In which I try to answer your questions about modern politics.... heathercoxrichardson.substack.com
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Sep 30, 2026 · 56:08
In today’s Politics Chat: Special counsel Jack Smith testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee, chaired by Chuck Grassley. Missouri Senator Eric Schmidt accused Smith of…
Sep 25, 2026 · 58:10
A federal judge blocked the State Department's Office of Remigration from sending deportees to third countries with no ties to them, a program that has cost more than 400 million…
Sep 23, 2026 · 53:34
The White House revoked press credentials for CNN, Politico, and MS NOW after aide Natalie Harp reportedly showed Trump stories that angered him. In a UN speech, Trump suggested…
Sep 18, 2026 · 58:22
House Speaker Mike Johnson sent members home until after the midterms, reportedly to avoid a vote on Representative Thomas Massie’s eight articles of impeachment against Defense…
Sep 16, 2026 · 57:39
Retired judge J. Michael Luttig warned that House Speaker Mike Johnson could install a loyalist clerk to refuse to seat duly elected Democrats after the 2026 midterms, paralyzing…
Sep 11, 2026 · 42:17
In today’s Politics Chat: Since September 8, Iran-backed Houthi forces have seized much of Yemen's Red Sea coastline, including the port of Mocha, about 50 miles from the Bab…
Sep 9, 2026 · 41:25
In today’s Politics Chat: Elon Musk is spending up to 100 million dollars on the midterms, including backing ‘Vote Safe,’ a site that reportedly collects extensive personal data…
Sep 4, 2026 · 52:06
In today’s Politics Chat: A federal judge in Boston, Indira Talwani, blocked the Trump administration's new mail-ballot verification system until September 10, and the Justice…
Sep 2, 2026 · 37:54
In today’s Politics Chat: A federal whistleblower says the U.S. Postal Service rushed a new mail-in ballot verification system that could reject entire batches if even a single…
Aug 28, 2026 · 48:38
In today’s Politics Chat: Trump signed an executive order renaming Lake Ontario "Lake America," a symbolic move with no binding effect abroad. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney…
Aug 26, 2026 · 37:33
In today’s Politics Chat: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries met with Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner, sparking Democratic backlash. Trump's tariff war with Canada, launched…
Aug 21, 2026 · 28:01
Topics covered in today’s Politics Chat: USS Abraham Lincoln resupply crisis, fabricated polling scandal, Natalie Harp and Trump's inner circle, spheres-of-influence foreign…
Aug 19, 2026 · 48:54
Topics covered in today’s Politics Chat: USS Abraham Lincoln resupply crisis, fabricated polling scandal, Natalie Harp and Trump's inner circle, spheres-of-influence foreign…
Aug 14, 2026 · 50:14
Topics covered in today’s Politics Chat: Kennedy Center takeover, monument and memorial legality, ICE-TSA data sharing and mass arrests, expedited immigration court proceedings,…
Aug 13, 2026 · 39:22
Topics covered in today’s Politics Chat: Executive order powers, Greenland oil ambitions, attorney general confirmation and executive privilege, presidential approval decline and…
Aug 7, 2026 · 35:52
U.S. missile and munitions shortages, Iran war of choice, Strait of Hormuz control and transit fees, freedom of the seas, rising gas and food prices, inflation, Venezuela oil…
Aug 5, 2026 · 53:11
Topics covered in today’s Politics Chat: Party realignment, Capital One money laundering allegation, bank enabling of Epstein trafficking, paid insider-trading access, attorney…
Jul 31, 2026 · 34:17
Topics covered in today’s Politics Chat: 19th-century political biography collecting, Medicare and Medicaid anniversary, Medicare Part D subsidy elimination, Medicaid payment…
Jul 29, 2026 · 34:26
Topics covered in today’s Politics Chat: Trump mental acuity, partisan legitimacy double standard, historic preservation rollbacks, Caribbean and eastern Pacific boat strikes,…
Jul 24, 2026 · 39:43
Topics covered in today’s Politics Chat: Kentucky Senate vacancy question, Senate succession and special election law, National Historic Preservation Act Section 106 rollback,…
Jul 22, 2026 · 44:36
Maine Senate race, Susan Collins and immigration funding vote, 25th Amendment succession process, Medicaid reimbursement withholding, SNAP cuts and error rates, Iran war…
Jul 17, 2026 · 43:56
Topics covered in today’s Politics Chat: Waltham clockmaking and industrial time, U.S.–Iran war, Strait of Hormuz control and rising fuel prices, U.S.–Iran memorandum of…
Jul 15, 2026 · 49:39
