Parents around the country will soon have the chance to get younger kids vaccinated against COVID. The question is how many will actually do so. On the latest episode of For The Win, Yochi speaks with Dr. Leana Wen — a Washington Post contributing columnist, CNN analyst, and former Baltimore health commissioner — about how the COVID fight is being slowed by a “pandemic of misinformation,” how the backlash to COVID mandates could lead parents to reject other vaccinations as well, and the cold reality that the pandemic may be with us well into the future.

For The Win

Leana Wen on the COVID Vaccine and Mandate Backlash

In the latest episode of For The Win, Abby and Elliot spoke with Edgar Burch, the former director of government affairs for the NCAA and a Raben Group principal, about the new era of student-athletes being able to profit from marketing their own name, image, and likeness — and what that all means for race, gender, and sexual orientation in college sports.

Student-athletes & profits: What that means for college sports

 On a special episode of For the Win, Elliot and Yochi talk about Yochi’s extensive time on the ground in Afghanistan as a war correspondent for the Wall Street Journal, what it was like to live alongside troops fighting America’s longest war, and tries to make sense of what Trump and Biden got right about Afghanistan — and what they got wrong. 

Special Episode: Yochi reflects on his time in Afghanistan as war correspondent for WSJ

In the latest episode of For The Win, Abby & guest host Estuardo Rodriguez spoke with Julie Rodriguez, the director of the White House's Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, about how the Biden administration hopes to beat back the flood of misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccines, the path forward for its massive but controversial infrastructure deal, and the complex set of challenges facing the Latino community, which has been disproportionately hard-hit by the pandemic. 

The Work Ahead for the Biden Administration: A Conversation with Julie Rodriguez

On the latest episode of For The Win, former RNC Chair Michael Steele sits down with Yochi and Abby to discuss his battles with former President Trump, what it’s like to be a high-profile Black conservative when the Republican Party is adopting ever more extreme policies, and why he thinks the party can still be saved.

Black & Republican: A conversation with Michael Steele

Republicans used to be the party of big business. Now ... not so much. From threatening to break up social media giants to promising to revoke business-friendly tax breaks, Republicans are talking tough with corporate America like never before. But how much of that is real, and how much is just talk? On the latest episode of For the Win, Abby, Elliot, and Yochi talk about why big businesses are weighing in on controversial issues like voting rights, whether the long alliance between the GOP and corporate America may actually be splintering, and how that fissure could reshape the political landscape.

Is Big Business Shifting the Political Landscape?

In a special episode of For The Win, Elliot talks with Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison about what it means to be a “Dirt Road Democrat,” why his party needs to do more for rural voters, and how a long-ago promise to his grandfather is fueling Harrison’s fight for voting rights today.      

"Dirt Road Democrat" with DNC Chair Jaime Harrison

On the latest episode of For the Win, Yochi and Abby sit down with Josh Leach of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee to talk about the situation at the southern border, why the Biden administration is struggling to undo Trump’s damage to our immigration system, and why the phrase “Title 42” sounds benign but is actually threatening thousands of lives. 

Josh Leach on immigration

In the latest episode of For the Win, Abby, Yochi, and Elliot dive into the political fight over “cancel culture,” look at its surprising origins in the Black community, and tackle the tough question of whether a canceled individual can (or should) ever be given a second chance. Plus, Abby considers if she should spearhead the movement to cancel both Elliot and Yochi ...

Exploring "Cancel Culture"

In the latest episode of For The Win, Yochi speaks with Wade Henderson, the head of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, about how the growing conservative crackdown on voting rights is bringing back the worst of the Jim Crow era, why lies about voter fraud pose an existential threat to our democracy, and how Congress is facing a moment of truth about whether to make it easier to cast a ballot — or whether to disenfranchise millions of voters.

Wade Henderson on "Jim Crow, Esq."

 In the latest episode of For the Win, recorded shortly before Neera Tanden’s nomination to be OMB director was withdrawn, Elliot spoke with Slate's Dahlia Lithwick on how the three of President Biden's nominees who have faced the biggest headwinds in their paths to confirmation — Tanden, Vanita Gupta, and Kristen Clarke — are all women of color. Elliot and Ms. Lithwick talked about how double-standards, deceptive ad buys, and media failures helped get us here, and how it’s a myth that more civility will cure what ails American politics.

Slate's Dahlia Lithwick

On the latest episode of For The Win, Yochi, Abby, and Elliot discuss the growing political debate over America’s student loan debt crisis, whether it should matter if someone went to an expensive private university or a cheaper public one, and how a system created to help students afford college has instead left millions of graduates saddled with debts they can’t afford to pay back.

America's Student Loan Crisis

In the latest episode of For The Win, Elliot and Yochi speak with Kathleen Sebelius, the former secretary of Health and Human Services during the Obama administration, about what she learned from fighting the H1N1 pandemic, what the Trump administration got wrong about its COVID-19 response (hint: a lot), the importance of leveling with the American public about the new vaccines, and how to talk to anti-maskers and anti-vaxxers without losing your cool. There’s also some good political trivia!

Kathleen Sebelius

In the latest episode of For The Win, Elliot and guest host Audrey López speak with Charles Kamasaki, author of Immigration Reform: The Corpse That Will Not Die, about reforming immigration after the Trump years — an issue that is even more pressing after the results in the Georgia U.S. Senate runoff election on January 5.

Charles Kamasaki

In the latest episode of For The Win Abby, Yochi and Elliot speak with System Check podcast hosts Melissa Harris-Perry & Dorian Warren about the coup attempt at the Capitol, the country’s legacy of institutionalized racism and white supremacist violence, and how to move America forward — with or without Republicans.

System Check with Melissa Harris-Perry & Dorian Warren

A roadmap to notching policy wins in the Trump Era and beyond.

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For The Win

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