Strongly held opinions. Open-minded debates. A weekly ideas show, hosted by Jane Coaston.
Latest episodes
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39 min
Is It Time to Break Up With Your Political Party?
In her two years hosting “The Argument,” Jane Coaston has changed her mind about many things — from court packing to police reform (though not on whether we should contact alien li…
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30 min
Should America Intervene in Haiti? ‘Go to Hell’ and Other Views
The United States has a long history of military intervention in other countries. Today, Haiti is in crisis. The country is facing gang violence, extreme hunger and intense politic…
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33 min
The One Thing Democrats Can Control — and How They Should Do It
Are the Democrats, finally, in array? They’ve just had the best midterms by a sitting president’s party in about 20 years, and passed significant legislation in 2022. And now House…
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33 min
Best of: Is the News Media Setting Trump Up for Another Win?
This week, we're bringing you an episode from our archives that's more relevant than ever.After former President Donald Trump’s recent announcement of his 2024 White House bid — an…
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26 min
Has Donald Trump Lost His Grip on the Republican Party?
Donald Trump is running for president — again. Yet the results of last week’s midterms and the red wave that wasn’t signaled that perhaps Trump’s hold on the Republican Party isn’t…
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25 min
Donald Trump Was the Midterm’s Biggest Loser
As midterm election results continue to trickle in, one thing is clear: There’s no predicting American voters. After an unexpected showing for Democrats in tight races across the c…
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34 min
The Price of $5 Donations: Is Small-Dollar Fund-Raising Doing More Harm Than Good?
As midterm frenzy reaches its peak, your inbox might be full of imploring fund-raising emails with increasingly desperate headlines: “Just $3 can make all the difference.” “Can you…
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35 min
‘Maybe Gen Z Is Just Kinder’: How America’s Youngest Voters are Shaping Politics
Members of Gen Z (Americans under 26 years old) have come of age during the Trump presidency and a pandemic, in an era of protests over police violence, attacks on reproductive rig…
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30 min
Has Polling Broken Politics?
Election Day is just three weeks away — and that means it’s peak polling season. For political hobbyists, polling is the new sports betting: gamifying elections to predict outcomes…
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39 min
Is America Headed for Another Civil War?
America is divided and battling many different internal “wars” — over politics, culture, language, religion. Is it possible all this internal division could culminate in a civil wa…
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31 min
Are You ‘Third-Party-Curious’? Andrew Yang and David Jolly Would Like a Word.
For years, hopeful reformers have touted the promise of third parties as an antidote to our political polarization. But when so many of the issues that voters care about most — lik…
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30 min
After Dobbs: What Is Feminist Sex?
What is good sex? It’s a complicated question that feminists have wrestled with for decades. From destigmatizing premarital sex to embracing no-strings-attached hookup culture of m…
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32 min
After Dobbs: Feminism Beyond the Gender Binary
As the feminist movement has regrouped in the wake of the Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, one of the more surprising debates that has emerge…
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44 min
After Dobbs: Does ‘Big Tent’ Feminism Exist? Should It?
For decades, the story of the American feminist movement seemed like a progression of hard-won gains: Title IX, Roe v. Wade, the Violence Against Women Act, #MeToo. But in a post-“…
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34 min
What Should High Schoolers Read?
Book banning has surged in America’s classrooms. The free speech advocacy organization PEN America has compiled a list of more than 1,500 reported instances of books being banned i…
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43 min
Best of: Does the Supreme Court Need More Justices?
Today, we're re-airing one of our most timely debates from earlier this year: Reforming the Supreme Court. This episode originally aired before the Dobbs decision was released this…
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46 min
Best of: Cancel America's Student Loan Debt! But How?
Today, with the Biden Administration weighing whether to extend the federal student loan payment freeze, we're re-airing one of our most timely debates from last year: Canceling st…
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28 min
Trump, Dr. Oz and Our Political Cult of Celebrity
Celebrities. They are ubiquitous in American culture and now, ever increasingly, in our politics. From Donald Trump to Dr. Oz, the memeification of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and…
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31 min
Your Blue State Won’t Save You: Why State Politics Is National Politics
Last week, Kansans voted in overwhelming numbers to protect abortion rights in their State Constitution — the first instance since the overruling of Roe v. Wade in which voters hav…
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33 min
What’s God Got to Do With It? The Rise of Christian Nationalism in American Politics.
Christian nationalism has been empowered in American politics since the rise of Donald Trump. From “Stop the Steal” to the storming of the U.S. Capitol and now, the overturn of Roe…