Shows / Political Junkie Podcast
Political Junkie Podcast
Where contemporary history and politics meet the challenge of today.
clairepotter.substack.com
Episodes
Political Junkie PodcastThis Land Is Your Land
We began this episode with a clip from Georgia Governor-elect Keisha Lance Bottoms’s victory speech last night. It was a night of many firsts, and Bottoms will…
Political Junkie PodcastIs the “Red Wall” Crumbling?
We began this episode with an excerpt from a video where Illinois grain and soybean farmer John Bartman and his mother explain the effects of Trump’s policies…
Political Junkie PodcastIf He Did It
We began this episode with a short excerpt from September 27, 1995, day 1 of defense attorney Johnnie Cochran’s closing argument in O.J. Simpson’s trial for…
Political Junkie PodcastDeath Penalty TV
We began this episode with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s decision to livestream the execution by firing squad of Nidal Hassan, the former Army…
Political Junkie PodcastNo Happy Ending
The second half of today’s episode involves sexual assault and drug use; it may be inappropriate for some listeners and distressing to others. If you or…
Political Junkie PodcastHow To Lose An Election
We began this segment with MAHA influencer Jillian Michaels reacting to Donald Trump’s February 18, 2026, executive order ramping up the production and…
Political Junkie PodcastCasino Politics
We begin this episode with President Donald Trump’s pledge, issued in Dallas last week at the GOP midterm convention, to give adult citizen of the United…
Political Junkie PodcastRemember the Women
We began this episode with a clip from a 1972 press conference in which Gloria Steinem protested an abortion reform bill passed by the New York State…
Political Junkie PodcastWho Owns History?
Our opening segment is from “Drawing on the Archive: Tillie Walden’s Charity & Sylvia,” a short video featuring cartoonist Tillie Walden explaining the…
Political Junkie PodcastIn Dolly We Trust
I posted this as a podcast so that I could re-up an interview I did last year with Martha Ackman, Dolly Parton’s biographer. You can read the show notes here…
Political Junkie PodcastTrue Grit and Public Service
We opened with a clip from former Vermont Governor Howard Dean announcing his bid for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination in Burlington, Vermont on…
Political Junkie PodcastDonald Trump’s Incredible Shrinking Majority
We began this episode with a February 2016 clip of South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham speaking to the Washington Press Club Foundation. In a…
Political Junkie PodcastCan Maine Democrats Beat Susan Collins?
Dear subscribers: This post was supposed to go out last week, but due to a family emergency I had to suspend writing and publishing temporarily. All paid…
Political Junkie PodcastAs Maine Goes
We began this episode with Graham Platner’s announcement on Wednesday that he will step down as the Democratic nominee for Senate in Maine. Our theme music…
Political Junkie PodcastThe GOP’s Unwelcome Mat
We began this episode with a June 30 clip of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis responding to the United States Supreme Court decision to uphold birthright…
Political Junkie PodcastIt’s Not Easy Being Green
We begin with a June 22 press conference, in which Donald Trump blames faceless, nameless enemies for the failed renovation of the Lincoln Memorial reflecting…
Political Junkie PodcastNo Donald, You Can’t Have A Pony
We begin with a clip from the June 14 2026 UFC event on the White House Lawn, in which MMA fighter Josh Hokit declares that Jesus Christ is greater than Hulk…
Political Junkie PodcastClap If You Believe in Fairies
We begin with a clip from an ad circulated by Lone Star PAC that asserts Democratic candidate for Senate James Talarico is “too weak and weird for Texas.”…
Political Junkie PodcastWhat Trump Really Meant? Make America White Again!
Thank you to everyone who tuned into this video live! In this bonus episode, recorded yesterday as a Substack Live, Princeton sociologist Paul Starr and I…
Political Junkie PodcastWe’re Not Dead Yet!
We begin with a clip from Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus’s 2013 press conference, where he presented the autopsy on Senator Mitt…
Political Junkie PodcastQueer Eye for the MAGA Guy
We begin with a clip from an interview with the content creator and looksmaxxer Clavicular, a.k.a. Braden Peters broadcast on CBS Australia last month…
Political Junkie PodcastShould Democrats Be Frank?
Here’s a shout out to new subscribers Richard Russell, Josha Crabtree, Jen Aleric, Romano Scaturro, mlc257 (rest of email redacted), Hope Munro, Michael…
Political Junkie PodcastJack of All Trades
This week, I want to welcome new premium subscribers Elwood Watson and Kate Ma, as well as free subscribers Vivek Asija, Marc Tretin, Roberta Smith, Kay…
Political Junkie PodcastKalamity Kash
We begin with FBI Director Kash Patel’s response to a reporter on April 21, 2026, asking if the allegations that he has been AWOL from his role at the Bureau…
Political Junkie PodcastThe Twilight of Populism?
Thank you to everyone who tuned into the live video! This slightly edited version of show begins with Peter Magyar’s Tisza party, which won a resounding…
Political Junkie PodcastDon’t Stop Believin’
We begin with a 2020 clip, in which Paula White-Caine, President Donald Trump’s spiritual advisor and current Director of the White House Faith Office…
Political Junkie PodcastPrinces of Darkness
We begin with a clip from November 27, 2025, in which a reporter on Air Force asks President Donald J. Trump who—other than himself—would be a good Republican…
Political Junkie PodcastTabloid Politics
Today’s episode begins with a February 6, 2026 press gaggle on Air Force One, in which Donald Trump discusses the lawsuit he filed against the Internal Revenue…
Political Junkie PodcastShattering Revelations
Last week, The New York Times published an investigation into legendary labor organizer Cesar Chavez (1927-1993) and his decades of alleged criminal conduct…
Political Junkie PodcastGit Along, Little DOGEys
We begin with a deposition from Nathan Cavanaugh, a twenty-something DOGE staffer on a team tasked with reviewing NEH grants awarded by the Biden…
Political Junkie PodcastWhat Happened to Candace?
