The Ezra Klein Show

“I’m pragmatic,” Hasan Piker says, when it comes to how Democrats wield power.
Our last episode of the show featured a more centrist perspective on what Democrats should learn from their midterm triumph and what they should do when they take control of Congress next year. Today, we wanted to pair that with a perspective from the left.
Piker might be the most prominent leftist commentator in politics right now. The popular Twitch streamer catapulted to main character status in the recent election cycle, as he took on a more hands-on role stumping for candidates like Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan, and the right tried to turn him into a boogeyman in response.
So I want to talk to Piker about the election and how the Democratic Party should act going forward — especially when it comes to health reform, where I see a synthesis coming into view, and Israel, the issue where Piker is the most personally controversial, and where the Democratic coalition is at the greatest risk of tearing apart.
This episode contains strong language.
Book Recommendations:
“Mao” by Philip Short
“Blackshirts and Reds” by Michael Parenti
“American Socialist” by Shawn Gude
Thoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at ezrakleinshow@nytimes.com.
You can find the transcript and more episodes of “The Ezra Klein Show” at nytimes.com/ezra-klein-podcast. Book recommendations from all our guests are listed at https://www.nytimes.com/article/ezra-klein-show-book-recs.html
This episode of “The Ezra Klein Show” was produced by Jack McCordick. Fact-checking by Michelle Harris, with Julie Beer and Kelsey Lannin. Our senior engineer is Jeff Geld, with additional mixing by Isaac Jones and Aman Sahota. Our recording engineer is Aman Sahota. Cinematography by Kyle I. Kelley. Video editing by Brandon Belk-Yee, Britt Shacham Bernstein, Dani Dillon, Arpita Aneja and Steph Khoury. Our executive producer is Claire Gordon. The show’s production team also includes Marie Cascione, Annie Galvin, Rollin Hu, Kristin Lin, Emma Kehlbeck, Marina King and Jan Kobal. Original music by Pat McCusker. Audience strategy by Shannon Busta. The director of New York Times Opinion Shows is Annie-Rose Strasser.

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

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Democrats are on track to have more power in the next Congress than they’ve had since 2009. How can they navigate the divides in a party that now stretches from Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan to Adam Hamilton in Kansas? How do they prevent all their new voters in this election from flipping back in the next one? Can they turn this victory into a springboard to an even bigger and more durable Democratic majority in 2028 and beyond?
We will have two episodes that try to answer these questions from different angles, one from the center of the party and one from the left. First, representing the more center view, we have Adam Jentleson, the founder and president of the Searchlight Institute, a Washington think tank. Jentleson is a veteran of the Senate; he served as deputy chief of staff to the former Senate majority leader Harry Reid and chief of staff to Senator John Fetterman. He’s also the author of two books, “Kill Switch: The Rise of the Modern Senate and the Crippling of American Democracy,” and “Supermajority: How Democrats Can Build Lasting Power,” which came out in September.
Note: An earlier version of this episode misstated the religious denomination of Adam Hamilton. He is a United Methodist minister, not an Episcopal minister.
Mentioned:
Searchlight 2026 Entrance Poll
Blue Dog and D.S.A. Chart
Book Recommendations:
“Bernie for Burlington” by Dan Chiasson
“The Hollow Parties” by Daniel Schlozman and Sam Rosenfeld
“The Gay Place” by Billy Lee Brammer
Thoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at ezrakleinshow@nytimes.com.
You can find a transcript and more episodes of “The Ezra Klein Show” at nytimes.com/ezra-klein-podcast. Book recommendations from all our guests are listed at https://www.nytimes.com/article/ezra-klein-show-book-recs.html
This episode of “The Ezra Klein Show” was produced by Rollin Hu. Fact-checking by Kim Freda, with Kate Sinclair. Our senior engineer is Jeff Geld, with additional mixing by Aman Sahota and Gautam Srikishan. Our recording engineer is Aman Sahota. Cinematography by Kyle I. Kelley. Video editing by Steph Khoury, Dani Dillon, Arpita Aneja and Kristen Williamson. Our executive producer is Claire Gordon. The show’s production team also includes Marie Cascione, Annie Galvin, Kristin Lin, Emma Kehlbeck, Jack McCordick, Marina King and Jan Kobal. Original music by Pat McCusker. Audience strategy by Shannon Busta. The director of New York Times Opinion Shows is Annie-Rose Strasser.

