This is Gavin Newsom

Mike Murphy spent 40 years as a Republican strategist, running campaigns for John McCain, Jeb Bush, Mitt Romney and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Days before the 2026 midterms, he joins the show to explain what will happen and why Trump should be scared. Murphy breaks down the midterm predictions everyone is watching: whether Democrats can take the House and the Senate, why Kansas, Alaska, Texas and Michigan could surprise people, and what will happen with the DOJ in Alaska. Plus some insider intel on Trump's first term and why Democrats should skip impeachment and go after corruption instead. CHAPTERS 00:00 Intro 00:18 Blue wave or blue tsunami? 01:40 Why the Senate is the tsunami test 04:06 The perfect storm: Trump’s lost economic ace 06:57 Candidate luck: Kansas, Alaska, Maine, Michigan, Texas 08:57 Trump 2.0 has no grownups 12:41 The DOJ, Alaska, and certification 17:35 How Trump won the 2016 primary 24:00 Should Democrats impeach? 27:26 Trump as a lame duck 30:38 Global populism and 2028 37:14 Who actually runs the parties? 41:30 Super PACs and “stupid money” 44:56 The DSA and the LA mayor’s race 48:38 Inequality and the billionaire tax 54:34 The data center war 56:34 EVs, China, and America’s auto future 1:08:00 Why America keeps swinging back and forth 1:11:20 The One Book To Pickup Now See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At 40, Deb Haaland was a single mom raising her daughter on WIC, Medicaid, and food stamps, and she once broke down in tears when she was told she didn’t qualify for emergency SNAP. Now, days before Election Day, she joins the show to explain why that experience shapes how she’d govern New Mexico. With early voting underway in the New Mexico governor race, Haaland lays out her closing argument: governors are the first line of defense against the Medicaid cuts and SNAP cuts coming from H.R. 1, the “One Big Beautiful Bill.” She explains her plan for a day-one data center moratorium, with guardrails on water, clean energy, local hiring, and no NDAs. She also makes the case for protecting New Mexico’s first-in-the-nation universal childcare program. Learn more at debhaaland.com 00:00 Intro 00:38 Back to school at 40 02:07 Closing argument: the first line of defense 03:23 Medicaid and SNAP cuts from the “Big Beautiful Bill” 05:43 Gas prices in an oil state 08:16 Should New Mexico suspend the gas tax? 10:05 WIC, Medicaid, food stamps: her single-mom story 16:31 “Two jobs and a GoFundMe” 17:39 Trades, apprenticeships, and 58,000 homes 21:44 Public lands, Chaco, and lawsuits 24:27 The five bills Trump signed 26:30 The day-one data center moratorium 31:06 The Biden record 34:37 Water and the Colorado River 37:41 ICE and immigration 42:12 Public safety, fentanyl, and recovery 46:06 Following Lujan Grisham 51:13 Get out the vote See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Oscar-winning documentarian, Alex Gibney joins the show to discuss Musk his newest investigation into the world's most powerful man, and possibly America’s number one grifter, Elon Musk. Gibney shares his expertise on Musk’s early days in Silicon Valley, how he has been reliant on the US government he now hates for most of his wealth, and why the world’s richest man's biggest export is overpromising and underdelivering. They detail Musk’s exploits at Tesla, SpaceX, and DOGE and why he might be the man we should be most afraid of. 00:00 How To Capture Elon Musk When He Won't Be Part Of Your Film 9:59 Failing Upward and Who Really Founded Tesla 15:16 Government To The Rescue 20:03 The World’s Greatest Salesman: Autopilot issues, Battery Swaps and Tax Credits 28:22 Musk’s AI Origin Story 35:35 How COVID Changed Musk Forever 41:10 Buying Twitter: From Free Speech to Propaganda Machine 51:56 DOGE: Trump, the Chainsaw and the Data Grab 1:01:22 Musk’s Family Dynamics 1:13:27 The Midterms and Power Without Purpose See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Axios co-founder and CEO Jim VandeHei joins the show to talk through how AI is changing the media industry, why he rejects the simple solutions floated by today’s politicians and how he’d handle saving legacy media institutions. He then shares his philosophy on how to manage one’s time and business effectively as articulated in his new book book Simplify: Do 50 Percent More with 50 Percent Less co-written with his Axios co-founders, Mike Allen & Roy Schwartz 00:00 An Era As Significant As The Great Depression 2:46 Trust Loss In Institutions 6:09 The Challenge Of Breaking News In An AI World 11:42 How To Fix Business Leaders Selling Out 16:57 How Algorithms Shape Our Thinking 19:22 The Competing Incentives Between LLMs & Algorithms 22:00 Can We Shut Down AI Even If We Wanted To 25:06 How Axios Rejects The AI Binary 35:05 The Future Of Work 39:32 Working With OpenAi & Local News 43:36 Legacy Media vs. Digital Journalists 48:42 You Don't Have To Do It - An Operating Manual For Life 55:35 Our Brains & Businesses Need To Adapt To Technology’s Influence 1:01:16 How To Be An Effective Manager & Employee in 2026 1:04:39 The One Trick To Being An Effective Communicator 1:09:27 How to Fix CNN & Cable News See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bestselling author Michael Lewis (Moneyball, The Big Short, The Blind Side) joins the show to talk about his new book, Blockers: Rebels in the Deep State, and what he found reporting on the Trump administration's war against federal civil servants. Lewis often writes about overlooked people inside massive, misunderstood systems, from Wall Street to baseball to government scientists. In his newest work, he explains how Elon Musk's DOGE actually operated inside agencies like the IRS and NIH, why career civil servants became targets, and what happens when the trust in our government finally collapses. Lewis's new book Blockers: Rebels in the Deep State is out now. 00:00 Opening 00:25 Talking To Bannon, Kirk And Understanding Your Enemies 7:24 Which Of Michael Lewis’s Subjects Was Most Pissed At Him 10:35 How Michael Lewis Decides On His Subjects 18:07 Who Can Tell The Story of Trump’s Second Term 24:42 The Big Question Lewis Asked Himself Before Writing Blockers 30:03 Elon Musk, DOGE & The Origin Of The Term “Blockers” 36:23 What The Hell is The US Institute of Peace? 43:22 Government Is Moneyball All Over The Place 47:45 How Trump Tries To Weaponize Data Against Undocumented Workers 54:33 Better Information Leads To Societal Progress 1:00:06 The Immigrant Who Changed How We Fight Fires vs. The Trump Chaos Machine 1:17:46 Trump vs. The NIH: Who Killed The Scientist Curing Our Diseases? 1:25:09 How People Really Deal With RFK Jr. 1:29:31 The Backdoor That DOGE Used to Fire Millions 1:34: 36 Trump is A Trust Destroying Machine & Where Trump Goes Next 1:38:16 How Permanent Is Trump’s Harm To Government? 1:45:58 How Reagan Ruined America’s Covid Response & Helped Trump Weaponize Grievance 1:51:15 A Sign Of Hope From A Former DOGE Employee See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.