logo
episode-header-image
Feb 2024
51m 23s

Your Questions on Open Conventions, a Ga...

NEW YORK TIMES OPINION
About this episode

We received thousands of questions in response to last week’s audio essay arguing that Democrats should consider choosing a candidate at August’s D.N.C. convention. Among them: Is there any chance Joe Biden would actually step down? Would an open convention be undemocratic? Is there another candidate who can bridge the progressive and moderate divide in the party? Doesn’t polling show other candidates losing to Donald Trump by even larger margins? Would a convention process leave Democrats enough time to mount a real general election campaign?

In this conversation, I’m joined by our senior editor Claire Gordon to answer these questions and many more.

Mentioned:

Democrats Have a Better Option Than Biden” by Ezra Klein

Here’s How an Open Democratic Convention Would Work” with Elaine Kamarck on The Ezra Klein Show

Thoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at ezrakleinshow@nytimes.com.

You can find transcripts (posted midday) and more episodes of “The Ezra Klein Show” at nytimes.com/ezra-klein-podcast. Book recommendations from all our guests are listed at https://www.nytimes.com/article/ezra-klein-show-book-recs.

This episode of “The Ezra Klein Show” was produced by Annie Galvin. Fact-checking by Michelle Harris, with Mary Marge Locker. Our senior engineer is Jeff Geld, with additional mixing from Efim Shapiro. Our senior editor is Claire Gordon. The show’s production team also includes Rollin Hu and Kristin Lin. Original music by Isaac Jones. Audience strategy by Kristina Samulewski and Shannon Busta. The executive producer of New York Times Opinion Audio is Annie-Rose Strasser. And special thanks to Sonia Herrero.

Up next
Jul 8
How the Attention Economy Is Devouring Gen Z — and the Rest of Us
Donald Trump and Zohran Mamdani are both proof of how the ability to capture attention is power. And the attention economy isn’t reshaping just politics; it’s also reshaping the actual economy: the crypto market, A.I. venture capital, and how people, especially Gen Z, are making ... Show More
1h 5m
Jul 2
The Disaster That Just Passed the Senate
President Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” is a bad piece of legislation. It includes trillions of dollars in tax cuts that are very much tilted toward the rich, along with savage cuts to Medicaid, nutrition assistance and green energy.And on Tuesday, July 1, the Senate passed it in ... Show More
1h 11m
Jun 28
Mamdani, Trump and the End of the Old Politics
Zohran Mamdani created a new anti-establishment playbook — in his use of social video, his focus on affordability and his position on Israel. His assumed victory in New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary, trouncing the former governor Andrew Cuomo, was one of the biggest poli ... Show More
1h 24m
Recommended Episodes
Dec 2020
Best of: Frances Lee on why bipartisanship is irrational
There are few conversations I’ve had on this show that are quite as relevant to our current political moment as this one with Princeton political scientist Frances Lee.Joe Biden will occupy the White House come January, but pending the results of two runoff Senate elections in Ge ... Show More
59m 21s
Sep 2020
RBG, minority rule, and our looming legitimacy crisis
The death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, just weeks before a presidential election, leaves us in dangerous waters. It’s easy to imagine a scenario in which the election outcome is contested by one side and is ultimately determined by a Supreme Court with the deciding vote cast by Trump' ... Show More
1h 11m
Nov 2020
Now What, Part 1 (with Stacey Abrams, Ari Berman, and Soledad O'Brien)
How did Joe Biden and Kamala Harris win one of the most important elections in American history? Hillary dives into how it all played out with voting rights activist Stacey Abrams and journalists Ari Berman and Soledad O’Brien. Stacey Abrams was the 2018 Democratic nominee for Go ... Show More
52m 41s
Feb 2022
Political: Am I Normal?
Emily, John and David discuss Donald Trump’s attempts to seize voting machines, the racist attacks on the yet-to-be-named SCOTUS nominee, and they are joined by Joseph Allen, director of the Healthy Buildings program at Harvard University's T. H. Chan School of Public Health, to ... Show More
1h 3m
Aug 2021
Do Parties Have Souls? (with Edward-Isaac Dovere)
Preet answers listener questions about former DOJ official Jeffrey Clark’s attempts to undermine the 2020 election, and Andrew Cuomo’s resignation. Then, Preet interviews Edward-Isaac Dovere, a staff writer at The Atlantic and the author of Battle for the Soul: Inside the Democra ... Show More
1h 10m
Nov 2021
11/30/21: Booster Shots, Fauci Comments, Twitter CEO, Amazon Union, Chris Cuomo, Waukesha Memory-Hole, Hillary's Legacy, Conservative Happiness, and More!
Krystal and Saagar provide their perspective on Biden's booster shot plan, Fauci's outrageous comments, Twitter's new CEO, unionization at Amazon, Chris Cuomo's coverup, Waukesha massacre memory-hole, Hillary Clinton's legacy, why conservatives are happier, and more! To become a ... Show More
1h 30m
May 2024
Why does Biden want to debate Trump?
Donald Trump and Joe Biden have made plans for two televised election debates. But who benefits? And, crucially, who has more to lose? Justin Webb, Anthony Zurcher and Marianna Spring look into the drama behind the announcement, and the strategy of holding the first debate in jus ... Show More
38m 5s
Apr 2024
David Pakman, Brian Tyler Cohen, & Cenk Uygur FACE OFF on Gaza, Trump, & the Election
Don Lemon sits down for a no punches pulled debate with some of the biggest names of the online left, David Pakman, Brian Tyler Cohen, and The Young Turks' Cenk Uygur. They spar on Gaza, commiserate on Trump, and attempt to find common ground on Biden.  If you enjoyed this, tune ... Show More
1h 1m