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Every Thursday on The Assignment, host Audie Cornish explores the animating forces of this extraordinary American political moment. It’s not about the horse race, it’s about the larger cultural ideas driving the conversation: the role of online influencers on the electorate, the intersection of pop culture and politics, and discussions with primary voices and thinkers who are shaping the political conversation.

The Assignment with Audie Cornish

The killing of UnitedHealth CEO Brian Thompson, and the arrest of his alleged killer, has been met with online memes, TikTok songs, and even celebration. So how does the response to this brazen murder reflect a wider cultural phenomenon? Audie talks with journalist Samantha Cole, the co-founder of 404 Media, to understand how the reaction to the killing is echoing both on and offline. 
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What a CEO's Murder Tells Us About America

The cost of your clothes could go up if Donald Trump implements promised tariffs on goods from Mexico, Canada, and China. Audie talks with Christina Binkley, editor-at-large for Vogue Business, about the possibility of costlier clothes, whether we should adjust our holiday shopping lists, and what it means for 2025 fashion trends. 
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Trump’s Tariffs Could Mean Costlier Clothes

It’s a very special New Year episode for The Assignment: a conversation with Emmy-winning comedian and writer Samantha Bee about the state of politics and how she’s engaging with the political moment. Bee is known for her time as a correspondent on The Daily Show and her own late-night show, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee. She is now the host of the podcast Choice Words. 
Audie invites back her podcast friends for this conversation: Kara Swisher, host of On with Kara Swisher and co-host of Pivot, and Van Lathan, co-host of The Ringer’s Higher Learning podcast. They also share their “Word of the Year” for 2024, and give a predictive word for 2025. 
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Samantha Bee Is Done with Democrats (For Now)

Donald Trump’s reelection has some people putting politics over family. Audie talks with psychologist Joshua Coleman about the forces driving family estrangements over political differences, how generational differences can play a part in broken family ties, and what to do if you find yourself on either side of an estrangement.
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How Political Divides Are Destroying Families

Peter Kalmus left California two years ago in part because of his concerns about hotter days and increasing wildfires. Today, his former neighborhood of Altadena is one of the many communities left scorched by the wildfires. And he says more are coming. Audie talks with Kalmus, who studies future extreme heat impacts on human health and ecosystems at NASA, about how the Los Angeles wildfires are part of a greater climate crisis, and how our grief can be channeled into preventing the next disaster. 
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Meet the Man Who Saw the LA Fires Coming

"Dry January" is evolving into something more than a 4-week virtue signal. American attitudes about drinking are changing, especially among younger generations who are drinking much less. So, what’s behind this cultural shift, and why now? Audie talks with Derek Brown, the founder of Positive Damage a newsletter about “drinking mindfully.” And Chris Marshall, the founder of Sans Bar, the first non-alcoholic bar in North America. 

For more on what alcohol does to the body, listen to Dr. Sanjay Gupta's podcast, Chasing Life. "Your Shame-Free Guide to Cutting Back on Booze.” 
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The ‘Sober Curious’ Revolution

In the wake of Donald Trump’s executive orders on immigration, Audie talks with Rev. Gabriel Salguero about how faith leaders are navigating the call to provide support and guidance to undocumented immigrants in their congregations. Rev. Salguero is the pastor of The Gathering Place in Orlando, Florida, and president and founder of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition. 
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A Pastor's Stand on Trump's ICE Raids

President Trump put Elon Musk in charge of government efficiency and the result has been nonstop chaos and trauma for civil servants. Audie talks with WIRED reporter Vittoria Elliot about how he is doing it and who is helping him. Audie also talks with someone who’s gone through an Elon purge -- former Twitter executive Dr. Rumman Chowdhury. She offers advice on how to get through it. 
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The United States of Elon

Raw milk, seed oil skepticism, and...coffee enemas? The rise of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the conservative “Make America Healthy Again” movement is reclaiming what it means to be ‘crunchy’ -- a term previously associated with health-conscious liberals. Audie talks with Kiera Butler, a Mother Jones senior editor and reporter deeply embedded in the world of the conservative right's wellness trends. 
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Why Crunchy Conservatives Love RFK Jr.

The Oscars aren’t just about the movies—they’re about politics, too. Audie talks with New Yorker staff writer Michael Schulman, author of Oscar Wars: A History of Hollywood in Gold, Sweat, and Tears. They break down the high-stakes world of Oscar campaigning including who’s pulling the strings behind the scenes, and what this year’s race reveals about the shifting dynamics of the industry. 
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And the Oscar Goes to… the Best Campaign?

Some companies just build products. Others build empires — with innovative leaders who inspire fierce devotion. But when does innovation become something more like faith? Tech journalist Karen Hao joins Audie Cornish to talk about the rise of Sam Altman, the near-religious culture growing around AI, and what it all means for our future — whether you’re feeling hopeful, skeptical, or somewhere in between. 

Karen Hao’s book is called Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman's OpenAI 

Listen to our interview with the CEO of Microsoft AI, Mustafa Suleyman. 
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Is OpenAI Building an Empire or a Religion?

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