Night Owls

Joe Klein and John Ellis on what's happening and what happens next. Joe Klein is the author of seven books and "Sanity Clause," a Substack newsletter. John Ellis is the founder and editor of two Substack newsletters — News Items and Political News Items. The two friends have covered American politics for a combined 95 years.

Night Owls Episode 66 (with Marc Dunkelman) 05/19/2025

Night Owls Episode 66 (with Marc Dunkelman) A conversation with Brown University’s Marc Dunkelman who has written an important book: Why Nothing Works: Who Killed Progress—and how to Bring it Back.” Dunkelman has written an alternative history of the Democratic Party, a 150 year struggle between top-down and bottom-up progressivism that has led to stagnation. /episode/index/show/960c26f4-610c-4e44-be23-d9e831146823/id/36629085

Night Owls Episode 65 (Daniela Rus) 05/13/2025

Night Owls Episode 65 (Daniela Rus) We interviewed Daniela Rus, Director of the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) at MIT. She talks about the marriage of robotics and AI; what she calls "physical intelligence." It's a fascinating hour. /episode/index/show/960c26f4-610c-4e44-be23-d9e831146823/id/36521975

Night Owls Episode 64 (Wolfgang Munchau Part 3) 05/04/2025

Night Owls Episode 64 (Wolfgang Munchau Part 3) The last part of our interview with the brilliant Wolgang Munchau /episode/index/show/960c26f4-610c-4e44-be23-d9e831146823/id/36424445

Night Owls Episode 63 (Wolfgang Munchau Part 2) 05/04/2025

Night Owls Episode 63 (Wolfgang Munchau Part 2) The 2nd in our series where we interview Wolfgang Munchau /episode/index/show/960c26f4-610c-4e44-be23-d9e831146823/id/36424430

Night Owls Episode 62 (Wolfgang Munchau Part 1) 05/04/2025

Night Owls Episode 62 (Wolfgang Munchau Part 1) The 1st of our 3 part series interviewing Wolfgang Munchau /episode/index/show/960c26f4-610c-4e44-be23-d9e831146823/id/36424420

Episode 61 (with Larry Summers) 04/24/2025

Episode 61 (with Larry Summers) Larry Summers on Team Trump's economic policies, the attack on academia and the future of artificial intelligence. /episode/index/show/960c26f4-610c-4e44-be23-d9e831146823/id/36300445

Night Owls Episode 60 03/25/2025

Night Owls Episode 60 Capitulation Week A major liberal law firm capitulates to Trump pressure. A major Ivy League University capitulates to Trump pressure. Zelensky capitulates to Trump pressure. In Israel, Bibi Netanyahu tries to replicate Trump pressure…and the Dems best response is yesterday’s Bernie singing yesterday’s song. John and Joe revisit last week. /episode/index/show/960c26f4-610c-4e44-be23-d9e831146823/id/35850100

Night Owls Episode 59 (with Martin Wolf) 03/18/2025

Night Owls Episode 59 (with Martin Wolf) A conversation with Martin Wolf, chief economics commentator at the Financial Times, London. We discuss his recent book -- The Crisis of Democratic Capitalism -- and recent events. /episode/index/show/960c26f4-610c-4e44-be23-d9e831146823/id/35722030

Night Owls Episode 58 (With Sen. Tom Cotton) 03/03/2025

Night Owls Episode 58 (With Sen. Tom Cotton) Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) talks about his new book -- "Seven Things You Can't Say About China" -- and says most of them. /episode/index/show/960c26f4-610c-4e44-be23-d9e831146823/id/35501180

Night Owls Episode 57 02/22/2025

Night Owls Episode 57 A world in disarray /episode/index/show/960c26f4-610c-4e44-be23-d9e831146823/id/35388575

Episode 56 (with Al From) 02/09/2025

Episode 56 (with Al From) Al From, the founder of the Democratic Leadership Council, talks about how to rebuild the Democratic Party—and how he did it last time. /episode/index/show/960c26f4-610c-4e44-be23-d9e831146823/id/35208430

Episode 55 01/25/2025

Episode 55 Inauguration Week in Review! Joe and John on the ascendant Trump, the triumph of the Tech Bros, Dems in disarray, the Lars Anderson Bridge and the whereabouts of Philip K. Howard. /episode/index/show/960c26f4-610c-4e44-be23-d9e831146823/id/35004190

Episode 54 (with Susan Mulcahy) 01/17/2025

Episode 54 (with Susan Mulcahy) Nobody knows the New York Post like Susan Mulcahy. She wrote the book. She talked about it with us. /episode/index/show/960c26f4-610c-4e44-be23-d9e831146823/id/34892610

Episode 53 (with David Barboza Part 4) 01/09/2025

Episode 53 (with David Barboza Part 4) Episode Four: A dream assignment: David moves to Shanghai and begins covering China. He goes from "Sock City" to Apple, to the extraordinary changes in China's economy, politics and culture. The final episode covers everything from Wuhan to Taiwan, fentanyl to semiconductors, quantum computing to cyberhacking, to Xi's political standing and how much (and how many of) China's most successful people dislike and distrust Xi. /episode/index/show/960c26f4-610c-4e44-be23-d9e831146823/id/34792930

Episode 52 (with David Barboza Part 3) 01/09/2025

Episode 52 (with David Barboza Part 3) Episode Three: The not-a-partnership partnership of one of the world's greatest entrepreneurs and one of the world's richest men is a case study in modern China. David describes the "partnership" that became the subject of an extraordinary report co-produced by The New York Times and David's news magazine, The Wire China. /episode/index/show/960c26f4-610c-4e44-be23-d9e831146823/id/34792895

