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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
September 19, 2025
Right Now With Perry Bacon
Transcript: Kimmel Suspension Is Another Shameless Media Capitulation
Ana Marie Cox and Kathy Roberts Ford say that Kimmel’s suspension shows Trump does not respect the First Amendment, and the corporations that own much of America media don’t value free expression much either.
Video is available for this article
September 18, 2025
Right Now With Perry Bacon
Kimmel’s Suspension Is Another Shameless Media Capitulation to Trump
Journalism professor Kathy Roberts Ford and TNR’s Ana Marie Cox argue that Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension by ABC shows an administration following the authoritarian playbook—and a corporate-captured press.
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September 18, 2025
Right Now With Perry Bacon
Transcript: How Cities Are Fighting Back Against Trump
Justin Bibb, mayor of Cleveland and president of the Democratic Mayor Association, argues that Trump’s policies are hurting cities in particular.
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September 17, 2025
Right Now With Perry Bacon
How Cities Are Fighting Back Against Trump’s Authoritarianism
Justin Bibb, the mayor of Cleveland and the current president of the Democratic Mayors Association, says Trump’s reckless deployments of the National Guard are hurting our cities.
Video is available for this article
September 12, 2025
Right Now With Perry Bacon
The Media Is Totally Blowing Its Coverage of Charlie Kirk
Some pundits are arguing that Charlie Kirk practiced politics “the right way.” This only serves to whitewash the ideas that he promulgated.
Video is available for this article
September 12, 2025
Right Now With Perry Bacon
Transcript: Raskin Says Dems Must Use Funding Fight to Restrain Trump
Representative Jamie Raskin says Democrats shouldn’t allow a government funding bill to pass unless it funds key health care provisions and bars Trump from ignoring congressional appropriations and court rulings.
Video is available for this article
September 12, 2025
Right Now With Perry Bacon
Raskin Says Dems Must Use Funding Fight to Stop Trump’s Lawbreaking
The Democrats were very wary of a government shutdown in March. But they are more open to fighting during budget negotiations now, says Representative Jamie Raskin.
Video is available for this article
September 11, 2025
Right Now With Perry Bacon
Harris Is Bashing Biden in Her New Book. It’s About Time.
Why didn’t she do this last October? TNR’s Perry Bacon and Meredith Shiner discuss excerpts from Kamala Harris’s soon-to-be released memoir.
Video is available for this article
September 11, 2025
Right Now With Perry Bacon
Transcript: Why Democratic Leadership Is Clueless About Politics
Amanda Litman of Run for Something and journalist G. Elliott Morris say that Trump’s poll numbers are dipping because of self-inflicted mistakes and that Democrats still aren’t pursuing smart political strategies.
Video is available for this article
September 10, 2025
Right Now With Perry Bacon
Why Democratic Leadership Is Totally Clueless About Modern Politics
Data analyst Elliott Morris and Amanda Litman say that Trump’s flagging poll numbers are self-inflicted. Democrats still desperately need to find strategies and candidates that energize voters.
Video is available for this article
September 5, 2025
Right Now With Perry Bacon
Trump’s Crooked Attempt to Get Andrew Cuomo Elected Should Be Illegal
TNR’s Monica Potts and Grace Segers discuss Trump’s efforts to clear the field in the New York mayor’s race and help Andrew Cuomo defeat Zohran Mamdani.
Video is available for this article
September 4, 2025
Right Now With Perry Bacon
How Trump Is Screwing Michigan—and What Democrats Can Do About It
Michigan Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist II says Trump’s policies aren’t resonating in his state, even though it backed him in last year’s elections. That provides an opportunity for Democrats, he argues.
Video is available for this article
September 3, 2025
Right Now With Perry Bacon
Ro Khanna’s “Moral” Foreign Policy Vision for the Democratic Party
The California congressman and potential 2028 presidential candidate argues that Biden’s Gaza policies were an example of broader Democratic failings on foreign affairs.
Video is available for this article
August 29, 2025
Right Now With Perry Bacon
Trump Is Totally Ignoring the Working Class That Voted For Him
Trump’s policies are making school supplies and many other items households need much more expensive, says Julie Margetta Morgan of the Century Foundation.
Video is available for this article
August 28, 2025
Right Now With Perry Bacon
Scholars Say America Under Trump Is Authoritarian, Not Democratic
Brendan Nyhan, a professor of government at Dartmouth, says Trump is gaining power at a faster rate than many autocrats abroad did.
Video is available for this article
August 27, 2025
Right Now With Perry Bacon
“We Can Prevail” Over Trump By Building a Big, Broad Coalition
Maurice Mitchell, national director of the Working Families Party, argued that aggressive mobilization, particularly at the local level, is critical to weakening Trump.
Video is available for this article
August 22, 2025
Right Now With Perry Bacon
The Media Should Be Biased—Against Authoritarianism
UMass Amherst journalism historian Kathy Roberts Forde says the news media has helped both entrench and erode authoritarianism in the U.S. in the past and should lean into its pro-democracy history now.
August 20, 2025
Right Now With Perry Bacon
Gavin Newsom Is Showing Democrats How to Fight Back Hard
The California governor’s plan to gerrymander House districts is a sign that Democrats no longer prioritize norms over power.
August 18, 2025
Right Now With Perry Bacon
The Trump Administration Has Put Regulations on Companies “in a Coma”
Former CFPB Director Rohit Chopra says the Trump administration is stopping basically all enforcement actions against companies from his former agency and other parts of the government.
August 15, 2025
Right Now With Perry Bacon
Democrats Need Fresh Faces and Achievable Ideas to Defeat Trumpism
Trump is very unpopular—and so are the Democrats. But the party can improve its image.
Video is available for this article

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Monica Potts
Politics & Class
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Hafiz Rashid
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Grace Segers
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Alex Shephard
Politics & Media
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Michael Tomasky
Politics & Ideas
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