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NPR's Newsmakers

NPR's Newsmakers

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Go face to face with the person of the moment. NPR’s Newsmakers brings the biggest names in politics, business, sports, arts, and culture out of the headlines and into the interview chair to discuss the mark they’re making on the world.Copyright 2026-2026 NPR - For Personal Use Only Politics & Government
Episodes
  • Jill Biden on Hunter’s pardon and her husband’s turbulent political end

    Jill Biden on Hunter’s pardon and her husband’s turbulent political end
    Jun 4 2026
    Former first lady Jill Biden is shedding new light on one of the biggest decisions her husband made as president: to drop out of his own reelection campaign.

    In this episode of NPR’s Newsmakers, Biden sits down with host Scott Detrow to discuss her new book, View from the East Wing: A Memoir. She opens up about the infamous 2024 presidential debate that doomed President Joe Biden’s campaign -- when his performance so concerned those in his inner circle, Biden says her husband was checked by doctors after leaving the stage -- and the personal and political toll of the months that followed.

    She also reveals Joe Biden “truly changed his mind” on pardoning their son Hunter, who was convicted on federal gun and tax charges in 2024. She says it was then-candidate Donald Trump’s rhetoric about Hunter’s criminal cases that eventually led her husband to pardon their son, who faced prison time.

    NPR's Newsmakers is where you'll find NPR's biggest interviews. We post new episodes as soon as they're available -- any day of the week. Follow or subscribe on Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you watch or listen to podcasts so you always get the latest episode as soon as possible. You can also find Newsmakers on the NPR app.

    Newsmakers relies on supporters who value independent journalism and a free press. Join NPR+ today to support our work and get perks from the podcasts you trust. Go to plus.npr.org.

    See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

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    25 mins
  • Can Maine Senate hopeful Platner survive another controversy?

    Can Maine Senate hopeful Platner survive another controversy?
    Jun 1 2026
    Anti-establishment candidate Graham Platner seemingly came out of nowhere to become the presumptive Democratic nominee for the Senate seat in Maine. But his campaign has been dogged by controversies.

    There were the old, deleted Reddit posts in which he made racist comments and blamed sexual assault on victims. There was a now-covered tattoo resembling a Nazi symbol. And most recently, the Wall Street Journal reported that Platner exchanged sexually explicit messages with multiple women early in his marriage.

    Taken together, they raise a big question. Does he have too much baggage to carry on? Or can his anti-establishment political message — that has generated SO much enthusiasm among the democratic base — carry him through?

    In this episode of NPR’s Newsmakers, Platner addresses earlier controversies, the failures of his own party and calls Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth “insecure.” Platner says he aspires to a version of masculinity different from the one embodied by Hegseth. “This idea that you're supposed to use your strengths to use power over other people or to offend people, be mean to people — that somehow that's manly. That's not masculinity,” he says. “That's the act of a coward.”

    NPR sat down with Platner before news broke of the explicit sexual messages.

    NPR's Newsmakers is where you'll find NPR's biggest interviews. We post new episodes as soon as they're available -- any day of the week. Follow or subscribe on Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you watch or listen to podcasts so you always get the latest episode as soon as possible. You can also find Newsmakers on the NPR app.

    Newsmakers relies on supporters who value independent journalism and a free press. Join NPR+ today to support our work and get perks from the podcasts you trust. Go to plus.npr.org.

    See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

    NPR Privacy Policy
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    49 mins
  • Byron Allen on replacing Colbert, political comedy and Black ownership

    Byron Allen on replacing Colbert, political comedy and Black ownership
    May 22 2026
    Byron Allen, the media mogul and former stand-up comedian, is gearing up for his latest venture: bringing his show Comics Unleashed to the CBS time slot long held by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.


    In this episode of NPR’s Newsmakers, Allen sat down with NPR’s Ailsa Chang ahead of his debut episode. He discussed his plans for Comics Unleashed in its new prime late night slot, why he thinks there’s still more than enough political comedy after the cancellation of Colbert, and why it’s important for Black Americans to own and produce media.


    NPR's Newsmakers is where you'll find NPR's biggest interviews. We post new episodes as soon as they're available -- any day of the week. Follow or subscribe wherever you listen or watch so you always get the latest episode as soon as possible.


    Newsmakers relies on supporters who value independent journalism and a free press. Join NPR+ today to support our work and get perks from the podcasts you trust. Go to plus.npr.org.

    See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

    NPR Privacy Policy
    Show More Show Less
    38 mins
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