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The Daily Beast Podcast is as wildly exciting, energizing, and entertaining as the topics it covers. Hosted by Joanna Coles, Chief Content Officer of the Daily Beast, every episode brings you more of the people, politics, and pop culture coverage you need straight from the Daily Beast newsroom. Amazing conversations have included Amber Ruffin, Tiffany Haddish, Mika Brzezinski, Don Lemon, John Oliver and more!
New episodes every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday; early drops on YouTube.
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5On this episode of The New Abnormal, Molly Jong-Fast and Andy Levy debate which Republicans testifying at the Jan. 6 hearings can be considered ‘good guys.’ Spoiler alert, not Bill Barr according to Andy. Molly also breaks down the ‘psychology’ of Jared Kushner based on his performance testifying. Plus! The Nation columnist Jeet Heer explains to Molly why Democrats shouldn’t trust Liz Cheney and CNN national security reporter Zachary Cohen points out one of big question marks on the Jan. 6 timeline that the committee is trying to piece together: What happened when Donald Trump was in the dining room? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse is not pleased with Mitch McConnell’s handling of dark money. He came on the pod to explain why he’s pinning the lack of dark money legislation on McConnell as well as what’s happening with climate change legislation. Plus, author Wes Moore tells TNA co-host Molly-Jong-Fast why he’s running for Governor of Maryland and what he wants to change. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The Daily Beast's Chief Content Officer Joanna Coles unpacks the two biggest reality shows of our time: Britain's royal family and Donald Trump's presidency. First she lifts the lid on what's really going on in the White House and Mar-a-Lago with the Beast's Executive Editor Hugh Dougherty and finds out who's been voted off the island, who's been pitted in a brutal head-to-head contest and why Warren Buffett just delivered a stinging rebuke with a personal sting in the tail. Then Coles turns to the Beast's European Editor-at-Large Tom Sykes for revelation after revelation about the British royals. Why is Prince Harry really pleading for reconciliation with his father, King Charles? And why is the California exile hinting that someone wants him dead like his mom, Princess Diana—and who exactly does he mean? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The Daily Beast Podcast is as wildly exciting, energizing, and entertaining as the topics it covers. Hosted by Joanna Coles, Chief Content Officer of the Daily Beast, every episode brings you more of the people, politics, and pop culture coverage you need straight from the Daily Beast newsroom. Amazing conversations have included Amber Ruffin, Tiffany Haddish, Mika Brzezinski, Don Lemon, John Oliver and more!New episodes every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday.If you’re not already a subscriber to The Daily Beast, it’s easy! Just go to thedailybeast.com to sign up. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Michael Wolff joins Joanna Coles to unpack why the release of the Epstein files has backfired on Donald Trump, obscuring key facts while amplifying the one question that won’t go away: what Trump knew, and when. Wolff explains how the chaotic document dump fits Trump’s flood-the-zone instincts, while Coles probes how branding, spectacle, and confusion remain his core political defenses. They also examine the risks of sidelining institutions—from Ukraine diplomacy to ICE-as-content—and ask whether Trump’s belief that chaos protects him is finally working against him. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Mary Trump joins Joanna Coles to explain how Donald Trump’s accelerating cognitive and psychological decline is rooted in a childhood defined by cruelty, fear, and the absolute ban on showing weakness. Drawing on her training as a clinical psychologist and her firsthand experience inside the Trump family, Mary argues that Trump’s belligerence is routinely mistaken for strength, even as his physical health, cognitive deterioration, and untreated pathology collide. The conversation ends with a stark question: What happens when a country is governed by a man trying to fill a void that can never be filled? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Psychologist Dr. John Gartner joins Joanna Coles to dissect Donald Trump’s latest White House speech and explain why its manic pace, rigid teleprompter discipline, and sheer velocity alarm mental health professionals. Drawing on decades of clinical experience, Gartner argues that Trump’s hypomania, malignant narcissism, and advancing dementia are no longer abstract theories but visible patterns—accelerating, measurable, and increasingly unmanaged. They examine why repeated cognitive tests suggest monitoring decline rather than routine screening, and how sleepless nights, impulsive decisions, and compulsive posting point to a leader edging toward a cognitive cliff. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Michael Wolff joins Joanna Coles to tackle the question Washington won’t confront: what happens when a president’s cognitive decline is visible but systematically rationalized by those around him. Wolff describes how Trump’s inner circle shields alarming behavior as “Trump being Trump,” even as voters recognize familiar warning signs from their own families. He also explains the significance of Susie Wiles’ long-standing relationship with Marco Rubio, and why her influence still shows in his disciplined, professional posture as Trump spirals. As Trump’s grandiosity accelerates—from galloping speeches to branding national institutions—Coles asks why no one is willing to take the keys away, and what that silence means for the country. