After successive heat waves across the country this summer, people finally found an unexpected source of relief: the neck fan. Consumer-product geniuses made the latest model look like Beats headphones, and suddenly they were on many hot, hot necks. Why did the neck fan take off? Does it actually cool you down or just make you feel cooler? We talk with Saahil Desai, who notices new and interesting things at the intersection of technology and consumer culture. Desai brings his own beloved neck fan to the studio and answers the question: Of all wearable technology, why did this one manage to break through social norms? And what does this mean for the future of an industry that has promised a lot of innovation but struggled to introduce genuinely new wearables into people’s daily lives? Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. You’ll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzer-winning journalism, from clear-eyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating explorations of our world. Subscribe today at TheAtlantic.com/podsub. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Democrats are lately employing a strategy against Donald Trump that he has been using effectively against his opponents for years: mockery. Where did this strategy come from? Will it remain effective? And can it backfire? We talk with the Atlantic staff writer David Graham, who was at the Democratic convention and also covers Trump. And we talk with a surprising muse for the politics of mockery: Conservative lawyer and activist George Conway has been using targeted mockery against Trump for years, with unusual success.  Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. You’ll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzer-winning journalism, from clear-eyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating explorations of our world. Subscribe today at TheAtlantic.com/podsub. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After his disastrous debate performance in June, President Biden faced calls from Democratic lawmakers and power brokers to step aside. But with the president firmly committed to staying in, what recourse does the party have? How would the Democratic Party replace the presumptive nominee? Would such an extreme step be possible? And would it ultimately help against Trump?  Guest host Adam Harris is joined by staff writers Mark Leibovich and Elaine Godfrey to discuss.  Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. You’ll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzer-winning journalism, from clear-eyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating explorations of our world. Subscribe today at TheAtlantic.com/podsub. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A quarter-million Americans have now died of COVID-19. The spread of the virus is as bad as it’s ever been. And it’s almost certainly going to get much worse. But with the president abdicating responsibility and refusing to begin a transition, it feels as if we’re headed into unthinkable danger without any sense of who’s in charge. Staff writer Ed Yong wrote about America’s unpreparedness for a pandemic in 2018 and his reporting has led the conversation about the coronavirus for months now. He joins the show to explain how the country got to this point, what he thinks a Biden administration could do come January, and why he’s more hopeful about a society sticking together in a disease than he was two years ago. Support this show and all of The Atlantic’s journalism by becoming a subscriber at www.theatlantic.com/supportus Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Virginia Congresswoman shares her concerns over President Trump’s post-election actions and what she considers the lessons of 2020 for her fellow Democrats. Before coming to Congress as part of the Democratic wave in 2018, Spanberger spent her career as an undercover operative in the CIA. She talks about what it was like going from a false alias to a congressional seat, why she ran in the first place, and what she thinks when people compare her group of friends in Congress to the ‘Squad.’ Support this show and all of The Atlantic’s journalism by becoming a subscriber at theatlantic.com/supportus Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Between the pandemic and President Trump, election night this year will be unlike any other. As usual, television news networks are the narrators of our democracy, but what will they do if the president claims an unconfirmed victory? With the stakes so high, will they apply the lessons they learned these past four years? CNN’s Brian Stelter shares his thoughts on broadcasting the president’s words live, how important the Fox News alternate universe will be, and what television news’s future is in a Biden presidency or a Trump second term. Support this show and all of The Atlantic’s journalism by becoming a subscriber at www.theatlantic.com/supportus Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The man who wrote The Art of the Deal reflects on Donald Trump, his presidency, and what the coming weeks could bring.  