Amid the daily horrors emanating from the Trump/Musk White House, you may not have given much thought to the possibility of a rapid, nationwide economic downturn fed by hundreds of thousands of layoffs of federal workers. Jesse Rothstein has, and he has a warning. Rothstein, a UC-Berkeley economist who was a top economic advisor in the Obama administration, says we could see the signs of a new recession in a matter of weeks.

Amid the assault on the American government currently underway from Donald Trump and Elon Musk, we've all asked ourselves this question: Wait, can they do that? To help answer the question, I'm joined by University of Michigan law professor Sam Bagenstos, who until recently was general counsel of the Department of Health and Human Services, and prior to that the general counsel of the Office of Management and Budget. We discuss Donald Trump, Elon Musk, the Supreme Court, and what happens when the party in power decides that obeying the law is optional.

Ayelet and Paul are joined by Talia Lavin, author of Wild Faith: How the Christian Right Is Taking Over America to talk about the origins and spread of Christian nationalism, and how spanking your kids might just turn them into foot soldiers for the next authoritarian takeover.

Earlier this year, Palestinian-American filmmaker Mo Husseini went viral with a Medium post about Israel-Palestine titled 50 Completely True Things. In a discussion that is probing, thoughtful, humane and even hopeful, he joins us to talk about what people on both sides are thinking, what the future might look like, and his new film, The Path Forward, which profiles Israelis and Palestinians who have lost family members in the conflict and have come together to work for peace.

We interview labor reporter Hamilton Nolan, author of The Hammer: Power, Inequality, and the Struggle for the Soul of Labor about the recent rise in union organizing, the trouble with the big unions, and the bizarre fact that Donald Trump enjoys strong support among union members.

Do you overreact to every poll that comes out, endangering your mental health as the election approaches? Do the words "New York Times/Sienna poll" send you into a cold sweat? We're here to help. Ayelet and Paul talk to Michael Podhorzer, former political director of the AFL-CIO, about what to take - and not to take - from the ups and downs of each day's polls and where the election really stands.

"Kamala is brat!" If you have no idea what that means, you may not be aware that Democrats seem to be winning the war of memes in the 2024 presidential campaign. Why are they doing better at this battle of online signs and signifiers than they have in the past? And does it make a difference? Paul and Ayelet are joined by Amanda Marcotte, senior politics writer at Salon.com and author of of Troll Nation: How The Right Became Trump-Worshipping Monsters Set On Rat-F*cking Liberals, America, and Truth Itself, and Jennifer Stromer-Galley, professor in the School of Information Studies at Syracuse University and author of Presidential Campaigning in the Internet Age, to discuss what's happening in the meme war and what it all means.

Ayelet and Paul unpack Democrats' bright new dawn, with Kamala Harris now their presumptive nominee. Is she a better candidate than she was four years ago? Will Democrats now be united forever? And what's the deal with JD Vance and the childless cat ladies?