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Michael Wolff joins Joanna Coles with a story Trump World would rather bury: his legal pursuit of Melania Trump after she threatened a $1 billion libel suit over his reporting on her ties to Jeffrey Epstein. Wolff details the surreal effort to serve the First Lady—lawyers refusing papers, process servers turned away, Trump Tower staff claiming she lives there while she avoids being found—and explains why he sued first under New York’s anti-intimidation law. The legal farce opens onto something larger: a family operating in secrecy and fear, a president trying to “serve” his wife even as control slips, and a White House where avoidance has become strategy. As Trump’s foreign policy grows more erratic and Europe edges toward war, the question lingers: is Melania’s disappearance just legal gamesmanship—or another sign of a presidency retreating from accountability? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Stacey Williams joins Joanna Coles as the anticipated release of the Epstein files throws fresh scrutiny on Donald Trump’s long-denied proximity to Jeffrey Epstein. Williams recounts how a dinner invitation led to a relationship with Epstein—and, she says, to being deliberately walked into Trump Tower where Trump groped her while Epstein stood by, a moment she now believes was staged. Does her account expose how power, silence, and sexual coercion were normalized at the highest levels—and why Trump remains untouched as others in Epstein’s orbit fall? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Michael Wolff joins Joanna Coles to break down the Vanity Fair profile that may have pushed Trump chief of staff Susie Wiles into dangerous territory, and the newly surfaced Epstein diaries that reveal fixation more than revelation. But the episode turns darker with Trump’s grotesque response to the murder of Rob Reiner and his wife—a moment that shocked even his own insiders. Wolff argues this wasn’t calculation or cruelty, but something giving way. And it leaves an unavoidable question hanging in the air: how long can a presidency survive when self-destruction is no longer strategic, but instinctive? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Chris Whipple joins Joanna Coles as his explosive Susie Wiles profile sends shockwaves through Trump’s White House. After 11 months of on-the-record access, for Vanity Fair, to Susie Wiles, Whipple explains why the facts can’t be denied—and why her description of Trump’s “alcoholic personality” has triggered cabinet-wide panic and presidential pushback. Does this unprecedented candor reveal how Trump 2.0 actually functions, or mark the moment the West Wing turns on its most powerful gatekeeper? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
David Rothkopf joins Joanna Coles to unpack a presidency stripped of empathy after Trump’s disturbing Truth Social post responding to the murder of filmmaker Rob Reiner and his wife. Rothkopf, the founder of Deep State Radio and former editor of Foreign Policy magazine, argues that this moment exposes Trump’s defining pathology: an inability to respond to tragedy without cruelty, self-obsession, and grievance. From mass shootings to corruption, donors, and a cabinet quietly hedging its bets, they trace how Trump’s personal brokenness has become national policy—and ask the defining question: How long can a political system function when it’s built around one man’s pathology? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Don Lemon joins Joanna Coles to diagnose why Trump’s lost his charismatic touch. Lemon, Founder of The Don Lemon Show, describes a former president whose influence is fading as voters grow disillusioned with MAGA, economic distortions, and rising healthcare costs. From Trump’s credibility and health to Republican lawmakers misreading the electorate, Lemon explores the consequences of a movement built on lies and distractions—and presses a defining question: How long can the GOP survive a leader losing his grip? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Michael Wolff joins Joanna Coles to reveal stories behind newly released Epstein photos. Together they sift through the blacked-out faces, the Mar-a-Lago-style party shots, and a younger Steve Bannon seated in Epstein’s ornate study—the man he once admitted was the only figure in 2016 who truly scared him. Wolff explains why these images are surfacing now, how both parties are weaponizing them, and why they revive long-buried questions about Trump’s ties to Epstein. Coles ends on the unavoidable question: Are there more Epstein and Trump revelations still waiting to be discovered? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Michael Wolff joins Joanna Coles to unpack Kristi Noem’s “Ice Barbie” theatrics at Homeland Security to Pam Bondi’s loyal remaking of the Justice Department. They explore how, for the people in Trump’s political orbit, loyalty and spectacle outweigh competence. Wolff and Coles dive into Corey Lewandowski’s influence, Alina Haber’s rocky rise, Jared Kushner’s allies, and the fractures forming among Trump’s women acolytes. Behind the headlines, they reveal a presidency driven by personal power, loyalty tests, and showmanship—where the inner workings are as unpredictable as the public drama. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Ambassador John Bolton joins Hugh Dougherty to chart the growing dangers of Trump’s foreign policy, driven by impulse rather than strategy. Bolton, Trump’s former national security adviser, describes a president who ignores formal briefings, takes cues from Mar-a-Lago guests, and makes decisions by “neuron flash,” leaving Venezuela, Europe, and Ukraine trapped in contradiction and drift. As Trump chases a Nobel Prize and treats strongmen like personal allies, Bolton presses a defining question: How long can America’s security withstand a leader who refuses to plan? