Did Elon Musk just conclude the most ill-considered financial transaction in human history when he purchased Twitter? We?ll soon see. Also, the frenetic effort on the left to claim that crime is a manufactured election-year issue.

Democrats struggle to reconcile the data, which doesn?t suggest a massive Republican wave is inbound, and the general sense of the political landscape. And it?s driving them crazy. Also, how a New York judge?s ruling against a vaccine mandate for municipal workers scuttles the Democratic Party?s confused Covid narrative and the amazing life of the late Lucianne Goldberg.

Tuesday night?s senatorial debate in Pennsylvania treated voters to a voyeuristic spectacle that was painful to watch. Can voters look beyond John Fetterman?s infirmities on November 8? Also, Lee Zeldin shines in the New York state gubernatorial debate.

Eliana Johnson of the Washington Free Beacon joins the podcast today to talk about the jaw-dropping letter from House progressives to Joe Biden on Ukraine and how this sudden attack from his left suggests nothing good about Democratic prospects two weeks hence. And a lot of other stuff. Give a listen.

Today's podcast examines the devastatingly bad findings of the latest educational assessment of American schoolchildren?and how they show the need for a true reckoning on the costs of the COVID regimes put in place in March 2020 and then kept in place even as the scientific facts made it clear they were unnecessary and injurious. Give a listen.

The podcast takes up an article in The Federalist arguing that the New Right should stop calling itself conservative because conservatives reject using state power to punish your enemies. Also, the Democratic Party?s ?precriminations? have begun, but the most potent excuse for the party?s loss in November is to blame voters for putting their economic situation above American democracy.

Today's podcast begins with talk about the potential Red tsunami before taking up a genuinely shocking and disgusting New York Times article that accuses Israel of stealing Palestinian recipes as a form of cultural genocide. Give a listen.

As Democrats stare into the abyss they avoided staring into for many months, Barack Obama has emerged to scold them for being "buzzkills." He's right. But on today's podcast, we explain why he was the author of the Democratic Party's current woes. Oh, and we extend a surprise invitation to our roast to one James Bennet. Why? Give a listen.

Today's podcast features a conversation about Kanye West and Donald Trump and their incendiary comments about Jews. And, again, the midterm elections. And, again, COVID. Give a listen.

In John?s absence today, New York Sun columnist and host of ?The Reeducation? podcast, Eli Lake, joins the show to talk about how nuclear deterrence works and why. Also, an update on the Durham probe, the state of play ahead of the midterm elections, and a nascent revolution in the streets of Iran.

The podcast debates Trump?s role on January 6 and whether, to borrow 9/11 conspiracy theory lingo, he LIHOP (let it happen on purpose) or MIHOP (made it happen on purpose). And what was the January 6 commission?s goal? To establish Trump's culpability or to create the conditions for accountability down the road. Also, John Fetterman is one of a handful of Democrats in America who wants to be seen with Joe Biden, which tells you something.

Today's podcast takes up the latest hit on Donald Trump?someone's moving boxes around? Really? And the latest on the FBI's behavior toward Trump. And the latest on the January 6th hearings. And the latest on inflation. Give a listen.

The podcast breaks down Joe Biden?s interview with CNN host Jake Tapper and Democrats circling the wagons around John Fetterman.

The possible indictment of Hunter Biden. Hints of polling momentum for Republicans. Democrats bringing up ancillary issues in hopes they can distract. It's four weeks until the midterms. Give a listen.

Today's podcast examines the news from the Ukraine War?the bridge attack followed by terrorist strikes on cities?and weird things politicians and intellectuals are saying about it. And the crime issue really comes home, literally, in the case of New York gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin. Give a listen.

Today's podcast begins with a recitation of 18?count 'em, 18?different news stories all from yesterday and all deserving of attention, beginning with Joe Biden musing about "armageddon," which is maybe not what you want a president to be doing? Give a listen.

