The contributing writer Peter Slevin met with Barack Obama at the new Obama Presidential Center, which opens next month, in Chicago, and asked him the question on a lot of Democrats’ minds: Where is he, and why isn’t he doing more to help the country in a moment of crisis? Slevin shares excerpts from his interview, during which Obama explains the limits of his role, and why he should no longer be the figurehead for his party. Slevin also speaks with David Remnick about why the famously optimistic President has lost some of his confidence in the American prospect. “I would be dishonest if I didn’t acknowledge that,” Obama admitted. Further reading: “Barack Obama Considers His Role in the Age of Trump,” by Peter Slevin “Presidents’ Days: From Obama to Trump,” by David Remnick New episodes of The New Yorker Radio Hour drop every Tuesday and Friday. Join host David Remnick as he discusses the latest in politics, news, and current events in conversation with political leaders, newsmakers, innovators, New Yorker staff writers, authors, actors, and musicians.

Most basketball fans first took note of Steve Kerr when he played for the Chicago Bulls in the nineteen-nineties, but it’s through coaching that Kerr really came to the fore in the N.B.A. For more than twelve years, he’s led the Golden State Warriors to four titles, and a record seventy-three-win season, in 2016. He also took home an Olympic gold medal as the coach of the U.S. men’s team in 2024. Kerr has used his platform, at times, to wade into politics. He’s spoken at the Democratic National Convention, and his name comes up in conversations about candidates for higher office. He’s also been vocal about President Donald Trump, which is not without some risk. “Calling the President a buffoon? I kind of regret that, even though I felt it in my heart, even though a lot of people agreed with me,” Kerr tells the staff writer Charles Bethea. Further reading: “Has Steve Kerr Had Enough?,” by Charles Bethea “U.S.A. Basketball Is Still an Awkward Fit at the Olympics,” by Louisa Thomas New episodes of The New Yorker Radio Hour drop every Tuesday and Friday. Join host David Remnick as he discusses the latest in politics, news, and current events in conversation with political leaders, newsmakers, innovators, New Yorker staff writers, authors, actors, and musicians.

In the governor’s race in California, the leading Republican candidate appears to be Steve Hilton, a British-born political consultant and former Fox News contributor. Hilton has been endorsed by Donald Trump, which may not help him in the heavily Democratic state. His lead may owe something to California’s unusual primary system, but it’s not the first time a Republican has had a strong showing in the state: former Republican governors include Ronald Reagan and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Hilton is running on a platform emphasizing affordability, cutting waste in the government, and increasing oil and natural-gas production. He talks with David Remnick about how a Republican might win this election, and how he would govern with a minority of Californians supporting him. Further reading: “Gavin Newsom Is Playing the Long Game,” by Nathan Heller “California Strikes Back in the Redistricting War,” by Jon Allsop New episodes of The New Yorker Radio Hour drop every Tuesday and Friday. Join host David Remnick as he discusses the latest in politics, news, and current events in conversation with political leaders, newsmakers, innovators, New Yorker staff writers, authors, actors, and musicians.

Emma Copley Eisenberg is the author of a new collection of short stories entitled “Fat Swim.” Her work questions body image and the suppression of fatness in contemporary culture; Eisenberg recently paid for a billboard over a busy highway in Philadelphia bearing the slogan “Your gut is a terrible thing to lose.” Eisenberg talked with The New Yorker’s Jennifer Wilson about using fiction to explore body image, and the fatphobia that she finds in literature by some of today’s acclaimed writers. Further reading: “Fat Swim,” by Emma Copley Eisenberg New episodes of The New Yorker Radio Hour drop every Tuesday and Friday. Join host David Remnick as he discusses the latest in politics, news, and current events in conversation with political leaders, newsmakers, innovators, New Yorker staff writers, authors, actors, and musicians.

One of Donald Trump’s few critics within his party is the libertarian-leaning senator Rand Paul, from Kentucky. Paul was recently the sole Republican to vote in favor of restricting the President’s power to make war in Iran. He also opposed Trump on tariff policy, and on his budget bill in 2025. “He loves voting ‘NO’ on everything,” the President fumed. Paul ran for President in 2016, and is considering another run for the White House in 2028. He talks with David Remnick about how he would differentiate himself from J. D. Vance and Marco Rubio; about his opposition to the attack on Iran; and about Pete Hegseth invoking Christianity in the war. “People quoting the Old Testament about smiting the enemy” concerns Paul greatly: “If this becomes Christians versus Muslims, I don’t see a quick end to a war.” Further reading: “The End of Limits on a President’s Wars,” by Ruth Marcus “Why Rand Paul Ran Aground,” by Kelefa Sanneh New episodes of The New Yorker Radio Hour drop every Tuesday and Friday. Join host David Remnick as he discusses the latest in politics, news, and current events in conversation with political leaders, newsmakers, innovators, New Yorker staff writers, authors, actors, and musicians.