Episode 51 (with David Barboza Part 2) 01/08/2025

Episode 51 (with David Barboza Part 2) Episode Two: We begin our conversation with David about China and whether the "Thucydides Trap" can be avoided. /episode/index/show/960c26f4-610c-4e44-be23-d9e831146823/id/34771345

Episode 50 (with David Barboza Part 1) 01/08/2025

Episode 50 (with David Barboza Part 1) Episode One: David Barboza, former Shanghai Bureau Chief for The New York Times, is building a new kind of media company. Call it Bloomberg for China. /episode/index/show/960c26f4-610c-4e44-be23-d9e831146823/id/34771305

Episode 49 (with Deb Roy) 12/28/2024

Episode 49 (with Deb Roy) In the final episode of our Cortico trilogy, we talked with the company's founder and CEO, Deb Roy, about the future of "building civic muscle" and his roadmap for a national Cortico network. /episode/index/show/960c26f4-610c-4e44-be23-d9e831146823/id/34637385

Episode 48 (with Deb Roy and Alex Kelly Berman) 12/21/2024

Episode 48 (with Deb Roy and Alex Kelly Berman) Part two of our conversations with the senior management of Cortico, the platform for "deeper conversations". Featuring Deb Roy and Alex Kelly Berman. /episode/index/show/960c26f4-610c-4e44-be23-d9e831146823/id/34559655

Episode 47 (With Deb Roy and Kathy Cramer) 12/11/2024

Episode 47 (With Deb Roy and Kathy Cramer) , in collaboration with the (CCC), has built a platform that connects rather than divides communities, and in so doing, helps create a healthier society. We talked to its CEO and co-founder, , and one of its Directors, , about how it works and how it's working. /episode/index/show/960c26f4-610c-4e44-be23-d9e831146823/id/34397180

Episode 46 (with Jane Metcalfe Part 2) 12/04/2024

Episode 46 (with Jane Metcalfe Part 2) Part Two of our interview with Jane Metclafe, a woman who saw the future clearly. Twice. /episode/index/show/960c26f4-610c-4e44-be23-d9e831146823/id/34286305

Episode 45 (with Jane Metcalfe Part 1) 12/03/2024

Episode 45 (with Jane Metcalfe Part 1) Part One of our interview with Jane Metclafe, a woman who saw the future clearly. Twice. /episode/index/show/960c26f4-610c-4e44-be23-d9e831146823/id/34265960

Episode 44 (Barbara Walter) 11/19/2024

Episode 44 (Barbara Walter) An interview with University of California San Diego Professor Barbara Walter, whose book -- "How Civil Wars Start: And How to Stop Them" -- examines the risk factors that presage civil wars. Those factors are "anocracy," factionalism, loss of power and loss of hope, all hyper-linked by social media. The U.S. has been on her watch list for civil war for some time. She's keeping it there. /episode/index/show/960c26f4-610c-4e44-be23-d9e831146823/id/33995897

Night Owls Episode 43 11/02/2024

Night Owls Episode 43 A last look at the 2024 presidential campaign. A disagreement about Jeff Bezos. A watershed moment in Germany. And more! /episode/index/show/960c26f4-610c-4e44-be23-d9e831146823/id/33754272

Episode 42 (with RIta Singh) 10/19/2024

Episode 42 (with RIta Singh) Rita Singh is one of the leading voice forensics scientists in the world. In this podcast, she discusses her work at length; what our voices tell us about our physical stature, our ethnicity, our age, our health, our honesty, our intentions and our mental states. It's riveting. /episode/index/show/960c26f4-610c-4e44-be23-d9e831146823/id/33523307

Night Owls Episode 41 (with General David H. Petraeus Ret.) 10/13/2024

Night Owls Episode 41 (with General David H. Petraeus Ret.) General David Petraeus (Ret.) talks about the paperback edition of his book, Conflict, written with Andrew Roberts—and brings us up to date on the state of war in Ukraine, Gaza, Lebanon and potential wars in Iran and Taiwan. /episode/index/show/960c26f4-610c-4e44-be23-d9e831146823/id/33434102

Night Owls Episode 40 10/03/2024

Night Owls Episode 40 Three topics -- the VP debate, the Middle East and Hurricane Helene -- in 30 minutes. Joe's experience covering the Middle East is on full display. /episode/index/show/960c26f4-610c-4e44-be23-d9e831146823/id/33310352

Episode 39 (Interview with Daron Shaw Part 2) 09/29/2024

Episode 39 (Interview with Daron Shaw Part 2) Part 2: John talked with Daron Shaw, one of the nation’s best pollsters who most people have never heard of. They talked about polling, politics and the presidential election. /episode/index/show/960c26f4-610c-4e44-be23-d9e831146823/id/33248117

Episode 38 (Interview with Daron Shaw Part 1 of 2) 09/28/2024

Episode 38 (Interview with Daron Shaw Part 1 of 2) John talked with Daron Shaw, one of the nation’s best pollsters who most people have never heard of. They talked about polling, politics and the presidential election. /episode/index/show/960c26f4-610c-4e44-be23-d9e831146823/id/33242312

Episode 37 (Post-Debate Analysis) 09/11/2024

Episode 37 (Post-Debate Analysis) John and Joe discuss yesterday's presidental debate /episode/index/show/960c26f4-610c-4e44-be23-d9e831146823/id/33011857

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