Despite its reputation among many on the political left, the United States has welcomed more immigrants than any other nation in history. Today, the U.S. is home to more immigrants than any other country in the world. Even amid a heated political battle over the future of immigration, it’s undeniable that a core part of America’s national identity is its image as “a nation of immigrants.”

Many Americans proudly trace their ancestry to those who migrated to the U.S. in pursuit of the American Dream. Most take pride in knowing that people around the world dream of building a life in the USA.

But immigration in the U.S. has always been complicated. Today, the country is also home to the largest population of unlawful migrants on Earth. In recent years, the U.S. southern border with Mexico has been cited as one of the most porous and chaotic in the world. Additionally, the U.S. has the most backlogged immigration courts globally.

Our episode today examines how the U.S. immigration system became so stubbornly, frustratingly, and dangerously chaotic—from legal loopholes exploited by cartels to the failed legislation of the 1990s aimed at curbing illegal migration, and from the enduring challenges of enforcement to the growing calls for building a wall and mass deportations.

Our guests are David Leonhardt, Senior Writer for The New York Times and author of Ours Was a Shining Future, and John Sandweg, former head of ICE under President Barack Obama.

As always, we’d love to hear from you. Send us an email at [email protected].

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In the wake of the election results, many Democrats are doing some serious soul-searching (and a fair amount of blame-gaming) to understand why they lost. But it’s not just Democrats reckoning with their loss of trust from the American people. New polling from places like Gallup shows historically high levels of distrust in journalists. Meaning that a profession built on the delivery of trusted information is now in the midst of a full on crisis of mistrust. 

How did we get here? What are we doing wrong? And what, if anything, can we—or should we—do to regain that trust?

For today’s episode, we take a frank look at the media’s role in this crisis with Ben Smith and Nayeema Raza.

Ben Smith is the co-founder of Semafor, a news organization with ambitious goals to redefine global journalism. He’s the former media columnist for The New York Times and was the founding editor-in-chief of BuzzFeed News, leading it from a scrappy startup to a Pulitzer Prize-winning newsroom. Ben’s journalism roots trace back to the late 1990s and early 2000s, where he covered crime and New York politics for local papers. He was part of the early journalism blogging era online, reported on the 2008 Obama campaign for Politico, and embodies a no-nonsense ethos to journalism that I’ve come to admire over the years.

Nayeema Raza is (alongside Ben) the co-host on Semafor’s media podcast Mixed Signals, which explores how money, culture, and politics shape everything we read, watch, and hear. She has worked as executive producer at The New York Times Opinion and frequently guest-hosts Open to Debate. With a background in film and documentary, Nayeema often draws fascinating parallels between newsroom trends and what’s happening in Hollywood and beyond.

As you’ll hear, the three of us don’t always agree. In this episode, I’m a bit more open with my views than usual—we even scrutinize some of my past work. Together, we wrestle with the causes and context of the current trust crisis in journalism, explore historical parallels, discuss the disruption of the internet and influence of social media, and unpack lessons from the Trump era so far.

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Here comes the much-anticipated (maybe dreaded? Obnoxiously over-covered?) 2024 US presidential election, and no one knows who will emerge as the next President of the United States.

Today’s episode was inspired by a conversation I had last week with a former colleague from The New York Times. She shared her concern that we in the media might have done it again. That just like in 2016, we may have failed to capture why Donald Trump, one of the least popular presidents in US history and an undeniable outlier, could be so close to winning another term in the White House. 

So with the election just days away, we’re diving in to unpack that story. Our guests are Mike Pesca, a veteran of NPR and host of The Gist, the longest-running daily news podcast. Mike has covered presidential campaigns and politics for over two decades. While he’s been a sharp critic of Trump, he’s done an excellent job of explaining why so many Americans see a vote for Trump as a vote for their own self-interest. We’re also joined by Emily Jashinsky, a Washington correspondent for Unherd, co-host of the Undercurrents podcast, and someone who reports from within the conservative media ecosystem. She does a fantastic job documenting the rise of the New Right and its split from the fading conservative establishment.

No matter who you are planning on voting for - or even if you aren’t going to vote at all - we’d love to hear from you. You can always reach us at [email protected].

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Wars—like the one between Israel and Hamas—are not only fought on the battlefield, but they are also fought through stories. In today’s episode, I interview Eman Abdelhadi, an American academic, activist, and organizer in the Free Palestine movement. Abdelhadi shares a perspective on Israel that, while controversial, is gaining influence across the United States, particularly on college campuses.

A recent Pew survey revealed that 34% of Americans under 30 find Hamas' reasons for fighting Israel to be valid, and only 16% of Americans support continued U.S. military aid to Israel. If you align with the Free Palestine movement, Eman’s story may resonate deeply. If you support Israel, it may be challenging and even frustrating to hear. But regardless of where you stand, I believe there is value in listening to a view that is shaping more and more of the American discourse on this issue.

If you’d like to share your feedback on this or any episode, you can reach us at [email protected].

