Rightwing billionaire takeovers, journalists getting arrested, and endless misinformation. Welcome to the current state of American journalism. This week, Alex speaks to former CNN correspondent Jim Acosta about how legacy news organizations caved to President Trump and the critical role of independent media.

She’s also joined by Jason Zengerle, author of “Hated By All the Right People: Tucker Carlson and the Unraveling of the Conservative Mind”, to analyze how Carlson brought fringe ideas into mainstream discourse.

Order Jason Zengerle's book here and use the code ALEX.

This week Alex travels to Minneapolis to see first hand how the community is responding to the terrorizing presence of ICE and the killing of ICU nurse Alex Pretti. She shines a light on the grassroots efforts of mothers mobilizing to help both students and teachers who fear being targeted, and speaks to Reverend Dan Johnson about how his congregation has been impacted as well the very un-Christian nature of this administration’s tactics. Then Alex sits down with Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison to talk about how President Trump’s rhetoric contributed to the attack on Rep. Ilhan Omar, whether judicial interference can stop the federal government’s overreach, and why access to voter rolls is an issue at the center of this crisis.

Even police chiefs in Minnesota are calling out ICE tactics as race-based and out of line. This week, Alex focuses on what comes next — from conditions at ICE detention centers, to the long-term impacts this lawless use of force will have on communities. First Alex speaks to David Wilson, an immigration attorney in Minneapolis about the horrible treatment and lack of medical care his clients are facing. Then she’s joined by MS NOW Political and National Correspondent, Jacob Soboroff, to talk about what he’s seeing on the ground in Minneapolis, how Trump 2.0 immigration enforcement compares to the family separation policy he covered during the first term, and his new book “Firestorm: The Great Los Angeles Fires and America’s New Age of Disaster”.

Since an ICE agent shot and killed Renee Good in Minneapolis, President Trump and MAGA have labeled her a “domestic terrorist” and come up with one reason after another to justify her death. This week Alex interviews Michel Moore, the former Chief of Police for the Los Angeles Police Department, to hear how law enforcement is interpreting the event. Then she speaks to The Bulwark’s Tim Miller to question the parallel realities Americans seem to be living in, despite ample video footage, and even in cases of life and death.

2026 has started off with strikes on Venezuela, the kidnapping of President Nicolas Maduro, and a brazen slew of threats from President Trump against Greenland, Colombia, Cuba, Mexico, and Iran. This week, Alex speaks to Venezuelans about what their hopes and fears are for the future of their country. Then she's joined by Pod Save America's Jon Favreau and Pod Save the World's Ben Rhodes to break down the absolute insanity of Trump’s imperial ambitions.

Are President Trump’s tariffs illegal? Will the independence of federal agencies be a thing of the past? Is birthright citizenship about to be taken away? These are just a few of the consequential questions before a Supreme Court that's hell-bent on destroying obstacles to President Trump's executive power. Alex talks to two plaintiffs at the center of of these cases, Toymaker Rick Woldenberg and former FTC Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter. Then, she sits down with NYU Professor and Strict Scrutiny host Melissa Murray to put it all into context and talk about what the long term impacts will be of a Supreme Court where corruption and partisanship are now out in the open.
 

Under the leadership of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, the Pentagon is in disarray. From a lack of transparency on extrajudicial strikes in the Caribbean, to the Signalgate scandal, to kicking out the Pentagon press corp – this administration has put a leader at the helm who is both embarrassing and a threat to national security. This week, Alex hears from The Atlantic’s Nancy Youssef about what it’s like covering the defense beat without access to the Pentagon. She also speaks to Senator Elissa Slotkin, who has told service members that they are not obligated to follow unconstitutional orders, and been targeted by President Trump for doing so. Then Alex and Pod Save the World host Ben Rhodes break down what kind of reputational damage Hegseth is doing to America’s image abroad, and what dangerous precedents are being set for authoritarian countries to follow.

The Trump administration is using the tragic shooting of two National Guard members by an Afghan national as justification to close the door on immigration, refugees, and asylum seekers trying to enter the US. This week, Alex speaks to an Afghan aid worker who now fears for his family's safety, and then is joined by Joy Reid to talk about how this is all part of a larger MAGA plot to Make America White Again.