Schwartz says Trump’s “primary motivation is dominance” and “there is nothing Trump fears more than failure.” And with the election little more than a week away, Schwartz thinks Trump believes he’s going to lose, “probably even more than he did four years ago.” Support this show and all of The Atlantic’s journalism by becoming a subscriber at theatlantic.com/supportus Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The former Secretary of State and 2016 Democratic nominee discusses President Trump, the pandemic, and election disinformation. Support this show and all of The Atlantic’s journalism by becoming a subscriber at theatlantic.com/supportus Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With the election only weeks away, President Trump is down in the polls, sowing doubt about the integrity of the vote, and refusing to commit to a peaceful transfer of power. When he accepted his party’s nomination at the Republican National Convention on August 24th, Trump summarized his position: “The only way they can take this election away from us is if this is a rigged election.” What happens if a president loses reelection, but won’t accept the outcome? Staff writer Barton Gellman tried to answer that question in the cover story of this month’s Atlantic. He joins Edward-Isaac Dovere to explain what he found. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 2016, the Green Party won more votes in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin than Donald Trump’s margins for victory. As a result, many Democrats blamed the progressive party for Clinton’s electoral college loss and have worked this year to keep the party from competing in key states. Following Democrats’ challenges over paperwork issues, courts in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania removed Green Party names from presidential ballots this week. Howie Hawkins, the Green Party’s nominee for president and a co-founder of the party, joins Isaac Dovere to discuss his candidacy. Is the Green Party being used as a spoiler? What does he make of Kanye West’s presidential campaign? And does he fear his party may again face accusations that they put Donald Trump in the White House? Support this show and all of The Atlantic’s journalism by becoming a subscriber at: theatlantic.com/supportus Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Elected at 31, Wisconsin’s Lieutenant Governor is a young Black progressive and the face of a new Democratic party in the Midwest. With the nation’s attention on the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Barnes joins Isaac Dovere to discuss President Trump, the Milwaukee Bucks, and what he thinks Democrats need to do to win in November. Support this show and all of The Atlantic’s journalism by becoming a subscriber at theatlantic.com/supportus Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Only a few years ago, Chad Mayes was the Republican leader in the California Assembly. Now, he’s out of the party. Ahead of next week’s Republican convention, he joins Isaac Dovere to discuss the state of the GOP, running an independent, and the long impact of Donald Trump. “California really was the canary in the coal mine. If you go back to the 1990s, where California was then—it's what the country is going to be 20 years from now. I've tried to tell my colleagues across the country that if you think that somehow this is a winning strategy today, the brand, the toxicity that will come of this is going to last not just for five years or ten years. It's going to last for generations to come.” Support this show and all of The Atlantic’s journalism by becoming a subscriber at theatlantic.com/supportus Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Susan Rice, the former U.N. Ambassador and National Security Advisor for the Obama administration, is considered a leading candidate to become Joe Biden's running mate. She joins to discuss statehood for DC, racism and sexism in American politics, and the formative experiences that made her who she is today — a person who may be the first Black woman on a national ticket. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The prevailing narrative of remote work has often been boiled down to: Workers love it, and bosses hate it. But according to Natalia Emanuel, a labor economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, it may not be that simple. Emanuel co-authored a study, looking at software engineers at an unnamed Fortune 500 company where half of the workers were functionally remote. What she found was that there were varying tradeoffs for each scenario—working remotely or working in the office—depending on an employee’s age, experience, gender, and more. So was the Great Remote-Work Experiment a success? That’s what the first episode of The Atlantic’s Good on Paper podcast—hosted by Jerusalem Demsas—dives into. Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. You’ll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzer-winning journalism, from clear-eyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating explorations of our world. Subscribe today at TheAtlantic.com/podsub. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Florida congresswoman Donna Shalala was one of many first-time candidates in 2018. But unlike other freshman Democrats that flipped a district, she’d already had a decades-long career in public life. At age 77, she became the second-oldest person ever to win a seat in Congress. Besides serving as an early Peace Corps volunteer and co-founding EMILY’s List, Shalala was also the longest-serving Secretary of Health & Human Services in U.S. history. She discusses what the federal government should be doing, working in Congress with John Lewis, and naming her new rescue dog “Fauci.” Support the show by subscribing to The Atlantic: theatlantic.com/supportus Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Alabama senator discusses the coronavirus outbreak in the South, new efforts to grapple with its Confederate legacy, and his hopes that this time of crisis leads to systemic change. Support this show and all of The Atlantic's journalism by subscribing at: theatlantic.com/supportus Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The 2016 Republican presidential candidate announces her intention to vote for Joe Biden, and the concerns about the country that led to her decision. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The second-highest elected official in New York City is a progressive activist who’s worked to change policing for years. He thinks this moment could be different, if Americans are willing to have an honest conversation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The mayor of Dayton, Ohio, on how badly America's cities need a bailout—and how painful the impact could be if they don't get one. Support this show and all of The Atlantic's journalism by subscribing at: theatlantic.com/supportus Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Senator (and doctor) Bill Cassidy discusses the coronavirus response, vaccines, and how states like his own Louisiana hope to reopen. Support this show and all of The Atlantic's journalism by subscribing at: theatlantic.com/supportus Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The governor of one of the hardest-hit states discusses the coronavirus response, how he thinks about reopening New Jersey, and his conversations with President Trump. (In fact, the president called him during taping.) Support this show and all of The Atlantic's journalism by subscribing at: theatlantic.com/supportus Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The former presidential candidate discusses universal basic income, coronavirus-linked bigotry against Asian Americans, and how the pandemic has accelerated the automation trends he's long worried about. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Georgia politician and voting rights activist Stacey Abrams discusses elections in a pandemic, vice presidential aspirations, and Star Trek. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sherrilyn Ifill of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund discusses Wisconsin’s election debacle and how the coronavirus has become a new tool of voter suppression. Ifill says Wisconsin legislators “created a perfect storm where it didn't have to exist” and that the Supreme Court’s “terrible decision” allowing the election to proceed “consigned people to have to choose between their health and their right as citizens to participate and vote.” She describes how the current partisan debate around voter suppression obscures its roots as a tool of white supremacy, and she talks about what worries her (and what makes her hopeful) as we look to the election in November. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Parliamentary elections on July 4th look bleak for Britain’s ruling Conservative Party. The Tories will almost certainly lose power for the first time in 14 years. And lose big. Polls show they could see the largest swing between the main parties in modern history. Rishi Sunak could possibly become the first sitting prime minister to lose their own seat in a general election. So what have Conservatives done wrong? What has Labour done right? And as 2024 repeats 2016 with another pair of pivotal U.K. and U.S. votes, what can Americans look to learn from Britain? Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. You’ll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzer-winning journalism, from clear-eyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating explorations of our world. Subscribe today at TheAtlantic.com/podsub. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Governor Gretchen Whitmer joins to discuss Michigan’s coronavirus response and her relationship with President Trump. Elected in the state’s 2018 wave election, the popular young governor is considered a potential running mate for Joe Biden. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Grace Meng represents New York in Congress. Her Queens district is at the center of the U.S. coronavirus outbreak, where its hospitals face an ‘apocalyptic’ situation. She spent the day flying to and from Washington to pass the $2 trillion stimulus package. After landing back home, she spoke with Isaac Dovere about her constituents fighting against the coronavirus, having to risk exposure flying to Washington for the vote, and how politicians using the phrase ‘Chinese virus’ has impacted the people she represents. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Arnold Schwarzenegger has asked everyone to stay home. He's issued PSA videos, with his mini donkey and mini horse, and from his jacuzzi, urging people to socially distance. Besides his celebrity, he of course also spent seven years governing California—a state that's no stranger to disaster. He calls Isaac Dovere to share his thoughts on this bonus episode of The Ticket: Politics from The Atlantic. