The Chuck ToddCast

Novelist Elliot Ackerman and retired Admiral James Stavridis — the former NATO Supreme Allied Commander — join the Chuck Toddcast to discuss their new novel 2084 and to deliver some deeply uncomfortable warnings about where war, technology, and great-power competition are actually headed. The duo, whose previous collaboration 2034 imagined a U.S.-China war, are quick to clarify that their work isn't predictive fiction — it's cautionary fiction, written from the conviction that major disasters almost always stem from a failure of imagination, and that the only way to prevent the worst-case scenarios is to seriously imagine them first. Ackerman and Stavridis argue that war has fundamentally changed, that superpowers are now uniquely vulnerable to asymmetric warfare, and that victors are made or unmade by their willingness to adapt to new technologies — pointing to the Ukraine war as a real-time revolution in drone combat and AI-driven battlefield decision-making. They raise the hardest moral question facing modern militaries: do you always need a human in the loop of the kill chain, and if not, who is morally responsible when something goes wrong? Different countries are answering that question in different ways, with profoundly different ethical and strategic consequences.
The conversation broadens into the deeper structural concerns animating 2084. Ackerman and Stavridis warn that one of the gravest threats to the international order is the rise of corporations whose power is beginning to rival that of nation-states — and they argue the defining feature of a nation-state has always been its monopoly on violence, meaning governments will eventually be forced to ensure corporations can't apply violence at scale (a fight that has already begun in subtle ways). They flag Trump's recent summit with Xi Jinping as a massive win for China, with Xi clearly presenting himself as the senior partner while Trump walked away with very little — and the meeting was particularly catastrophic for Taiwan, whose strategic standing has now been visibly weakened. The authors discuss whether democracy will remain the defining feature of America going forward, whether the country can overcome its current internal divisions, and how human patterns of warfare repeat themselves across centuries even as the technology evolves. They make the case that the 1983 film War Games was prescient and overdue for a reboot, that military action against Cuba would be nothing like Venezuela — politically much tougher given the engaged Cuban-American community in Florida, and economically far more expensive on the reconstruction side — and that Venezuela itself has the natural resources to one day become "the Dubai of the Caribbean" if its politics ever stabilize. Their bottom-line warning is the one most worth sitting with: the war between the United States and China is the one we all hope to avoid, and the only way to make sure it never happens is to take seriously the possibility that it could.
Link in bio or go to https://getsoul.com & enter code TODDCAST for 30% off your first order.
Thank you Wildgrain for sponsoring. Visit http://wildgrain.com/TODDCAST and use the code "TODDCAST" at checkout to receive $30 off your first box PLUS free Croissants for life!
Timeline:
(Timestamps may vary based on advertisements)
00:00 Elliot Ackerman & Admiral James Stavridis join the Chuck ToddCast
01:00 2084 is not predictive fiction, it’s cautionary fiction
02:00 Major disasters come from a failure of imagination
03:15 Planned the arc of multiple books in advance
04:30 You can’t be too dystopian or too pollyannish
05:30 War has changed and superpowers are vulnerable to asymmetric war
06:15 Victors are made by adapting to new technologies
06:45 Ukraine war has revolutionized fighting with drones and AI
07:30 War is terrible and drones risk “gamifying” it
09:00 Questions surround whether humans must be involved in “kill chain”
10:45 Always having a human in the loop may not always be best option
11:45 AI tools have moral questions that countries answer differently
13:00 The risk of corporations being more powerful than nation states
14:15 Nation states will ensure that corporations can’t apply violence at scale
15:15 Defining feature of a nation state is a monopoly on violence
18:00 Book predicts that Greenland will be growing wine due to climate change
18:30 War between U.S. and China is the one we all hope to avoid
19:00 Trump’s summit with Xi was a massive with for Xi and China
19:30 Xi seemed like the senior partner, Trump got very little\
20:15 The summit was terrible for Taiwan
21:30 2034 started with the thesis of the U.S. and China going to war
23:45 Will democracy remain the defining feature of America?
24:15 Can America overcome the big divisions in the nation?
25:45 War is something humans have engaged in & you can see patterns emerge
28:00 Other war books served as cautionary fiction & inspiration for the book
30:15 The movie “War Games” needs a reboot, it was prescient
31:30 Military action against Cuba won’t be like Venezuela, will be much tougher
32:30 The Cuban American community in Florida would be very engaged
33:45 Venezuela has the resources to be Dubai on the Caribbean
34:15 Reconstruction of Cuba would be wildly expensive
35:00 What is your next project?