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

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President Trump is primarily responsible for the Republican shellacking on Tuesday. But to get over the finish line in so many places — across the Midwest and deep into the South – Democrats had to run the right candidates, and those candidates ran very different campaigns.
So how exactly did those Democrats do it? Michelle Goldberg, my colleague at New York Times Opinion, did amazing work this past year covering the biggest races — traveling to Texas, Michigan, Maine and other states, meeting with the candidates, and getting a sense of their campaigns on the ground. She joins me for a deep dive into the most exciting — and shocking — wins, and what they reveal about the new Democratic Party that will emerge out of this election.
Mentioned:
“Republicans Are Worried About Gina Hinojosa. In Texas, I Saw Why.” by Michelle Goldberg
“He’s Young, Talented and Openly Religious. Is He the Savior Democrats Have Been Waiting For?” by Michelle Goldberg
“Why Everyone Wants Jon Ossoff to Run for President” by Michelle Goldberg
“The Populist Left Has a Theory. We’re All About to Test It.” by Michelle Goldberg
Book Recommendations:
“Good People” by Patmeena Sabit
“The Feast of the Goat” by Mario Vargas Llosa
“The Man Who Loved Dogs” by Leonardo Padura
Thoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at ezrakleinshow@nytimes.com.
You can find transcripts (posted midday) and more episodes of “The Ezra Klein Show” at nytimes.com/ezra-klein-podcast, and you can find Ezra on Twitter @ezraklein. Book recommendations from all our guests are listed at https://www.nytimes.com/article/ezra-klein-show-book-recs.
This episode of “The Ezra Klein Show” was produced by Annie Galvin. Fact-checking by Michelle Harris with Kate Sinclair and Julie Beer. Our senior engineer is Jeff Geld, with additional mixing by Aman Sahota and Gautam Srikishan. Our recording engineer is Aman Sahota. Cinematography by Bets Wilkins. Video editing by Steph Khoury, Dani Dillon, Brandon Belk-Yee and Julian Hackney. Our executive producer is Claire Gordon. The show’s production team also includes Marie Cascione, Rollin Hu, Jack McCordick, Kristin Lin, Emma Kehlbeck, Marina King and Jan Kobal. Original music by Pat McCusker. Audience strategy by Shannon Busta. The director of New York Times Opinion Shows is Annie-Rose Strasser.

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

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Tuesday night, a blue tsunami crashed across the political map. Democrats won control of the House and the Senate with room to spare, flipping seats in states that once seemed unimaginable: South Carolina, Kansas, Texas. Ezra Klein sits down with his editor Aaron Retica to survey the wreckage of Trump’s 2024 coalition, and what Democrats can learn from their victories.
Mentioned:
“Kansas Senator Goes Rogue With Video Response to Medical Debt Lawsuits” by Sarah Kliff
Thoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at ezrakleinshow@nytimes.com.
You can find the transcript and more episodes of “The Ezra Klein Show” at https://www.nytimes.com/ezra-klein-podcast
Book recommendations from all our guests are listed at https://www.nytimes.com/article/ezra-klein-show-book-recs.html
This episode of “The Ezra Klein Show” was produced by Rollin Hu and Jack McCordick. Fact-checking by Michelle Harris with Kate Sinclair, Mary Marge Locker, Julie Beer and Jordyn Flaherty. Our senior engineer is Jeff Geld, with additional mixing by Aman Sahota, Gautam Srikishan and Pat McCusker. Our recording engineer is Aman Sahota. Cinematography by Marina King. Video editing by Steph Khoury, Dani Dillon, Kristen Williamson, Julian Hackney and Jan Kobal. Our executive producer is Claire Gordon. The show’s production team also includes Marie Cascione, Annie Galvin, Kristin Lin, Emma Kehlbeck, Marina King and Jan Kobal. Original music by Pat McCusker. Audience strategy by Shannon Busta. The director of New York Times Opinion Shows is Annie-Rose Strasser.

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

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In a couple weeks, the archives of our show will only be available to subscribers. Here’s why that’s happening and what to expect. 
To learn more, go to nytimes.com/podcasts.

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.