Ezra Klein gives really thoughtful and informed perspectives on today’s culture and political climate. I listen to it regularly, and I find that he not only has a way of artfully articulating concepts and ideas that have been rattling around in my own brain, but he does a good job at bringing on a variety of guests who also give me insight into perspectives I am aligned with but also those with countering perspectives. I do find that there are sometimes missed opportunities in covering important subject matters with certain guests, especially things that might be controversial with them. A recent example would be the interview with Jonathan Haidt where his contentious views about trans folk were completely ignored. But overall, this is a very good show that I would recommend to others.

I’ve been listening/reading Ezra show as well as his regular opinion pieces and love them all/mostly. His talent/intellect and probing mind shine through and his research thorough. Thank you so much! Please keep it up.

I like the host, very sympathetic, but he has the most braindead takes sometimes. Why does Ezra keep platforming that terrible queer-phobic Jonathan Haidt? Haidt’s reasoning is backwards from horrible conclusions. Ezra is doing a bad job of convincing people he’s a liberal in terms of policy.

Krugman - Good interview - maybe the rest of the world will stay strong and take the lead in getting rid of Trump for us. And then, I hope the rest of the world will be able to trust us to vote wisely in the future.

Right now Xi is saying to himself: should I sell all China’s U.S.T’s or blockade Taiwan ?? “We have the determination, the ability and the preparedness to deal with Taiwanese independence, and if we do not deal with it, we will be overthrown.” Xi 2016

I mostly enjoy his show. Sometimes he talks too fast. It’s unfortunate that he denies biological reality and denies that that denial harms progressive causes. Progress will occur when women’s sex-based rights are acknowledged and achieved. When anyone can be a woman, then women’s rights cannot be upheld.

All these experts running around being safe, saying the obvious. Jesus, duh. Where are the Bernstein’s! Nobody is bold anymore. I hear more on skylight than this podcast.

Calming, interesting, insightful.

This show can and probably will lower your IQ… and cause prolonged loose stool!

Ezra is a skilled presenter and fair writer. The problem is that he presents his ideas as novel when in reality they’ve already tried, and failed, like “green growth”. He’ll never say “green growth” unless it’s to disparage it, but he’s still a strong proponent of capitalism, with all its unsustainable growth, just with a bit less inequity and a lot of “green growth”. At the end of the day he’s “working his hustle” to make his money, and that his “product” should be seen in that light. Don’t give him a pass for playing “fast and loose” with facts, because such a pass is both unwarranted and unwise. Five stars for “ruling class propaganda”, one star for everything else.

The intro to the abundance episode is comically long and self indulgent. To drag your listeners through this is just plain cruel. The “intellectual genealogy” is unlistenable. Please look up two terms…brevity and succinct. Would have loved to heard the episode, just can’t take the intro.

I’m super happy I found this podcast. I don’t agree with everything said but I respect the way it’s delivered and the thoroughness of the research. You can tell that Ezra cares, regardless of the topic, and it shines through on the podcast. I think it’s one of the most important podcasts out there and grateful that folks like Ezra are doing this type of work.

There is always something enlightening in Ezra‘s opinions, observations, discussions, and interviews.

Ezra loves creating insane Rube Goldberg contraptions that lower rent 5%, temporarily over ten years, in two American cities and then waiting for other fawning mid wits to clap like seals. This podcast is the neoliberal equivalent of repeatedly slamming your head in a car door. The latter would atleast give you exercise.

We hear about voters staying home, sitting on the proverbial couch, but what about voters like me who always vote, but could not bring myself to vote for Biden or Trump?

Seriously what is up with Roge and Ezra? Listen to them speak. They are clones. The same pacing, inflections, use of vocal fry and even the cute little lisp. It’s weird. Is it some cultish worship? Who did it first? Whom is imitating whom?

Just more propaganda

Regarding the March 18th episode on Why Trump Won, I was surprised no one discussed how the Democrat’s policies might be undemocratic. The host and guest both acknowledged “the things we’re most concerned about tend to be the most unpopular” twice, but then successfully side-step the issue of whether their policies are for (or against) what the American people believe is right. They just don’t care. And as a “Free Palestine” liberal myself I laughed out loud at the last three minutes as Klein and Shor chose to plug their top 3 authors: Salzman, Rosenfeld, Zahler, and Eisenberg.

