Ben is a writer and political adviser. He served as a deputy national security advisor and speechwriter to Obama for both terms. He’s currently a co-host of “Pod Save the World,” a contributing opinion writer for the NYT, and a contributor for MS NOW. He’s the author of After the Fall and The World as It Is, and his new book is All We Say: The Battle for American Identity: A History in 15 Speeches. We avoided saying anything that might upset the Ellisons. Enjoy!

For two clips of the episode — on AIPAC opposing the JCPOA, and our latest catastrophe in the Middle East — head to our YouTube page.

Other topics: raised in NYC by a Methodist dad from small-town Texas and a Jewish mom whose relatives died in the Holocaust; lots of political debate growing up; Hemingway and Fitzgerald as formative writers; Orwell; Graham Greene and the brokenness of the world; Obama’s sense of realism; Lee Hamilton a key mentor; moving to DC after 9/11 to write about foreign policy; Obama and Crimea; Syria and the refugee crisis; the Paris agreement; Netanyahu’s disdain for Obama; the antisemite card; the Iron Dome; the Dish covering the Green Revolution; Hegseth’s hubris; the LEGO meme videos; Trump’s supervillain statements; the Hormuz debacle; the IDF quartering its soldiers in Palestine; the never-ending settlements; pogroms in the West Bank; the abuse in Israel prisons; the Greenland threat; NATO stepping up to fund Ukraine; the drone revolution; Trump’s demagogic genius; Obama’s speechmaking; his Peace Prize; Niebuhr; Lincoln’s second inaugural; FDR’s “Four Freedoms” speech to end isolationism; JFK; the talent of Jon Ossoff; and the disappointments of Obama’s post-presidency.

Browse the Dishcast archive for an episode you might enjoy. Coming up: Tiffany Jenkins on privacy in a liberal democracy, Daniel McCarthy on conservatism, John Gray on Trump’s new world, Bob Wright on the evolutionary force of AI, Stephen Grosz on the struggles of love, David Thomson on cinema history, James Verini on Ukraine, John O’Sullivan on Hungary, and Robby George on all our disagreements. Please send any guest recs, dissents, and other comments to dish@andrewsullivan.com.

Bill is a historian. He currently teaches at the University of Texas, where he holds the Jack S. Blanton Sr. Chair in History. He’s the author of more than 30 books, including The First American and Traitor to His Class. His new book is American Patriarch: The Life of George Washington. As part of our occasional series on great Americans, it was time for the OG American. I learned a lot reading the book and talking to Bill.

For two clips of the episode — on Washington’s humane display of aristocracy, and how he’s the antidote to today’s politics — head to our YouTube page.

Other topics: Bill growing up in a Catholic neighborhood in Portland, Oregon; teaching at a Jesuit high school in his early 20s; the different styles of historians; Washington born into the Virginia gentry; losing his dad at a young age; smallpox as a teen likely making him infertile but protecting him during war; his skill at land surveying; joining Ben Franklin in the Ohio Company of land speculation; British arrogance toward colonists; GW accidentally sparking the French and Indian War; his grudge against the Crown; losing most of his battles but winning both wars; his Dunkirk and his D-Day; a meh tactician but a grand strategist; his wise retreats; absconding to Mount Vernon; Hamilton and LaFayette as surrogate sons; attacking the Brits on Christmas; holding the army together at Valley Forge; the deep loyalty of his men; keeping his ego in check; Shays’ Rebellion; GW the key to securing the Constitution; declaring neutrality in European wars; his farewell address; and warning against partisanship.

Browse the Dishcast archive for an episode you might enjoy. Coming up: Ben Rhodes on Iran and speech-writing, John Gray on Trump’s new world, Bob Wright on the evolutionary force of AI, Tiffany Jenkins on privacy in a liberal democracy, Daniel McCarthy on conservatism, Stephen Grosz on the struggles of love, David Thomson on cinema history, and Robby George on all our disagreements. Please send any guest recs, dissents, and other comments to dish@andrewsullivan.com.

Harvey is a political philosopher. He’s been on the faculty at Harvard since 1962, and he’s currently the William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Government. His 13 books include Taming the Prince, Manliness, and Machiavelli’s Effectual Truth. His new book is The Rise and Fall of Rational Control: The History of Modern Political Philosophy. Harvey was my tutor as a graduate student at Harvard, an overseer of my dissertation, and I was a teaching fellow for the course in modern political thought that his latest book reprises brilliantly. To be honest, my reverence for him made me nervous for this podcast. But his brilliance and dry humor and joie de vivre all came through, and he put me at ease.

For two clips of the episode — on the shift from virtue to freedom during the Enlightenment, and how Nietzsche reframed the West — head to our YouTube page.

Other topics: raised by New Deal liberals in New Haven and DC; his dad a Yale professor and mom a musician; Leo Strauss an academic mentor; thymos and masculinity; Plato’s Apology of Socrates; Aristotle; Aquinas; why democracy leads to tyranny; the humor of Machiavelli; Spinoza and dissent; Locke’s Two Treatises; the incest prohibition; Hegel; Hobbes; common sense; Nietzsche and nihilism; deconstructing Christianity; science as a product of “white supremacy”; the sex binary; de Beauvoir’s Second Sex; the postmodern view of science; Rawls; AI and human obsolescence; grade inflation; Judith Shklar and her love of Montaigne; Oakeshott; anti-semitism on campus after 10/7; and how moderns set aside the deepest questions.

Browse the Dishcast archive for an episode you might enjoy. We have some real stars coming up: Ben Rhodes on Iran and speech-writing, HW Brands on the life of George Washington, John Gray on Trump’s new world, Bob Wright on the evolutionary force of AI, Tiffany Jenkins on privacy in a liberal democracy, Daniel McCarthy on conservatism, Stephen Grosz on the struggles of love, and Robby George on all our disagreements. Please send any guest recs, dissents, and other comments to dish@andrewsullivan.com.