Men explaining things and thinking it’s fine because they are woke and liberal. Michael Pollen interview is so out of touch.

I applaud you having on these folks but it’s remarkable the degree to which ostensibly serious people like Caldwell will try and try and shape the inherent racism and cruelty of Trumpism into something profound. Trump has no theory or principle beyond the black hole of his greed and malice.

No foundational cohesive belief system, absent any logical reasoning, inarticulate in presenting a basic argument, inauthentic in its consistency.

The smartest people spend too much sitting and thinking instead of moving and lifting.

Love the Show - But Not This Episode! Ezra - you’re the best, but Caldwell was ill-prepared and offered almost no insight in this interview.

Caldwell’s entire theory rests on a 30-year-old memory he can barely articulate. When pressed, he crumbles. His prediction was wrong—polls contradicted him immediately. He can’t explain how an unpopular, self-enriching president represents “democratic restoration.” Instead, he offers abstractions: “It’s a republic.” “Quantum movements.” Word salad. He wanted to be taken seriously as a historian. Instead he just sounds evasive. The moment you actually push, there’s nothing underneath the rhetoric.

Listing as this becomes slowly moving from incredibly annoying to incredibly annoying to unlistenable

Caldwell is a well spoken monster.

Thanks Ezra for your insight and highlighting interesting and timely topics. Don’t listen to the haters!

Overall, I love the show and generally trust Ezra as curious and open to criticism, and dont agree with critics who think he’s a moderate or a standard DNC liberal (he’s too critical of identity politics, and too interested in economic populism for that), but I am constantly exasperated by the fact that he (and his guests) come so close to calling out the root of modern ills (capitalism) and its solution (socialism), but hold back at the decisive moment. How does he quote Marx in Abundance and go on socialist podcast Doomscroll yet refuse to interrogate socialism’s potential to liberate us from capitalism? I would at least expect a genuine attempt to critique the socialist program, considering that the Left’s most successful candidates by far are those who explicitly align themselves with socialism (Bernie and Mamdani in particular). There are so many people I would love Ezra to have on his show (anyone from Damage Magazine, Josh Citarella, Gabriel Rockhill, etc etc.) If he really wants to beat the allegations of neoliberalism, platform socialists, exposing both you and them to good faith critique.

It used to be very good but now the episodes are just too long. Brevity is an art form- he should learn it.

I’ve only recently started listening to this podcast but I enjoy the production and generally listen all the way through. I must admit they can be a bit long, so I listen in segments, but that can bother me so I try to listen during lunch on 1.3x speed while following along on the transcript. The content is relevant to me and guests have been experts, sharing their opinions that help inform mine. Thank you to Ezra Klein and staff for the great shows!

See above

Ezra doesn’t press people on his show. He lets them on, they express their opinions… and then the episode ends. That is not what the show was. It seems like an expression of uncertainty. And the cheat of “I let people decide” doesn’t stand for an op ed.

Ezra brings forth interesting debates though it’s not hard to feel which of his stances are influenced by his NYT echo chamber. The number one being his affirming the characterization of the war in Gaza as a genocide. The far-left was trolling Jews on October 8th, 2023 calling it a genocide before the war even started. Yes, the death toll in the Gaza war is a tragedy. That doesn’t give permission to change the definition of genocide to fit the anti-Israel narrative. This is Holocaust inversion and perverse. He should be pushing back on guests that continue to propagandize the Gaza war. I sympathize with innocent Palestinians, but it’s also my opinion that spreading lies to raise awareness for their cause only hurts them in the end.

Thought-provoking and engrossing

Why does Ezra Klein, a Jewish man, overwhelmingly favor inviting only Jewish guests?

Nothing more frustrating than news sources, who one would hope wish to educate listeners or provide some sort of novel discourse to ruminate upon, paywalling content. Another monthly subscription! Just what we all want! Unfortunately, EK is not a particularly compelling journalist to deserve the fee.

I appreciate that though I often do, I don’t always agree with ideas presented in this podcast. Every single episode expands my thinking rather than simply reinforcing or galvanising it. It is challenging and I think we should be doing that rather than dwelling in echo chambers or constantly seeking confirmation bias. Some podcasts - which I also enjoy - deal in information. This one also deals in ideas. Another crucial distinction. Also … the tone is close to perfection.

I am a fan as when I have time to listen I am always delighted how much I learned and the new insights I received. It is long but the depth makes it entertaining and always highly informative.

The interview with the negotiator of the JCPOA was incredibly insightful and this is the kind of journalism we need more of, thank you

When did Ezra’s focus regarding Iran shift from the concerns of the Iranian people to the considerations of the IRGC? Of course there is relevant political history, but there was no mention of 30,000+ Iranian citizens being murdered by the IRGC? No mention of even the concept of the red line being crossed? Disappointingly rank partisanship that leaves out key facts. Where are the real journalists?

Great interview but boy was she hard to listen to!! how she could not understand that he should’ve gone to Congress before this crazy war is beyond me!!

Excellent job of exposing Trump camp viewpoints. Alarming, unconstitutional and dangerous but at least boldly, proudly laid them out. The audacity that she feels one mind, the state,is better than the hive mind, the global community, to make decisions about war that impacts all is ludicrous. “Maybe in three years things will be better!”? We all want a seat at the table discussing these odds, Nadia. Hope you have her back!

When his guest says Congress doesn’t have the power to declare war and Ezra has to quote the Constitution back to her, that tells us all we need to know about her position. The Constitution is going to have to be quoted a lot in the coming years. Whether or not it’s adhered to is up to the humans who took oaths of office to protect and defend it. It only works if we collectively agree it does, otherwise it’s just words on old paper.

Nadia. What a nut. Trying to defend trump’s crazy strikes on Iran by contradicting herself left and right.