35:30 Don’t need to read the earlier books to read 2084, they stand on their own
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chuck Todd uses the fallout from the Texas runoff to identify a much bigger pattern emerging across the Sun Belt — and argues we may be watching a generational realignment of American politics in real time. For decades, Southern states moved steadily from blue to red, with the Sun Belt providing the demographic engine of every Republican majority and Democrats traditionally finding their path to power through the upper Midwest. But Trump's GOP has now moved so far right that it's quietly opening the door for Democrats across the South — the blue shift we've seen in Georgia over the past decade is starting to happen in Texas, and the Trump brand has badly complicated things for the centrist voters who used to keep these states reliably Republican. Chuck argues that successful Southern Republican governors of the past spent enormous energy doing coalition management — keeping their activist wing at bay while delivering for swing voters — but Republicans misread their recent electoral dominance and started catering exclusively to their base instead.The data is clear: election deniers consistently lose in Georgia, and when every single issue becomes a loyalty test, you bleed exactly the kind of voters you need to actually win.
But Chuck’s larger argument is that Democrats are blowing the opportunity. He argues the Democratic path back to power is genuinely simple — economic inequality and the concentration of corporate power are causing virtually all of America's ills, and there's a coherent coalition waiting to be built around those issues — but progressives behave like they've already won the intellectual argument and refuse to do the actual work of persuasion. There's no "pure" way to win, Chuck says: winning coalitions are inherently messy, both party bases want movement politics, but the actual electorate consistently rewards coalition politics. Americans increasingly dislike both parties for very different reasons — moderate voters think Democrats are weak and Republicans are too extreme — and what they're actually hungry for is a coalition that is stable and visibly capable of governing.
Finally, he answers listeners' questions in the "Ask Chuck" segment.
Predict the action all the way through the finals. Sign up now for your twenty-five dollar bonus on https://fanduel.com/predicts
Link in bio or go to https://getsoul.com & enter code TODDCAST for 30% off your first order.
Thank you Wildgrain for sponsoring. Visit http://wildgrain.com/TODDCAST and use the code "TODDCAST" at checkout to receive $30 off your first box PLUS free Croissants for life!
Timeline:
(Timestamps may vary based on advertisements)
00:00 Chuck Todd’s introduction
0:15 Fallout from Texas runoff - We’re seeing a pattern in the Sun Belt
1:00 For decades, southern states have been transitioning from blue to red
2:00 Sun belt states have powered the Republican majority
3:15 Democrats path to power used to be the midwest, now is moving south
4:00 Republicans move to the right has created Dem opportunities in Sun Belt
5:30 The shift to blue we’ve seen in Georgia is starting to happen in Texas
6:30 The Trump brand has complicated things for centrist voters in the south
7:15 Will Ken Paxton be the Mark Robinson of Texas?
8:15 Southern governors were able to keep their activist wing at bay
9:45 GOP leaders in the south had to perform coalition management
11:00 Republicans misunderstood election dominance, then catered to base
12:00 Florida GOP has purged most of its institutional wing
13:15 Loudest activists have set the tone for the Republican party
14:00 Arizona GOP went way too far to the right, less competitive now
16:00 Election deniers have consistently lost in Georgia
17:00 When every issue becomes a loyalty test, you bleed voters
18:15 Texas election will test if the Texas GOP went too far right
20:15 Dems path to power is simple, but have to be willing to take it
22:00 Economic inequality & concentration of power are causing all of our ills
22:30 Progressives behave like they’ve won the intellectual argument
23:15 It’s hard to convince most dedicated supporters what the winning path is
24:15 Republicans are losing due to Trump’s purging of the party
26:30 There’s no “pure” way to win, winning coalitions are messy
27:45 Both bases want movement politics, electorate rewards coalition politics
29:15 Americans increasingly dislike both parties for different reasons
31:15 Base Democrats are taking the wrong lessons from Trump
32:00 Moderate voters think Dems are weak, and GOP is too extreme
33:15 Voters want a coalition that’s stable and capable of governing
35:30 Biden governed differently than he campaign and voters punished him
41:30 Ask Chuck
41:45 Taking the high road in politics doesn’t always work, worth the trade off?
47:15 How do you see election results in 2026 shaping the gerrymandering fight?
50:15 Are presidential approval polls too limited or not comprehensive enough?
54:30 Do you see a path forward for people who believe in healing our politics?
