In 2020, Latinos became the second largest ethnic voting group in the United States, and the fastest-growing segment of the swing states in the 2024 Presidential Election. The results of Election Day are clear: Donald Trump gained with working class Americans, and particularly Latino men, delivering him a decisive victory. Ray Suarez speaks with Mike Madrid, author of The Latino Century: How America’s Largest Minority Is Transforming Democracy, on why Democrats have been failing to connect...

According to Steve Schmidt, if you want to understand how the Democrats failed against Donald Trump in 2024, then you have to go back to Joe Biden not stepping aside earlier. In a candid, raw conversation, Ray Suarez speaks with Steve Schmidt, co-founder of the Lincoln Project, and host of The Warning, about how Donald Trump built a new multicultural, working class coalition, and why identity politics and big egos cost the Democrats. Guest: Steve Schmidt, co-founder of the Lincoln Project,...

Election Day is over, and the results are clear: former president Donald Trump resoundingly defeated vice president Kamala Harris. We don’t have all the data, but a majority of US counties swung towards the Republicans. How did Trump gain new working class voters? And where does the Democratic Party go from here? Dante Chinni, director of MSU J-School’s American Communities Project, Rahul Bali, politics reporter at WABE, and Katie Meyer, government editor and reporter at Spotlight PA,...

We’ve finally reached November 5th, Election Day in the US, and a majority of Americans remain deeply pessimistic about the state of the nation. Throughout the year, we’ve talked to voters about the issues they care about in 2024, and we share their stories in this election special. We’ll revisit our conversations with Iowa voter Phil Hemingway, Latorya Beasley, therapist and in vitro fertilization (IVF) patient in Alabama, and Samaya Garza, J.D. Candidate at University of Detroit Mercy...

Donald Trump’s anti-establishment message has galvanized tech leaders across the US, including in former Democratic Party stronghold, Silicon Valley. This American Life’s Zoe Chace speaks with our producer, Mateo Schimpf, about what happened when Michigan Republicans took his advice and actually tried to buck the system. And tech billionaires have had their fingerprints all over the 2024 Presidential Election, but can we trust them? Journalist Kara Swisher joins Ray Suarez to discuss her...

During the 2024 presidential race, Donald Trump's campaign has been fueled by some surprising supporters… leaders in big tech. According to recent reporting from The New York Times, tech billionaires like Elon Musk have built a “shadow campaign” to put Trump back in office. WIRED’s Steven Levy joins Ray Suarez to talk about why big dollar donations are causing a big divide in the once deeply blue Silicon Valley. Guest: Steven Levy, Journalist and Editor, WIRED Host:   Ray Suarez If you...

We're entering the final days of the 2024 presidential election, but a lot can change in a few weeks. Historically, several presidential contests have been upended in October. Coined the "October Surprise," for decades candidates have been tested at the finish line... and many have faltered. So what could trip up Harris or Trump?  Ray Suarez hosts a panel featuring political strategist and pollster Rachel Bitecofer, Jonathan M. Metzl, author of Dying of Whiteness: How the Politics of Racial...

Refugees in California are generally protected from federal deportation under sanctuary and safe haven laws, unless they've been incarcerated. And in 2022, after serving 25 years for murder, San Quentin State Prison parolee Phoeun You was turned over to ICE, and deported to Cambodia. In this episode, the story of Phoeun You: a man returned to a country he never knew. This episode was produced in partnership with KQED's The California Report Magazine podcast. Producer:   Mateo Schimpf If...

Immigration is once again a political football in the lead up to the 2024 Presidential Election, and while Congress stalled to address comprehensive border control measures, hundreds of thousands of migrants became pawns in a political game. The Washington Post's Eduardo Porter talks with Ray about how Mexico's former president used migrant flows to gain leverage in Washington D.C., and which US presidential candidate Mexico's new leadership prefers in the upcoming...

We're entering the final days of the 2024 presidential election, but a lot can change in a few weeks. Historically, several presidential contests have been upended in October. Coined the "October Surprise," for decades candidates have been tested at the finish line... and many have faltered. In 2016 and 2020, Donald Trump was trailing in the polls in October – as he is now with Kamala Harris – so could a last-second surprise ensure victory for Trump? Join us at Commonwealth Club - World...

Monday, October 7, 2024 marks the first anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israeli territory. For a while, Israel's response to the violence supplanted the war in Ukraine in the headlines, but as the months dragged on, attention had largely turned away from Gaza. That all changed in late-September when Israeli airstrikes in neighboring Lebanon killed seven high-ranking commanders and officials from Hezbollah, including the militant group’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah. Ray Suarez speaks with...

After the two recent assassination attempts on former president Donald Trump, it’s clear the United States has a problem with political violence. But in our history, several would-be assassins have attacked sitting presidents, so is there something different about these Trump shooters… and this era of political grievance?  Bruce Hoffman, Senior Fellow for Counterterrorism and Homeland Security at the Council on Foreign Relations, on whether we can break the string of political violence...

