U.S. Presidency

TV critic David Bianculli reviews the forthcoming, election-themed "Frontline" episode, which airs tomorrow night. He says it's almost invaluable for voters trying to stay informed.

Journalist Jerry Knight has been covering the Savings & Loan Crisis for the Washington Post. He'll talk about the predicted bank closings that will probably occur in early 1993 triggered by a federal law that goes into affect December 19. The law requires that federal regulators take over failing banks when their financial problems "reach the point of no return." There are 1,000 banks on the FDIC's "problem bank list." The issue was brought up in last night's presidential debate.

Russia expert Fiona Hill warns that American democracy is under attack — from within.
In November 2019, Hill became one of the key witnesses at then-President Donald Trump's first impeachment hearing, where she condemned the false narrative that it was Ukraine, not Russia, that interfered in the 2016 election, and described the Trump administration's parallel policy channel in Ukraine to get dirt on Joe and Hunter Biden.

'New York Times' reporter Katie Benner discusses the latest revelations about how former President Donald Trump pressured the Justice Department to undermine the results of the 2020 election.

The retired Army officer who testified about President Trump's call to the president of Ukraine, talks about the experience and the price he paid. Vindman's new memoir is Here, Right Matters.

In a new book, two New York Times journalists report that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg often doesn't see the downside of the social media platform he created. In their new book, An Ugly Truth, Sheera Frenkel and Cecilia Kang write that Zuckerberg tends to believe that free speech will drown out bad speech.

NY Times reporter Adam Goldman describes an undercover effort, headed up by an avid Trump supporter, that trained conservatives in espionage techniques and sent them to dig up dirt on progressives.

King Richard author Michael Dobbs reconstructs how the scandal gradually engulfed more administration officials, with operatives turning on each other — and eventually the president.

In his new book, How the Word Is Passed, Clint Smith visits eight places central to the history of slavery in America, including Thomas Jefferson's Monticello plantation and Louisiana's Angola prison, which was built on the site of a former plantation.

Stephen Colbert reflects on life and doing his show during the pandemic, and surviving the Trump presidency.

There's clearly a limit to what the former president will say —even on his own platform. Obama's conversation with the Boss is at its most fluid and introspective when the two discuss masculinity.

Elizabeth Neumann resigned from the Department of Homeland Security in 2020. She says the Trump administration ignored the threat — and fanned the flames — of violent domestic extremism.

The first lady is often remembered as a genteel Southerner who promoted highway beautification, but author Julia Sweig says archival records show Lady Bird was also a savvy political strategist.

New Yorker writer Jane Mayer talks about the criminal investigation into whether Donald Trump engaged in tax, banking and/or insurance fraud. If convicted, he could be sentenced to prison.

New Yorker writer Luke Mogelson says many of the insurrectionists he filmed at the Capitol "had no inkling that what they were doing was wrong or suspicion that it could result in any consequences."

In his new book, The Ten Year War, Jonathan Cohn looks at the intense debate surrounding the Affordable Care Act, the compromises of the law itself, and the ongoing fight for universal health care.

A podcast cottage industry that first emerged in the 2016 presidential election is drawing to a close. Critic Nick Quah wonders if the shows, designed to help explain the chaos, simply added to it.

Less than three weeks into the new Biden administration, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the infectious disease expert who has headed up the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984, is encouraged by the new president's approach to the COVID-19 pandemic. Fauci has worked with seven presidents, from Ronald Reagan to Joe Biden. Much of his career has been devoted to researching viruses and the immune system.

Now that former President Donald Trump has left office, the community of believers in the baseless QAnon conspiracy theory are left wondering what will happen next. Washington Post national technology reporter Craig Timberg has written about QAnon and related subjects in recent months.

The Human Factor gives a behind-the-scenes view of the peace effort between Israel and Palestine. We talk with filmmaker Dror Moreh and Dennis Ross, President Clinton's point man in the effort.