Unbiased political analysis the way you wish still existed. Justin Robert Young isn't here to tell you what to think, he's here to tell you who is going to win and why. www.politicspoliticspolitics.com
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Sep 29, 2026 · 1:19:29
Right now, the prediction markets have James Talarico at about 60–40, and the polling shows either a tied race or one where he’s slightly ahead of Ken Paxton. But I live in the…
Sep 25, 2026 · 2:01:47
For my money, the most accurate television depiction of politics isn’t House of Cards — villainous, murky, lethal — or The West Wing — quippy, nerdy, idealistic. It’s Veep :…
Sep 22, 2026 · 1:19:16
I’m struggling to find anything that dissuades me from a position I think is probably too aggressive: Democrats are going to ransack. They’re going to pillage. They’re going to…
Sep 17, 2026 · 1:03:22
When it comes to the war in Iran, my supposition is that the economic negativity driving the country — and creating an environment where Democrats could do very well in the…
Sep 15, 2026 · 56:32
The Republican Governors Association is already throwing downfield in Ohio. During the Ohio State–Texas game, it aired an ad attacking Amy Acton over a 2019 family dispute in…
Sep 10, 2026 · 1:02:56
Trump says he’ll give every American $5,000 if Republicans retain the House and Senate. That’s about $1.3 trillion, and the country is already $40 trillion in the hole. Is it a…
Sep 8, 2026 · 1:12:35
Trump’s threat to ban Bombardier aircraft sales has put Kansas Republicans in a bind. Senators Jerry Moran and Roger Marshall contacted the administration because the Canadian…
Sep 3, 2026 · 1:09:12
I’m in Atlanta for Dragon Con, and normally that would give me a chance to see what the campaigns are putting on television. But I don’t expect to see many political ads while…
Sep 1, 2026 · 1:17:26
House Republicans just returned from five weeks in their districts, and there’s already a rumor that they’re about to pull an “Abe Simpson” — walk into Washington, turn around,…
Aug 28, 2026 · 1:53:04
The Iran war has reached the six-month mark, far beyond the quick victory Trump once promised. Pakistan says it’s still working on diplomacy to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, while…
Aug 25, 2026 · 1:12:19
I’ve got a bad feeling about the South Carolina runoff for Darlene Graham. Lindsey Graham’s sister led the first round with roughly 32 percent but now faces Representative Ralph…
Aug 20, 2026 · 1:10:12
The midterms will definitively fall into one of three scenarios. Republicans began this Congress with a 220–215 House majority and hold the Senate 53–47. The environment is…
Aug 18, 2026 · 1:28:38
Florida is a red state, but it’s never without interest and intrigue. Byron Donalds is going to destroy everybody in the Republican primary for governor. He’s been a Trump…
Aug 12, 2026 · 1:22:28
Wisconsin Democrats narrowly chose Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley over Democratic Socialist state representative Francesca Hong in the gubernatorial primary, 39.8…
Aug 5, 2026 · 1:22:58
Abdul El-Sayed is going to be the Democratic nominee for Senate in Michigan, but the victory was much closer than it looked when I initially planned to call it. With 23 percent…
Jul 28, 2026 · 1:10:05
Haley Stevens has found her groove. She’s made herself into a plucky underdog, which is hard because she’d been typecast as the spoiled golden girl — Chuck Schumer’s special…
Jul 23, 2026 · 1:27:04
Donald Trump says he’s close to deciding whether to launch a massive attack on Iran as the U.S. military expands its campaign aimed at stopping attacks on commercial shipping in…
Jul 21, 2026 · 1:17:56
To date, Trump 2.0 has been defined by everybody appearing to be on the same page and by a sense that the administration kept moving its priorities forward. You might not have…
Jul 16, 2026 · 1:06:20
Donald Trump is going before the nation Thursday night to make a case about election integrity. We don’t know exactly where or how many places he’s going to be shown, but we do…
Jul 14, 2026 · 1:24:45
Circle August 4th on your calendar: Michigan is now the number one marquee primary matchup I’m watching. Mallory McMorrow is out of the race as of a couple of weeks ago, and…
Jul 9, 2026 · 55:45
Graham Platner is out… but is he? Last night in Maine, he released an 11-minute video that savaged the Democratic establishment and the progressive establishment. He blamed…
Jul 7, 2026 · 1:02:27
European leaders are talking about a rupture with America — a de-Americanization of the continent driven by Donald Trump’s demands that NATO members spend more on defense, his…
Jul 2, 2026 · 1:27:25
We talk all the time about how America is a very young country, and that’s true when you compare us to Europe, Africa, and Asia, where countries are built around lineages, ethnic…
Jun 30, 2026 · 1:41:01
The Supreme Court wrapped up its term with three major decisions, and one surprise that turned out not to be a surprise after all. NPR briefly published a report that suggested…
