Who Is the Real Base of the Democratic Party?
4/29/202655 min
In this episode of “The David Frum Show,” The Atlantic’s David Frum opens with his thoughts about the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. David examines the role of the dinner in an administration that rejects the basic concepts of honesty with and respect toward independent media. During previous administrations, there was some norm of good faith between the White House and the press. But now, as the president systematically misleads the media and is openly hostile to the press, David asks what the point of this night of pretended common purpose is. Then, David is joined by Jamal Simmons, a host of the “Trailblaze” podcast and a former communications director for Kamala Harris, for a wide-ranging conversation about the state of the Democratic Party. David and Simmons discuss Harris’s profile among her party’s constituents, how much the online left should dictate Democratic policy, what happened in 2024, and what Democrats should do in 2028. Finally, David ends the episode with a discussion of “The Magician,” by Colm Tóibín. Sign up for David Frum’s newsletter alert. Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. You’ll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzer-winning journalism, from clear-eyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating explorations of our world. Atlantic subscribers also get access to exclusive subscriber audio in Apple Podcasts. Subscribe today at TheAtlantic.com/Listener. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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First 90 secondsSpeaker 0· Soundbite0:00
The developments that we are seeing in AI, this would be maybe the most fundamental thing ever really to happen.
Nicholas Thompson0:08
What's next for AI, and what does it mean for us?
Speaker 0· Soundbite0:11
Values are getting exported through software. We need to have this conversation on how those values get exported.
Nicholas Thompson0:18
Join Atlantic CEO Nicholas Thompson for The Most Interesting Thing in AI, brought to you by Atlantic Rethink, The Atlantic's creative marketing studio, now on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts.
David Frum· Host0:28
[instrumental music] Hello, and welcome to The David Frum Show. I'm David Frum, a staff writer at The Atlantic. My guest this week will be Jamal Simmons, a former communications director for Vice President Kamala Harris and co-host of the Trailblaze podcast. The book I will discuss this week is The Magician by Colm Tóibín, a reconstruction of the life of the German writer Thomas Mann. But before either the dialogue or the book, some thoughts on the shocking attack on the White House Correspondents' Dinner this past weekend. The facts of this attack are still coming to light. There is an apprehended suspect. Um, we will know more about this, and I won't comment directly on what happened or on why it might have happened. I want to think more deeply instead about the dinner itself, the event that was interrupted and shadowed by this attack. There's a... As long as the White House Correspondents'