1:01:15 Would it make sense to draw districts without humans involved using metrics?
1:08:45 Is expanding the house realistic considering politics & public perception?
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chuck Todd uses the fallout from the Texas runoff to identify a much bigger pattern emerging across the Sun Belt — and argues we may be watching a generational realignment of American politics in real time. For decades, Southern states moved steadily from blue to red, with the Sun Belt providing the demographic engine of every Republican majority and Democrats traditionally finding their path to power through the upper Midwest. But Trump's GOP has now moved so far right that it's quietly opening the door for Democrats across the South — the blue shift we've seen in Georgia over the past decade is starting to happen in Texas, and the Trump brand has badly complicated things for the centrist voters who used to keep these states reliably Republican. Chuck argues that successful Southern Republican governors of the past spent enormous energy doing coalition management — keeping their activist wing at bay while delivering for swing voters — but Republicans misread their recent electoral dominance and started catering exclusively to their base instead.The data is clear: election deniers consistently lose in Georgia, and when every single issue becomes a loyalty test, you bleed exactly the kind of voters you need to actually win.
But Chuck’s larger argument is that Democrats are blowing the opportunity. He argues the Democratic path back to power is genuinely simple — economic inequality and the concentration of corporate power are causing virtually all of America's ills, and there's a coherent coalition waiting to be built around those issues — but progressives behave like they've already won the intellectual argument and refuse to do the actual work of persuasion. There's no "pure" way to win, Chuck says: winning coalitions are inherently messy, both party bases want movement politics, but the actual electorate consistently rewards coalition politics. Americans increasingly dislike both parties for very different reasons — moderate voters think Democrats are weak and Republicans are too extreme — and what they're actually hungry for is a coalition that is stable and visibly capable of governing.
Then, novelist Elliot Ackerman and retired Admiral James Stavridis — the former NATO Supreme Allied Commander — join the Chuck Toddcast to discuss their new novel 2084 and to deliver some deeply uncomfortable warnings about where war, technology, and great-power competition are actually headed. The duo, whose previous collaboration 2034 imagined a U.S.-China war, are quick to clarify that their work isn't predictive fiction — it's cautionary fiction, written from the conviction that major disasters almost always stem from a failure of imagination, and that the only way to prevent the worst-case scenarios is to seriously imagine them first. Ackerman and Stavridis argue that war has fundamentally changed, that superpowers are now uniquely vulnerable to asymmetric warfare, and that victors are made or unmade by their willingness to adapt to new technologies — pointing to the Ukraine war as a real-time revolution in drone combat and AI-driven battlefield decision-making. They raise the hardest moral question facing modern militaries: do you always need a human in the loop of the kill chain, and if not, who is morally responsible when something goes wrong? Different countries are answering that question in different ways, with profoundly different ethical and strategic consequences.
The conversation broadens into the deeper structural concerns animating 2084. Ackerman and Stavridis warn that one of the gravest threats to the international order is the rise of corporations whose power is beginning to rival that of nation-states — and they argue the defining feature of a nation-state has always been its monopoly on violence, meaning governments will eventually be forced to ensure corporations can't apply violence at scale (a fight that has already begun in subtle ways). They flag Trump's recent summit with Xi Jinping as a massive win for China, with Xi clearly presenting himself as the senior partner while Trump walked away with very little — and the meeting was particularly catastrophic for Taiwan, whose strategic standing has now been visibly weakened. The authors discuss whether democracy will remain the defining feature of America going forward, whether the country can overcome its current internal divisions, and how human patterns of warfare repeat themselves across centuries even as the technology evolves. They make the case that the 1983 film War Games was prescient and overdue for a reboot, that military action against Cuba would be nothing like Venezuela — politically much tougher given the engaged Cuban-American community in Florida, and economically far more expensive on the reconstruction side — and that Venezuela itself has the natural resources to one day become "the Dubai of the Caribbean" if its politics ever stabilize. Their bottom-line warning is the one most worth sitting with: the war between the United States and China is the one we all hope to avoid, and the only way to make sure it never happens is to take seriously the possibility that it could.
Finally, he answers listeners' questions in the "Ask Chuck" segment.
Predict the action all the way through the finals. Sign up now for your twenty-five dollar bonus on https://fanduel.com/predicts
Link in bio or go to https://getsoul.com & enter code TODDCAST for 30% off your first order.
Thank you Wildgrain for sponsoring. Visit http://wildgrain.com/TODDCAST and use the code "TODDCAST" at checkout to receive $30 off your first box PLUS free Croissants for life!
