Explore every episode of the podcast Runaway Country with Alex Wagner

The midterm elections brought historic victories, jaw dropping flips from red to blue, and a resounding rejection of Trumpism. This week Alex speaks to Jamie Ager, the first Democrat to win in North Carolina’s 11th congressional district in 15 years. Then, she talks to Brian Tyler Cohen about the energy a new set of leaders could bring to the Democratic party, and the importance of embracing the big tent and broad range of views they represent. Finally, she hears from Senator Bernie Sanders on what message American voters sent to Washington on November 3rd, and what Democrats can realistically achieve with a majority in Congress while lame duck Trump is still in office.

Order Alex's new book, The Steal: Four Right-Wing Hard-Liners, One Republican Presidency, and The Raid On America's Courts and subscribe to her Substack here.

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You can request a transcript by emailing transcripts@crooked.com. Include the podcast name, episode title, and air date. Please allow 48 hours for delivery.

As ballots start coming in, an increasingly desperate president is already meddling in the vote count. Alex sits down with Chris Hayes, host of MS NOW’s “All In,” to talk about the Alaska fiasco, how the media should be covering threats to democracy, and what might be waiting for us on the other side of Election Day. But first, how are state election officials responding to threats from the federal government? Journalist and author Barton Gellman has been reporting from the frontlines, and he comes on the show to share what, specifically, elections officials are worried about…and how they’re preparing for Tuesday.

Order Alex's new book, The Steal: Four Right-Wing Hard-Liners, One Republican Presidency, and The Raid On America's Courts and subscribe to her Substack here.

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With the midterm elections only two weeks away, a lot of Democrats are feeling giddy about the prospects of flipping both houses of Congress. This week, Alex breaks down why overconfidence can be a risk, and why this will be a state by state, issue by issue battle until the end. She’s joined by Alex Seitz-Wald, Deputy Editor of the Midcoast Villager, who gives a local perspective on why the Senate race in Maine is still anyone’s call. Then Crooked media’s Nate Silver, author of the Silver Bulletin and co-host of Still Counting, joins to break down the latest polling and how it compares with elections past.

Order Alex's new book, The Steal: Four Right-Wing Hard-Liners, One Republican Presidency, and The Raid On America's Courts and subscribe to her Substack here.

Become a subscriber to Crooked Media! It’s the best way to directly support us as we build an independent, pro-democracy media company. Subscribers get exclusive benefits, like bonus podcasts, newsletters and more. 

Subscribe now at crooked.com/friends or wherever you listen to podcasts.

You can request a transcript by emailing transcripts@crooked.com. Include the podcast name, episode title, and air date. Please allow 48 hours for delivery.

Just when you thought he could sink no lower, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth is now planning to livestream a public execution, carried out by American soldiers. Paul Rieckhoff—host of the Independent Americans podcast—shares how Hegseth’s murderous theatrics are sitting with veterans, his reaction to thousands of troops deploying to the Middle East, and why he thinks the war in Iran will only end when Trump leaves office. Then, Alex puts it all into context with Zeteo founder Mehdi Hasan: why the US is signing diesel deals with Russia, how Republicans are ramping up Islamophobia ahead of the midterms, and why on earth Trump is still listening to Bibi Netanyahu.

Order Alex's new book, The Steal: Four Right-Wing Hard-Liners, One Republican Presidency, and The Raid On America's Courts and subscribe to her Substack here.

Hate listening to ads? Become a Friends of the Pod subscriber for ad-free episodes of Pod Save America, Pod Save the World, Lovett or Leave It, Runaway Country, Offline with Jon Favreau, and more—plus exclusive content, including bonus episodes of Pod Save America. Subscribe now at crooked.com/friends, on Apple Podcasts, or through the Pod Save America YouTube channel.

