Speaker
Jon Lovett
Appearances over time
3 episodes
Episodes
3
Podcasts
Quotes & moments
A recent poll found Obama leads all former presidents in positive retrospective approval, highlighted as the hosts tour the new Presidential Center.
The National Mall reflecting pool holds about 7 million gallons, making the handful of hydrogen peroxide buckets dumped in to fight algae comically inadequate.
To properly shock the 7-million-gallon reflecting pool with hydrogen peroxide you'd need 5,000 to 7,000 gallons — for only one week of cleanliness.
Walking through the center, Jon Lovett felt the pull of optimism — then immediately challenged himself to ask why it hadn't proven durable enough to stop Trump from winning twice. The honest reckoning: a hopeful vision of America isn't self-sustaining if the candidates who follow can't replicate it.
Michelle Obama's dedication speech at the Obama Presidential Center moved the audience to tears — including the sign language interpreter. Her remarks on the impossible standard applied to the first Black president, her barely-veiled indictment of the current administration, and her rallying cry that people of all backgrounds are America made it arguably the most powerful political speech of the year.
Trump signed his Iran MOU at the actual Palace of Versailles. The deal gives Iran a 60-day window, a $300 billion reconstruction fund, an immediate oil export license, and joint control over the Strait of Hormuz — while getting only a theoretical opening of the Strait and a reaffirmation of Iran's existing non-proliferation commitment in return. The hosts can't find a single concrete US gain.
Under the JCPOA, Iran shipped 97% of its nuclear stockpile out of the country to Russia, the deal went through the UN Security Council with full P5+1 backing, and it had robust sanctions enforcement. Trump's MOU downblends material in-country, has no multilateral framework, and comes with a $300 billion slush fund. Democrats should stop throat-clearing about JCPOA's flaws and just say it was better.
JD Vance went on The View as part of his Catholic conversion book tour, trying to project bridge-building moderation. The result: gaslit the hosts about Trump's inflation comments, then called Democrats 'terrible people' on Fox that same night. Defending Trump is an impossible task, but Vance made it worse by having absolutely no charm.
Trump had the National Mall reflecting pool drained and painted American-flag blue — and it immediately turned green with algae again. The Department of Interior deployed hydrogen peroxide buckets into a 7-million-gallon tank (you'd need 5,000–7,000 gallons for even a week of cleanliness), declared victory anyway, and then blamed Democrats for sabotage. It's Trump's entire presidency in one petri dish.
Tommy Vietor went to a USA-Paraguay World Cup qualifier and felt something that's been missing from Democratic politics: unabashed love of country. Jon Favreau cited World Cup visitors from abroad who expected a dystopia and found a great nation. The message: just because Trump is president doesn't mean the country is bad — and Democrats need to stop ceding that terrain.
You can't just tell Democrats to be more like Obama — that's like telling someone to dunk more like Michael Jordan. But there are three things any communicator can steal: own patriotism unapologetically, always take the hardest question head-on, and frame everything as a values story rather than a policy list.
The 2008 Obama campaign ran on 'change,' but what actually carried him to the White House in the final weeks was something quieter: a preternatural evenness and reliability that made voters comfortable taking a chance on him when the financial crisis hit and John McCain seemed erratic. That calm has only grown more striking in contrast to what Trump is.
While JD Vance was doing a book tour, Marco Rubio — the national security adviser and secretary of state — went completely dark during the Iran MOU saga. Tommy Vietor pointed out that Rubio, who once ran press conferences about Iran's ballistic missile threat, hadn't done a single interview about the deal he was photographed standing next to Trump to sign.
A CBS News poll found 70% of Americans believe the Iran war was not worth the cost. Even 56% of self-identified MAGA Republicans want the conflict ended now. When you can't hold your own base, the political damage is real.
Trump's $16.5 million no-bid pool renovation — awarded to a convicted crony — failed spectacularly, with algae blooms and peeling liner. Rather than admit failure, the administration invented phantom vandals, posted AI-altered images of a clean pool, and then arrested people just for looking at the mess.
JD Vance told Ross Douthat that unlike Obama's deal, the new arrangement removes Iran's enriched uranium. That's flatly false. Under the JCPOA, Iran shipped 97% of its stockpile to Russia. The current deal would merely down-blend it and keep it inside Iran.
In April, Trump boasted the reflecting pool's new lining was so strong that even a knife couldn't cut it, and would last 50 years. When it failed, he claimed a 350-foot slit was cut by a box cutter. The irony is complete: he gave the vandals their script.
The Obama Presidential Center opened its doors today in Chicago, and the PSA hosts were among the first inside. The museum is less a monument to the past and more a deliberate call to action, built around the idea that community organizing, not nostalgia, is what actually changes America.
Analysis
What they talk about
- Society & Culture 40%
- Government 30%
- News 20%
- History 10%
Connections
Shows they appear on and people they share episodes with. Drag to explore.