Timeline:
(Timestamps may vary based on advertisements
00:00 Chuck Todd’s introduction
03:00 Fallout from Texas runoff - We’re seeing a pattern in the Sun Belt
03:45 For decades,southern states have been transitioning from blue to red
04:45 Sun belt states have powered the Republican majority
06:00 Democrats path to power used to be the midwest, now is moving south
06:45 Republicans move to the right has created Dem opportunities in Sun Belt
08:15 The shift to blue we’ve seen in Georgia is starting to happen in Texas
09:15 The Trump brand has complicated things for centrist voters in the south
10:00 Will Ken Paxton be the Mark Robinson of Texas?
11:00 Southern governors were able to keep their activist wing at bay
12:30 GOP leaders in the south had to perform coalition management
13:45 Republicans misunderstood election dominance, then catered to base
14:45 Florida GOP has purged most of its institutional wing
16:00 Loudest activists have set the tone for the Republican party
16:45 Arizona GOP went way too far to the right, less competitive now
18:45 Election deniers have consistently lost in Georgia
19:45 When every issue becomes a loyalty test, you bleed voters
21:00 Texas election will test if the Texas GOP went too far right
23:00 Dems path to power is simple, but have to be willing to take it
24:45 Economic inequality & concentration of power are causing all of our ills
25:15 Progressives behave like they’ve won the intellectual argument
26:00 It’s hard to convince most dedicated supporters what the winning path is
27:00 Republicans are losing due to Trump’s purging of the party
29:15 There’s no “pure” way to win, winning coalitions are messy
30:30 Both bases want movement politics, electorate rewards coalition politics
32:00 Americans increasingly dislike both parties for different reasons
34:00 Base Democrats are taking the wrong lessons from Trump
34:45 Moderate voters think Dems are weak, and GOP is too extreme
36:00 Voters want a coalition that’s stable and capable of governing
38:15 Biden governed differently than he campaign and voters punished him
44:30 Elliot Ackerman & Admiral James Stavridis join the Chuck ToddCast
45:30 2084 is not predictive fiction, it’s cautionary fiction
46:30 Major disasters come from a failure of imagination
47:45 Planned the arc of multiple books in advance
49:00 You can’t be too dystopian or too pollyannish
50:00 War has changed and superpowers are vulnerable to asymmetric war
50:45 Victors are made by adapting to new technologies
51:15 Ukraine war has revolutionized fighting with drones and AI
52:00 War is terrible and drones risk “gamifying” it
53:30 Questions surround whether humans must be involved in “kill chain”
55:15 Always having a human in the loop may not always be best option
56:15 AI tools have moral questions that countries answer differently
57:30 The risk of corporations being more powerful than nation states
58:45 Nation states will ensure that corporations can’t apply violence at scale
59:45 Defining feature of a nation state is a monopoly on violence
1:02:30 Book predicts that Greenland will be growing wine due to climate change
1:03:00 War between U.S. and China is the one we all hope to avoid
1:03:30 Trump’s summit with Xi was a massive with for Xi and China
1:04:00 Xi seemed like the senior partner, Trump got very little\
1:04:45 The summit was terrible for Taiwan
1:06:00 2034 started with the thesis of the U.S. and China going to war
1:08:15 Will democracy remain the defining feature of America?
1:08:45 Can America overcome the big divisions in the nation?
1:10:15 War is something humans have engaged in & you can see patterns emerge
1:12:30 Other war books served as cautionary fiction & inspiration for the book
1:14:45 The movie “War Games” needs a reboot, it was prescient
1:16:00 Military action against Cuba won’t be like Venezuela, will be much tougher
1:17:00 The Cuban American community in Florida would be very engaged
1:18:15 Venezuela has the resources to be Dubai on the Caribbean
1:18:45 Reconstruction of Cuba would be wildly expensive
1:19:30 What is your next project?
1:20:00 Don’t need to read the earlier books to read 2084, they stand on their own
1:22:15 Ask Chuck
1:22:30 Taking the high road in politics doesn’t always work, worth the trade off?
1:28:00 How do you see election results in 2026 shaping the gerrymandering fight?
1:31:00 Are presidential approval polls too limited or not comprehensive enough?
1:35:15 Do you see a path forward for people who believe in healing our politics?
1:42:00 Would it make sense to draw districts without humans involved using metrics?
1:49:30 Is expanding the house realistic considering politics & public perception?
