The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart

Ben Rhodes, former deputy national security adviser and presidential speechwriter turned author, discusses U.S. foreign policy and his book All We Say. He reflects on the Iran war, costs of military options, and how interventions reshape regional power. He also examines the post-9/11 security mindset, Gulf states’ hedging, and the need for diplomacy, trade, and restraint.

Amy Goodman, investigative journalist and Democracy Now! founder, joins a sharp conversation on why corporate media misses crucial stories. They dig into access journalism, media consolidation, war coverage, billionaire ownership, and how independent reporting can expose abuses from Standing Rock to East Timor. It also turns briefly to Fetterman, Trump nicknames, and emojis.

Graham Platner, a Maine oyster farmer, military veteran, and Senate candidate, talks politics rooted in real life. He gets into how combat shaped his worldview, why direct and unscripted campaigning clicks with voters, and why Democrats need a bigger theory of power. They also dig into labor, economic rights, bureaucracy, community, and pushing back on corporate dominance.

David Autor, MIT labor economist known for work on automation and jobs, and Daron Acemoglu, Nobel-winning political economist focused on technology and markets, discuss AI and the future of work. They explore historical tech shocks, how AI may rapidly reshape white-collar roles, incentives driving automation, data concentration risks, and policy ideas like wage insurance and broader ownership to share AI’s gains.

Ben McKenzie, actor turned author and documentary director exploring finance and crypto. He traces Bitcoin's origins and how crypto mimics traditional financial harms. They discuss mining's corporatization, stablecoins' geopolitical risks, market manipulation and off‑ledger cashouts, and the industry's political influence and regulatory fights.

Heather Cox Richardson, a Boston College historian who makes American political history accessible, joins a lively conversation about democratic breakdown, Trump’s challenge to the postwar order, and Congress fading from the fight. They dig into how power shifts back to the public, why storytelling can spark political renewal, and how community-minded politics can counter fear and scarcity.

Alastair Campbell, former Tony Blair press secretary and political strategist, joins for a sharp look at America, Iran, and a shaky Western alliance. They dig into NATO’s hesitation, why standing up to Trump matters, the failures of regime change, partisan media’s protection racket, Netanyahu’s reliance on force, and whether democracy can still win back younger voters.

Casey Newton, Platformer editor who covers social media and algorithms. Renée DiResta, Georgetown researcher who studies misinformation and rumor spread. They probe how algorithms and product design steer users toward extreme content. They examine Silicon Valley incentives, political weaponization of disinformation, and attacks on researchers. Short, urgent conversations about attention, moderation, and fixing platform harms.

Paul Scharre, Pentagon policy veteran now at CNAS, offers deep expertise on autonomous weapons. Dr. Sarah Shoker, UC Berkeley researcher and former OpenAI geopolitics lead, studies generative AI in warfare. They discuss how AI is woven into targeting and logistics. They probe tech firms’ ties to the military, opacity of contracts, governance options, escalation risks, and hardware as a policy lever.

Wendy Sherman, former U.S. deputy secretary of state and Iran negotiator, offers diplomatic perspective. Christiane Amanpour, veteran international journalist, brings on-the-ground Middle East reporting. They discuss U.S. military choices over diplomacy. They analyze Iran’s retaliation, regional consequences, the limits of strike-driven policy, and why lasting peace hinges on broader political solutions.