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Polls show Democratic candidates are leading or tied in several deep red states—places the left never thought they could win. So how optimistic should Democrats be that the midterms won’t just deliver a blue wave, but a full-on red collapse? To understand how bad all this actually looks for Republicans (and whether we can really trust the polls), Alex speaks to Charlie Cook, founder of the Cook Political Report. But first, what’s the mood like on the ground in Nebraska, where a leftward tilt appears to be on the horizon? Jane Kleeb, Chair of the Nebraska Democratic Party, joins Alex to discuss what’s prompting people to defect from the GOP in red states, how big the Democratic tent can stretch, and whether it’ll all be enough come Election Day.

Hate listening to ads? Become a Friends of the Pod subscriber for ad-free episodes of Pod Save America, Pod Save the World, Lovett or Leave It, Runaway Country, Offline with Jon Favreau, and more—plus exclusive content, including bonus episodes of Pod Save America. Subscribe now at crooked.com/friends, on Apple Podcasts, or through the Pod Save America YouTube channel.

Order Alex's new book, The Steal: Four Right-Wing Hard-Liners, One Republican Presidency, and The Raid On America's Courts and subscribe to her Substack here.

You can request a transcript by emailing transcripts@crooked.com. Include the podcast name, episode title, and air date. Please allow 48 hours for delivery.

As the electoral landscape is turning blue, Donald Trump is seeing red. To sooth his wounded ego, the White House is running pro-Trump ads during NFL games, illegally rescinding hundreds of millions of dollars from federal agencies, and threatening the Kennedy Performing Arts Center with demolition for not adding Trump’s name to the facade.

To understand the cost of the president's flailing narcissism, Alex chats with Leonard Slatkin, the former conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra—now on involuntary tour since the Kennedy Center's closure.

Then, she is joined by historian and On Tyranny author, Timothy Snyder, to discuss what else we can expect from this late stage autocrat.

Order Alex's new book, The Steal: Four Right-Wing Hard-Liners, One Republican Presidency, and The Raid On America's Courts and subscribe to her Substack here.

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To watch this episode with subtitles, click here and turn on closed captions (CC).

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President Trump’s acrimonious relationship with the press reached new heights after he banned MS NOW, Politico, and CNN from the White House — and other media organizations banded together to suspend the White House press pool.

This week Alex speaks to April Ryan, the longest serving Black White House correspondent and author of “Notes On A Blacklash: When A Black Woman Goes Viral”, about her own experience being a target of Trump’s verbal abuse and why it took the press so long to fight back. Then she speaks to Dan Pfeiffer, Pod Save America co-host and author of The Message Box newsletter, about whether this show of unity comes too little, too late.

Hate listening to ads? Become a Friends of the Pod subscriber for ad-free episodes of Pod Save America, Pod Save the World, Lovett or Leave It, Runaway Country, Offline with Jon Favreau, and more—plus exclusive content, including bonus episodes of Pod Save America. Subscribe now at crooked.com/friends, on Apple Podcasts, or through the Pod Save America YouTube channel.

You can request a transcript by emailing transcripts@crooked.com. Include the podcast name, episode title, and air date. Please allow 48 hours for delivery.

Less than two months before the midterms, the Supreme Court made a shockingly good decision and rejected a Trump rule that would have restricted mail-in ballots and possibly disenfranchised millions of voters. But Trump and Republicans are not done messing with the integrity of America’s elections.

This week, Alex is joined by Janai Nelson, President and Director-Counsel of the Legal Defense Fund, to discuss the gargantuan effort to defeat Trump’s executive order on mail-in voting. Then she’s joined by Kate Shaw, co-host of Crooked’s Strict Scrutiny, to talk about the desperate need for Supreme Court reform, and how we ended up in this right wing nightmare of a justice system.

Pre-order Alex's new book, The Steal: Four Right-Wing Hard-Liners, One Republican Presidency, and The Raid On America's Courts and subscribe to her Substack here.

Hate listening to ads? Become a Friends of the Pod subscriber for ad-free episodes of Pod Save America, Pod Save the World, Lovett or Leave It, Runaway Country, Offline with Jon Favreau, and more—plus exclusive content, including bonus episodes of Pod Save America. Subscribe now at crooked.com/friends, on Apple Podcasts, or through the Pod Save America YouTube channel.

You can request a transcript by emailing transcripts@crooked.com. Include the podcast name, episode title, and air date. Please allow 48 hours for delivery.

