It was another week dominated by the Epstein scandal, which grew ever more murky. A stellar only-on-Talking-Feds roundtable of Alisyn Camerota, Josh Marshall, and Asha Rangappa joins Harry to work through both the law and politics of Trump’s efforts to disentangle himself. The panel then moves on to apparent capitulation to Trump’s shakedown by a series of universities including Harvard, the former poster child for resistance. We close with a quick look at the Alina Habba mess in New Jersey.
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54:25
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54:25
A Molly Mashup on the MAGA Mess
Harry and Molly team up once again to swap burning questions about law and politics. The standout topic: Trump’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. Harry gives Molly the lowdown about the Justice Department’s bizarre and deeply suspect dealings with Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell. Molly reads Harry the tea leaves on whether masses of young men — and even Fox News mastermind Rupert Murdoch — might be ready to ditch Trump. Lots more besides!
Molly's piece in the Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/18/opinion/colbert-late-show-cbs-trump.html
Molly's book: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/738849/how-to-lose-your-mother-by-molly-jong-fast/
Molly's podcast:
https://fastpoliticspod.com/
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28:26
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28:26
Justice Blanched
It was the week when the Epstein scandal showed up in earnest and looked as if it would be staying for a while. Susan Glasser, Adam Klasfeld, and Bill Kristol join Harry to break down what is powering it and assess Trump’s various efforts to shake himself free, including dispatching the Deputy AG to Florida to interview Epstein’s co-conspirator, Ghislane Maxwell. But the week also brought key advances in Trump’s totalitarian agenda, with successful shakedowns of prominent civic institutions.
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58:10
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58:10
Justice Abandoned: Rachel Barkow on the Supreme Court’s Role in Mass Incarceration
With just 5% of the world’s population, the United States holds nearly 25% of its prisoners. In this one-on-one, NYU Law Professor Rachel Barkow joins Harry to discuss her new book Justice Abandoned, which reveals how a series of U.S. Supreme Court decisions helped enable the rise of mass incarceration. From pretrial detention to stop-and-frisk, Barkow explains how the Court’s embrace of “law and order” politics quietly gutted constitutional protections—and how today’s conservative majority could, ironically, be positioned to help reverse course.
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1:03:07
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1:03:07
Epstein, Emil, and Elmo’s Eventful Week
Another scandal erupted for Trump this week, but this time it was MAGA up in arms over the Administration’s doublespeak & failure to release the promised files involving Jeffrey Epstein. He also notched successes elsewhere, notably when Judiciary Committee Republicans unanimously approved his atrocious nomination of Emil Bove, and Congressional R's eliminated public funding for NPR & CPB.
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Talking Feds is a roundtable discussion that brings together prominent former government officials, journalists, and special guests for a dynamic and in-depth analysis of the most pressing questions in law and politics.
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