The recent assassination attempts on former president Donald Trump were surreal for many. It's been almost a half-century since a US president was shot, but attacks on a sitting president aren’t new – Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan survived assassination attempts. What’s different is that violence on elected officials used to be carried out by individuals with coherent political aims. In a recent article for The Atlantic, Tom Nichols argues that Donald Trump hasn’t carried himself like Gerald...

Kamala Harris holds a national lead of three percentage points over Donald Trump. And as the polls following her recent debate performance continue to trickle in, that number is expected to grow. But can we trust the latest polls? This week, in our latest special election series, we talk with an undecided voter who doesn’t trust what polls are saying. Then, a pair of political scientists break down how we can make polling better. We’ll hear from Samaya Garza, J.D. Candidate at University of...

Anne Applebaum argues that autocracy is spreading to democratic states, and the reason why is that illiberalism is good international business. She warns the seeds of autocracy have already been sown in the United States, so how can we protect ourselves during another contentious presidential election season?   Ray Suarez sits down with Anne Applebaum. Her latest book is Autocracy, Inc., and she has a new podcast, Autocracy in America. It’s co-hosted by British journalist Peter Pomerantsev....

In August, Ukrainian troops swept into Russia's Kursk region, and seized over 500 square miles of Russian territory. It’s the first time that Russia has been invaded since World War II. In Moscow, President Putin has relied on aid from China, Iran, and North Korea, but some analysts believe that his most consequential support may come from a second Trump term. They argue the Russian leader is biding his time till the 2024 US Presidential election. Meanwhile, President Zelensky is still...

Immigrants to America have always faced resistance, and have always—over time—assimilated and become vital parts of America. But in a political era of “America First'', what does it mean to be an immigrant in the 21st century? And who decides who is “American” enough? Ray Suarez has criss-crossed the country to speak to new Americans from all corners of the globe, and to record their stories for his new book. He shares what he learned while reporting and writing We Are Home: Becoming...

In May, Senate Majority Leader, Chuck Schumer, presented a sprawling “road map” for regulating artificial intelligence. But tech experts have called the plan “pathetic”, and many critics believe Washington is out of touch. And California’s legislature will soon vote on a plan that would put guardrails on the biggest AI players. This week, we're airing our special election episode from June about why AI may be the big bad “X Factor” of the upcoming presidential election. First, we’ll hear...

Earlier this century, reports indicated a little alcohol might even improve health. Moderation was the watchword. Those reports have been overtaken by a new generation of research which indicates the healthy amount of alcohol is no alcohol. But alcoholic beverages are deeply embedded in the brain. So if it’s so bad for us, why can’t we quit drinking? Ray speaks with New York Times health reporter Roni Rabin about a new UK study that concludes that drinking is a leading cause of morbidity and...

For the most part, the world has gone back to normal. We’re getting on planes… going to concerts… but many Americans haven’t changed their pandemic drinking habits. And this increased consumption trend is especially high for older Americans. In 2020, alcohol accounted for more than 11,000 deaths among those 65 and up – that’s an 18 percent increase from the previous year – and many of those cases went untreated.  Ray speaks with Keith Humphreys, Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral...

President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential race on July 21, and in the few weeks since, Vice President Kamala Harris has garnered enough delegates to become the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party. Biden had trailed Trump in virtually every poll, but Harris has rallied the hopes of her party, as her momentum continues to upend the race. This week, in our latest special election series, why party conventions matter, what to expect at the 2024 Democratic National...

Ecuadorian journalist Jorge Imbaquingo says that his country used to be, “an island of peace.” But now it’s caught in the middle of Latin America’s bloodiest drug war. In our last episode, we heard about Ecuador’s historic vote to stop oil extraction in the Amazon. Today, we’ll hear about why its President, Daniel Noboa, nixed those plans to fund his war against the country’s drug cartels. First, producer Mateo Schimpf and El Diario del Comercio reporter Jorge Imbaquingo share why Ecuador...

Last August, Ecuador passed a historic referendum that was more than a decade in the making. Oil accounts for roughly a third of the country’s exports, but Ecuadorians voted to stop extraction at a major production site deep in the Amazon. Since the vote, Ecuador’s “Keep It in the Ground” movement has hit some speed bumps.  In collaboration with our sister program, Climate One, why curbing climate emissions has economic consequences for rural Ecuadorians.  Guests:    Kevin Koenig, Climate,...

Ray Suarez sits down with Dr. Timothy Naftali, senior research scholar at Columbia University’s SIPA, to examine Biden’s foreign policy legacy… and how country's around the world are preparing for a new US President in 2025. Guest:   Dr. Timothy Naftali, senior research scholar at Columbia University’s SIPA Host:  Ray Suarez If you appreciate this episode and want to support the work we do, please consider making a donation to Commonwealth Club World Affairs. We cannot do this work...