Published by The Contrarian
Jen Rubin and Norm Eisen bring you the best of The Contrarian's unflinching journalism to defend democracy—truthful, not neutral. Listen for political and legal analysis, uncompromising interviews, and steps for actionable resistance in defense of democracy. www.contrariannews.org
Listen on Apple PodcastsAs of Wednesday afternoon, a Senate judiciary committee vote to advance Todd Blanche’s nomination to become Attorney General is scheduled for Thursday, July 30. Contrarian senior editor Tim Dickinson sat down with Senator Jacky Rosen from Nevada to talk about why Blanche’s mishandling of the release of the Epstein Files and connection to Trump’s $1.776 billion slush fund make him unfit to lead the justice department. Senator Rosen’s also shared her recent legislative moves to demand FEMA assistance for wildfire prevention, highlight the Iran war’s costs for Nevadans, oppose presidential pardons for Ghislaine Maxwell, and fight for strengthened DACA protections. The Contrarian is owned by nobody. Your paid subscription helps us bring you the brightest voices in politics & culture and fight every day against the Trump chaos machine. Join us on Substack . This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.contrariannews.org/subscribe
On this week’s Let’s Do Lunch , Economist and Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress, Jared Bernstein sat down with with Neale Mahoney. Neale runs the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research. They answered questions on private healthcare markets, what factors are driving up the cost of your groceries, and what Trump’s economic harms look like as real numbers You can catch the Let’s Do Lunch live every other Tuesday at Noon et at ContrarianNews.org The Contrarian is owned by nobody. Your paid subscription helps us bring you the brightest voices in politics & culture and fight every day against the Trump chaos machine. Join us on Substack . This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.contrariannews.org/subscribe
On The Tea with April Ryan , April caught up with Charles Blow. Charles is a journalist, author, and former New York Times columnist They talked about Trump walking back his threat to subpoena the Times, how Georgia is raising the stakes for the midterms, and unpacked how Black Americans constantly struggle against political oppression and racially-targeted violence. You can catch the Tea with April Ryan, live Tuesdays and Thursdays at 5:30pm eastern at ContrarianNews.org The Contrarian is owned by nobody. Your paid subscription helps us bring you the brightest voices in politics & culture and fight every day against the Trump chaos machine. Join us on Substack . This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.contrariannews.org/subscribe
On Coffee with Contrarians earlier this week, publisher Norm Eisen chatted with New York Times Politics Reporter Maggie Haberman about her latest book, Regime Change, co-authored with fellow White House reporter Jonathan Swan. Regime Change is an inside look at Trump’s second term, his willingness to use power unlike any other president in American history, and how four years out of office built up his desire to surround himself with loyal supporters who would allow him to smash norms and wield that power. The Contrarian is owned by nobody. Your paid subscription helps us bring you the brightest voices in politics & culture and fight every day against the Trump chaos machine. Join us on Substack . This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.contrariannews.org/subscribe
On Coffee with Contrarians earlier this week, I caught up with Juan Proaño and former federal prosecutor Joyce Vance. Juan, you might remember, is the head of LULAC, the nation’s oldest and most important Hispanic civil rights organization. We got on-the-ground ICE updates from Maine and Texas, upcoming elections in Arizona and how DOGE failed us yet again with its cuts in food safety regulation and the spread of cyclospora. The Contrarian is owned by nobody. Your paid subscription helps us bring you the brightest voices in politics & culture and fight every day against the Trump chaos machine. Join us on Substack . This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.contrariannews.org/subscribe
On Coffee with Contrarians earlier this week, our publisher Norm Eisen chatted with Brian Tyler Cohen. He’s the host of the No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen YouTube show and podcast , where he’s chatted with guests like Presidents Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and so many more. He’s out with his second book, The Day After, How to Wield Power in a Post-Trump World , which looks at the GOP’s effective way of abusing power and the Democrats’ opportunity to actually step up and fight back to protect democracy. Norm and Brian also react to Blanche and Clayton’s tense congressional hearings on Wednesday, and they push back against Trump’s latest false election interference claims. The Contrarian is owned by nobody. Your paid subscription helps us bring you the brightest voices in politics & culture and fight every day against the Trump chaos machine. Join us on Substack . This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.contrariannews.org/subscribe