Nate Silver, Clare Malone, and Galen Druke discuss the most competitive Senate races heading into the midterms in this excerpt from their new podcast, Still Counting. To hear the rest, head over to Still Counting and subscribe! New episodes drop every Wednesday evening.

You can request a transcript by emailing transcripts@crooked.com. Include the podcast name, episode title, and air date. Please allow 48 hours for delivery.

Usually parents breathe a sigh of relief when kids go back to school, but with over 3,000 confirmed cases of Measles spreading across the US, the consequences of the Trump administration’s disinformation and vaccine skepticism are becoming clear.

This week Alex speaks to two pediatricians dealing with concerned and questioning parents, Dr. Deborah Greenhouse in South Carolina and Dr. Nathan Keller in Pennsylvania. Then she’s joined by the host of Crooked Media’s Hysteria, Erin Ryan, to talk about why Health and Human Services Secretary RFK Jr. deserves an “F” grade on the job, and how Democrats can win voters back from MAHA.

Pre-order Alex's new book, The Steal: Four Right-Wing Hard-Liners, One Republican Presidency, and The Raid On America's Courts and subscribe to her Substack here.

Hate listening to ads? Become a Friends of the Pod subscriber for ad-free episodes of Pod Save America, Pod Save the World, Lovett or Leave It, Runaway Country, Offline with Jon Favreau, and more—plus exclusive content, including bonus episodes of Pod Save America. Subscribe now at crooked.com/friends, on Apple Podcasts, or through the Pod Save America YouTube channel.

You can request a transcript by emailing transcripts@crooked.com. Include the podcast name, episode title, and air date. Please allow 48 hours for delivery.

Has Trump created Farmageddon? Rising fuel and fertilizer costs due to the war with Iran, tariffs on goods because of the trade war with Canada, and a Farm Bill stuck in Congress have created a perfect storm of pain for American farmers.

This week Alex speaks to 5th generation Iowa farmer Joshua Manske, to get a real accounting of how the President’s red state agricultural base is feeling. Then she breaks down the big picture implications for Republicans ahead of the midterms with Brian Beutler, founder and author of the Substack newsletter Off Message, and the cohost of the Politix podcast.

Pre-order Alex's new book, The Steal: Four Right-Wing Hard-Liners, One Republican Presidency, and The Raid On America's Courts and subscribe to her Substack here. 

Hate listening to ads? Become a Friends of the Pod subscriber for ad-free episodes of Pod Save America, Pod Save the World, Lovett or Leave It, Runaway Country, Offline with Jon Favreau, and more—plus exclusive content, including bonus episodes of Pod Save America. Subscribe now at crooked.com/friends, on Apple Podcasts, or through the Pod Save America YouTube channel.

You can request a transcript by emailing transcripts@crooked.com. Include the podcast name, episode title, and air date. Please allow 48 hours for delivery.

President Trump has embarked on a pro-AI data center kick, causing a world of hurt for his own party. The gigantic, energy-guzzling factories are literally and figuratively steamrolling small rural communities—the very same voters Republicans need to clinch the midterms.

Politicians on both sides of the aisle are doing an about face on the issue, but will it be too little, too late? Alex speaks to Suzanne Bellsnyder, author of the Texas Rural Reporter substack, about what it’s like when your home becomes ground zero for data center development.

Then, she puts it all into context with Galaxy Brain’s Charlie Warzel, who writes about AI and technology at The Atlantic.

Pre-order Alex's new book, The Steal: Four Right-Wing Hard-Liners, One Republican Presidency, and The Raid On America's Courts and subscribe to her Substack here.

Hate listening to ads? Become a Friends of the Pod subscriber for ad-free episodes of Pod Save America, Pod Save the World, Lovett or Leave It, Runaway Country, Offline with Jon Favreau, and more—plus exclusive content, including bonus episodes of Pod Save America. Subscribe now at crooked.com/friends, on Apple Podcasts, or through the Pod Save America YouTube channel.

You can request a transcript by emailing transcripts@crooked.com. Include the podcast name, episode title, and air date. Please allow 48 hours for delivery.

