understand is that Trump’s casual relationship to the truth is an echo of past politicians. He is hardly the first bullshitter to ascend to the White House; he’s just the best ever to do it. He paints a picture of a reality he would like us to see, not as it really is. In this respect, Trump is the crack cocaine variant of many of his predecessors. Ronald Reagan was a folksy, sentimental bullshitter, a president as a Hallmark greeting card. Bill Clinton was a slick bullshitter, perfect for spinning stories at the dawn of the cable news era.Eli Lake explores the soft spot that Americans have for bullshitters like Trump, and their disdain for liars like Richard Nixon. He argues that if you want to understand why Trump may be on the verge of winning the White House again, you have to reckon with our country’s relationship to the pungent brown stuff. It pervades everything from our economy to our culture. Bullshit is dangerous when it comes to science. But in politics, bullshit is sadly essential.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

*This episode originally ran on October 12, 2024 on Honestly with Bari Weiss* We all know the horrid tale of what happened in Israel on October 7, 2023. Waves of gunmen attacked families in their homes and young people attending a music festival. The marauders filmed their murders on GoPro cameras. They burned families alive in their safe rooms; raped, and mutilated their victims; and took hostages back to Gaza on golf carts. Why did they do it?For many critics of Israel, the horrific violence of October 7 was the predictable response to the “occupation”—never mind that Israel pulled out of Gaza in 2005. To them, October 7 was a jailbreak from what progressives often call “an open-air prison.” But for the belligerents, in their own words, this war is for the defense of a mosque on top of a mountain. They called their massacre “Al-Aqsa Flood,” named for one of the two mosques that sit atop what is known to the Jews as the Temple Mount. This is where King Solomon’s temple once stood, and at its base is the Western Wall, where Jews have prayed since its construction in the second century BCE. It’s also known to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif, a noble sanctuary. It’s where Muslims believe the prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven in a dream. An October 10 Hamas communiqué justified their attack as resistance to thwart “schemes and dreams of Judaizing Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa.”This reveals something very important about the Israel-Palestine conflict: That it is not a territorial dispute. It’s a holy war, with roots in an ancient city with significance far beyond its 2.5 miles of limestone walls. The world knows it as Jerusalem. The Palestinians call it Al-Quds.Hamas claims there is a plot by Israel to destroy Al-Aqsa—the mosque atop the Temple Mount that sits in the center of Jerusalem—and build a third Jewish temple where it now stands. It’s a lie. A lie that goes back a century. The man who first began to spread the libel was from one of Jerusalem’s great families that traced its lineage back to the prophet Muhammad himself. He was a seminary-school dropout, a fanatic antisemite, and a Nazi collaborator. His name was Hajj Amin al-Husseini.Eli Lake tells the story of al-Husseini, the origins of the 100-year holy war, and why it persists to this day.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Victor Davis Hanson, a military historian and columnist, delves into the unsettling parallels between ancient Rome and today's political climate. He discusses a recent assassination attempt on Trump, highlighting how political extremism has escalated. The conversation touches on Tiberius Gracchus and his fight for the disenfranchised, drawing connections to modern socio-economic struggles. Hanson warns of the fragility of republics, suggesting that current events echo the chaos of ancient Rome, raising alarms about democracy's future.

*This episode originally ran on August 6, 2024 on Honestly with Bari Weiss* Vice President Kamala Harris appeared to be cruising after she became the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.But in her anointment to the top of the ticket, there was a strange and silent rewriting of history by the press and party loyalists with the support of a lot of tech companies, who together were changing our collective understanding of the present and of the very recent past. Eli Lake argues this has happened before. Not in America. . . but in the Soviet Union, and also in the works of brilliant writers like Milan Kundera and George Orwell.While that might sound like hyperbole, listen and decide for yourself. Because whether you agree or disagree with Eli’s conclusions, you will learn so much from listening to this episode. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

*This episode originally ran on September 7, 2024 on Honestly with Bari Weiss* After Oct. 7, 2023—when Hamas attacked Israel— students at colleges across America etched themselves into infamy with the most dramatic campus protests in a generation.In preparation for the 2024 fall semester, some major universities—from NYU to UCLA—have implemented new rules and decided to enforce old ones to protect Jewish students from activists who had declared sections of campus no-go zones for Zionists. Universities that turn a blind eye to the Tentifada phenomenon now risk violating federal statute. Nonetheless, the chaos appears to be returning. At Temple University, protesters marched in solidarity with Palestinian “resistance against their colonizers.” Last week, a man attacked a group of Jewish students with a glass bottle on the University of Pittsburgh campus outside the school’s “Cathedral of Learning.” Meanwhile at the University of Michigan, four agitators were arrested during a “die-in.”So clearly the danger is not yet over entirely for campuses, even though some of the steam may be leaving the movement. The Democratic National Convention, for example, was supposed to be the exclamation mark of rage, but the protests barely registered as a tussle. But history teaches us that it takes only a few student true believers to make quite a mess once they decide that boycotts and sit-ins aren’t making a difference. Eli Lake looks at America’s history with Ivy League domestic terrorists. More than 50 years ago, campus unrest also spilled into the streets and moved off the grid as a small and lethal group of radicals called the Weather Underground took the plunge from protest to resistance. But the Weather Underground railed against the establishment. Today’s campus protesters are supported by it. Call them. . . the Weather Overground. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices