
Episodes
Trump’s battle with Harvard
8/3/2025
Could a new resistance change the course of Trump’s battle with Harvard University and higher education? Plus: signs that Democrats are moving toward jumping into a political arms race with Republicans over Trump’s gerrymandering plan; and an official with a prominent Israeli rights group explains why they are now calling Israel’s conduct in Gaza a genocide.
Duration:00:42:37
Why Donald Trump is calling a Senate custom a “scam” and the truth about “blue slips”
8/3/2025
What’s behind a complicated but crucial piece of Trump’s strategy for reshaping the judiciary; Nobel-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz explains why Trump firing the BLS head is ‘like driving a car with no odometer'; and how Trump’s targeting of immigrants, science, health, and universities is causing a brain-drain that history tells us could have generational impacts on American progress.
Duration:00:38:49
Why Trump’s war on urban America will reach beyond city limits
8/3/2025
Donald Trump is turning his antipathy toward American cities into action - but his war on cities is bad for all of America; plus new moves by Democrats point to a political arms race over the president’s gerrymandering plan; and an official with a prominent Israeli rights group explains why they are now calling Israel’s conduct in Gaza a genocide.
Duration:00:41:06
Trump’s Economic Headwinds
8/2/2025
The former Commissioner of Bureau Statistics weighs in on the absurdity that is Trump’s decision to fire her successor following a weak jobs report; why a high-ranking U.S. official’s trip to Gaza may be a substitute for action and not a call to it; and Abdi Nazemian’s young-adult novel “Like A Love Story” is the subject of this week’s “Velshi Banned Book Club.”
Duration:00:40:47
The Base’s Instinct
8/2/2025
Donald Trump has a long history with conspiracies and those who consume them, but those same people are now turning on him. But Trump is trying to reel them back in with a new conspiracy theory; former Gov. Jay Inslee (D-WA) weighs in on the Trump administration’s push to revoke a landmark rule that has been critical in fighting climate change; Trump's Texas gerrymandering scheme is a dangerous escalation of an anti-democratic tactic that both major parties have used historically. But above all, it’s an expression of fear.
Duration:00:42:00
The Trump Economy
8/2/2025
How Trump’s firing of the Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner hours after a weak jobs report is a dangerous escalation in America’s slide into authoritarianism; why a high-ranking U.S. official’s trip to Gaza may be a substitute for action, and not a call to it; and the family of a Jeffrey Epstein victim speaks out against Ghislaine Maxwell’s transfer to a minimum-security federal prison in Texas.
Duration:00:40:24
President Trump Is “Not In A Good Mood”
7/27/2025
Ali Velshi is joined by Co-Founder and Editor-in-Chief of The Contrarian Jennifer Rubin, Senior Executive Editor of Bloomberg Opinion Tim O’Brien, Editor-in-Chief and CEO of Zeteo News Mehdi Hasan
Duration:00:57:39
The Major Opening for a Movement Against Trump’s Authoritarian Creep
7/27/2025
Ali Velshi is joined by syndicated radio talk show host of ‘The Thom Hartmann Program’ Thom Hartmann, Professor of Constitutional Law and Africana Studies at John Jay College of Criminal Justice Gloria J. Browne-Marshall, fmr. Chairman and President of the Export-Import Bank of the United States Fred Hochberg, Staff Writer for The New Yorker Sheelah Kolhatkar
Duration:00:39:13
Trump’s Tilting at Windmills
7/27/2025
Ali Velshi is joined by independent journalist Jim Acosta, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), fmr. Marine Corps attack pilot Kyleanne Hunter, co-creator of ‘The Daily Show’ Lizz Winstead
Duration:00:39:52
Ordinary citizens are showing us how to fight an onslaught of radical book bans
7/26/2025
