Washington politics, examined one conversation at a time.
Washington Post opinion writer Jonathan Capehart hosts conversations with political figures, reporters and columnists, many adapted from Washington Post Live events. Episodes move between one-on-one interviews and a roundtable format, working through elections, policy and the consequences that follow.
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Capehart is a politics interview show from Washington Post Opinions, hosted by opinion writer Jonathan Capehart. Many episodes are adapted from Washington Post Live events, some recorded in front of an audience. The format shifts between two modes. One is the extended one-on-one, where a single guest is given the floor to build an argument. The other is First Look, the weekly Friday show Capehart describes on air as a one-stop shop for news and analysis. First Look usually runs about thirty minutes: a conversation with a Post reporter about a big story, followed by an opinions roundtable with two Post opinion colleagues. One July edition stretched to nearly ninety minutes with a larger group. The recurring cast is drawn from the paper itself. Chief correspondent Dan Balz appears for reported analysis. Associate editor Eugene Robinson anchors the roundtable, joined at different times by columnist George Will, columnist Megan McArdle, senior critic at large Robin Givhan, and contributing columnist Jim Garrity. National political reporter Michael Scherer has come on to discuss behind-the-scenes reporting from the Trump and Harris campaigns. Leanne Caldwell, anchor at Washington Post Live and co-author of the early brief newsletter, has joined as well. The subject matter tracks the news cycle without being trapped by it. Episodes have covered the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, the inauguration of Donald Trump, his cabinet picks, and the intra-MAGA friction between Steve Bannon and Elon Musk. The Biden legacy gets argued from both directions, including whether historians will look back more kindly than contemporary observers. Interviews reach beyond Washington too. David Miliband discusses the International Rescue Committee emergency watch list of nations at greatest risk, arguing that untreated humanitarian crisis produces political instability, and detailing the conflict in Sudan. Nancy Pelosi, speaking at the Post's third Global Women's Summit, discusses the 2024 election, her role in encouraging President Biden to withdraw, and her book The Art of Power. Senator Tim Kaine talks about Biden's Oval Office address ending his reelection campaign and the rapid coalescing around Kamala Harris. A best-of episode revisits a 2019 conversation with Harris at George Washington University about her book The Truths We Hold, her activist parents, and why she became a prosecutor. What holds it together is method. Capehart restates the question before handing it over, signals the follow-up, and uses explicit time pressure to keep things moving. Answers are allowed to run long, then narrowed to a single takeaway. Decorative language is scarce. The tone can go grave when the subject calls for it, but the default is conversational and analytical: what happened, why it matters, who it affects, what comes next.
Made for: Listeners who follow American politics closely and want reported analysis and long-form interviews rather than hot takes. It suits anyone interested in elections, policy consequence, and the ways race, religion, age, gender and identity shape political life.
What sets it apart: The show draws its regular roundtable and reporter guests from inside a single newsroom, so the same voices return and disagree with each other across episodes. Sessions adapted from live Washington Post Live events give the interviews an audience-facing structure that most studio politics podcasts lack.
Opinion writer Jonathan Capehart talks with newsmakers who challenge your ideas on politics, and explore how race, religion, age, gender and cultural identity are redrawing the lines that both divide and unite America. "Capehart" is a podcast from Washington Post Opinions, with conversations adapted from Washington Post Live events.
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Jonathan Capehart connects campaign analysis, public policy and global crises through interviews that keep responsibility and real-world consequences in view.
Capehart turns live political interviews and roundtables into pointed conversations about how public decisions are made and felt. Jonathan Capehart establishes the stakes quickly, then asks guests to connect political explanations with governing consequences.
A Denver mayor faces the school question you wish national immigration debates would answer.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A brisk Washington panel on political transition, Biden's legacy, and the arguments already shaping Trump's return.
Jonathan Capehart uses this final First Look conversation to take stock of a political handoff in Washington. With Dan Balz, he starts on the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal, Donald Trump's forthcoming inauguration, and President Biden's legacy, then widens the table with Eugene…
Miliband explains Sudan's crisis as a war sustained by outside support, political failure, and neither side accepting loss.
Sudan sits at the center of Capehart's conversation with David Miliband, who treats the country's place atop the IRC's emergency watch list for 2025 as more than a grim ranking.
Nancy Pelosi ties Democrats' 2024 result to communication, working-class interests, and the daily work of political power.
Nancy Pelosi's post-election accounting puts Democrats' 2024 result in the language of communication, working-class interests, and political power.
A compact election postmortem moves from campaign reporting to the contested meaning of Trump's mandate.
Jonathan Capehart keeps First Look focused on what the 2024 result looked like from inside the Trump and Harris campaigns, then widens the lens through The Washington Post's Opinions Roundtable.
Denver's migrant crisis shows the local strain behind national immigration policy.
Denver's effort to absorb nearly 40,000 migrants in little more than a year turns into a focused look at how national immigration decisions show up in city budgets, classrooms, and public services.
A live First Look tracks Biden's withdrawal, the Democratic pressure around it, and Harris's path into the next phase.
Washington Post Live's First Look expands its usual 30-minute shape into a nearly 90-minute live conversation, anchored by Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia and President Biden's Oval Office address ending his re-election campaign.
The day’s hard news, tightly reported.
Rhode Island politics, pressed for answers.
Scottish politics, close up and in context.
Eco-socialist politics with an organizer’s map.
This special live edition of 'First Look' features Senator Tim Kaine reflecting on President Biden's historic decision to end his re-election campaign and the rapid coalescing around Vice President Kamala Harris.
Denver Mayor Mike Johnston says the city has absorbed nearly 40,000 migrants in a little more than a year and that the shelter system is now at a breaking point.
Jonathan Capehart's final "First Look" gathers Dan Balz, Eugene Robinson, and George Will to examine the Israel-Hamas ceasefire, Donald Trump's inauguration, and Joe Biden's legacy.
Sudan tops the IRC watch list with "30 million people in humanitarian need."
Nancy Pelosi, speaking with Jonathan Capehart at The Washington Post’s November 22 Global Women’s Summit, tied the 2024 election to the economy, communication, and the public meaning of power.
Michael Scherer describes Trump's 2024 victory as a result of a "far more disciplined campaign," a unified team around Susie Wiles, and far fewer "unforced errors" than in 2016 or 2020.
Jonathan Capehart interviews Kamala Harris about her life story and political journey, adapted from a 2019 live event.
Jonathan Capehart hosts a live political discussion with Washington Post reporters and opinion writers about President Biden ending his reelection campaign and the rise of Kamala Harris.
Jonathan Capehart hosts a political talk show featuring Washington Post reporters and columnists analyzing President Biden's press conference and the state of his re-election campaign.
Jonathan Capehart interviews WNBA star A'ja Wilson about her book 'Dear Black Girls' and the unique challenges black women face in America.