We begin with a clip from the 2016 campaign trail in which presidential candidate Donald Trump discusses a Black supporter and invites rally-goers to “look at…
Political Junkie PodcastClinton Derangement Syndrome
We begin this episode with a clip from a four-hour segment of testimony by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. She appeared before the House Oversight…
Political Junkie PodcastThe Education of Tucker Carlson
Thank you Theresa Smalec, John Stoehr, and many others for tuning into my live video with Ryan James Girdusky! At the end of last week, I had a chance to do a…
Political Junkie PodcastWhere Is Nancy Guthrie?
We had a little trouble with the video upload on today’s podcast: it is inconsistent, so if you will find that annoying, please just listen! We began our…
Political Junkie PodcastHow Did the MAHA Fitness Message Get So Weird?
Last week, the federal Health and Human Services Administration website posted a video of HHS Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. working out with Trump-aligned…
Political Junkie PodcastWe’re in the Epstein Files!! 🤦♂️
Some of you may have read last week’s post about how I ended up in the Epstein Files—and what I learned about the sex offenders world when I took a deeper dive…
Political Junkie PodcastThe Bunny Bowl
The show begins with a clip from right-wing podcaster Benny Johnson’s November interview with Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem after the NFL…
Political Junkie PodcastICE Out of Minnesota
Our show begins with Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), chair of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, as he disputes the Trump administration’s account of Renée Good…
Political Junkie PodcastIs Minnesota Winning?
In this emergency episode of the Political Junkie podcast, I am joined by Michael Kazin, a prize-winning scholar and Professor of History at Georgetown…
Political Junkie PodcastThe Front Page
We begin with this clip: Bari Weiss, newly named chief of the CBS News Division and founder of The Free Press Substack, reintroduces herself and the network…
Political Junkie PodcastThe Home Front
At the beginning of this episode, we hear a clip from Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld about strategic uncertainty on February 12, 2002, as the Bush…
Political Junkie PodcastLiddle Marco, Happy At Last
News Summary: * Yesterday, 37 year-old Renee Nicole Good, a poet, mother of three, and a United States citizen was murdered by an ICE officer identified as…
Political Junkie PodcastHe Who Laughs Last
Promotional photo of Imogene Coca and Sid Caesar from “Your Show of Shows,” August 30, 1952. Photo credit: NBC/Wikimedia Commons For this final podcast of…
Political Junkie PodcastWhat Would Dolly Do?
As we slide into the holidays, our politics podcast is on a three-week hiatus. But I have some terrific book chats lined up, each one accompanied by a short…
Political Junkie Podcast"The Moment Trumpism Died"
We begin with influencer Milo Yiannopoulos on December 6, 2025, in conversation with ex-Congressman and pardoned felon George Santos on Tim Poole’s podcast…
Political Junkie PodcastLethal, Lazy Liars
We begin with this clip from a cabinet meeting earlier this week, in which Pete Hegseth described to a journalist his participation in a deadly September 2…
Political Junkie PodcastDoes Everyone Still Hate Liberals?
Thank you to everyone who tuned into my live video! Here are a few books you might be interested in after listening: * Kevin M. Schultz, Why Everyone Hates…
Political Junkie PodcastWhy Experts Matter
Hello listeners! This is a Substack live I did earlier in the day: in the future, I will be doing more features that take a deep dive into an important story…
Political Junkie PodcastLive with Claire Potter: The Growing Rift In MAGA
Thank you to everyone who tuned into my live video, and just to say: I have rescheduled historian Kevin Schultz, and the conversation about whether everyone…
Political Junkie PodcastQuiet, Piggy
We begin with a clip from a gaggle on Air Force One this week, in which a female reporter asked a follow up question about the Epstein files, and President…
Political Junkie PodcastMy Little Margie
We begin with an Oval Office presser on Tuesday, when a White House reporter asked Trump to respond to criticism from Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R…
Political Junkie PodcastRise Up
We begin with a clip from New York City Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani’s victory speech in Brooklyn, New York, on November 4, 2025, one of five critical victories…
Political Junkie PodcastThe Right Stuff
Neil is off this week doing super-secret stuff: all will be revealed eventually. But today, I am delighted to offer an episode featuring former New York Times…
Political Junkie PodcastMen Will Be Boys
We begin with this clip of Vice President Vance excusing the Young Republicans who sent racist, homophobic, and violent messages and misidentifying them as…
Political Junkie PodcastWhat Is A (MAGA) Woman?
We begin with this clip from a March 28, 2025 press conference, in which President Donald Trump answers the timeless question: “What is a woman?” Photo credit…
Political Junkie PodcastEverybody Look What’s Going Down
Due to a corrupted video file, our original file cut out after the 56 minute mark, and I couldn’t fix it. I have taken it down and you can now listen to the…
Political Junkie PodcastNo Place of Safety
We begin with words from Jeffrey Schaub, the Bishop of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Grand Blanc Ward. The Angel Moroni atop the Church of…
Political Junkie PodcastFirst Amendment Blues
We begin with this clip, in which Donald Trump defends FCC chair Brendan Carr’s warning to Disney about ABC late night host Jimmy Kimmel’s monologue about the…
Political Junkie PodcastDying in Darkness
We begin with a clip from the House Oversight Committee’s March 26 2025 hearing, chaired by Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA-14), in which…
Political Junkie PodcastHow Do We Fix This?
This week, we skip our In the News feature to focus on what has dominated the national narrative since last Wednesday afternoon: the political assassination of…