Jun 26, 2026 · 1:10:30
What should have been a bipartisan housing bill touting affordability has instead become a fight over the Save America Act. Representative Anna Paulina Luna is leading a House…
Jun 23, 2026 · 1:48:02
All eyes are on New York. The congressional primaries happen tonight, and in a city this Democratic, many of these races will effectively decide who heads to Congress. What I’m…
Jun 18, 2026 · 1:16:54
Republicans are now arguing that their aggressive mid-decade redistricting campaign could preserve their House majority even in an environment where history is usually not on…
Jun 16, 2026 · 1:15:34
The memorandum of understanding between the United States and Iran was apparently signed over the weekend, but the text remains a mystery to most. Donald Trump says he’ll release…
Jun 11, 2026 · 1:10:52
The situation with Iran continues to feel like Groundhog Day, except this time, believe it or not, there may actually be movement. Earlier this week, I mentioned that I had heard…
Jun 9, 2026 · 1:17:28
California is inviting questions about its elections because of a problem that is entirely solvable: the state takes too long to count ballots. This LA mayoral race is just the…
Jun 4, 2026 · 1:05:33
A new Graham Platner story dropped today, and it answers one question while opening about a dozen others. The reporting centers on an ex-girlfriend from his time in Washington…
Jun 2, 2026 · 1:35:20
The Trump administration is backing away from a planned $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund after a revolt from Republicans on Capitol Hill. The fund, tied to a settlement and…
May 28, 2026 · 1:28:57
We currently have a reported 60-day framework on the table between the United States and Iran that would temporarily extend the current ceasefire dynamics and create space for…
May 26, 2026 · 1:21:20
Texas Republicans are about to answer a question that has been hanging over the party since 2024: is partial loyalty to Trump enough anymore, or do you either become fully…
May 22, 2026 · 1:22:40
The Democratic Party finally released its 2024 autopsy and somehow managed to make the whole situation look even worse. Not because the conclusions were devastating. Honestly,…
May 18, 2026 · 1:35:36
Kentucky’s Republican primary out of its 4th District has turned into the most expensive House primary in American history, and it doesn’t take a detective to tell where the…
May 14, 2026 · 1:12:09
The obsession with a hypothetical JD Vance versus Marco Rubio showdown for 2028 says a lot more about the Republican fascination with palace intrigue than it does about actual…
May 12, 2026 · 1:16:14
Trump’s trip to China is happening at the exact moment his most persistent political vulnerability is becoming impossible to ignore: the economy. Inflation has ticked up to 3.8%…
May 8, 2026 · 1:17:00
The Trump administration is looking for a new ICE director, which at this point might qualify as one of the least appealing jobs in American politics. Todd Lyons is heading for…
May 6, 2026 · 1:09:11
Graham Plattner’s campaign is running into the kind of problem that feels very 2026, even if the source material is more than a decade old. His Reddit history, which might have…
Apr 30, 2026 · 1:45:33
Janet Mills’ Senate bid in Maine is effectively over — not that it really got off the ground in the first place. She was supposed to be the top-tier recruit, the popular…
Apr 28, 2026 · 1:31:51
Florida’s new congressional map is out, and the more I look at it, the more it feels like Republicans are trying to push right up against the edge of what is politically and…
Apr 26, 2026 · 20:39
An assassination attempt at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner turned what is usually a choreographed, slightly self-congratulatory night into something much more serious,…
Apr 23, 2026 · 1:15:23
Republicans are running out of places to redraw the map, and Florida is quickly becoming their last real shot to claw back seats before the midterms. The pressure is now squarely…
Apr 21, 2026 · 1:37:28
Congress is in the middle of a rare moment where members are actually being forced out, and it is happening on both sides at once. Eric Swalwell and Tony Gonzales are already…
Apr 16, 2026 · 1:42:29
Israel and Lebanon have agreed to a ceasefire after talks in Washington, with President Donald Trump saying it would take effect at 5 p.m. Eastern time on Thursday. He said he…
Apr 15, 2026 · 1:04:36
The fall of Eric Swalwell feels less about the details of any single allegation and more about how quickly everything around him collapsed once those allegations hit. The shift…
Apr 10, 2026 · 1:03:16
Just how absurd does the word ceasefire sounds when nobody actually stops firing? We’re calling it a ceasefire, we are acting like it is a ceasefire, but the reality on the…
Apr 7, 2026 · 1:19:27
Trump’s borderline-genocidal threats towards Iran from Tuesday morning are no doubt unsettling — and depending on whether this war keeps escalating after this episode is…
Apr 2, 2026 · 1:19:51