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Virginia Kase Solomon — president of Common Cause, one of the country's oldest and most respected pro-democracy organizations — joins the Chuck Toddcast to deliver a clear-eyed assessment of just how broken American self-government has become, and what it might actually take to fix it. Kase Solomon argues that Trump's corruption has gone so far beyond anything in modern history that it makes Watergate look quaint by comparison — she points to Trump stealing roughly $1.8 billion from American taxpayers as a single staggering example — but warns that the most dangerous development isn't the corruption itself, it's that young voters are growing up normalized to it, with no living memory of an administration where this kind of behavior carried consequences. She makes a striking comparison to Hungary, where it took genuinely staggering levels of corruption before Orbán could be toppled, and where the opposition only succeeded once it tied that corruption directly to degrading quality of life for ordinary people — a lesson she says American Democrats badly need to learn. They note that there are real bipartisan calls to address money in politics, that a congressional stock trading ban enjoys overwhelming public support, that Amy Klobuchar's Disclose Act keeps getting reintroduced and ignored, and that forced disclosure of large-dollar donors alone would significantly reduce political giving — but the country is on a runaway train, with big tech money flowing to whoever holds power and Trump openly running the country like a corporation.
The conversation broadens into Kase Solomon's structural diagnosis of why American democracy isn't working. She argues that the way the founders designed the country no longer functions in the modern era — but that the founders also gave us the tools to fix what's broken if we choose to use them. Congress is too small to genuinely represent the public, the Senate is horribly malapportioned, the Supreme Court has offered no real solution to the gerrymandering crisis, and we've completely lost the "statesmen" in Congress who once voted their conscience because there's no longer any incentive to compromise or work across the aisle. She is deeply concerned about the regulatory vacuum around AI — deepfakes have terrifying implications for elections and civil litigation is currently the only meaningful path to push back — and she warns that the election of judges has corrupted the rule of law in ways America needs a movement to address. Despite all of this, she is genuinely hopeful: Common Cause is litigating against the corruption, organizing a million conversations between activists and ordinary Americans, and operating from the conviction that the public isn't stupid and still loves this country. Her closing argument is the most American one possible: the United States has always emerged from its darkest periods better than it went in — but only because people refused to accept the broken system as permanent, and that work has to start now.

Link in bio or go to https://getsoul.com & enter code TODDCAST for 30% off your first order.
Refresh your wardrobe with Quince. Go to https://Quince.com/chuck for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns.
Thank you Wildgrain for sponsoring. Visit http://wildgrain.com/TODDCAST and use the code "TODDCAST" at checkout to receive $30 off your first box PLUS free Croissants for life!
Timeline:
(Timestamps may vary based on advertisements)
00:00 Virginia Kase Solomon (Common Cause) joins the Chuck ToddCast
01:30 Common Cause works to hold the government accountable to the people
02:30 Corporate lobbies have disproportionate power compared to people
03:15 Many people threw their hands up after Citizen’s United
04:30 States are working to change campaign finance rules
06:15 States can ban companies in their state from making political donations
08:00 Rules changes but money always seems to find a way around them
10:00 Parties stopped becoming the epicenter of political donations
11:30 There are bipartisan calls to do something about money in politics
13:00 More GOP support for reform at the state level than national level
13:45 We’re on a runaway train for money in politics
14:30 Big tech money goes to whoever is in power
15:00 The country is being run like a corporation
15:45 Jamie Raskin has started an anti-corruption task force
16:15 A congressional stock trading ban has massive public support
17:15 Trump is obviously corrupt, but people fear him too much to act
18:30 Forced disclosure of large dollar donors would reduce donations
19:30 Amy Klobuchar has put forward the Disclose Act in almost every congress
22:00 The Trump administration’s corruption is beyond egregious
22:45 Trump stealing $1.8 billion from taxpayers, makes Watergate look quaint
24:15 Young voters have grown up being normalized to this corruption
24:45 There will be a backlash to the corruption at some point
25:45 America’s long term global standing has been severely damaged
26:30 Common Cause is involved in litigation trying to prevent the corruption
28:30 Striving to have a million conversations between organizers & normal people
29:45 People are struggling and feeling fatigued
31:30 It took staggering levels of corruption in Hungary before Orban was toppled
32:30 Opposition in Hungary tied corruption to degrading quality of life
34:30 A fairness criteria was implemented in the California redistricting
35:30 CA and VA put redistricting before the voters, but still a race to the bottom
36:00 The Supreme Court hasn’t offered any solution to gerrymandering problem
37:00 Congress is too small to effectively represent the public
37:45 The senate is horribly malapportioned
39:30 The way the founders designed the country doesn’t work anymore
40:00 The founders gave us the tools to fix the democracy
42:15 There’s no incentive to work in a bipartisan manner or compromise
43:45 We’ve lost the “statesmen” in congress who vote their conscience
44:30 Politics has become a zero sum game
45:45 Politics has always been dirty, but we’ve hit an all-time low
47:00 Government seems completely unequipped to regulate AI
49:45 Deepfakes impact on elections are very concerning
51:00 Civil litigation is the only current path to push back on AI
52:30 Status of “sunshine laws” in the country? Could they be rolled back?
