The Al Franken Podcast

In this Best Of episode, we revisit our 2023 conversation with Rhode Island Senator Sheldon Whitehouse. We talked to Sen. Whitehouse about his book, “The Scheme,” which examines how dark money and radical right wing activists worked tirelessly to gain control of the Supreme Court. Sen. Whitehouse lays out all the key players in this effort, including The Federalist Society and Leonard Leo, the main architect of this mission. By filtering dark money through dozens of agencies and blocking Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland, the right wing has a chokehold on the SCOTUS majority. As a result, we've seen rulings that are horrible for abortion rights, climate change, voting rights, and so much more. Sen. Whitehouse also explains some of the ways that the extremist takeover of the judicial system can be reigned in, but it's going to be a fight.  READ Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse's book, “The Scheme”: https://thenewpress.org/books/9781620978344/

In this Best Of episode, we revisit our 2020 conversation with Jimmy Kimmel! We go through his long career, beginning with his start in radio and his transition to television. We discuss the birth of Jimmy’s late night show back in 2003 and how, in his own words, the show was "genuinely terrible.” With time, Jimmy figured it out and established a template for what makes a good show and learned what makes a good guest versus a bad guest.  A major turning point for Jimmy was when his son battled health challenges. He became more vocal on issues like healthcare, which led to him butting heads with the GOP over their attempts at repealing the Affordable Care Act.  While this interview was in 2020, Jimmy continues to butt heads with the GOP, which resulted in his censorship battle with ABC and the Trump administration earlier this year. WATCH Jimmy Kimmel Live! https://www.youtube.com/jimmykimmellive READ what I wrote when Kimmel was (temporarily) taken off air: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/political-commentary/trump-attack-political-satire-kimmel-colbert-1235431290/ Visit our sponsor Ghostbed and get 25% off of your purchase. Use the code FRANKEN at checkout: https://www.ghostbed.com/Franken Bundle up with some warm weather clothes from Quince! Get free shipping and 365-Day returns at https://www.quince.com/Franken

Throughout the 2024 election, we all heard about the dangers of Project 2025, yet somehow it’s worse than we imagined. Trump continuously said he didn't know anything about it (but he did), and nearly a year after his swearing in, we've seen a huge portion of it already implemented. We're joined by The Atlantic’s David A. Graham, author of the new book, “The Project: How Project 2025 is Shaping America.” In just 138 pages, David covers the entire 920-page document. He explains how many of the authors of Project 2025 saw Trump's first term as a failure because he was stopped from accomplishing his core goals - like building the border wall and repealing Obamacare. The answer was to create a shadow administration that would guide his policy decisions if he made it back to office. We run through a variety of issues that are being influenced by Project 2025, including immigration and border security, education, and trade. And we discuss the most influential figure, Russell Vought, current Director of the Office of Management and Budget. One of his main priorities? Inflict pain on government employees. Plus, Al remembers his friends, Rob and Michele Reiner. READ David's book, “The Project”: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/800230/the-project-by-david-a-graham/ Visit our sponsor Ghostbed and get 25% off of your purchase. Use the code FRANKEN at checkout: https://www.ghostbed.com/Franken Protect yourself and your family from cybercrime this holiday season with 75% off from our sponsor Webroot! https://www.webroot.com/franken Bundle up with some warm weather clothes from Quince! Get free shipping and 365-Day returns at https://www.quince.com/Franken

As we approach the end of 2025, we take a look back at what happened around the world in Trump’s first year back in office. We're joined by two of the best foreign policy writers we know: Franklin Foer and Anne Applebaum from The Atlantic!  We discuss the EIGHT wars and conflicts that Trump has single handedly ended, while also examining the ongoing conflicts in The Middle East, Ukraine, Venezuela, and more. Anne and Frank explain why Trump's Middle East peace plan isn't holding up and why we all should have been skeptical of it from the start. We also look at why the administration's plan for peace between Russia and Ukraine looks like it was written by the Russians themselves. And, of course, we discuss Trump's blatant corruption in both of those theatres. Anne also shares her heartbreaking firsthand account of what the USAID cuts have done to the rest of the world. It highlights the shortsightedness of the entire first year of Trump’s second term. READ Franklin's work in The Atlantic: https://www.theatlantic.com/author/franklin-foer/ READ Anne's work in The Atlantic: https://www.theatlantic.com/author/anne-applebaum/ Check out our sponsor Ollie for premium dog food! Go to https://www.ollie.com/franken and use code FRANKEN to get 60% off your first box. 

We're joined by the great Mark Leibovich from The Atlantic to run through some of the wild stories fresh out of Washington. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth is facing criticisms on multiple fronts: Not only was it reported that he ordered the killing of two survivors from a bombed alleged drug trafficking boat, a Pentagon Inspector General also found that he put American troops' lives in danger with his reckless messages on Signal. Could we see Trump turn on Hegseth? We also recap the marathon Cabinet meeting. Secretary of State Marco Rubio spent his time kissing Trump's ass, and Trump (when he was awake) broke out into an maliciously racist rant about Somalis. Plus, we talk MORE shady pardons (including the former Honduran President and convicted drug trafficker), Trump's sinking approval ratings, and Dick Cheney! READ Mark's writing in The Atlantic: https://www.theatlantic.com/author/mark-leibovich/ Protect yourself and your family from cybercrime this holiday season with 75% off from our sponsor Webroot! https://www.webroot.com/franken Visit our sponsor OneSkin for all of your skincare needs! Use the code FRANKEN at checkout to get 15% off of your order: https://www.oneskin.co/FRANKEN Get 10% off your first order from Graza Olive Oil. Use the code FRANKEN at checkout: https://partners.graza.co/FRANKEN Visit our sponsor Ghostbed and get 25% off of your purchase. Use the code FRANKEN at checkout: https://www.ghostbed.com/Franken