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Michael Wolff joins Joanna Coles to dissect a president increasingly disengaged, dozing through televised cabinet meetings while aides scramble to manage both optics and reality. They probe the murky Hegseth video controversy, Trump’s self-awarded FIFA Peace Prize, and his meddling in Hollywood mergers, showing how delay, spectacle, and loyalty dominate decision-making. Wolff charts the frustration, chaos, and quiet panic inside Trumpworld. The two ask: What happens when no one can keep up with—or contain—Trump’s mercurial whims? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
David Rothkopf joins Hugh Dougherty to discuss the acceleration of Trump losing his grip on power. Rothkopf, a veteran foreign-policy analyst, details how key Republicans—from Marjorie Taylor Greene to Marco Rubio—are quietly defying Trump, exposing fractures in a party long held in thrall. They trace the personal and political signs that the former president is obsessed with legacy and self-aggrandizement—from renaming institutions to fixating on minor details—revealing a man increasingly out of step with reality. Together, they lay bare a central question: Can Trump’s inner circle survive a leader whose past is eclipsing any vision of the future? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Senator Elissa Slotkin and Retired Major General Paul Eaton join the Daily Beast’s Executive Editor Hugh Dougherty to chart the growing alarm inside the national-security world over Trump’s increasingly cult-like demands for loyalty. Slotkin, a former CIA officer and Pentagon veteran, lays out how flattery, grievance, and improvisation have replaced strategy in Trump’s orbit—leaving the military to navigate chaos, not command. Eaton, one of the Army’s most outspoken former generals, explains why Trump’s impulses and misinformation pose what he bluntly calls a threat to U.S. readiness. From battlefield myths to political pressure on the ranks, Hugh presses both guests: What happens if Trump once again tries to run the military like it’s his personal force? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Alcoholic personality? Is code for malignant narcissist/sociopath? I guess it's easier to say alcoholic personality than severe mental illness!
What's worse, a man with daddy-issues (Trump) or a woman with daddy-issues? Egads !
How much do you think the first lady is paid every time she appears with the president? How much for walking him down those stairs at the ball?
Michael... you okay?
Now that I've heard that love poem I can't get the image of one of those rubber chickens out of my head...
Why didn't Biden release these files?
Burning daylight, meaning wasting valuable time. Commonly used in the Army when getting the troops moving first thing in the morning.
Michael Wolff is my favorite guest interview. So intelligent & incredibly well informed.
Joanna, Your role on DB is excellent. I don't see you as interrupting. You are full of info and great ideas.What Michael Wolf says, he goes on and on and is a wealth of knowledge too. I welcome your astute observations. I LOVED the Epstein and pres Pedo's podcasts! Thanks!!!
Mooch is an idiot. He's responsible for the ridiculous statement about trump being a blue-collar billionaire
WFT?!!! I don't remember Scaramucci having an MD, so why are u asking for his med opinion on Biden's cancer diagnosis? Are u challenging your inner Twitter, and you're trying to rile up folks and get them angry? There's an overweight, orange treasonous clown with bad hair and big floppy, who's a convicted felon/rapist and has been showing signs of early-onset dementia, but let's talk about Biden, while the U.S. is on path to fascism!!! Bytheway, it goes without saying that u can go f#%k yourself
I loved this show when it started and it definitely went downhill, but Johanna Coles and Samantha Bee are not political commenters. They still have great guests but not worth it anymore. Thanks for the ride, unsubscribe.
I can barely listen to Danielle anymore on this show. What does she want Schemer to do? Trump will get his cabinet confirmed no matter what. She wants to complain for the sake of complaining. It’s her attitude that lost us election and will continue to. I’m a proud liberal but people like her are irrational and hurt our party
Hey, want to know what this show is missing? Not enough damn commercial breaks, seriously, why can't they squeeze a couple more commercials between the 40 or 50 seconds of the show before they go to a commercial? Really, who even needs to listen to the show when they can just cut to another commercial? There are so many commercials packed in-between the 15 or 30 seconds of the show that I don't remember what the show is about. Jeez!
there is another word for evil in this case, Sweetheart, the word is simply, Stupid.
now you know why Garland was nominated to the Court by Obama, an independent, decisive legal mind dedicated to the Constitution, etc etc. Like Trump's appointments.
red m .?z r5245esQa9i
I can't believe these two, they celebrating becoming Amerikan is like two Jewish celebrating on becoming Germans in 1939!
I don't care one wit about Biden's age. The media has chosen the age narrative because they're too cowardly to call out the GOP platform and Trump's compulsive lying. SNAP OUT OF IT!
Men on the right are such fucking losers, I'm so happy they're all so miserable. Fuck them. They get exactly what they deserve.