Ezra regularly being interviewed by one of his subordinates simply doesn’t work. I realize, like in the “ask me anything” episodes, the throngs are waiting on Klein’s answers with bated breath (and, I suppose, the conceit — no pun intended — attracts a bigger fan base). But the self-interview, as it were, comes off as kind of contrived and simply weird. Just lose the bit and stick to a Klein one-sided narrative or interview (of others).

Thank you, Ezra. Yours is one of the few podcasts I depend on to help me make sense of the world and to talk with the people in my life about how to take action. But in answering the question “How did we get here?” you talk about the rise of right-wing populism globally - neglecting the role centrist liberals have played in derailing and demeaning a vital alternative: Left-wing populism. And in thinking about who’s inspiring or effective in this moment, you make no mention of the liberal left that’s taking the message to the people: Walz, AOC, Bernie. You may or may not agree with their tactics, but I hope you will keep them in view. If we leave populism to the right, they will keep winning.

Get real guts, guys. DOGE dodges the real waste: cut one week from DOD’s budget.

I was truly surprised by the analysis of why Dems lost. IMO the number one reason was racism not elitism. We have made some progress since Brown vrs The Board of Ed but not much. Yes there were many other factors: Biden should have not run as he said going into his term, there should have been an open primary, Dems should have said we welcome everyone and all are deserving without hyper-focusing on any one group but racism was IMO absolutely at the top.

This is a wonderful discussion of a problem that is right in your (NYC) backyard: The City of Yes. Mayor Adams has pushed this through and tomorrow at 10:30 there’s a protest on the steps of City Hall. You have rightly complained that NYC and other Blue cities/states are driving people to Red states because of housing costs. Well, here’s a plan (perhaps not ideal) that addresses lack of affordable housing in Manhattan and all of NYC. This is a perfect opportunity for you to highlight a real problem, where the two sides can get together and reach a compromise: DO A PODCAST: The City of Yes

I listened with anticipation to the conversation with David Shor. I was mildly disappointed with the overall discussion, but greatly disappointed that the discussion dodged the issue of sexism. Although Shor’s graph showed young men trending to Trump in significantly higher numbers than young women, you just moved on. Trump won against the first woman nominated by a major party and against the second woman, but lost - by a healthy margin - against the man nominated between.

First, 5 stars usually, but 3 today, because one of the recent reviews about the polling was so right. Political correctness notwithstanding, how could the pollster ignore that the younger vote shift was because Biden was in his 80s, not the future of the country, and for other ages, racism is alive and well. Bottom line: the Dems had the worst candidates—and keep ignoring it!

I’ve been listening for a few months and I really like what I’m hearing. There is no shortage of things to criticize Trump about, but Ezra is looking for ideas, alternatives and progress. “Abundance” yes! It’s all in the perspective. Ezra’s voice is a gift.

Why are you punishing non-subscribers using Apple Podcasts? Every other podcast app lets you download any episode, and also lets you keep old episodes downloaded as long as you want. Yet, Apple Podcasts blocks access to anything other than the couple most recent episodes. Why? If you want to charge, charge for ad-free access like everyone else. Hiding old episodes from Apple Podcasts users only is asinine.

So informative with a clearer understanding of our current state of affairs.

Ezra Klein is smart and articulate. But listening to the polling reasons why Harris lost and democrats lost overall, I was dismayed that Ezra and his guest never brought up racism and sexism. Economists largely agree that people act against their own self interest, policy-wise, so to hear rehashing of the policy issues was just tired.

I don’t understand how much money and time Democrats will lose trying to figure out what’s right in their face. My husband and I have master’s degrees and we’re hispanic. We voted for Biden in 2020 and finally Trump in 2024. It’s clear as day. We are young parents and like the rest of our community, we don’t like Trump but cannot stand wokeism, DEI and the progressives in Democratic party. That’s why he won. 9 out 10 of our friends voted from Trump after having voted for Biden in 2020. We chose the worst candidate possible over the Democratic party. That’s how bad your policies and priorities are.

“I talked about this before, but voters cared a lot more about delivering change than preserving institutions.” And what did Ms Harris say when asked what she would do differently? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. What a complete blunder

Apparently, Mike Donnelly didn’t really know (sarcasm intended) that his boss needed to have the keys taken away from him. The lapdog DC Dem consultants are actually the problem. While Elon spent on influencers Biden spent on wasteful ads. Shame is on them.