Topics covered in today’s Politics Chat: U.S.–Iran memorandum of understanding withdrawal, Strait of Hormuz control, Iranian port blockade, cargo transit fees, War Powers Act…
Jul 10, 2026 · 52:04
Topics covered in today’s Politics Chat: Maine Senate race, Mitch McConnell health uncertainty, Iran war escalation, Strait of Hormuz fallout and rising inflation, NATO summit…
Jul 8, 2026 · 46:23
Topics covered in today’s Politics Chat: Maine Senate race, anti-establishment messaging, party realignment, Graham Platner nomination, concentration of wealth, the American…
Jul 3, 2026 · 42:12
Topics covered in today’s Politics Chat: Declaration of Independence 250th anniversary, natural law and unalienable rights, consent of the governed, grievances against the King,…
Jul 1, 2026 · 55:21
Topics covered in today’s Politics Chat: Presidential eligibility for the Supreme Court, bipartisan housing bill stalled, pocket veto, SAVE Act voter citizenship requirements,…
Jun 26, 2026 · 41:54
Topics covered in today’s Politics Chat: Communism, socialism, liberal democracy, fascism, and capitalism defined, New York progressive primary wins, Democratic Party civil war…
Jun 24, 2026 · 45:47
No-bid contracts, emergency powers expansion, Reflecting Pool restoration, algae research funding cuts, U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding, Strait of Hormuz leverage, JCPOA…
Jun 19, 2026 · 44:36
U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding, War Powers Act bypass, Iranian sanctions relief, Strait of Hormuz tolls and rising fuel prices, frozen Iranian assets release, Iran…
Jun 17, 2026 · 58:45
Democracy versus republic, changes at the Department of Education, school voucher expansion, OMB oversight of federal grants, Trump IRS non-prosecution deal, IRS lawsuit…
Jun 12, 2026 · 39:38
Topics covered in today's Politics Chat: Ohio tech tax exemption deal under Kasich, 1920s Republican economy parallels, reflecting pool and military spending increases, ICE and…
Jun 10, 2026 · 54:14
Supply-side economics and Republican ideology, Speaker Mike Johnson's Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare cuts, SNAP and Medicaid fraud claims versus error rates, rising…
Jun 5, 2026 · 52:07
Maine Senate primary and Graham Platner opposition research, No Kings rally correction, Bill Pulte as acting Director of National Intelligence, FISA Section 702 reauthorization,…
Jun 3, 2026 · 50:59
Politics Chat, June 2, 2026 Delaney Hall detention facility and GEO Group contract, Mayor Ras Baraka arrest and Rep. LaMonica McIver assault charge, congressional oversight…
May 29, 2026 · 42:32
White House Rose Garden paved over and East Wing demolition, UFC arena on the South Lawn, Kennedy Center and Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool changes, Arlington triumphal arch…
May 27, 2026 · 44:41
Funding for UFC event at the White House, South Carolina Republicans reject redistricting, Trump job approval and economy ratings, U.S. military action in Iran and Strait of…
May 22, 2026 · 53:20
Trump's $10 billion IRS lawsuit withdrawal, the $1.776 billion DOJ settlement fund, Stanley Woodward's signature on the first document, Acting AG Todd Blanch's tax immunity…
May 21, 2026 · 43:16
Executive orders and their reversibility, Republican budget cuts to Medicaid and SNAP, Trump's $10 billion IRS lawsuit and its withdrawal, the Department of Justice settlement…
May 15, 2026 · 32:39
JD Vance's Maine visit to talk about fraud, accusations used by the guilty party, Rick Scott's $1.7 billion Medicare and Medicaid fraud settlement, Trump pardons for…
May 13, 2026 · 42:24
Topics covered in today’s Politics Chat: Trump's wild late-night social media postings, Russia's scaled-down Victory Day parade and Putin's weakening position, gerrymandering,…
May 8, 2026 · 55:10
Tennessee congressional redistricting, the Supreme Court's Louisiana v. Callais ruling and the Voting Rights Act, mid-decade Republican remapping in Ohio, Missouri, North…
May 6, 2026 · 40:31
Senate Republicans' budget reconciliation proposal, $1 billion White House security and ballroom appropriation, supply-side economics and the Reagan-era tax-cut legacy, the One…
May 1, 2026 · 1:02:33
Watch out for AI-generated impersonation scams, Trump approval ratings at post-January 6th lows, war with Iran and the Strait of Hormuz closure, oil futures above $110 a barrel,…
Apr 29, 2026 · 46:47
White House Correspondents' Dinner security incident and the conspiracy theories that have followed, DOJ indictment of James Comey over ‘8647’ social media post, Trump passports…
Apr 24, 2026 · 42:35
Secretary of the Navy John Phelan's firing, Pete Hegseth's consolidation of power within the Pentagon, House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer's shift from sworn hearings to…