On this week’s Let’s Do Lunch, economist and Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress, Jared Bernstein, chatted with Aya Ibrahim. She’s a Senior Fellow for Economic and National Security at the AI Now Institute and a Visiting Senior Fellow at the Century Foundation. After renewed strikes on Iran this week, Jared and Aya discussed their potential impacts on the U.S. domestic economy. They later delved into the June jobs report, looking at how AI is affecting the job market for young people and the administrative workforce. You can get your own questions answered about the economy every other Tuesday at Noon ET by following us on Bluesky and Substack . The Contrarian is owned by nobody. Your paid subscription helps us bring you the brightest voices in politics & culture and fight every day against the Trump chaos machine. Join us on Substack . This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.contrariannews.org/subscribe
After Graham Platner’s exit from the Senate race in Maine, Democrats are scrambling to figure out who will face off against Republican incumbent Susan Collins. The upcoming state Convention provides a second chance for Maine voters to make their voices heard — something many Mainers felt they didn’t get the first time around with Platner. Former Clinton press secretary Joe Lockhart, who now votes in Maine, spoke with us about how the Washington consultant class shaped the Platner fiasco, and how Maine can still capitalize on the progressive enthusiasm stirred up by Platner’s campaign. The Contrarian is owned by nobody. Your paid subscription helps us bring you the brightest voices in politics & culture and fight every day against the Trump chaos machine. Join us on Substack . This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.contrariannews.org/subscribe
It’s been a week, and we had a lot to talk through. That’s why we’re bringing you all a special episode today. It’s a double feature! On Thursday’s Coffee with Contrarians , April Ryan got to speak with Maya Wiley. She is the President and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. After that, she sat down with Rep. Al Green (D-TX) on The Tea . Assaults on Justice proved to be a recurring theme this week. Between Todd Blanche’s upcoming Senate hearings and ICE killing a man on his way to work, it’s becoming clearer every day that Americans cannot put their trust in the Department of Justice. The Tea with April Ryan is live every Tuesday and Thursday at 5:30pm ET at ContrarianNews.org . The Contrarian is owned by nobody. Your paid subscription helps us bring you the brightest voices in politics & culture and fight every day against the Trump chaos machine. Join us on Substack . This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.contrariannews.org/subscribe
On Tuesday’s episode of The Tea with April Ryan , April spoke with Lisa Rice, President and CEO of the National Fair Housing Alliance. While discussing the worsening housing affordability crisis, Lisa revealed that DOGE has all but destroyed fair housing grants, jeopardizing the lives of already vulnerable people, all in the name of being “anti-DEI.” The Contrarian is owned by nobody. Your paid subscription helps us bring you the brightest voices in politics & culture and fight every day against the Trump chaos machine. Join us on Substack . This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.contrariannews.org/subscribe
On Monday’s Coffee with Contrarians, our publisher Norm Eisen chatted with independent journalist and contributor Katie Phang, on everything from the chaotic July 4th celebrations in DC to what happened with Team USA. During their chat, the two previewed Trump’s trip to the NATO summit, analyzed the white nationalist march in Washington, D.C., and discussed the latest in World Cup drama. Coffee with Contrarians is live every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday at 9:15am ET at ContrarianNews.org . The Contrarian is owned by nobody. Your paid subscription helps us bring you the brightest voices in politics & culture and fight every day against the Trump chaos machine. Join us on Substack . This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.contrariannews.org/subscribe
Ahead of this weekend’s Independence Day celebrations, April Ryan discussed the dichotomy of America with Professor Eddie Glaude, who teaches African American studies and religion at Princeton. The two examined the contradictions between America’s “hope and freedom!” self-proclamations, ‘pull yourself up by the bootstraps’ mentality, and the country’s legacy of racism. Professor Glaude asks, will the US be a beacon of freedom or a white republic? It cannot be both. The Tea with April Ryan is live every Tuesday and Thursday at 5:30pm ET at ContrarianNews.org . The Contrarian is owned by nobody. Your paid subscription helps us bring you the brightest voices in politics & culture and fight every day against the Trump chaos machine. Join us on Substack . This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.contrariannews.org/subscribe
Yesterday was jam packed with SCOTUS’ final case decisions of the season: trans athletes in sports, campaign finance, and birthright citizenship. To make sense of what exactly these decisions were and their likely implications, April spoke to Janai Nelson, President and Director-Counsel of the Legal Defense Fund, on The Tea. The Legal Defense Fund is one of the strongest legal organizations in the country fighting for racial justice. The pair broke down the highly anticipated birthright citizenship case that ended in both a 6-3 and 5-4 decision. They also reviewed the court’s decision to uphold state-wide bans on transgender athletes participating in sports, voting rights, and the need for SCOTUS reform. The Tea with April Ryan is live every Tuesday and Thursday at 5:30pm ET at ContrarianNews.org . The Contrarian is owned by nobody. Your paid subscription helps us bring you the brightest voices in politics & culture and fight every day against the Trump chaos machine. Join us on Substack . This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.contrariannews.org/subscribe