He’s really awesome speaks intelligently and you can tell he’s not out there for a specific agenda just to be truthful and an awesome journalist.

Please have Martin Gurri back on in like 2 years and ask him about free speech. I’d bet 20 bucks that he still blames everything on Joe Biden

Thank you for breaking down this mind numbing, multi-faceted and confusing issue.

So grateful for this podcast - it always opens my eyes to some new perspective. I’m often surprised at the folks he’ll bring on, or positions he’ll take, which challenge some of my political views.

Fox News plays a big role in what voters believe. You never mention Fox’s influence or misinformation. Yet you evaluate Dems and how voters view them. Newt Gingrich made voters hate them. How should democrats fight this?

You can tell from the mix of (right) partisan fury and (left) discomfort in the reviews that this is a great show. Ezra’s thinking is clear and helpful. He is on the left, but he is self-aware and navigates accordingly. This has been one of the few pods I can rely on over the past months to challenge my thinking and push me forward. Thank you for all that you do.

One of the most informative podcasts available. I. An always count on Ezra Klein for the truth!

You rely too heavily on the word “think,” to the point that it weakens your arguments. My advice: be more assertive and focus on what’s evident. There’s nothing wrong with thinking, but you often get lost in the realm of possibilities. That said, thanks for your show—it offers a lot of value.

Lop-sided show not concerned with fair-minded political takes. A partisan echo-chamber.

Listen to this show if you want your leftists beliefs reinforced.

Thank you for your show Ezra, I really appreciate all of the different topics you’ve been bringing up, the diversity of all the guest, and all of the higher level perspective I’ve been gaining by listening to your show. I really think that you’ve done an incredible job of getting us out of the moment to a moment and really putting us giving us perspective to moment we are in. I just listened to an episode of the Weekly show with Jon Stewart with Maria Ressa, she could be a good person to have on your show as well. Also, the AI show you did recently was really eye- opening. You have already tackled some of these topics, but I wonder if you show about the psychology at the moment we are in? What do we do about social media companies? What are we gonna be able to do about AI effects on deepening rifts in society? How is the press going to survive in a way that helps safeguard democracy? How can ordinary citizens help with any of this stuff? Are there any ways to help change peoples minds? I know trying to convince someone doesn’t really help. Thank you.

Great show actually now that I have listened to several episodes - despite Ezra’s annoying sing song puffery. Sometimes it’s too much…. Small doses l can take it.

Honestly this show used to be a bit less... tragic. Right now, in this very moment, Ezra Klein is reading about something that he will obsess over for two days, then find one person who will absolutely depress you so he can talk to them about how what is happening now and will happen later is the worst thing ever. Next week he'll do it all again about something else. Say what you want about how Obama-era hope failed, but at least I felt a positive will to live. Listening to this show is like getting dragged by my shirt in the dirt. Ezra has trivialized the obvious; there is someone there who believes presenting new theories as to why we're in this mess will help fix this mess, but real wisdom would reveal that the reasons have always been here and remain unchanged. The only thing some people can't comprehend is that the people who need to hear the repeated and obvious reasons (systemic racism and homophobia, income inequality) don't care.

Fatuous and exhausting…like spending time with an unpleasant relative. Somebody put on Steve Reich! Or wait, don’t.

I enjoy the show, but it’s really annoying when you ask your guest a question and interrupt the answer, especially if it’s not a long winded answer. I understand you’re the host and I value what you have to say, but please wait your turn :)

Such a pleasure listening to this conversation. We need more of this - the exchange of ideas sans any anger or anything remotely toxic. I learn so much & my owns views expand. Once again - thank u. Don’t stop what you’re doing!

Martin Gurri falls far below the quality and intelligence that I’ve come to expect from your guests. I applaud that you are trying to engage individuals who can share alternative perspectives. But very little in what he said and how he said it suggested that he is a deep thinker. An AI fanboy? Absolutely. Someone who can offer real insight? Why not just invite ChatGPT to the show instead.

I generally enjoy listening to this show for the quality guests and thought provoking discussions. The episode with Martin Gurri left me disappointed. He demonstrated and seeming every point of the conversation that he was not as well versed in the issues being discussed as he claimed. His insistence of reciting conspiracy theories was disconcerting, but more troubling was the host giving platform to such an uninformed guest.