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Hosted by Paul Waldman · news · EN
Slicing politics open to peer inside its disturbing innards and determine how it all works. Paul Waldman interviews scholars, journalists, analysts, and newsmakers to make sense of the political world.
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Contact path
Verified email
Booking probability
20%
Guest openness
Selective
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Signup to Generate a PitchSlicing politics open to peer inside its disturbing innards and determine how it all works. Paul Waldman interviews scholars, journalists, analysts, and newsmakers to make sense of the political world.
The Cross Section is hosted by Paul Waldman. The show has published 25 episodes to date.
Recent episodes include "RIP, separation of church and state" (17 July 2025, 34 minutes), "The biggest climate problem you aren't thinking about" (29 June 2025, 35 minutes), and "Wrestling With Passover" (11 April 2025, 35 minutes).
The Cross Section publishes roughly monthly, with episodes averaging 41 minutes across 25 episodes.
Booking probability for The Cross Section is 20%, and the host is rated Selective on guests. The Cross Section requires a Pod Score of 80 or higher. The Cross Section's contact route on record: verified email.
The strongest fits for The Cross Section are Government & Politics. The Cross Section has a news audience.
Paul Waldman hosts The Cross Section, a news podcast with 25 episodes published.
Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.
Episode #27
<p>The IRS recently decided that it's perfectly fine for churches and other houses of worship to endorse candidates, upending 70 years of established law. It's just one of the ways the Christian right and the Republican...
<p>In the next 25 years, the world will have to produce 50% more food -- and most of our habitable land is already devoted to the production of food. In order to feed ourselves, we risk doing even more damage to the...
Episode #25
<p>Passover is a holiday about oppression, liberation, immigration, and the nature of the diaspora. How should we think about it in 2025? Paul talks with Rabbi Yael Ridberg to wrestle with the religious, sociological...
Episode #24
<p>Joe Biden made more policy progress on climate change than any president in history, so it might not have been crazy to think what he accomplished would be difficult to unwind - or that Donald Trump might not put too...
Episode #23
<p>I talk with Henry Farrell, one of the most trenchant observers of the ground where politics, technology and commerce meet, to explore the intellectual and personal roots of Silicon Valley's right-wing turn. </p>
Episode #22
<p>Amid the daily horrors emanating from the Trump/Musk White House, you may not have given much thought to the possibility of a rapid, nationwide economic downturn fed by hundreds of thousands of layoffs of federal...
Episode #21
<p>Amid the assault on the American government currently underway from Donald Trump and Elon Musk, we've all asked ourselves this question: Wait, can they do that? To help answer the question, I'm joined by University...
<p>Ayelet and Paul are joined by Talia Lavin, author of Wild Faith: How the Christian Right Is Taking Over America to talk about the origins and spread of Christian nationalism, and how spanking your kids might just...
Episode #19
<p>Earlier this year, Palestinian-American filmmaker Mo Husseini went viral with a Medium post about Israel-Palestine titled 50 Completely True Things. In a discussion that is probing, thoughtful, humane and even...
<p>We interview labor reporter Hamilton Nolan, author of The Hammer: Power, Inequality, and the Struggle for the Soul of Labor about the recent rise in union organizing, the trouble with the big unions, and the bizarre...
Episode #17
<p>Do you overreact to every poll that comes out, endangering your mental health as the election approaches? Do the words "New York Times/Sienna poll" send you into a cold sweat? We're here to help. Ayelet and Paul talk...
Episode #16
<p>"Kamala is brat!" If you have no idea what that means, you may not be aware that Democrats seem to be winning the war of memes in the 2024 presidential campaign. Why are they doing better at this battle of online...
Episode #15
<p>Ayelet and Paul unpack Democrats' bright new dawn, with Kamala Harris now their presumptive nominee. Is she a better candidate than she was four years ago? Will Democrats now be united forever? And what's the deal...
Episode #14
<p>Is the president too old to win? Are we mad at him? What happens now? Ayelet and Paul work through their feelings and look toward the bleak future.</p>
Episode #13
<p>Ayelet and Paul are joined by showrunner, screenwriter, comic book writer, and novelist Marc Guggenheim, the man behind shows including Arrow, DC's Legends of Tomorrow, and Tales of Arcadia, to talk about why...
Episode #12
<p>Ayelet and Paul are joined by Peggy Orenstein to discuss her recent viral New York Times article about young people, sex, and choking. Parents, tune in to get freaked out about what Kids Today are doing!</p>
<p>With so much attention focused on Gaza since October 7, an important story is being ignored: Harassment and violence against Palestinians who live on the West Bank has intensified, as far-right Israeli settlers and...
Episode #10
<p>In this shorter bonus episode, Paul interviews Dominic Erdozain about his new book, One Nation Under Guns: How Gun Culture Distorts Our History and Threatens Our Democracy. We talk about what the Framers really...
<p>Just how bad is the Supreme Court? Can anything be done about it? Ayelet and Paul are joined by Sarah Lipton-Lubet, president of Take Back the Court, to discuss how and why the Supreme Court is doing such damage to...
Episode #8
<p>Ayelet and Paul are joined by historian Natalia Mehlman Petrzela for a wide-ranging discussion on masculinity, in both politics and personal lives.</p>
Recent guests on The Cross Section. Study who booked and why before you pitch.
investigative journalist and author, Arizona State University
award-winning journalist and best-selling author, Canary Media
SNF Agora Professor of International Affairs, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies
Frank G. Millard Professor of Law, University of Michigan
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