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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
October 20, 2025
Right Now With Perry Bacon
Transcript: No Kings—How Mass Protests Weaken Autocrats Like Trump
Indivisible’s Leah Greenberg explains why mass protests like No Kings are a critical tool in opposing Trump and his authoritarianism.
Video is available for this article
October 19, 2025
Right Now With Perry Bacon
No Kings: How Mass Protests Weaken Unhinged Autocrats Like Trump
Indivisible’s Leah Greenberg explains why mass protests like No Kings are a critical tool in opposing Trump and his authoritarianism.
Video is available for this article
October 17, 2025
Right Now With Perry Bacon
Transcript: How Chicago Is Fighting Trump’s Outrageous ICE Policies
Representative Delia Ramirez says that Americans across the country should care about what the administration is doing in Chicago because their city could be next.
Video is available for this article
October 17, 2025
Right Now With Perry Bacon
How Chicago Is Standing Tough Against Trump’s Outrageous ICE Policies
Representative Delia Ramirez says that Americans across the country should care about what the administration is doing in Chicago because their city could be next.
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October 15, 2025
Right Now With Perry Bacon
From Total Unknown to Supernova Overnight: Graham Platner Takes Maine
One thousand people at a pizza place? It’s not the pepperoni—it’s Platner.
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October 14, 2025
Right Now With Perry Bacon
Transcript: Maine’s Mills-Platner Senate Race Is A Huge Dem Battle
Governor Janet Mills U.S. Senate run against Graham Platner will pit the Democrats’ establishment wing against the insurgent bloc, says Maine journalist Alex Seitz-Wald.
Video is available for this article
October 14, 2025
Right Now With Perry Bacon
Maine Senate: Platner-Mills Is a Huge Clash Over the Dems’ Vision
Governor Janet Mills’s U.S. Senate run against Graham Platner will pit the Democrats’ establishment wing against the insurgent bloc, says Maine journalist Alex Seitz-Wald.
Video is available for this article
October 10, 2025
Right Now With Perry Bacon
The Undiscussed Reason the Democratic Party Might Wither and Die
Five million people have fled blue states for red in recent years. The reason? The high cost of living.
Video is available for this article
October 10, 2025
Right Now With Perry Bacon
The Dems Will Stay Weak Until They Stop Obsessing Over Polls
Political strategist Anat Shenker-Osorio says that polling alone won’t find the messages and ideas that will galvanize voters and help Democrats win elections.
Video is available for this article
October 10, 2025
Right Now With Perry Bacon
Transcript: Dems Will Stay Weak Until They Stop Obsessing Over Polls
Political strategist Anat Shenker-Osorio says that polling alone won’t find the messages and ideas that will galvanize voters and help Democrats win elections.
Video is available for this article
October 8, 2025
Right Now With Perry Bacon
Transcript: Newsom and Pritzker Show How To Attack An Authoritarian
Arkadi Gerney, a Democratic strategist, says that the officials with the greatest ability to stop Trump are Democratic governors and attorneys general. And he argues they are often blunting the president in ways that are under-appreciated.
Video is available for this article
October 8, 2025
Right Now With Perry Bacon
Newsom and Pritzker Are Showing How to Attack an Authoritarian Crook
Arkadi Gerney, a Democratic strategist, says Democratic governors and attorneys general have the greatest ability to stop Trump—and they’re doing it in ways that are underappreciated.
Video is available for this article
October 6, 2025
Right Now With Perry Bacon
Transcript: Democrats Got Something Really Big Done in New Mexico
Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham explains how New Mexico became the first state with universal childcare and why Democrats should look to states and governors for leadership.
Video is available for this article
October 3, 2025
Right Now With Perry Bacon
Democrats Got Something Really Big Done in New Mexico
Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham discusses how New Mexico will soon become the first state with universal free childcare and why the Democratic Party needs to look to states and governors for fresh ideas and strategies.
Video is available for this article
October 3, 2025
Right Now With Perry Bacon
Chris Van Hollen Is Angry—at Trump, and at His Party’s Lame Pollsters
The Maryland senator explains why he went to El Salvador earlier this year while the rest of the party tried to downplay immigration issues, and his decision to go to Iowa and flirt with a 2028 presidential run.
Video is available for this article
October 2, 2025
Right Now With Perry Bacon
Donald Trump’s Sick, Cynical Racial Con—and How to Fight It
Professors Hakeem Jefferson and Victor Ray argue that the Trump administration goes way beyond past Republican administrations on racial issues, often explicitly favoring white people in its policies.
Video is available for this article
October 2, 2025
Right Now With Perry Bacon
Transcript: This Democrat Thinks Party Will Thump Trump in Shutdown
Representative Melanie Stansbury says Democrats are smartly focused on health care and the Republicans can’t defend rolling back Obamacare subsidies for average Americans.
Video is available for this article
October 1, 2025
Right Now With Perry Bacon
This House Democrat Thinks Her Party Will Thump Trump in the Shutdown
Representative Melanie Stansbury says Democrats are smartly focused on health care and the Republicans can’t defend rolling back Obamacare subsidies for average Americans.
Video is available for this article
September 26, 2025
Right Now With Perry Bacon
Why Trump Is Obsessed With Destroying People Like Comey and Kimmel
The process that led to the indictment of the former FBI director is one of the most alarming and authoritarian acts of Trump’s second term—and echoes Watergate, says political scientist Jake Grumbach.
Video is available for this article
September 25, 2025
Right Now With Perry Bacon
Transcript: Kimmel Showed the Rest of the Media How to Fight Trump
New York Times writer E.J. Dionne says that the late-night host essentially forced ABC to end his suspension because of the broad, strong coalition that defended him.
Video is available for this article

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Politics & Ideas
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