North Carolina is one of the most closely divided states in the country. But when it comes to political power, the story is much more complicated.

Jen, Mitch, and Errin explore the growing power of unaffiliated voters, the aftermath of Hurricane Helene's devastation, the fight over who controls state government, and why elections here are so often decided on the margins.

Guests: Jason Isbell, Former Gov. and Sen. candidate Roy Cooper, former Gov. Pat McCrory, State Senate Minority Leader Sydney Batch, Congressional candidate Jamie Ager

Democratic Socialists are racking up wins in primaries across the country, Tucker Carlson is conspiring with other exiled MAGA stars to form a third party, and polling shows that American voters are open to a system with more choices.

This week Alex speaks to four-time presidential candidate Ralph Nader about the threat the current political mood poses to both establishment Democrats and Republicans, and hears from Seth Bodnar about how he’s running a competitive race for a Montana Senate seat as an Independent.

Then she’s joined by Matt Welch, editor-at-large of Reason and co-host of The Fifth Column podcast, about everything from Francesca Hong’s victory in Wisconsin to the reasons why Tucker Carlson won’t become President in 2028.

Hate listening to ads? Become a Friends of the Pod subscriber for ad-free episodes of Pod Save America, Pod Save the World, Lovett or Leave It, Runaway Country, Offline with Jon Favreau, and more—plus exclusive content, including bonus episodes of Pod Save America. Subscribe now at crooked.com/friends, on Apple Podcasts, or through the Pod Save America YouTube channel.

You can request a transcript by emailing transcripts@crooked.com. Include the podcast name, episode title, and air date. Please allow 48 hours for delivery.

Up to 350,000 Haitians have now lost their Temporary Protected Status in the United States, and they are only one ethnic group among the more than 1.3 million people that the Trump administration wants out. 

This week Alex speaks to a woman in Florida named Harlaine, who has worked on the frontlines as a COVID nurse, lived in the US since she was just a child, and now faces the dangerous reality of being forced to return to Haiti. 

Then Alex speaks to The Bulwark’s Jonathan V. Last about the lack of empathy among Republican voters, and the clear racial motivations of the White House in ending the humanitarian program.

Hate listening to ads? Become a Friends of the Pod subscriber for ad-free episodes of Pod Save America, Pod Save the World, Lovett or Leave It, Runaway Country, Offline with Jon Favreau, and more—plus exclusive content, including bonus episodes of Pod Save America. Subscribe now at crooked.com/friends, on Apple Podcasts, or through the Pod Save America YouTube channel.

You can also request a transcript by emailing transcripts@crooked.com. Include the podcast name, episode title, and air date. Please allow 48 hours for delivery.

Donald Trump just got one step closer to stealing the next election. The Senate confirms a new head of National Intelligence: former US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton — a man who won't say who won the 2020 election.

This week, Alex looks into whether or not Trump will try to steal the midterms. She's first joined by Errin Haines, an Atlanta native, editor at large at The 19th, author of the Amendment newsletter, and co-host of Crooked’s newest show, Long Play, to talk about Georgia: the state Trump has focused his most intense efforts of election interference.

Then Alex speaks with Joy Reid, host of The Joy Reid Show, to try and get a handle on Trump's latest efforts to subvert the election and figure out how prepared we really are.

Hate listening to ads? Become a Friends of the Pod subscriber for ad-free episodes of Pod Save America, Pod Save the World, Lovett or Leave It, Runaway Country, Offline with Jon Favreau, and more—plus exclusive content, including bonus episodes of Pod Save America. Subscribe now at crooked.com/friends, on Apple Podcasts, or through the Pod Save America YouTube channel.

To watch this episode with subtitles, click here and turn on closed captions (CC).

You can also request a transcript by emailing transcripts@crooked.com. Include the podcast name, episode title, and air date. Please allow 48–72 hours for delivery.