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Today: Fears of another world war, a high stakes presidential election and the very divisive subject of American support for Israel. We speak with progressive voters who are considering staying home in November, even if it could lead to another Trump presidency. We unpack our reporting from the 2024 March on the DNC, examining the ways it compares—and doesn’t—to the 1968 March on the DNC.

We also mention that a short video I took at the march went viral on Instagram, receiving millions of views and thousands of revealing comments about our divided country and how some Americans view the protesters.

Andy’s viral instagram video from the DNC: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C-3pPrkMwTX/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

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We are hard at work on several stories that we hope to share with you soon, but today we’re trying something a bit different. We're bringing you a roundtable discussion with Sarah Isgur and Mike Pesca on why politicians and world leaders lie—and what those lies reveal about the state of our society.

Sarah Isgur is a lawyer, senior editor at The Dispatch, host of the legal podcast Advisory Opinions, and co-host of Left, Right & Center. She’s previously worked in all three branches of the federal government, including a few years in the Trump Administration, and has been involved with three different presidential campaigns.

Mike Pesca, a veteran of NPR, is the host of The Gist, the longest-running daily news podcast, and has covered presidential campaigns and politics for over two decades.

We dive deep into whether we’re living in an era of especially egregious lies, the incentives for politicians to lie, how we classify and fact-check lies, and much more. I’ll also add that by the end, we wind up in a place I didn’t expect.

LINKS:

Listen to Mike Pesca on The Gist

Listen to Sarah Isgor on Advisory Opinions, Left, Right & Center and follow her writing at The Dispatch. 

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In today’s Hindsight we are looking back on our coverage of stolen election claims (No, You Stole the Election!) with journalist, lawyer, and podcast royalty, Emily Bazelon. We discuss gerrymandering, voter ID laws, growing distrust in institutions, and we debate the power of elites and whether we should be worried about Election Day 2024.

We have a lot of new listeners here, and we’re very excited to have you with us! If you want to hear this episode in full, please become a paid subscriber (one of our Reflectors).

You can become a subscriber at reflector.show

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Today in our third and final installment of this series, we delve into what may be the most contested election in American history. We also take stock of the already historic and unprecedented 2024 presidential campaign season. What happens when both sides of our political divide increasingly view the other as an anti-democratic threat?

Our aim with these episodes is to listen carefully to those who feel cheated, move beyond the daily political drama, and inspire deeper reflection on where our society stands and the challenges we face.

Special thanks to Washington Post columnist, Megan McArdle and to Megan Phelps-Roper.

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Here in our second installment into the recent history of stolen election claims, we’ve got angry voters, disappointed politicians, and a few tech-savvy democrats who see signs of hacking, fraud, and illegitimacy in three different elections.

We’ll discuss the allegations about hacked voting machines in Ohio in 2004, claims that the 2016 election was stolen from Hillary Clinton, and how stolen election claims in the 2018 gubernatorial election in Georgia helped make Stacey Abrams a national star.

Next time in Part 3, we’ll dive into the unprecedented 2020 election and the Stop the Steal movement. We’ll also share our thoughts on the 2024 presidential election and our expectations for what might happen on Election Day.

Special thanks to Megan McArdle and Megan Phelps-Roper.

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Claims that a US election was rigged, fraudulent, illegitimate, or stolen are not new. But in recent years—despite the fact that our elections have grown increasingly secure—these claims have grown louder and more impassioned. Today, we begin our look back on past claims of stolen elections in American history, in the hopes that understanding them in their context will help shed light on our current political moment—and where we might be headed next.

In this first installment, we speak to Megan McArdle, former writer for the Atlantic and current columnist at the Washington Post, about the stolen election claims in both the 1960 and 2000 elections.

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Featuring Your Cheatin’ Heart by Patsy Cline and The Jordanaires

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Today we’ve got a very special Hindsight episode that revisits the themes explored in our "Filthy Slime" episodes (Parts 1 & 2). We’re delighted to be joined by living legend and recent Grammy winner Killer Mike. He discusses his view of "rap on trial" and the complex relationship between art, crime, and life for young people in some of America’s toughest neighborhoods.

We also explore the legend of Stack Lee – AKA Stagger Lee – and the hundreds of songs and performances inspired by his most infamous crime. Writer, poet, and Washburn University professor Eric McHenry explains why this story continues to resonate more than a century after the notorious saloon murder.

As a new show, we’re still experimenting with different formats to tell stories and explore ideas. We’d love to hear your feedback! Please reach out to [email protected] with your thoughts, questions, and story suggestions.

Special thanks for this episode go to Killer Mike, Kmele Foster, Van Lathan, Megan Phelps-Roper, Claire Reynolds, and Eric McHenry.

Links:

Playlist of some of the music featured in this episode

Listen to Killer Mike’s recent album

Read more from Eric McHenry here or check out his essay on Stagger Lee, which he’s currently developing into a book called Original Gangster.

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