Episode 48: Eli Lake

Eli Lake is a longtime national security reporter known for breaking stories and ruffling feathers.

Lake, who now serves as a columnist for Bloomberg View, is the latest guest on The Jamie Weinstein Show podcast, where he evaluates the Trump administration’s foreign policy after year one, analyzes where the Russian investigation is heading, discusses his thoughts on foreign policy challenges around the world, and much more.

Show Roadmap

  • Is the world better off after Year 1 of the Trump administration?
  • What is the Trump Doctrine?
  • Where the Russia investigation is going?
  • Is there an American Deep State?
  • Lake discusses is journey to Axis of Evil countries
  • On the Egyptian Revolution, the Libyan intervention, what to do in North Korea and Syria, and whether Saudi Arabia is on the right path
  • On Christopher Hitchens, Sebastian Gorka, Steve Bannon, Michael Bloomberg and Matt Drudge
  • Lessons from Lake’s career
  • Lake on his influences and what story has been under-covered

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  • Written by Jamie Weinstein

Episode 47: David Brooks

For nearly 15 years, David Brooks has been a conservative columnist—for much of that time, the lone conservative columnist—on the New York Times op-ed page.

In the latest episode of The Jamie Weinstein Show, Brooks talks about how his view of Trump has changed over the years, what he would focus on if he found himself in the Oval Office, his surprising relationship with Steve Bannon, how Bill Buckley helped propel his career, and much more.

Show Roadmap

  • How Brooks’s view of Trump has changed
  • Grading Trump’s first year
  • On the Russia investigation
  • What David Brooks would focus on if president
  • On the tension of being a Burkean and a “National Greatness Conservative”
  • How Brooks feels the media has covered Trump
  • On his surprising relationship with Steve Bannon
  • Brooks’ view of drug legalization
  • On Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingraham, Joe Scarborough, and Matt Drudge
  • How Bill Buckley helped shape Brooks’s career
  • Closing questions: the books that shaped Brooks, and what he feels is the most under-covered issue

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  • Written by Jamie Weinstein

Episode 46: Bill Kristol [ii]

A longtime political commentator and activist, Bill Kristol is best known these days for his opposition to Donald Trump. In his second appearance on The Jamie Weinstein Show, the editor-at-large of The Weekly Standard opens up on Trump’s first year, whether he plans to help organize a third-party challenge to Trump in 2020, Oprah’s presidential prospects, and much more.

Show Roadmap

  • Grading Trump’s first year
  • Where he falls on the NeverTrump divide
  • What Kristol meant when he tweeted #NeverPence
  • Does Kristol believe honorable people can serve in the Trump administration?
  • Kristol discusses his plans for the 2020 presidential campaign
  • On Mitt Romney’s run for Senate – and whether Romney 2020 could happen
  • On Oprah 2020
  • How his position on Trump has affected his career
  • How Bill Kristol consumes the news
  • What issue Kristol believes has been under-covered by the press

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  • Written by Jamie Weinstein

Episode 45: Mike Murphy

Few political strategists have had as much success as Mike Murphy.

The loquacious political guru most famously worked for Mitt Romney, John McCain, Jeb Bush, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. In the latest episode of The Jamie Weinstein Show, Murphy discusses his opposition to Donald Trump, why he thinks Trump won, a potential Mitt Romney 2020 presidential campaign and much more.

Show Roadmap
· Murphy rates Trump’s first year
· On the State of the Republican Party brand
· When Murphy met Trump
· Why Trump won
· Could Trump have been stopped in the GOP primary?
· What he makes of a potential Steve Bannon presidential run
· Romney 2020?
· Thoughts on Roger Ailes, Don Rickles, Chris Christie, Matt Drudge and more
· Closing questions: Murphey’s influences


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  • Written by Jamie Weinstein

Episode 44: Ben Shapiro [ii]

In the last year, Ben Shapiro has exploded.

A pundit since he was 17, the Harvard Law-trained Shapiro now boasts the number one conservative podcast in the country. In his second appearance on The Jamie Weinstein Show, Shapiro grades Trump’s first year, bursts media myths surrounding his former boss Steve Bannon, explains how he thrived in the conservative world in the Age of Trump despite not voting for the president, gives his thoughts on bitcoin, and much, much more.

Show Roadmap
· Shapiro grades Trump’s first year
· On how the media has covered Trump
· What the media gets wrong about Steve Bannon
· How Shapiro exploded in 2017 despite not voting for Trump
· Shapiro weighs in on the trajectory of his career vs Milo
· How Shapiro’s podcast became the number one conservative show.
· Would Shapiro ever consider a presidential run?
· Shapiro answers Twitter Qs: on his work schedule, bitcoin, debating Rosie O’Donnell, and more
· On Ann Coulter, Matt Drudge, and Rush Limbaugh
· Closing questions: On the liberals he reads, the issue he thinks is undercover, and more.

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  • Written by Jamie Weinstein

Episode 43: Joel Pollak

Joel Pollak was personally recruited by the late Andrew Breitbart to join his then burgeoning media empire and today is senior editor-at-large at Breitbart.com.

In the latest episode of The Jamie Weinstein Show, Pollak opens up about his thoughts on President Trump’s first year in office, what he believes Breitbart’s role is in the current media ecosphere, how he defends the website from its conservative and liberal critics and how he would fix America if he were emperor for a day, among many other topics.