ICE agents have killed two men in the last 10 days. Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was fatally shot in Houston, Texas on July 7th, as was Joan Sebastian Guerrero on July 13th in Biddeford, Maine. On this week’s show, Alex looks at the lawless and race based nature of the Trump administration’s immigration policies, and how Americans are reacting to them. She’s first joined by Juan Proaño, CEO of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), to talk about the Araujo family’s tragic loss and how Latino communities across the country are feeling. Then Alex speaks to Sarah Longwell, publisher of The Bulwark, who gives insight into where voters stand on ICE’s campaign of terror.

For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com.

The Maine Senate race has been thrown into complete disarray after serious allegations of sexual assault emerged against Graham Platner. This week Alex speaks to Dan Kleban, U.S. Senate candidate and co-founder of the Maine Beer Company, about how Democratic voters in Maine are feeling in the wake of Platner’s campaign implosion, and why they don’t want Washington meddling in their elections. Then she’s joined by democratic strategist Adam Jentleson to talk about what comes next, how this scandal impacts Democrats’ chances to take over the Senate, and how to read into wins by both Democratic Socialist candidates and moderates.

For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com.

This week we bring you an episode from Assembly Required with Stacey Abrams. Stacey Abrams has committed her career to bold political advocacy and voting rights. In this episode, Stacey opens the show by answering audience questions about the Supreme Court’s recent ruling on the Voting Rights Act, and what it means for our democracy. Then she’s joined by Jane Fonda, who explains why she’s revived the Committee for the First Amendment, a group originally supported by her father in the 1940’s. Stacey and Jane also talk about the Trump administration’s attacks against Jimmy Kimmel, why the Warner Bros. and Paramount merger is so dangerous, and what Jane has learned after decades of activism, including her actions during the Vietnam War. Catch Assembly Required with Stacey Abrams, every Tuesday, on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts. 

For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com.

The levels of corruption Americans are witnessing are both historic and astounding. This week, Alex speaks to ProPublica reporter Robert Faturechi, who broke the story that the Department of Defense gave a $620,000,000 loan to a company affiliated with Donald Trump Jr. Then she’s joined by Pod Save the World host Ben Rhodes to talk about how everything from the UFC cage match on the White House lawn, to Ivanka Trump’s island development in Albania are indicative of the unprecedented grift, and limitless appetite for self enrichment of the Trump family.

Be sure to pick up a copy of Ben’s new book, All We Say: The Battle for American Identity: A History of the United States in 15 Speeches.

Leave it to travel delays during Spring Break to turn America’s focus to immigration again. This week, as Congress debates over funding and reforms to ICE, and Markwayne Mullin is sworn in as new Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Alex brings our attention back to the ongoing tactics the Trump administration is using to target immigrants and tear families apart. First she speaks to Stephanie Villarreal, whose husband has been detained despite being a DACA recipient. Then Alex speaks to Jonathan V. Last, editor of The Bulwark, about how to keep a spotlight on immigration, especially when they employ bureaucratic tactics to change someone's status, and why Trump is trying to force a voting rights bill into the debate.

To support Stephanie and her family: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-keep-baby-and-father-together

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.

This week, the House and Senate voted nearly unanimously to release all of the files related to the investigation into sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, after President Trump pulled a complete 180 and signaled his support. So how and why did things change? Alex speaks to Marina Lacerda, a survivor of Epstein’s abuse, about why the release is so important for both a sense of justice and her personal healing. Then, Alex is joined by attorney and political commentator George Conway to talk about what the bill in Congress requires, and how to read into the defections of MAGA politicians like Marjorie Taylor Greene, which catalyzed the party’s great reversal on the issue.

Democrats and Republicans may seem worlds apart politically, but both parties are running into a similar problem – getting pushed into uncomfortable positions. Less than a week after election wins across the country, it only took 7 Democratic Senators and one Independent to wipe away the feeling of victory and instead cave to Trump and the GOP’s bullying on the government shutdown. Republicans, however, have their own problems as exposed by the rift over Tucker Carlson embracing far-right antagonist Nick Fuentes. This week, Alex is joined by Zohran Mamdani’s political strategist, Morris Katz, and twitch streamer and political commentator, Hasan Piker, to break down how politicians can find their backbone again.