Ali Velshi is joined by Columnist at The New York Times Michelle Goldberg, fmr. Assistant U.S. Attorney at SDNY Nick Akerman, Sr. Fellow of American Stagecraft Program at Carnegie Endowment For International Peace Aaron David Miller, Author of ‘All Boys Aren’t Blue’ George M. Johnson
Duration:00:40:48
Donald Trump: “Don’t talk about Trump”
7/26/2025
Ali Velshi is joined by fmr. Rep. Joe Walsh, Contributing Editor and political Columnist at The New Republican Ana Marie Cox, Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA), Professor of Philosophy at University of Toronto Jason Stanley
Duration:00:42:31
Trump, Under Pressure
7/26/2025
Ali Velshi is joined by fmr. Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Catherine Christian, Special Correspondent at Vanity Fair Molly Jong-Fast, Sr. Fellow of American Stagecraft Program at Carnegie Endowment For International Peace Aaron David Miller, Senior Columnist at The Boston Globe Opinion Kimberly Atkins Stohr, fmr. Federal Prosecutor Jill Wine-Banks
Duration:00:39:29
A new kind of nominee, a challenge to American influence, and finding power in struggle
7/20/2025
Ali Velshi is joined by Senior Correspondent at Vox Zack Beauchamp, Journalist John Harwood, MSNBC Political Analyst Richard Stengel, Visiting Fellow at Center for Asia Policy Studies at The Brookings Institute Mira Rapp-Hooper, Co-Founder and Editor-in-Chief of The Contrarian Jennifer Rubin, Distinguished Professor of African American Studies at Princeton University Eddie Glaude
Duration:00:41:47
The News Cycle Donald Trump Can’t Control
7/20/2025
Ali Velshi is joined by Senior Executive Editor of Bloomberg Opinion Tim O’Brien, Staff Writer for The Atlantic David Graham, Professor of Holocaust & Genocide Studies at Brown University Omer Bartov, Deputy Director of Immigrants’ Rights Project at ACLU Lee Gelernt, Senior Fellow at American Immigration Council Dara Lind
Duration:00:40:03
Bove & Beyond
7/20/2025
Ali Velshi is joined by Professor of Law at NYU Melissa Murray, fmr. President & CEO of NPR Vivian Schiller, MSNBC Political Analyst Richard Stengel, Visiting Fellow at Center for Asia Policy Studies at The Brookings Institute Mira Rapp-Hooper
Duration:00:40:06
A $10 billion lawsuit, another trade war price hike, and a “much less scary” socialist
7/19/2025
Ali Velshi is joined by columnist for The New York Times Michelle Goldberg, MSNBC Legal Analyst Catherine Christian, Associate Professor of Political Science at Fordham University Christina Greer, Morning News Anchor on NY1 Pat Kiernan
Duration:00:41:03
Epstein Files Fallout
7/19/2025
Ali Velshi is joined by Donald Trump’s niece Mary Trump, fmr. Federal prosecutor Paul Butler, Senior Contributing Editor for Health News Analysis at KFF Health News Elisabeth Rosenthal, Investigative Reporter Caitlin Dickerson, host of ‘Going For Broke’ podcast Ray Suarez
Duration:00:40:12
Trump’s war on the Fed is more dangerous than you think
7/19/2025
Ali Velshi is joined by Professor of Economics & Public Policy at University of Michigan Justin Wolfers, fmr. Chair of the U.S. Council of Economic Advisers Jared Bernstein, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), author of ‘Abortion, Everyday’ Kylie Cheung
Duration:00:40:53
Trump faces MAGA fallout
7/13/2025
Ali Velshi is joined by Independent Journalist Jim Acosta, Co-Founder and Editor-in-Chief of The Contrarian Jennifer Rubin, Founding Partner & Washington Correspondent at Puck News Julia Ioffe, Chief Washington Correspondent at KFF Health News Julie Rovner, Max and Bernice Garchik Family Presidential Professor at The University of Pennsylvania Exequiel Hernandez
Duration:00:40:01
How Trump’s Economy is Weakening the American Dollar
7/13/2025
Ali Velshi is joined by Professor of Economics at Harvard University Kenneth Rogoff, Professor in the Practice of Environmental Law at Rice University Jim Blackburn, MSNBC Senior Reporter Brandy Zadrozny
Duration:00:40:27