Show Roadmap

· How Pollak thinks Trump has done in his first year
· Has Trump delivered for the populist nationalist agenda?
· Why Trump won
· When exactly did Pollak become a Trump supporter?
· Is Pollak being considered for Ambassador to South Africa?
· Does Pollak have any concerns about Trump?
· What is Breitbart’s role in the media?
· Pollak responds to critics of Breitbart
· What the term “globalist” means to Pollak
· Why does Matt Drudge seem to dislike Steve Bannon?
· The 3 issues Pollak would focus on if he was emperor for the day
· What would Andrew Breitbart think of Breitbart today?
· Pollak on the Mercers, Milo, Ben Shapiro and Jared Kushner
· Lessons from Pollak’s career
· On Breitbart’s support of Roy Moore
· On Pollak’s influences


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  • Written by Jamie Weinstein

Episode 42: Andrew Sullivan

Andrew Sullivan has a lot of opinions.

In the latest episode of The Jamie Weinstein Show, the man whom conservative New York Times columnist Ross Douthat said is arguably “the most influential political writer of his generation” sounds off on a whole host of issues, including how he thinks President Trump is doing, how he thinks the #MeToo movement has gone too far, and why he still has questions about Trig Palin’s parentage. Among many other topics, he also talks about his relationships with and his thoughts on prominent figures such as the late Bill Buckley, Boris Johnson, Niall Ferguson, and Ta-Nehsi Coates.

Show Roadmap

· Why Andrew Sullivan thinks Trump needs to be removed from office

· On why a President Pence is less alarming to Sullivan

· Who Sullivan would like to run for president in 2020

· What three policies would Sullivan enact if he was emperor for a day

· Sullivan on whether bakers should have to bake cakes for gay weddings

· Why Sullivan believes the #MeToo movement has gone too far

· On his interactions with and thoughts on Bill Buckley, Matt Drudge, Boris Johnson, Niall Ferguson and Ta-Nehisi Coates

· Why Sullivan still believes the conspiracy that Trig Palin is not really Sarah Palin’s child

· Andrew Sullivan’s career advice

· Sullivan on his influences

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  • Written by Jamie Weinstein

Episode 41: James Rosen

James Rosen is a man of many interests. Fox News’s Chief Washington Correspondent is known to viewers of the cable news network as a hard-nosed journalist, but off-the-air he wears other hats, including being something of a historian of the Watergate scandal, a Beatles super-fan, a boxing aficionado, and an admirer of Bill Buckley. In the latest episode of The Jamie Weinstein Show, Rosen talks about all of that, plus his thoughts on covering President Trump, the criticism Fox News has faced, the books that shaped him and much more.

Show Roadmap:

  • How covering Trump is different than covering other presidents
  • Rosen on his personal interactions with Trump
  • Rosen rates the media’s coverage of Trump
  • On the criticism Fox News has faced over its coverage of Trump
  • Rosen on being surveilled by the Obama administration
  • On his “obsessions”: Watergate, the Beatles and boxing
  • Rosen talks about his book on Bill Buckley’s obituaries and about Buckley’s legacy
  • Rosen discusses the topic of his next book: Antonin Scalia
  • Advice for aspiring broadcast journalists
  • Closing question: On the books that shaped him

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  • Written by Jamie Weinstein

Episode 40: Andy Marshall

For over 40 years, Andy Marshall led the Pentagon’s internal think tank, the Office of Net Assessment. Up until he left the Pentagon in 2014, at the young age of 93, many considered Marshall one of the most significant defense thinkers you never heard of. Though credited with seeing the Soviet Union’s fragility long before others and being a leading thinker in the revolution in military affairs, Marshall has rarely given interviews to the press. When his writing and words did escape his inner sanctum in the Pentagon, defense thinkers paid attention. “We studied RMA exhaustively,” a Chinese general said in 2012. “Our great hero was Andy Marshall in the Pentagon. We translated every word he wrote.”

In an interview with The Jamie Weinstein Show, Marshall discussed his career, what threats he sees on the horizon, a recent meeting with Steve Bannon, and much more.

Show Roadmap

  • What exactly is the Office of Net Assessment?
  • On the threat of a rising China
  • What Andy Marshall thought of his meeting with Steve Bannon
  • What threats most concern Andy Marshall?
  • Marshall’s thoughts on America’s response to 9/11
  • On the threat of an electromagnetic pulse attack (EMP)
  • Is the U.S. able to develop a Grand Strategy anymore?
  • Career advice from Andy Marshall
  • On the books that most shaped him

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  • Written by Jamie Weinstein

Episode 39: Jeremy Rabkin

For nearly 40 years, Jeremy Rabkin has been a rare conservative voice inside liberal academia: first as a professor at Cornell University, and now as a professor at the Antonin Scalia School of Law at George Mason University.

During a long conversation with The Jamie Weinstein Show, Rabkin discussed his opposition to Donald Trump during the 2016 election, how he thinks Trump is doing now that he is in the Oval Office, the state of the conservative movement, his new book on cyber warfare, and his influences. He also dished on what his grad school classmates Bill Kristol and Alan Keyes were like way back when, and how he views his most famous advisee, Ann Coulter, today.
Show Roadmap
  • After opposing his candidacy, how does Prof. Rabkin think Trump is doing?
  • Does Prof. Rabkin believe a conservative movement even exists anymore?
  • On the idea illegal immigration is number one threat to the U.S.
  • Who Prof. Rabkin would like to see run for president
  • What three issues Prof. Rabkin sees as America’s most pressing problems
  • Prof. Rabkin on knowing Alan Keyes and Bill Kristol as Harvard grad students
  • Prof. Rabkin on his most famous advisee: Ann Coulter
  • On his new book, with John Yoo, “Striking Power: How Cyber, Robots, and Space Weapons Change the Rules for War.”
  • When does a cyber attack become an act of war?
  • On Trump’s UN speech and his emphasis on sovereignty
  • Should conservatives go into academia?
  • How should universities handle controversial speakers?
  • Closing questions on his influences

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  • Written by Jamie Weinstein