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Right Now With Perry Bacon

Right Now With Perry Bacon is a twice-weekly show about national politics with a focus on the radicalism of the Trump administration and tactics to combat it. The program, hosted by New Republic staff writer Perry Bacon on Substack, features in-depth discussions with experts and politicians. It goes beyond the daily headlines to explain why things are happening and put them in a broader context.

All Episodes
January 21, 2026
Right Now With Perry Bacon
Transcript: Trump Is Destroying Higher Ed. Here’s How To Rebuild It
University of Utah professor Marshall Steinbaum says American higher education should be reformed so we don’t have well-funded colleges for rich students and underfunded ones that lower-income people attend.
Video is available for this article
January 21, 2026
Right Now With Perry Bacon
Trump Is Destroying Higher Ed. Here’s How Democrats Can Rebuild It
University of Utah professor Marshall Steinbaum says American higher education should be reformed so we don’t have well-funded colleges for rich students and underfunded ones that lower-income people attend.
Video is available for this article
January 20, 2026
Right Now With Perry Bacon
Transcript: Why Trump Is Losing Ground Even in This Deep-Red State
Tennessee state representative Aftyn Behn says she nearly won a U.S. House special election in December in a very conservative district because even Trump voters feel that the president’s policies haven’t improved their lives.
Video is available for this article
January 20, 2026
Right Now With Perry Bacon
Why Trump Is Losing Ground Even in This Deep-Red State
Tennessee’s Aftyn Behn explains how she nearly won a special election in a very red U.S. House district last month.
Video is available for this article
January 16, 2026
Right Now With Perry Bacon
Trump Is Running a “Global Mafia”
Liberal foreign policy expert Matt Duss describes why Trump’s foreign moves are so erratic and how the next Democratic administration should approach foreign affairs.
Video is available for this article
January 16, 2026
Right Now With Perry Bacon
Transcript: Trump Is Running a “Global Mafia”
Matt Duss, executive vice president for the Center for International Policy, says there is no coherent strategy to Trump’s foreign policy beyond showing power and enriching the president and his allies.
Video is available for this article
January 14, 2026
Right Now With Perry Bacon
Transcript: Sen. Warren’s Bold Plan for Dems to Win in 2026 and 2028
The Massachusetts senator says the party can learn from its winning candidates in New York City and New Jersey.
Video is available for this article
January 14, 2026
Right Now With Perry Bacon
Elizabeth Warren’s Bold Plan for Democrats to Win in 2026—and 2028
The Massachusetts senator says Democrats must embrace both social programs like universal childcare and higher taxes on the wealthy, even if those ideas push more billionaires to the GOP.
Video is available for this article
January 13, 2026
Right Now With Perry Bacon
Transcript: Trump’s Authoritarianism Is Getting Worse
University of Denver political scientist Seth Masket explains why scholars are so alarmed by some of Trump’s recent moves.
Video is available for this article
January 13, 2026
Right Now With Perry Bacon
Trump’s Authoritarianism Is Getting Worse
University of Denver political scientist Seth Masket explains why scholars are so alarmed by some of Trump’s recent moves.
Video is available for this article
January 6, 2026
Right Now With Perry Bacon
Transcript: Trump Will Invade Another Country Unless We Stop Him
Indivisible’s Leah Greenberg argues mass public opposition to Trump’s actions in Venezuela is essential to preventing him from unilaterally attacking another country.
Video is available for this article
January 6, 2026
Right Now With Perry Bacon
Transcript: Why Trump Overthrowing Venezuela’s Government Was Crazy
Columbia University’s Elizabeth Saunders says Trump’s moves in Venezuela are the latest illustration that he is far less constrained by his advisers and Congress than during his first term.
Video is available for this article
January 5, 2026
Right Now With Perry Bacon
Trump Will Invade Another Country Unless We Stop Him
Indivisible’s Leah Greenberg argues mass public opposition to Trump’s actions in Venezuela is essential to preventing him from unilaterally attacking another country.
Video is available for this article
January 4, 2026
Right Now With Perry Bacon
Overthrowing the Venezuelan Government Was Radical Even for Trump
Columbia University’s Elizabeth Saunders says Trump’s moves in Venezuela are the latest illustration that he is far less constrained by his advisers and Congress than during his first term.
Video is available for this article
January 1, 2026
Right Now With Perry Bacon
America Is Still Living in the Backlash to Obama’s Presidency
Political scientist Julia Azari argues that Trump, like Andrew Johnson and Richard Nixon before him, became president in part because of white backlash against the pro-Black accomplishments of his predecessor.
Video is available for this article
December 23, 2025
Right Now With Perry Bacon
What a Real DNC “Autopsy” of the 2024 Election Would Say
TNR’s Monica Potts argues that Democrats shouldn’t focus on winning the working class or any specific bloc, but instead be “loud” on a few issues that resonate with the entire electorate.
Video is available for this article
December 23, 2025
Right Now With Perry Bacon
What a Real DNC “Autopsy” of the 2024 Election Would Say
TNR’s Monica Potts argues that Democrats shouldn’t focus on winning the working class or any specific bloc, but instead be “loud” on a few issues that resonate with the entire electorate.
Video is available for this article
December 19, 2025
Right Now With Perry Bacon
Transcript: Affordability Isn’t a “Silver Bullet” for Democrats
Political analysts Brian Beutler and Will Stancil say that Democrats may be overemphasizing affordability instead of campaigning against all of Trump’s misdeeds.
Video is available for this article
December 19, 2025
Right Now With Perry Bacon
Affordability Isn’t a “Silver Bullet” for Democrats
Political analysts Brian Beutler and Will Stancil say that Democrats may be overemphasizing affordability, in the same way they once assumed that health care fights would always deliver them electoral victories.
Video is available for this article
December 17, 2025
Right Now With Perry Bacon
Transcript: America’s Three Media Crises and How to Fix Them
University of Pennsylvania media scholar Victor Pickard says that a robust system of public-funded media is essential for America democracy.
Video is available for this article

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Politics & Ideas
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