State of the Union features video podcasts by independent media. A partial list includes: Leigh McGowan, PoliticsGirl; Rick Wilson; The Lincoln Project; Marc Elias, Democracy Docket; Steve Schmidt, The Warning; Joe Walsh, The Social Contract; Heather Cox Richardson, Letters From an American; Simon Rosenberg, Hopium Chronicles; Jim Acosta; David Rothkopf; Jen Rubin, The Contrarian; Charlie Sykes, To the Contrary; and others.
Videos on YouTube are usually available but may have ads. Videos on Substack usually are ad-free but may require a subscription. Subscriptions may require an annual fee or may be free.
There Will Be Grift: Jeffrey Sonnenfeld Reveals Trump’s 'Mad King' Playbook
Trump isn’t impulsive. He’s not “just winging it.” According to Jeffrey Sonnenfeld and his new book Trump's Ten Commandments: Strategic Lessons from the Trump Leadership Toolbox, Donald Trump operates on a repeatable, deliberate playbook—ten core behaviors he’s used for decades. What looks like chaos is actually strategy. What feels like a meltdown is often the move itself. In this episode, Rick Wilson and Yale Business School Professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld break down Trump’s pattern of power: the same tactics, the same outcomes, over and over again. Once you see the playbook, you can’t unsee it.
The Interview: How Tragedy, Wealth and Trump Shaped JB Pritzker
Correction: After this interview was published, Gov. Pritzker clarified that he was a donor to AIPAC but was never on the board.
During his two terms as the governor of Illinois, JB Pritzker has become a national figure in the Democratic Party and one of Donald Trump’s main antagonists, at one point telling the president to “[expletive] all the way off.” That combativeness has created a narrative around Pritzker — whose sister, Penny, was secretary of commerce under President Barack Obama — as a potential contender for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2028, even if he’s not saying that yet as he runs for a rare third gubernatorial term.
Pritzker’s rise is interesting for a few reasons. As a member of one of America’s wealthiest families (his uncle founded Hyatt Hotels), Pritzker is a billionaire at a time when anti-billionaire sentiment is ascendant on the left. And as a longtime Jewish supporter of Israel, though very critical of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Pritzker is not exactly in sync with the current direction of his party.“
The Interview” host Lulu Garcia-Navarro wanted to understand how he’s navigating those potential tensions; how his family’s background, including two formative tragedies, have shaped him and where he sees his party, and the country, going from here.