With the news that OPEC+ plans to pare back oil production, the Biden administration has to worry about gas prices again at the worst possible moment. Also, the Georgia GOP?s process of rationalizing themselves into voting for Herschel Walker.

Today's podcast picks up a conversation from yesterday about Ukraine, nuclear weapons, Putin, and the United States's response, and more fireworks explode! Plus, Herschel Walker and the long dark night of the pro-life voter's soul. We're off tomorrow for Yom Kippur. Back Thursday. Give a listen.

Today's podcast begins calmly with a conversation about whether people and voters take issues seriously or are now primarily motivated by negativity toward the other side. Then we start talking about Ukraine and Russia?and all hell breaks loose. If you dare, give a listen.

Today's podcast begins with a horror story from Chicago?a criminal run amok just a day or so after a judge released him on his own recognizance?and broadens it out to wonder whether the seeming halt in the Democratic polling surge is due to Republicans hitting them hard on crime. Then we get pretty dark about the possibility of bad stuff happening with nukes in Ukraine. It's crushing morosity! Give a listen.

Matthew Continetti joins the podcast to discuss the alarming behavior of President Biden, who called out to a member of Congress who died in a car crash this summer. Not to mention the alarming behavior of Vladimir Putin, whose flailing in the course of his world-historic mistake may have a nuclear component. Give a listen.

Today's podcast notes the $400 billion cost of Joe Biden's student debt "forgiveness" program and notes the irony of a supposedly progressive party favoring the well-to-do at the expense of the poor. Then there's the comic denouement of Joe Manchin's career and the approaching hurricane horror in Florida. Give a listen.

Today's podcast takes up White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain's shocking attempt to claim Joe Biden came into office with an unemployment rate 40 percent higher than it was in point of fact?more evidence they're looking to retrofit the truth to help them in the midterms. And what's this about "long COVID"? Give a listen.

Today's podcast goes through the bad news the ex-president received yesterday and whether the focus on Trump in the news is forestalling and covering up a shift back toward Republicans in the 2022 elections. And: Will Putin use a nuke? Give a listen.

American Enterprise Institute Senior Fellow Adam White joins the podcast to take on the courts. Did Joe Biden step on a legal landmine when he declared the pandemic ?over?? Did Donald Trump err in pushing for a special master to review the classified documents he kept at Mar-a-Lago? And how can the Supreme Court preserve its legitimacy? Adam makes the case in his cover article in the October issue of Commentary, ?God Save This Honorable Court?and We Can, Too.?

Commentary contributor and former deputy secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, Tevi Troy, joins the podcast today for a wide-ranging conversation on his latest for the magazine, ?The CDC?s Inadequate ?Reform Plan.?? Did Joe Biden step in it when he declared the pandemic ?over,? and can the CDC reform itself to avoid the failures it stumbled at the onset of the Covid outbreak?

The Commentary podcast reviews Joe Biden?s first one-on-one interview in a long while with CBS? ?60 Minutes.? Our verdict: meh. He didn?t set himself on fire, but nor did he defuse the issues that may cost Democrats control of Congress in November. Is ?just fine? good enough for Joe Biden?

Today's podcast looks at a New York Times poll suggesting Democrats increasingly think the country is on the "right track." If so, what does the phrase "right track" actually mean, if anything? And more on illegals being treated so horribly they get to spend their first days in America on Martha's Vineyard. Give a listen.

Today's podcast looks at the breakthrough that will apparently prevent a nationwide rail strike and what it means for the upcoming elections. And we discuss the transport of illegal immigrants from red Texas to blue Martha's Vineyard. Give a listen.

Today's podcast wonders at Joe Biden's decision to celebrate the "Inflation Reduction Act," complete with James Taylor warbling a 50-year-old ditty about drug abuse and suicide, on the day a terrible inflation number is released. The question: Will the media succeed in turning attention away from that and toward Republican extremism and abortion rights? Give a listen.