The Al Franken Podcast
The Al Franken Podcast
A five-time Emmy winning SNL comedy writer/producer, joins a four-time #1 NYT bestselling author, a three-time highest-rated national progressive radio host, a two-time Grammy winning artist, and a former US Senator. So, it gets a little crowded in the booth when Al talks public policy and sometimes political comedy with notable guests. Think “The Daily” without the resources of the NYTimes.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Aug 16, 2020 • 51min
19: Author Susan Nieman on Germans/Holocaust vs. Americans/Slavery – Germans Win
Nieman contrasts how Germans have come to terms with The Third Reich and how Americans have processed slavery, the Civil War, Jim Crow, lynching, and systemic racism.
Aug 9, 2020 • 54min
20: Paul Begala on How to Beat Trump
The stable half of the consultant team that elected Bill Clinton tells us how to beat this psychopath – on the podcast and in his new book, You’re Fired.
Aug 2, 2020 • 55min
22: Andrew Yang and Al Discuss Each Other
Yang and Al Discuss, Among Other Things – Yang’s Past, the Future of Work, and the Present.
Jul 26, 2020 • 54min
18: Fmr. DC and Philly Police Chief Charles Ramsey Talks Police Reform
Al in conversation with the co-chair of Obama’s police reform commission.
Jul 19, 2020 • 56min
17: Dahlia Lithwick on SCOTUS 2019-20 Term and Trump's Commutation of Roger Stone's 40-Month Sentence
Al and Dahlia discuss the Court's top decisions, including Bostock, which held that federal law prohibits employment discrimination agains LGBT workers, and whether Alito's dissent in that case was "very gay."
Jul 12, 2020 • 57min
16: Epidemiologist Abdul El-Sayed Blames the Latest Covid Spikes on Guess Who?
Al and Former Detroit Public Health Commissioner on the Mistakes Trump Keeps Making.
Jul 5, 2020 • 56min
15: Democratic Election Lawyer Marc Elias Talks to Two Texas Teenagers About Winning Them the Right to Vote By Mail in November
Recent high school graduate Rajit Gulhati contacted Al for guidance on how he and his friends could vote by mail. So, Al brought in Democratic super lawyer Marc Elias.
Jul 4, 2020 • 7min
1: A Fourth of July Conversation with Thomas Jefferson
Al sits down with the author of the Declaration of Independence on the anniversary of our nation's birth
Jun 28, 2020 • 54min
14: Melvin Carter Talks About Being St. Paul’s First Black Mayor and the Son of a Cop
St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter Discusses the Aftermath of George Floyd’s Murder
Jun 21, 2020 • 53min
13: Frm. Obama Speechwriter David Litt Explains How the GOP Has Systematically Undermined Democracy.
In his new book: Democracy: In One Book or Less fmr. Obama speechwriter and NY Times bestselling author brings fascinating and often startling detail to all the ways the GOP thwarts democracy.
