Is The 2026 Election Already in Danger?

Is The 2026 Election Already in Danger?

Author: The New Yorker September 22, 2025 Duration: 37:04
“The Constitution gives the states the power to set the time, place, and manner of elections,” the election lawyer Marc Elias points out. “It gives the President no [such] power.” Yet, almost one year before the midterms, Donald Trump has called for a nationwide prohibition on mail-in voting, an option favored by Democrats, as well as restrictions on voting machines. The Justice Department has demanded sensitive voter information from at least thirty-four states so far, with little explanation as to how the information will be used. Will we have free and fair congressional elections in 2026? “I am very worried that we could have elections that do not reflect the desires and the voting preferences of everyone who wishes they could vote and have their vote tabulated accurately,” Elias tells David Remnick. “That may sound very lawyerly and very technical, but I think it would be a historic rollback.” Elias’s firm fought and ultimately won almost every case that Trump and Republican allies brought against the 2020 election, and Elias continues to fight the latest round of incursions in court. And while he rues what he calls “re-gerrymandering” in Texas—designed to squeeze Texas’s Democratic representatives out of Congress—Elias thinks states run by Democrats have no choice but to copy the tactic. “Before Gavin Newsom announced what he was doing, I came out publicly and said Democrats should gerrymander nine seats out of California, which would mean there’d be no Republicans left in the delegation. . . . At the end of the day, if there’s no disincentive structure for Republicans to jump off this path, [then] it just continues.”  The Political Scene draws on the reporting and analysis found in The New Yorker for lively conversations about the big questions in American politics. Join the magazine’s writers and editors as they put into context the latest news—about elections, the economy, the White House, the Supreme Court, and much more. New episodes are available three times a week. 

Each week, The Political Scene | The New Yorker brings the magazine’s signature depth and clarity directly to your ears. This isn’t just a recap of headlines; it’s a sustained conversation with the people who spend their days investigating the forces shaping our world. You’ll hear from the publication’s own writers and editors, whose reporting and analysis provide essential context for understanding today’s complex political landscape. The rhythm of the week structures these discussions: Mondays feature editor David Remnick in thoughtful conversations and narratives about unfolding events. Then, on Wednesdays, senior editor Tyler Foggatt selects one consequential story and explores it thoroughly through interviews with both New Yorker staff and leading outside voices. Fridays round out the week with contributions from the magazine’s staff writers, offering their distinct perspectives. Tuning into this podcast means getting behind the scenes of the journalism itself, listening as sharp minds dissect power, policy, and the human stories at the heart of it all. It’s for anyone who wants to move beyond the noise and find a more nuanced, informed take on American politics and global affairs.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 100

The Political Scene | The New Yorker
Podcast Episodes
Is the Epstein Scandal Trump’s Kryptonite? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 36:12
The Washington Roundtable discusses the trove of Jeffrey Epstein correspondence released by Congress this week, the fractures it has caused in the Republican Party, and the potential political ramifications for President…
How Zohran Mamdani Won, and What Comes Next [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 43:18
The New Yorker staff writer Eric Lach joins Tyler Foggatt to discuss Zohran Mamdani’s victory in the New York City mayoral race, and what his time in office might look like. They talk about some of his early appointments…
What Resistance Means to Governor J. B. Pritzker [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 26:28
Few Democratic officials have been more outspoken in opposition to the Trump Administration than J. B. Pritzker, the governor of Illinois. He seems almost to relish antagonizing Trump, who has suggested Pritzker should b…
The Washington Roundtable Answers Your Questions [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 43:15
The Washington Roundtable kicks off the 2026 election season by answering questions from listeners about the forces most likely to shape next year’s midterm elections. They discuss the ascendancy of Zohran Mamdani in New…
Have the Democrats Figured Out How to Win Again? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 32:01
The New Yorker staff writer Benjamin Wallace-Wells joins Tyler Foggatt to discuss Democrats’ sweeping victories in the first major elections of Donald Trump’s second term. They talk about what the results—from Zohran Mam…
From In the Dark: “Blood Relatives,” an investigative series [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 46:30
On August 7, 1985, five family members were shot dead in their English country manor, Whitehouse Farm. It looked like an open-and-shut case. But the New Yorker staff writer Heidi Blake finds that almost nothing about thi…
How Bad Is It?: Why an Antifascism Scholar Fled the Country [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:00:59
The New Yorker staff writer Andrew Marantz joins Tyler Foggatt for the latest installment of “How Bad Is It?,” a regular checkup on the health of American democracy. Their guests are the Rutgers historians Mark Bray and…
Zadie Smith on Politics, Turning Fifty, and Mind Control [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 27:48
Since Zadie Smith published her début novel, “White Teeth,” twenty-five years ago, she has been a bold and original voice in literature. But those who aren’t familiar with Smith’s work outside of fiction are missing out.…
How the Trump Administration Made Higher Education a Target [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 28:52
The swiftness and severity with which the Trump Administration has tried to impose its will on higher education came as a shock to many, not least university presidents and faculties from Harvard to U.C.L.A. But for cons…