Apr 22, 2026 · 47:51
Instability in the Trump administration as (female) cabinet departures continue, Kash Patel Atlantic story and FBI leadership concerns, Wall Street Journal reporting on Trump's…
Apr 17, 2026 · 46:52
Hungary's Magyar election victory and democratic opposition theory, Biden vs. Magyar approaches to political legitimacy, MAGA Republicans as illegitimate political party, House…
Apr 15, 2026 · 37:01
Hungary's April 12th election and Viktor Orbán's defeat, Peter Magyar and the supermajority opposition victory, illiberal democracy and its U.S. ties, Trump's AI-generated Jesus…
Apr 10, 2026 · 51:02
Special elections shift toward Democrats, Wisconsin Supreme Court progressive majority, Republican retirements from the House, Iran war fallout and Strait of Hormuz closure,…
Apr 8, 2026 · 36:55
Trump's social media post threatening Iran, the 25th Amendment's text and invocation process, JD Vance's trip to Hungary, Viktor Orban's reelection bid, leaked Orban-Putin…
Apr 3, 2026 · 48:17
Trump's Davy Crockett social media post targeting Jasmine Crockett, movement conservatism's ideological origins and collapse, federal daycare and Medicaid funding cuts, 400…
Apr 1, 2026 · 56:55
No Kings rallies, Trump's social media post on the Strait of Hormuz, Wall Street Journal leak on Iran war exit conditions, stock market rally, Brent crude prices, DHS leaks…
Mar 27, 2026 · 57:38
The three pillars of the postwar rules-based international order, Trump's acceleration of that collapse, the Strait of Hormuz closure and rising oil prices, U.S. concessions to…
Mar 25, 2026 · 53:45
Iran war stalemate and Strait of Hormuz blockade, US oil refinery dependency and energy market disruption, pre-market announcement and oil futures insider trading, Kristi Noem…
Mar 20, 2026 · 55:31
MAGA coalition fractures over Iran war, U.S. military strikes and Strait of Hormuz closure, oil prices and inflation surge, NSM on domestic terrorism and protest prosecutions,…
Mar 18, 2026 · 26:22
Evacuation Day and the 250th anniversary of the British withdrawal from Boston, Trump's Iran war and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, allied refusal to protect shipping…
Mar 13, 2026 · 43:40
SAVE America Act requirements, documentary proof to vote, federal ID history, filibuster mechanics and cloture, Senate pressure on John Thune, Pentagon casualty leak discrepancy,…
Mar 11, 2026 · 51:08
Pocket veto clause in the Constitution, Trump's tariff losses at the Supreme Court, the post-WWII global order and its three pillars, Trump's military action in Iran, the Strait…
Mar 7, 2026 · 57:29
Boundary Waters sulfide mining vote, Steve Daines' last-minute Senate exit and hand-picked successor in Montana, Markwayne Mullin nominated to replace Kristi Noem at DHS, Kansas…
Mar 4, 2026 · 48:34
U.S. and Israel military strikes against Iran, the War Powers Act and the "imminent threat" standard, congressional war declaration authority versus executive action, the Gang of…
Feb 27, 2026 · 33:04
State of the Union marks the administration’s shift into campaign mode, fraud commission led by JD Vance, Somali community Minnesota fraud claims, Supreme Court limits on Trump…
Feb 25, 2026 · 51:57
Heather’s State of the Union address, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and the federal deficit, the Supreme Court ruling on Liberation Day tariffs and emergency powers, economic…
Feb 20, 2026 · 51:25
The arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and the widening implications of the Epstein files, intelligence and influence networks tied to Jeffrey Epstein, scrutiny of…
Feb 18, 2026 · 59:10
Marco Rubio’s speech at the Munich Security Conference; the post–World War II order of democracy, trade, and alliances; Europe’s pivot toward self-defense and new partnerships…
Feb 14, 2026 · 57:55
Whistleblower complaint regarding Tulsi Gabbard and intercepted communications involving Jared Kushner, Trump speaks out against the Gordie Howe International Bridge hours after…
Feb 11, 2026 · 56:58
Expanded immigration detention and deportation policy shifts under the Trump administration, the elimination of bond release and the rise of mass detention facilities, DHS…
Feb 6, 2026 · 21:02
Senator Ron Wyden’s open letter to CIA Director John Ratcliffe, a Minnesota courtroom transcript reveals systemic failures inside DHS, Democrats’ demands to rein in federal…
Feb 4, 2026 · 43:26
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Jan 30, 2026 · 46:20
Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe
Jan 28, 2026 · 42:51
Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe
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