When Patrick Radden Keefe was living in London while shooting the TV adaptation of his book “Say Nothing,” he heard about a teen-ager who fell from a luxurious apartment tower in mysterious circumstances. As he looked into it, he learned that the boy, Zac Brettler, had assumed an alternate identity as the son of a Russian oligarch, and had connected with dangerous people—just as mysterious. His story in The New Yorker, “A Teen’s Fatal Plunge into the London Underworld,” became the basis of his new book “London Falling.” “It’s not crime, per se, that interests me,” Radden Keefe tells David Remnick, “but the intermingling of the licit and illicit worlds, and the ways in which people deviate from a kind of conventional morality by degrees—and then the stories that they tell themselves about doing that.” He shares recordings from Brettler’s parents of conversations that they had as they sought to uncover what had happened to their son. Further reading: “London Falling,” by Patrick Radden Keefe “A Teen’s Fatal Plunge Into the London Underworld,” by Patrick Radden Keefe New episodes of The New Yorker Radio Hour drop every Tuesday and Friday. Join host David Remnick as he discusses the latest in politics, news, and current events in conversation with political leaders, newsmakers, innovators, New Yorker staff writers, authors, actors, and musicians.

Omer Bartov is an Israeli professor of Holocaust and genocide studies at Brown University. He grew up in a Zionist home and served as an officer in the Israel Defense Forces, but he has long been concerned about Israel’s use of military power. In a new book called “Israel: What Went Wrong?,” Bartov argues that Zionism has morphed into an ideology of extremism that led to genocide in Gaza following the Hamas attacks of October 7th. “There is growing criticism of American support for these kinds of Israeli policies, both on the American left and on the American right,” Bartov tells David Remnick. Bartov believes that Israel requires “shock therapy” because “it has not still come to identify the limits of its own power, because those limits are in Washington, DC and it's there that those limits have to be set.” “For Israel, that would be good, because I think Israel needs to be liberated from that kind of dependence on American power. I think, for American society and for American Jewry, that’s a very bad thing because there is a rise of . . . antisemitism from the Tucker Carlsons of the world, who are a rising force right now.” Further reading: “Israel: What Went Wrong?,” by Omer Bartov “A Holocaust Scholar Meets with Israeli Reservists,” by Isaac Chotiner “How to Define Genocide,” by Isaac Chotiner New episodes of The New Yorker Radio Hour drop every Tuesday and Friday. Join host David Remnick as he discusses the latest in politics, news, and current events in conversation with political leaders, newsmakers, innovators, New Yorker staff writers, authors, actors, and musicians.

Anna Wintour graces the cover of Vogue’s May issue alongside her theatrical double: Meryl Streep in the role of Miranda Priestly, from “The Devil Wears Prada,” whose much-anticipated sequel comes out on May 1st. Wintour and David Remnick spoke last fall on the day that a sea change took place at Vogue: it was announced that Chloe Malle would take over the editorial direction of the American edition of the publication. They discussed her storied career; her decision to wear Prada to the premiére of “The Devil Wears Prada”; and how Remnick might up his fashion game: “Forgive me, David, but how boring would it be if everybody was just wearing a dark suit and a white shirt all the time?” This segment originally aired on September 5, 2025. New episodes of The New Yorker Radio Hour drop every Tuesday and Friday. Join host David Remnick as he discusses the latest in politics, news, and current events in conversation with political leaders, newsmakers, innovators, New Yorker staff writers, authors, actors, and musicians.

At the end of February, OpenAI’s C.E.O., Sam Altman, made headlines by swiftly cutting a deal with the Pentagon for his company to replace Anthropic, which had balked at the Trump Administration’s bid to use its A.I. technology to power autonomous weapons and aid in mass surveillance. Days earlier, Altman had publicly supported Anthropic’s position in the dispute. Altman’s rise to power and his founding of OpenAI were predicated on placing safety above other concerns in developing artificial general intelligence. Why did he change his stance on such a fundamental issue? The New Yorker writers Ronan Farrow and Andrew Marantz spoke with Altman multiple times and interviewed more than a hundred people for their investigation into the leader of one of the most powerful companies in the world, comparing Altman to J. Robert Oppenheimer. Although there is no smoking gun in Altman’s hand, the writers find that persistent allegations about his conduct underscore the danger of entrusting him to wield such vast power over the future. Further reading: "Sam Altman May Control Our Future—Can He Be Trusted?,” by Ronan Farrow and Andrew Marantz “The Dangerous Paradox of A.I. Abundance,” by John Cassidy “The A.I. Bubble Is Coming for Your Browser,” by Kyle Chayka New episodes of The New Yorker Radio Hour drop every Tuesday and Friday. Join host David Remnick as he discusses the latest in politics, news, and current events in conversation with political leaders, newsmakers, innovators, New Yorker staff writers, authors, actors, and musicians.

The New Yorker staff writer Louisa Thomas, who writes the Sporting Scene column, talks with David Remnick about the biggest basketball stories this season: how LeBron James embraced a new late-career persona as a great supporting player for the Los Angeles Lakers; the coaching genius of the Celtics’ Joe Mazzulla; and the ongoing scandal over teams deliberately tanking games to secure better prospects in the N.B.A. draft. Further reading: “How Much Is a Home Team Worth?,” by Louisa Thomas “LeBron James Is Making His Last Great Adjustment,” by Louisa Thomas New episodes of The New Yorker Radio Hour drop every Tuesday and Friday. Join host David Remnick as he discusses the latest in politics, news, and current events in conversation with political leaders, newsmakers, innovators, New Yorker staff writers, authors, actors, and musicians.