Pam Bondi is out as attorney general, and even though the official line is that she is moving on to something else, it really feels like a firing that had been building for a…
Mar 31, 2026 · 1:40:13
On the surface, the question of whether Donald Trump can actually force Congress back to Washington to deal with the DHS shutdown sounds simple and dramatic. The Senate is gone,…
Mar 26, 2026 · 59:00
As I recorded this episode, the Department of Homeland Security has been unfunded for more than 40 days, and the consequences are no longer abstract. TSA lines are stretching…
Mar 24, 2026 · 1:03:55
The push to resolve the Department of Homeland Security shutdown through reconciliation is running into a hard reality in the Senate. What looks like a procedural workaround is,…
Mar 20, 2026 · 1:07:10
The Iran war is entering a more dangerous phase, not because of troop movements, but because energy infrastructure is now a target and the price tag is starting to match the…
Mar 18, 2026 · 1:16:12
One of the most striking developments during the Iran war has been the reappearance of something that used to define American media a century ago: yellow journalism.…
Mar 12, 2026 · 2:43:48
Washington state Democrats have passed a new 9.9 percent income tax on millionaires, the first income tax in the state’s history. The measure now heads to the governor’s desk and…
Mar 10, 2026 · 1:26:52
I’ve reached a point where the marketplace of ideas feels broken. The conversation around the Iran war, especially the discussion about oil prices and the Strait of Hormuz, has…
Mar 6, 2026 · 1:03:47
I didn’t expect the day’s biggest story to land before the show even got rolling, but the first major cabinet domino of the Trump administration has finally fallen. Kristi Noem…
Mar 3, 2026 · 1:22:16
The fight between Anthropic and the Pentagon goes deeper than a simple contract dispute. In some ways, it’s the culmination of a tech rivalry that’s been simmering since the…
Mar 1, 2026 · 55:02
The United States is now in open conflict with Iran after a joint U.S.–Israeli operation killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in the opening hours of what the White House has…
Feb 26, 2026 · 1:42:41
We are officially in the phase of a campaign where decency gets tossed aside and the opposition research file is emptied directly into a 30-second spot. One local ad targeting…
Feb 23, 2026 · 46:49
I sat down with Capitol Hill reporter Juliegrace Brufke to unpack the explosive allegations surrounding Rep. Tony Gonzalez and his reported relationship with a former district…
Feb 20, 2026 · 1:27:02
President Trump says he will decide within 10 to 15 days whether to continue diplomatic efforts with Iran or authorize military action. On paper, talks in Geneva have been…
Feb 17, 2026 · 1:07:54
The Iran situation remains murky. President Trump says he will be indirectly involved in renewed nuclear talks in Geneva, describing them as “very important,” while…
Feb 13, 2026 · 1:19:59
Over the past couple of weeks, Senate Republicans have come up with this plan to bring back the talking filibuster, all in an effort to pass the SAVE America Act. On paper, it is…
Feb 10, 2026 · 1:13:04
Jasmine Crockett has a new ad, and it’s everything you’d expect out of 2026 so far. It’s a TV ad utilizing an anime style — and potentially some AI. It is inventive, loud, and…
Feb 6, 2026 · 1:09:16
The renewed focus on Jeffrey Epstein has pulled Bill and Hillary Clinton back into a political posture they know better than almost anyone. Hillary Clinton’s decision to publicly…
Feb 3, 2026 · 1:24:18
Texas has found itself in the spotlight over the past few days, and for pretty interesting reasons at that. First, we saw a Texas special election that flipped a deeply…
Jan 29, 2026 · 1:44:41
In the immediate aftermath of the fatal ICE shooting in Minneapolis, Senate Democrats are attempting to translate outrage into leverage. After a closed-door caucus, they emerged…
Jan 28, 2026 · 1:24:40
The killing of Alex Pretti is different from the earlier death of Renee Good in ways that matter politically and institutionally. The video is clearer, the optics are harsher,…
Jan 23, 2026 · 1:19:09
I went back and watched Donald Trump’s speech at Davos after the reaction to it spiraled into calls for the 25th Amendment. Having seen it in full, I have to say, that response…
Jan 20, 2026 · 2:01:40
The Greenland situation continues to look more theatrical than existential. To me, leaked private messages from Emmanuel Macron, public frustration from Donald Trump, and hurried…
Jan 16, 2026 · 1:16:08
The resignation of Madison Sheahan, an ICE deputy director to run for Congress might look like a routine political move, but it says more about the internal state of immigration…
Jan 13, 2026 · 1:09:45
The week began with a borderline farcical incident in Greenland, where organizers of a traditional dog sled race condemned what they viewed as inappropriate political pressure…
Jan 9, 2026 · 1:36:08
The most consequential story remains Iran, where protests appear to be growing despite the regime shutting down the internet, a move that historically precedes lethal force. The…