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Senator Sherrod Brown discusses the Trump administration's response to the pandemic and what he thinks Congress needs to do now. The progressive Ohio senator believes that, as Americans rely on expanded social insurance programs to weather this crisis, they'll value government taking on a bigger role in society. "I think you'll see the kind of structural change in our society that most of the country wants," he tells Isaac Dovere. "I think the public overwhelmingly agrees and sees more clearly now the role of government, and how government is a positive force in people's lives." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Vann Newkirk joins Isaac Dovere to discuss Floodlines—the new Atlantic podcast about Hurricane Katrina—and what lessons the disaster response in 2005 has for the coronavirus crisis in 2020. (After their conversation, listen for the full first episode of Floodlines.) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The campaign manager behind Obama’s 2008 election breaks down the state of the Democratic party. What do Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden each need to do to win the nomination? And for an election Plouffe says has probably “the biggest stakes the country's ever known,” what do Democrats have to do to defeat President Trump? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Former Clinton aide Jennifer Palmieri discusses the South Carolina primary, how 2020 is different than 2016, and how sexism still shapes American politics. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As Democrats slugged it out in Nevada this week, the president undermined the Justice Department in Washington. News anchor Katy Tur—and everyone else covering politics—has had to constantly switch gears between two stories: a crowded primary of challengers working to overtake one another, and a post-impeachment White House emboldened to break yet more democratic norms. But when the general election arrives, and the two stories merge, will the news media be up to the task? Tur grew up around television news and covered the Trump campaign. Now an anchor on MSNBC, she joins Isaac Dovere to discuss 2020 coverage. They sat down on NBC’s set in Las Vegas, where the network hosted this week’s Democratic debate ahead of the Nevada caucuses. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Thursday, Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton presided over debate on a bill to advance the Equal Rights Amendment. After the bill passed, she sat down in her office with Isaac Dovere to discuss the historic ERA vote and how she thinks Congress can take action on gun violence. Also on the show: thoughts on New Hampshire and an exclusive exchange with Andrew Yang, recorded as he prepared to announce the end of his candidacy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After the chaos of Iowa, New Hampshire is set to deliver the first clear results of the 2020 presidential race. And on the show to preview the first primary vote is New Hampshire Congressman Chris Pappas. The freshman Democrat is new to Washington, but he's been around Granite State politics his entire life. He was elected state representative at 22, but has been meeting presidential candidates since he was 7. His family's Manchester restaurant has been a waypoint on the trail to the White House for decades. He discusses New Hampshire politics, his state's fight against the opioid crisis, and his choice next Tuesday (both who he's voting for, and whether to do a ballot selfie.) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For years now, the fanciest places in air travel keep getting fancier. Airport lounges have become bigger, nicer, and far more ubiquitous than only a few years ago. They’ve gone from a nice place to wait between flights to full-blown luxury hideaways complete with free spa treatments. What happened? Amanda Mull, former Atlantic staff writer and explainer of all things consumer culture, tells the curious history behind the airport lounge and why—even if you never set foot in one—you’re still paying for them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Isaac Dovere previews the Iowa caucuses with congressional candidate J.D. Scholten. A former baseball player running to represent the state’s most rural district, Scholten offers an on-the-ground view as Iowans gather to pick a president. He discusses his race against Rep. Steve King (who he nearly unseated in 2018), what Iowans care about as they go to the caucuses, and whether the state should keep its first-in-the-nation vote. Like many of his fellow Iowans, he’s had presidential candidates personally courting him for months — enough so that, during taping, his phone buzzed with a call from Sen. Elizabeth Warren. (He sent her to voicemail.) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Thursday, Radio Atlantic is becoming The Ticket: Politics from The Atlantic. As the 2020 voting begins, this show will relaunch with a new name and new look — but you’ll still get the same important conversations each week. Keep listening for interviews with the people defining this incredible moment in American history. Same show. Same feed. New name. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The new mayor of Chicago, Lori Lightfoot, won all fifty of Chicago’s wards in a landslide last year. A lawyer with experience in government oversight, Lightfoot ran on an anti-corruption and police reform platform. She campaigned as a political outsider in a city long run by dynasties. And she represents a lot of firsts: the first African-American woman to lead the city, its first openly gay mayor, and for her, the first time running for higher office. Lightfoot came into the job with a big opportunity to remake America’s third largest city. She joins the show to talk about her upbringing, her motivation to enter politics, and what she hopes Chicago can show the rest of the country. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The governator discusses the Republican party, his commitment to the environment, and the Democratic candidates (his review: "such bad actors"). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ruben Gallego says President Trump doesn’t understand war, but the situation with Iran could soon escalate to one. Gallego is a progressive congressman from Arizona and a combat veteran who served in Iraq — stationed at one point at one of the bases struck by Iranian missiles this week. He discusses his experience of war, his insights on the developing crisis, and what he worries about most. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the day President Trump is impeached, Isaac Dovere visits the Nixon Library with Tom Steyer. The billionaire presidential candidate has spent two years (and millions of dollars) to keep impeachment in the headlines. As the House of Representatives prepares for the historic vote, they reflect on Nixon's legacy, Trump's future, and Steyer's unique family history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Steve Chabot, a House Republican who helped lead his party's impeachment fight against Bill Clinton, explains why he’s unconvinced by the Democrats’ case against Trump. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Donald Trump wasn’t the only election surprise of 2016. Three months before he won the presidency, the United Kingdom also shocked observers by voting to leave the European Union. Ever since, Brexit has dominated British politics.  But while Americans may have to wait another eleven months to see Trump’s name back on the ballot, British elections arrive much faster (and of late, much more frequently). Britain may not be terribly enthusiastic about heading back to the polls, but the stakes couldn’t be higher. Will the UK have another referendum? Will it endorse a ‘hard’ Brexit? And how are British voters actually making up their minds? Staff writer Helen Lewis joins Isaac Dovere from London to preview the election. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

During an impeachment hearing this week, President Trump's former top Russia adviser accused Republicans of peddling Russian propaganda. Anne Applebaum is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and historian who will join The Atlantic as a staff writer in January. As one of the world’s leading experts on pre- and post-Communist Europe, disinformation and propaganda, and the future of democracy, she joins Isaac Dovere to discuss impeachment through a global lens. How did a conspiracy theory concocted by Russian intelligence officers become a Republican defense of President Trump? And what future does Applebaum see for NATO and Western democracy if the president is in office for another four years? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The special December issue of The Atlantic focuses on a single theme: “How to Stop a Civil War.” Two contributors to the issue, Harvard professor Danielle Allen and staff writer Adam Serwer, join Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg to discuss their arguments in the magazine. Allen’s piece, “The Road From Serfdom,” asserts that unity must be made a priority again and offers prescriptive steps for how it can be achieved. In “Against Reconciliation,” Serwer argues that the nation’s pursuits of compromise have often led it to abandon its promises of freedom and equality for all its citizens—that Americans have been content to sacrifice civil rights for civil discourse. The three sat down to discuss where they agree, where they disagree, and how optimistic they are that world’s oldest democracy can survive its bitter divisions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Humanity’s transition to life online is disorienting, but perhaps not without comparison. According to the researcher danah boyd, people faced similar challenges in the transition to city life, meaning that the history of urbanization can offer lessons for humankind’s more recent mass digital migration. And if the rules and ways of cities have become clearer over the years, maybe there’s hope that the same can be said for life online. Boyd’s work is the focus of a recent episode of The Atlantic’s podcast How to Know What’s Real, with co-hosts Megan Garber and Andrea Valdez. This week, Radio Atlantic is showcasing that episode, with an introduction by host Hanna Rosin. Listen and subscribe to How to Know What's Real at any of these links:  Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | Pocket Casts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Senator Tim Kaine discusses Democrats' historic win in Virginia and what it means for 2020. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mayor Pete Buttigieg discusses his unlikely presidential run. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

James Fallows spent decades covering national politics for The Atlantic. For the last four years though, he’s traveled the parts of America typically left out of the national conversation. And he comes back with good news. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices