The Al Franken Podcast

Guest Host Norm Ornstein welcomes Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-PA) to discuss legislation they're working on to curb the President's pardon power after the onslaught of blatantly corrupt pardons from the T...

JD Vance has had an unorthodox rise to power. After a troubled childhood, he joined the Marines, graduated from Yale Law School, became a best-selling author, and then won a seat in the U.S. Senate. ...

Trump can call it whatever he wants, but we are at war with Iran. Podcast host and YouTube star Brian Tyler Cohen joins us again to break down how Trump has dragged us into this wildly unpopular war....

America is at war with Iran. It's the eighth time that Donald Trump has attacked another country since he began his second term (despite pledging "no new wars" during his campaign). To break it all d...

We're joined by our friend and National Voting Rights Correspondent for Mother Jones, Ari Berman! Ari is here to break down the alarming ways the Trump administration is laying the groundwork to chea...

Our good friend and host of The Fast Politics Podcast, Molly Jong-Fast, returns to the show! Molly’s recent writing in the New York Times has covered the Epstein files and why only a fraction of them...

We're joined by our good friend, Mark Leibovich from The Atlantic, to go through a laundry list of current Trump controversies, including his immigration enforcement, blatant corruption, and focus on...

We're joined by our good friend, Dahlia Lithwick, Senior Editor at Slate and host of the Amicus podcast, to cover a wide range of topics, including the courts and their role during this difficult tim...

After another horrifying murder and ICE’s continued unwelcome presence in Minnesota, Al is joined by friend of the show, political scientist, and emeritus scholar at the American Enterprise Institute...

In a major blow to American healthcare, Congress has let the ACA subsidies expire. This means higher premiums and, as a result, fewer Americans enrolling. We are joined by Wendell Potter, former VP o...

As tensions escalate in Minnesota and Donald Trump threatens to invoke the Insurrection Act, ICE’s brutality continues. We are joined by the current Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota and candidate for...

We had a chaotic start to the new year with Donald Trump invading Venezuela and kidnapping dictator Nicolás Maduro. We’re joined by The Atlantic's David Frum to help us make sense of and give us impo...

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 rad...

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 J...

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...

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 Foe...

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 o...

One of Donald Trump's most successful initiatives in his second term has been making himself and his family richer than ever. We're joined by The New Yorker’s David Kirkpatrick, who earlier this year ...

In Donald Trump's second term, we've seen a flurry of pardons and commutations. Of course, every President is granted the pardon power, but with this administration, pardons often seem to have a price...

After 43 days, the longest government shutdown in American history has finally ended. We're joined by Catherine Rampell from The Bulwark and MSNBC to talk about how it finally came to a close and why ...

The Democratic Party showed signs of life all around the country with last week's off-season elections. Helping us make sense of it all is Molly Jong-Fast, opinion writer for The New York Times and ho...

We are approaching the longest government shutdown in American history with no end in sight. But it seems like this is exactly what the Trump administration wants. How much longer can this go on? We a...

Every day brings a new constitutional crisis. Donald Trump isn't just breaking norms... he's weaponizing the entire justice system against anyone who dare cross him. We're joined by former U.S. Attorn...

Donald Trump and the Republican Party have the backing of Evangelicals and fundamentalist Christians. But if you read the Bible or listen to the teachings of Jesus Christ, it would be clear that their...

We're thrilled to welcome David Hogg to the podcast. Hogg is a co-founder of March For Our Lives and his PAC, Leaders We Deserve. He shares about how the tragedy in Parkland, FL launched him into the ...

Chaos has ensued across the federal government as we face another shutdown. We're joined by political scientist, an emeritus scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, and friend of the show, Norm ...

 Trump picked RFK Jr. to take over the Department of Health and Human Services, and chaos has ensued. So far, RFK Jr. is ignoring the advice of experts and bringing along his cronies to push vaccine s...

Hear a teaser for The Global Story, the daily BBC news podcast that covers the intersection where the world and America meet. Find The Global Story on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts. ...

We are joined by Randi Weingarten, the President of the American Federation of Teachers, to discuss her new book, “Why Fascists Fear Teachers: Public Education and the Future of Democracy.” In the boo...

Baltimore, Maryland is one of Donald Trump's most frequent targets when talking about crime in America. As the President continues to threaten to send troops into American cities, we wanted to hear fr...

Donald Trump rolled out the red carpet for Vladimir Putin in Alaska last month and came up empty handed...  No ceasefire, no concessions, nothing. So what does the future of the war in Ukraine look li...

In this Best Of episode, we revisit our 2022 conversation with comedian and actor Bob Odenkirk! We got to hear from him about his memoir “Comedy, Comedy, Comedy, Drama” and his early beginnings writin...

In his second term, Donald Trump has upended many American institutions, but perhaps none more than the Department of Justice. He's filled the DOJ with lackeys, like AG Pam Bondi, who are corrupting o...

With Donald Trump and the Republican Party low in the polls, Texas is resorting to one of their favorite ways to win voters: cheating. They’ve drawn new maps to implement unprecedented gerrymandering,...

Gaza faces mass starvation as Israel blocks critical food and aid to the region. We're joined by The Atlantic's Franklin Foer to discuss his recent piece, “Israel's Last Chance,” and how the only answ...

We're joined by journalist and best-selling author, Jonathan Alter, to dig deeper into the latest in Trump’s America. Jonathan’s most recent piece in Washington Monthly explains how the BBB’s enormous...

We're thrilled to welcome an old friend from Al’s SNL days, comedian Kevin Nealon! Kevin and Al trade stories from working together on Saturday Night Live and discuss how the show has changed over the...

We’re joined by Washington Post columnist and co-host of MSNBC's The Weekend, Catherine Rampell!Catherine breaks down what the Big, Beautiful Bill means for Americans and why it's been so important fo...

Another devastating term of Trump's Supreme Court has come to a close. There's a lot to be angry about, so we're joined by Dahlia Lithwick, our authority on all things SCOTUS and host of Slate’s podca...

One of Donald Trump's priorities when he returned to the White House was to target law firms that he felt had wronged him. While some immediately caved to his demands, others fought back... and won. W...

We are joined by CNN Anchor and Chief National Affairs Analyst Kasie Hunt for her first time on the podcast! It's a very fun conversation covering her work and what inspired her to follow her passion ...

We are joined by Molly Jong-Fast this week to discuss her new book, “How to Lose Your Mother: A Daughter's Memoir.” We've had Molly on the podcast many times, but you've never heard her like this! She...

The Trump administration is waging war on DEI. But what does that mean? We ask one of our favorite guests, Heather McGhee, to break down how and why DEI has become such a focus for Trump and his allie...

First time guest David Pakman joins us for this week's show! David is a political commentator and hosts one of the most watched independent progressive programs in the country. With over 3 million You...

JD Vance has had an unorthodox rise to power. After a troubled childhood, he joined the Marines, graduated from Yale Law School, became a best-selling author, and then won a seat in the U.S. Senate. A...

In this Best Of episode, we revisit our conversation with Al’s former Senate Communications Director, Ed Shelleby, to relive their time working together. Ed tells tales of him TRYING to manage Al's co...

From the start of Donald Trump's second term, he's been eager to cut the federal workforce. So, Elon Musk headed the newly minted DOGE to begin slashing tens of thousands of jobs.Our friend, Michael L...

We're joined by Dahlia Lithwick, award-winning journalist, author, and host of the Amicus podcast. Dahlia looks at the judicial pushback against the Trump administration, as the Courts have stood up t...

Trump’s first 100 days back in office have been a whirlwind filled with chaotic, confusing, and authoritarian behavior and very little thoughtful policy - the perfect opportunity to welcome back our f...

Every day we see this country inch closer to authoritarianism under Donald Trump. We're joined by Robert Reich, political economist, professor, author, and former Secretary of Labor under Bill Clinton...