Jan 6, 2026 · 2:03:08
Maduro in Manhattan and the Legal Test Ahead Former Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, pleaded not guilty this week in federal court in Manhattan to…
Jan 5, 2026 · 1:11:32
The United States’ decision to seize Nicolás Maduro and bring him to New York marks one of the most dramatic assertions of American power in the Western Hemisphere in decades. In…
Dec 31, 2025 · 1:48:35
Topics discussed, by month: January The year opened with Donald Trump’s second inauguration and a rapid slate of executive actions, including a controversial move that…
Dec 29, 2025 · 1:02:44
With the Sunday shows having pre-recorded the bulk of their conversations and the flow of news quieting down for the holidays, Justin sat down to answer your questions on a…
Dec 23, 2025 · 54:51
The Epstein files keep coming out, and instead of clarity, they are producing something far messier: suspicion without resolution and outrage without proof. What we are seeing…
Dec 19, 2025 · 1:07:20
Donald Trump’s primetime address this week was far less dramatic than advertised, but far more revealing than it looked at first glance. Stripped of the rumors and speculation,…
Dec 16, 2025 · 1:18:31
On Tuesday, a sprawling two-part Vanity Fair piece built from more than a dozen interviews with Susie Wiles, President Trump’s chief of staff, dropped online. It is, without…
Dec 12, 2025 · 57:25
The Senate’s vote to extend enhanced ACA subsidies was the clearest sign yet that congressional Republicans are fracturing as they head toward the midterms. Four GOP senators —…
Dec 9, 2025 · 1:03:00
Jasmine Crockett’s launch ad did exactly what it was designed to do: dominate the conversation. It’s a sparse spot — just Donald Trump’s voice calling her “low IQ” while she…
Dec 5, 2025 · 1:37:51
I’ve long found the January 6 pipe bombs case particularly frustrating. Too serious to be forgotten, too mysterious to be ignored, we’ve had no answers for nearly five years. And…
Dec 3, 2025 · 56:34
The Tennessee 7th District special election is no ordinary off-calendar contest. It is a rare moment when a deeply red seat, long considered immovable, has become a stress test…
Nov 26, 2025 · 1:06:50
There’s no two ways about it — Marjorie Taylor Greene’s resignation came as a shock. She’s leaving Congress at the start of the year, which means Republicans will immediately…
Nov 21, 2025 · 45:21
Donald Trump’s approval ratings have entered their roughest stretch of his second term, with three separate polls showing him hitting new lows after months of a seemingly…
Nov 19, 2025 · 1:12:43
I came back from the UK expecting to ease into the week, and instead I walked straight into one of the wildest legislative twists I have seen in years. The Epstein files bill (HR…
Nov 11, 2025 · 1:12:46
We’ve got ourselves a good old-fashioned legislative brawl over hemp. The Senate just shut down Rand Paul’s amendment that tried to strip out restrictions on intoxicating hemp…
Nov 10, 2025 · 31:08
It looks like the longest shutdown in American history is on the verge of finally reaching its conclusion — and let’s be honest, it’s ending exactly how these things always end.…
Nov 6, 2025 · 1:03:04
It’s been building for weeks, but after this week’s election results, Republican infighting has officially hit a fever pitch. It’s like any anxious period in life, the kind where…
Nov 5, 2025 · 20:48
Well, what a night that was. The 2025 off-year election came and went, and I don’t think anybody on the Republican side was quite ready for how hard it hit. I expected Virginia…
Nov 4, 2025 · 36:03
I’ve seen my fair share of shutdowns over the years. Loud ones, quiet ones, dumb ones, strategic ones. But this one? This is just sad. I spent the day on Capitol Hill talking to…
Oct 30, 2025 · 1:11:55
Trump and Xi finally sat down for the first in-person meeting of this new administration, and I won’t lie — there was a lot of hype going into this one. There were whispers about…
Oct 29, 2025 · 1:40:53
We’re just about a week out from Election Day, and I have to say, this is what I live for. These are the kind of stories that really scratch the itch for anybody who loves the…
Oct 24, 2025 · 1:04:13
This Graham Platner saga just keeps delivering. Every time I think we’ve hit the ceiling on oppo drops, the elevator dings and we’re in a whole new suite of controversy. It’s not…
Oct 22, 2025 · 1:26:26
It’s not every day that the most interesting story in American politics is a Senate primary in Maine, but here we are. This race, at least for now, has everything: a populist…
Oct 17, 2025 · 1:16:25
Trump is once again talking about Vladimir Putin — this time setting up a meeting in Budapest to discuss ending the war in Ukraine. That’s according to Trump himself, who said…
Oct 15, 2025 · 1:21:23
We’ve officially entered the phase of the shutdown where things stop being polite and start getting real. Missed paychecks are happening this week for federal employees, and…
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