Comfortable white man brings on right wings to explain away oppressive regime who wants to build an technocratic ethnostate. Shame on you for not taking a stand. Every video is filled with “oh these crazy progressives, look at this prompt in 2024 they compared hitler to Trump”. As a software engineer, you spoke for over and hour about AI AND NEVER ONCE MENTIONED HALLUCINATIONS EITHER. Insane! You’re the reason we are here. Stop lying that you’re left leaning in anyway, you’re just a comfortable fence sitter. One who is deeply comfortable connecting with the regime killing and caging Americans.

Man this show has really declined in quality over the last few years. The AI sycophants with a direct financial incentive to pump up their products and conservative scholars sanitizing the right get far too many episodes with very little balance for AI skeptics or leftists. And on the off chance that guests in those spaces come on, Ezra holds them to much higher standards when pushing back on spurious claims a guest might make.

Nadia: "Congress does not have a constitutional role in the declaration of war." Ezra: *reading constitution* "Congress shall have the power to declare war..." Nadia: "Constitutionally, Congress has the power to declare war, but the issue is....." Honestly, the interview should have stopped there. We can't keep platforming people who do nothing but lie and mislead.

She clearly does not.

Ezra is such a deep thinking, smart, thoughtful host. I love the respect he pays to those he disagrees with. To that extent, he feels like the Anti- Rush Limbaugh—(tho I know that dates me 🤢)

I want to give a good review bc most episodes are amazing and insightful. But, sometimes he has right wings lunatics, good to have different perspectives, and gives as much pushback on their terrible arguments as a wet noodle. “Lets agree to disagree on basic facts that MAGATs are incapable accepting.”

I appreciate that EK can both make his progressive position clear AND explore different perspectives on an issue. Looking at things from all sides is the best way to understand it... Even when you conclude that the other side is, as usual, wrong. Lol.

This show often seems to assume that everyone listening has a political science degree. Half the time I genuinely don’t understand the language being used—not because the ideas are necessarily complex, but because the discussion is buried under jargon, misused English, and occasionally what sound like completely made-up terms. Instead, many conversations feel like a performance—men throwing around political science terminology, misusing words, and layering on jargon for the sake of sounding authoritative. The result isn’t enlightening; it’s confusing. For a format that’s supposed to help people understand the news, it often ends up doing the opposite. As someone who studied technology, I’m comfortable with complex or technical discussions. That’s exactly why it’s so frustrating to hear people brought on to talk about technology who clearly don’t understand it. Please stop inviting guests to discuss tech policy or technological issues if they don’t actually understand the underlying technology. It’s perfectly fine to focus on policy, but when someone presents themselves as knowledgeable about tech without that expertise, the conversation quickly becomes misleading. If technology is part of the discussion, bring on people who genuinely understand it—or at least acknowledge when someone is speaking from a policy perspective rather than a technical one.

I didn’t have anywhere else to put this but the best way I think to describe the war in Iran is a US Israel joint blitzkreig. We can see this in the elementary school they bombed while trying to attack a revolutionary guard’s force base. There is no thought into this, it brings to mind the cobra Kai mantra strike first, strike hard, and strike fast. Ezra thank you for being brave enough to actually talk about what’s going on in the world.

Wow! Talk about a chauvinistic view of the world.

Lib zionist

I listen to the Daily everyday, I love plain English with Derek Thompson, so I figured I would like the Ezra Klein show. Unfortunately, for some reason, I just don’t like the podcast. Does it lack interesting discourse? Maybe I just don’t like his voice? I can never finish an episode

On what basis did you conclude that Talarico was better for Texas than Crocket? Please question your prejudices.

I have enjoyed your commentary in the past and decided to listen to a podcast this morning to listen to a voice of reason to block the noise of the totalitarian hypocrisy and lies. Seriously, of all the companies you could have picked to sponsor your show you pick Philip Morris? A company that creates a product that targets youth to get them addicted and when used as directed kills 30% of its users. It is so disappointing. It also makes me question the legitimacy and authenticity of what you were saying if you’re gonna talk to talk, you need to walk the walk. So much for my fantasy of finding a like minded, honest, voice of reason! Cancelled!

Another excellent episode (end-Feb 2026), as usual, as expected, as always so eagerly awaited. But why no Ezra’s 3 recommended books?

I am trying to listen and understand what you have to offer and it is so fast! Sounds like a dam chipmunk talking.

The Ezra Klein Show.

The CEOs need to know that people HATE AI. I don’t want any sort of thing involving AI unless it’s for medical needs. Everything else has been over promised.

Lacks any kind of journalistic integrity and falls in line with NY Times spineless editorial slant.

Ezra is a dimwit. Why is it so hard for anyone to say so? He has landed in this position by pure luck, and has the audacity to write a book blaming Democrats for failing to deliver “abundance” when every economic indicator shows that few can afford the surfeit of everything because billionaires refuse to increase wages and to pay taxes. This man is a huge discredit to the Times, informed discourse and reasoning.

I subscribe to the Times and read it on my phone. I also listen to Ezra Klein’s podcast frequently, and other Times podcasts occasionally, again, on my phone. Why can’t the Times be bothered to link its podcasts to its subscriber base? I do not want to have to sign in twice to get the same coverage. You can tell this because I am willing to take the time to write you instead of signing in again. Your move to make people pay for the podcasts is ill advised, and it is also frankly annoying for those who pay for a subscription.

Why am I even listening to this ad when I’m a subscriber. I have not complained before but this one dear lord stop it. And it’s repeated twice in a row at times.

I am thankful for having Ezra Klein provide us with such insightful and thoughtful discussions. You can tell just how much effort he makes to ensure each episode is a great one.

You never discussed the amount of time trump spends on grifting.