The Politics of Everything

San Francisco was in meltdown, and the district attorney had lost control. That was the story that ousted Chesa Boudin, the city’s progressive prosecutor: Get rid of Boudin and San Franciscans will be safer. Now, a few months out from a successful recall, how is the city faring? What was behind the campaign to demolish the former district attorney—and, crucially, who was bankrolling it? On episode 57 of The Politics of Everything, hosts Laura Marsh and Alex Pareene discuss the flaws in the narrative used to unseat Boudin and what has happened since his departure. Guests include Peter Calloway, a public defender who lives in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood; California journalist Gil Duran; and Jacob Silverman, who wrote about David Sacks, one of the backers of the recall, for The New Republic.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’re sharing a preview from another podcast, The Last Archive. The Last Archive is a show about the history of truth -- or the lack thereof. It's about how we've arrived at the current "fakenews" moment. And it's about how we know what we know, and why it seems, these days, as if we can't agree on anything at all. Harvard historian Jill Lepore uncovers the secrets of the pastthe way a detective might. In this preview, Jill explores some of the roots of human knowledge: the encyclopedia and how the idea of it has grown to information sharing via sites likeWikipedia. Hear more of The Last Archive at https://podcasts.pushkin.fm/tla3?sid=poe. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Are we headed back to the 1970s? Politicians and commentators from across the political spectrum insist we are. They also make clear that nothing could be worse. Why is the decade so feared? What kinds of policy to the grim warnings justify? On episode 56 of The Politics of Everything, hosts Laura Marsh and Alex Pareene speak with the writer Aaron Timms about “nostophobia,” a term he coined to describe a condition that is something like the opposite of nostalgia, and “’70s syndrome,” the variant currently gripping our collective imagination. It’s hard to see how we fix the problems of today with the same failed policy solutions of the 1970s—but that isn’t stopping anyone from trying.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Are evil-minded strangers trying to hook your kids on candy-colored fentanyl? As Halloween approaches, a dire story is making the rounds about the threat to children of so-called rainbow fentanyl. Is there anything to the Drug Enforcement Administration’s warnings? When it comes to synthetic opioids, where do the real dangers lie? On episode 55 of The Politics of Everything, hosts Laura Marsh and Alex Pareene discuss how the rainbow fentanyl panic fits into a longer history of Halloween fears. Guests include Zachary Siegel, who writes about drug policy and the criminal justice system; the sociologist Joel Best, who has studied urban legends about poisoned Halloween candy; and regular TNR contributor Natalie Shure. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Who will win this year’s Nobel Prize in literature? And what—beyond literary excellence—does the award stand for? On episode 54 of The Politics of Everything, hosts Laura Marsh and Alex Pareene talk with Alex Shephard, a staff writer at The New Republic and an inveterate Nobel watcher, about the enigmatic politics of the oldest and most distinguished literary prize in the world. Will the Nobel Committee salute freedom of speech by honoring Salman Rushdie, who was brutally attacked onstage in August? Will it recognize the French memoirist Annie Ernaux, who has written movingly about illegal abortion? How apparent have the Nobel’s politics been over the years—and who definitely won’t win? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Once upon a time, all politics was local. These days, it seems, all local politics is national. And as the states grow further and further apart on policy, and the Republican Party’s opposition to democratic institutions grows more extreme, the downsides of federalism become ever more apparent. On episode 53 of The Politics of Everything, hosts Laura Marsh and Alex Pareene speak with Jacob Grumbach, the author of Laboratories Against Democracy, and Aaron Kleinman, the director of research at the States Project, about the ways our decentralized system threatens democracy, how the right and the left have responded to the increasing nationalization of politics, and what’s at stake in local elections during this year’s midterms.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Earlier this summer, TikTok users started describing strange symptoms after eating French Lentil + Leek Crumbles, a new product from the vegan food company Daily Harvest. The company received hundreds of reports of illness, and in June, it recalled the product. The Daily Harvest fiasco got special attention because people were reporting their problems on social media, but foodborne illness is far from unusual in the United States. Every year, millions of Americans get sick from something they ate. On episode 52 of The Politics of Everything, Laura Marsh and Alex Pareene talk with New York Times writer Madison Malone Kircher and Helena Bottemiller Evich, the author of the food policy newsletter Food Fix, about what exactly happened in the Daily Harvest scandal and why food poisoning is so common in this country.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Over the past few years, deaths from car accidents in the United States have spiked dramatically. Journalists and commentators have been quick to point to pandemic-induced stress and anxiety to explain the increase. But is that account too pat? On episode 44 of The Politics of Everything, hosts Laura Marsh and Alex Pareene talk with three guests about road design, automobile regulation, and what’s wrong with blaming crashes on reckless drivers. Guests include Charles Marohn, the author of Confessions of a Recovering Engineer; Jessie Singer, the author of There Are No Accidents, and Jason Slaughter, the creator of the YouTube channel Not Just Bikes.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Romania is home to one of the largest and most important old-growth forests in the world—but its trees are disappearing at an astonishing rate. Meanwhile, a spate of attacks has shaken environmentalists and activists in the country. On episode 43 of The Politics of Everything, hosts Laura Marsh and Alex Pareene talk with the reporter Alexander Sammon, who recently traveled to Romania to investigate illegal logging for The New Republic. Can Europe’s forests survive the global appetite for timber? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s youth are overwhelmingly left-wing. So who are the young conservatives? On Episode 40 of The Politics of Everything, hosts Laura Marsh and Alex Pareene talk to Sam Adler-Bell, a writer and the host of the podcast Know Your Enemy, about an energetic cohort who call themselves the New Right. They differ in many ways from the median right-wing voter. They hate the Republican establishment. Their heroes are illiberal authoritarians. Are they going to remake conservatism? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices