The New York Times Opinion
321 episodes listed below
News after the first shock.
The Opinions gathers New York Times Opinion voices and guests around charged public questions. Its conversations move from Trump’s war in Iran and birthright citizenship to language politics, racism, antisemitism, prison, family, and moral accountability.
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The Opinions is a news-and-politics conversation show from New York Times Opinion, but its real subject is what public events expose. It begins with the headline. Then it asks what the headline says about power, legitimacy, judgment, institutions, and the people caught inside them. Recent episodes spend significant time on Trump’s war in Iran, including the strain on American alliances, the risk of strategic drift, and the question of whether a conflict can be sold to the public after the fact. The discussion is grave without becoming theatrical. Speakers often acknowledge that events may change between recording and release, which gives the show a useful humility about fast-moving politics. It does not pretend the chaos is tidy. It tries to name the stakes anyway. The format shifts between conversation, panel argument, and focused guest interview. Michelle Cottle’s panels with David French and Jamel Bowie lean into national politics, court fights, presidential rhetoric, and the way disorder reshapes the week before anyone can fully process it. Robert Siegel’s conversations with E.J. Dionne and guests take a wider view of foreign policy, alliances, China, Iran, and America’s credibility. Other episodes move beyond Washington without leaving politics behind. Nadja Spiegelman’s culture conversation about wokeness, speech, and offense looks at how social norms change when public pressure recedes. Em Gessen’s conversation around family, prison, and a terrible crime turns a personal story into a question about connection after harm. The show’s best mode is not outrage. It is pressure-testing. Claims are placed beside history, law, strategy, and lived consequence. That makes the program useful for listeners who already know what happened and want to think harder about what follows. Its seriousness can be heavy, especially when war, racism, antisemitism, incarceration, or family violence enter the frame. But the conversations leave room for dry asides and human texture. The effect is an editorial conversation show with enough range to cover courts, culture, foreign policy, and moral responsibility without treating them as separate worlds.
Made for: For listeners who follow U.S. politics closely and want thoughtful interpretation after the headline breaks. It also fits people drawn to culture-war debates, institutional questions, foreign policy, and morally complicated public stories.
What sets it apart: The show’s strength is its mix of Opinion voices, which lets each episode match the subject to a different kind of judgment. It moves from immediate political chaos to historical, legal, cultural, and moral consequences without turning every argument into a shouting match.
You've heard the news, here's what to make of it.
Based on 5 episodes we listened to · September 2026
The Opinions makes political power easier to read by testing daily claims against institutions, electoral behavior and likely consequences.
The Opinions turns current political disputes into measured roundtable conversations, with different combinations of New York Times Opinion voices testing the assumptions behind the day's argument.
The headline arrives; you get the constitutional machinery and coalition math hiding behind it.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A sober look at Iran, Trump, China, and the leverage at stake.
The episode frames the Iran war as a test of whether the United States gained anything at all, with E.J. Dionne holding that nobody won. It then broadens to China, where the panel argues that a weakened U.S.
A blunt look at force without strategy, and at the danger of treating a messy world like Risk.
The episode opens on Iran and keeps asking a plain but stubborn question: what, if anything, is the strategy behind an operation sold with force talk and very little public reason? Michelle Cottle, Jamel Bouie, and David French keep returning to that point.
Texas frames a sober discussion of Trump's coalition and how far it can go.
Texas sits at the center of the discussion, but the larger question is whether Trump-era political strength can harden into a lasting party coalition.
A tariff ruling opens into a broader discussion of executive power, Congress, and the American economy.
It opens with the Supreme Court's decision striking down many of President Trump's tariffs, then turns that ruling into a wider look at executive power, Congress, and the American economy.
A grave roundtable on power, overstatement, and the cost of looking away.
The episode frames Iran and the Epstein files as linked questions about power, accountability, and harm. Michelle Cottle is joined by David French and Nick Kristof in a roundtable that moves from Trump’s Iran policy to Kristof’s reporting on sex trafficking, while staying…
A near-daily politics rundown from Dana Goldberg and Alison Gill on Trump-era legal fights.