Earlier today, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that President Donald Trump’s executive order that sought to restrict birthright citizenship is unconstitutional. This means that the court has upheld the 14th amendment and reaffirmed that Trump can’t just take a pen and change the Constitution. Our Publisher Norm Eisen led this litigation alongside the ACLU and was on the steps of SCOTUS when the decision came down. While we protected birthright citizenship today, the fight is far from over. In fact, America has encountered many attempts to overturn rights in an age of progress. To kickstart a week of commemorating America 250, Contrarian senior editor Tim Dickinson sat down with Kevin Kruse [06:55], Professor of History at Princeton University, to analyze MAGA’s desire to erase history in order to control the future. Professor Kruse dives into historical examples of this, from the retaliatory rise of the Klu Klux Klan to the ‘70s social upheaval. And yet, the “nostalgia” these right wingers chase doesn’t actually correspond to a real point in time. The Contrarian is owned by nobody. Your paid subscription helps us bring you the brightest voices in politics & culture and fight every day against the Trump chaos machine. Join us on Substack . This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.contrariannews.org/subscribe
On the Tea with April Ryan, April sat down with Esosa Osa, the Founder and CEO of Onyx Impact. They looked at the recent SCOTUS ruling allowing Trump to strip Temporary Protected Status from millions of legal immigrants and how Trump derailed a bipartisan bill in Congress that hoped to make housing affordable. Plus, Esosa unveiled the backstory of Onyx Impact’s new digital assistant, Aisha.AI, supported by clean energy and designed to remove bias against the Black community. You can join The Tea with April Ryan, live twice a week, Tuesdays and Thursdays at 5:30pm eastern at ContrarianNews.org The Contrarian is owned by nobody. Your paid subscription helps us bring you the brightest voices in politics & culture and fight every day against the Trump chaos machine. Join us on Substack . This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.contrariannews.org/subscribe
On Coffee with Contrarians, contributor and independent journalist Katie Phang sat down with political pollster, analyst and organizer extraordinaire Simon Rosenberg . They looked at what last night’s primary results in New York could mean for the Midterms, the Senate’s vote on a War Powers Resolution, and Trump’s allegedly deteriorating health. Coffee with Contrarians is live every Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 9:15 AM ET. The Contrarian is owned by nobody. Your paid subscription helps us bring you the brightest voices in politics & culture and fight every day against the Trump chaos machine. Join us on Substack . This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.contrariannews.org/subscribe
Earlier this week, Contrarian Publisher Norm Eisen sat down with former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance on Coffee with Contrarians. They talked about Trump’s reflecting pool disaster, the almost $1.8 billion slush fund, and MAGA’s current plan to disrupt the midterms. Coffee with Contrarians is live every Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 9:15 AM ET. The Contrarian is owned by nobody. Your paid subscription helps us bring you the brightest voices in politics & culture and fight every day against the Trump chaos machine. Join us on Substack . This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.contrariannews.org/subscribe
Yesterday , Trump and Vance virtually signed an agreement to end the blockade of Iranian ports, reopen the Strait of Hormuz, and start 60 days of nuclear negotiations. Contrarian Publisher Norm Eisen sat down with the Senator Peter Welch (D-VT) to talk about the so-called “framework” of a peace deal and Todd Blanche’s nomination as Attorney General. The Contrarian is owned by nobody. Your paid subscription helps us bring you the brightest voices in politics & culture and fight every day against the Trump chaos machine. Join us on Substack . This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.contrariannews.org/subscribe
On this week’s Let’s Do Lunch, economist and Senior Fellow at Center for American Progress Jared Bernstein chatted with Jason Furman, economist and former chair at the Council of Economic Advisers under the Obama administration. Jared and Jason answered all of your burning questions on the economy and went over inflation numbers, oil prices, social security, and the debut of the world’s first trillionaire. You can get your own questions answered about the economy every other Tuesday at 12pm ET by following us on Bluesky and Substack. The Contrarian is owned by nobody. Your paid subscription helps us bring you the brightest voices in politics & culture and fight every day against the Trump chaos machine. Join us on Substack . This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.contrariannews.org/subscribe
Greenland, Iceland, whatever Trump is the name of the country has been spared from U.S. invasion — at least for now. What hasn’t been spared is the quickly deteriorating relationships with NATO allies. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Jen discuss NATO’s future, Trump’s submissiveness towards Russia, and the Democrats’ dilemma over an impending DHS appropriations bill. The Contrarian is owned by nobody. Your paid subscription helps us bring you the brightest voices in politics & culture and fight every day against the Trump chaos machine. Join us on Substack . This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.contrariannews.org/subscribe