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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

Kamala Harris is stepping back. And Jasmine Crockett – the fiery Texas congresswoman known for viral clapbacks – is turning heads. This week, Audie asks: are “respectability politics” still the price of power for Black politicians, or are the rules finally changing in the age of Trump? NOTUS White House Correspondent Jasmine Wright and GOP Strategist Melik Abdul to help her parse it out. 

The Assignment is a production of CNN Podcasts. This episode was Produced by Jesse Remedios and Sofia Sanchez. Our Senior Producer is Matt Martinez. Dan Dzula is our Technical Director and Steve Lickteig is Executive Producer of CNN Podcasts. 
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Are Respectability Politics Over?

We’re living in a golden age of yachts, bunkers, and ultra-wealth – and social media is eating it up. Audie talks with journalist and author Evan Osnos about what this era reveals about American culture and class. His book is called, “The Haves and Have-Yachts: Dispatches on the Ultrarich.” 

The Assignment is a production of CNN Podcasts. This episode was produced by Lori Galarreta and Grace Walker. Our Senior Producer is Matt Martinez. Dan Dzula is our Technical Director and Steve Lickteig is Executive Producer of CNN Podcasts. 
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What the Recent Obsession with Yachts Says About Class in America

In the early 2000s, girlhood became a spectacle. It was sold through reality TV, tabloid scandals, and the early Internet. And it’s still shaping the way we see women today. Audie talks with Sophie Gilbert, culture critic and author of “Girl on Girl: How Pop Culture Turned a Generation of Women Against Themselves.”
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How Early 2000s Pop Culture Pitted Women Against Each Other

President Trump's megabill sets Immigration and Customs Enforcement up to be the highest-funded federal law enforcement agency. Journalist Garrett Graff tells Audie how a relatively new federal agency rose to the top and why people should “get used to” seeing ICE agents in their community.

Garrett Graff writes the newsletter Doomsday Scenario and hosts the Long Shadow podcast.

For more CNN reporting on ICE’s expansion: https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/09/politics/ice-cbp-police-los-angeles-immigration
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What ICE’s Rapid Expansion Could Mean for Your Community

These days, the toy industry isn’t all fun and games. Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks sits down with Audie to talk about how trade wars and culture wars are shaping the state of play in America.
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Will Tariffs Bring Trouble to Toyland?

Star Trek legend George Takei has spent a lifetime confronting injustice: his family was sent to internment camps during World War II, he fought for civil rights in the 60’s, and later in life he became an activist in the LGBTQ+ community. Takei talks with Audie about his new graphic book, “It Rhymes with Takei,” a story about the experiences that shaped him, and what they say about patriotism, protest, and the state of American democracy.
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George Takei’s Journey Through Fear, Silence, and Activism

Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski spent the past two decades making a name for herself as a Republican who regularly straddles party lines. In a new book, Far from Home, Murkowski delves into her journey navigating hyper-partisan politics -- from the Tea Party to the Trump era. She sits down with Audie Cornish for a conversation about whether there’s still room for pragmatism and consensus-building in the modern-day GOP. 

Watch this conversation on YouTube.
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Alaska’s Senator: 'You’re Roadkill in the Middle’

Just a few years ago, ‘body positivity’ was everywhere. Then came Ozempic. Audie talks with Virginia Sole-Smith, who spent the past decade writing about ‘diet culture.’ She weighs in on the future of the body positivity in an Ozempic world, and whether the movement and the revolutionary new class of weight loss drugs can coexist. 

Virginia Sole Smith’s book is called “Fat Talk: Parenting in the Age of Diet Culture.” 
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Can Weight Loss Drugs and Body Positivity Coexist?

Protest has long been a tool for change in American life. But in an age of political gridlock and viral outrage, what actually works? Leah Greenberg, co-founder of Indivisible— one of several progressive groups organizing “No Kings Day” protests —joins Audie to talk about their strategy, and how they are preparing considering the Trump Administration’s reaction to ICE protests in Los Angeles.
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Can Protestors Manufacture a Tipping Point?

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?

Audie talks with journalists Amy Chozick and Abby Phillip about being a reporter on a presidential campaign bus. Amy is the creator and executive producer of the new Max dramedy “The Girls On The Bus,” which follows a group of four women on a fictional campaign trail. Amy covered Hillary Clinton’s campaigns for the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. CNN’s Abby Phillip was a consultant on the show, she is the host of NewsNight with Abby Phillip. 
“The Girls On The Bus” is streaming on Max (which, like CNN, is part of Warner Brothers Discovery). 
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What It's Like to Cover a Presidential Candidate Up-Close

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