Three Slate journalists debate the week's politics, plus live shows and author interviews.
Mike Pesca opens with a monologue, then digs into Supreme Court ethics and Iran policy.
Robert Siegel opens a broad conversation with E.J.
This episode explores the current cultural pushback against wokeness, examining whether language policing is declining and what this means for society.
This episode analyzes President Trump's speech on the Iran war and discusses court battles over birthright citizenship, featuring political commentators from New York Times Opinion.
This episode explores how children maintain relationships with parents who are incarcerated for serious crimes, featuring a conversation with Harriet Clark about her mother's 37-year prison sentence for involvement in a deadly robbery.
This episode features a political discussion analyzing the consequences of the war in Iran, focusing on Trump's handling of it and its impact on U.S.
David French interviews General Stan McChrystal about Trump's foreign policy strategy and the Iran conflict.
A roundtable of New York Times Opinion columnists discusses the war with Iran and President Trump's approach to allies.
An opinion show discussing a profile of Republican candidate James Fishbeck and his appeal to young Florida Republicans.
Robert Siegel hosts a political discussion with E.J.
An opinion editor discusses the economic fallout of the war with Iran, including oil price fluctuations and military success claims, with an economics editor.
Nadja Spiegelman revisits America's Next Top Model, reflecting on its revolutionary representation and now-unacceptable body critiques.
The episode opens on the conflict with Iran.
Michelle Cottle opens on Texas.
The episode opens on the Supreme Court's decision striking down many of Trump's tariffs.
Michelle Cottle opens the roundtable and sets it against the Epstein files before turning to Trump's foreign policy moves.
Robert Siegel hosts a political discussion with columnists E.J.
Nadja Spiegelman and columnists Maureen Dowd and Carlos Lozada review the film Melania and discuss their experiences watching it.
A live conversation with NYT opinion columnists analyzing President Trump's first year back in office and its impact on the world and U.S.
A panel of New York Times Opinion columnists discusses the first year of the Trump administration and current political events.
A roundtable of New York Times Opinion columnists discusses Trump's Venezuela invasion and a fatal ICE shooting.
This episode of The Opinions from New York Times Opinion features a discussion on beauty standards and cosmetic procedures, sparked by personal holiday experiences including observations in Istanbul.
The hosts discuss Trump's recent speech and the economic state of the country as they reflect on 2025 and look ahead to the upcoming election.
David Leonhardt discusses the future of conservatism with columnist Brett Stevens in the context of Trump's influence.
This episode analyzes the growing tensions between women and the Republican Party after the 2024 election, discussing challenges to party leaders and reactionary sexism within conservative circles.
David Brooks and Thomas Friedman discuss Friedman's column about the new era called the polycene.
This episode features a discussion with journalists Masha Gessen and Michelle Goldberg about how ordinary people find the courage to resist their governments during morally fraught times in Israel and the United States.
A panel of New York Times Opinion columnists discuss national politics and current events, starting with a lighthearted conversation about Melania Trump's Christmas decorations.
This episode features New York Times Opinion columnists discussing political dynamics, including Trump-related topics, in a conversational interview format.
A panel discusses the mainstreaming of country and rural aesthetics in pop culture, from TV shows to music and influencer trends.
David Leonhardt introduces a series on unifying American ideas and interviews Senator Cory Booker about his record-breaking Senate speech opposing President Trump.
Lydia Polgreen and Molly Jong Fast discuss the Epstein files and their implications for the Me Too movement and Trump's political standing.
David Leonhardt interviews Congressman Ro Khanna about the House vote on a bill to release Jeffrey Epstein files and Trump's reversal.
David Leonhardt interviews Sarah Isger, a former Trump administration official who now critiques the president's overreach, exploring the decline of small-c conservatism.
A roundtable discussion among New York Times Opinion columnists about the Epstein files and political implications.