'Skullduggery' political podcast: 'America the Fallen (with Ben Rhodes)' — May 29, 2021

How do we rescue American democracy from the corrupt grip of an extremist party determined to undermine democratic norms and cement minority rule by authoritarian means? This is the problem before us as laid out by Ben Rhodes, the former deputy national security advisor to Barack Obama, co-host of the "Pod Save the World" podcast and author of the new book "After the Fall." Rhodes joins Michael Isikoff, Daniel Klaidman and Victoria Bassetti on this episode to discuss many aspects of domestic and foreign policy, including the conflict between Israel and Palestinians, the global influence of presidents Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin, and several of the sweeping legislative proposals before Congress today.

All of this comes on the heels of the failure in the Senate to form an independent commission to investigate the Jan. 6 insurrection on the Capitol, for which 19 more Senators voted in favor than against but failed to meet the 60-vote threshold to invoke cloture.

GUEST:

  • Ben Rhodes (@brhodes), former deputy national security advisor to Barack Obama; author

HOSTS:

  • Michael Isikoff (@Isikoff), Chief Investigative Correspondent, Yahoo News

  • Daniel Klaidman (@dklaidman), Editor in Chief, Yahoo News

  • Victoria Bassetti (@VBass), fellow, Brennan Center for Justice (contributing co-host)

RESOURCES:

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Skullduggery is a political podcast about underhandedness. Trickery. Unscrupulous behavior. Skullduggery breaks down the conduct of Washington's political class, tracks the latest in conspiracy theories and disinformation campaigns coursing through social media — and who is pushing them — and keeps you up to date on the latest investigations into misbehavior by members of Congress as well as current and former government officials. Yahoo News’ veteran investigative journalists Michael Isikoff and Daniel Klaidman break news, offer authoritative analysis on sensitive national security and law enforcement issues and draw intriguing historical parallels from decades of covering D.C. scandal

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