54:45 Need a movement against the election of the judiciary
57:45 The reason for optimism… is that people aren’t stupid and love the country
58:30 Our country has always emerged better after dark times
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chuck Todd opens with Ken Paxton's runoff blowout over John Cornyn — a result that confirms Texas Republicans remain the base of what eventually grew into MAGA nationally, that the insurgent wing of the GOP consistently wins in the state, and that Paxton is somehow simultaneously the least electable nominee Republicans could have picked and still electable enough to make this a real fight. He argues Texas is slowly moving toward swing state status the way Georgia did over the past decade — the ingredients are there for a Democrat to finally break through, the question is whether James Talarico can move his 45% number higher and prove he's the political athlete this moment requires. The downstream consequences for Republicans are brutal: the GOP will have to drop a $500 million anvil on Talarico that can't be deployed in other races, and Democrats' path to a Senate majority just got measurably wider.
But the more fascinating story Chuck unpacks is Pope Leo's stunning new document on AI, automated weapons, and concentrated power — a text Chuck argues is essentially an indictment of American military dominance dressed in the language of moral theology. The Pope explicitly compares AI-driven targeting systems to slavery, arguing both reduce human beings to data points and dehumanize their victims, and apologizes for the church's historic slowness on slavery while warning Catholics that they cannot afford the same slowness on artificial intelligence. He declares the centuries-old "just war" framework outdated, argues that no algorithm can ever make war morally acceptable, and pushes back forcefully on the entire concept of nuclear deterrence — drawing a direct line back to Pope Leo XIII's 1891 intervention on industrial capitalism. He argues the document, while never naming the United States, is speaking directly to American politicians: it's framed as a call for a moral framework around AI that can live above the political discourse, an explicit argument that technological capital must be regulated, and a warning that AI is not morally neutral no matter how much Silicon Valley wishes it were. The larger message is unmistakable — the Pope, who Chuck notes is now arguably the most formidable global moral voice that even secular Americans look to for clarity, has just put concentrated technological power on notice in a way no head of state has been willing to.
Then, Virginia Kase Solomon — president of Common Cause, one of the country's oldest and most respected pro-democracy organizations — joins the Chuck Toddcast to deliver a clear-eyed assessment of just how broken American self-government has become, and what it might actually take to fix it. Kase Solomon argues that Trump's corruption has gone so far beyond anything in modern history that it makes Watergate look quaint by comparison — she points to Trump stealing roughly $1.8 billion from American taxpayers as a single staggering example — but warns that the most dangerous development isn't the corruption itself, it's that young voters are growing up normalized to it, with no living memory of an administration where this kind of behavior carried consequences. She makes a striking comparison to Hungary, where it took genuinely staggering levels of corruption before Orbán could be toppled, and where the opposition only succeeded once it tied that corruption directly to degrading quality of life for ordinary people — a lesson she says American Democrats badly need to learn. They note that there are real bipartisan calls to address money in politics, that a congressional stock trading ban enjoys overwhelming public support, that Amy Klobuchar's Disclose Act keeps getting reintroduced and ignored, and that forced disclosure of large-dollar donors alone would significantly reduce political giving — but the country is on a runaway train, with big tech money flowing to whoever holds power and Trump openly running the country like a corporation.
The conversation broadens into Kase Solomon's structural diagnosis of why American democracy isn't working. She argues that the way the founders designed the country no longer functions in the modern era — but that the founders also gave us the tools to fix what's broken if we choose to use them. Congress is too small to genuinely represent the public, the Senate is horribly malapportioned, the Supreme Court has offered no real solution to the gerrymandering crisis, and we've completely lost the "statesmen" in Congress who once voted their conscience because there's no longer any incentive to compromise or work across the aisle. She is deeply concerned about the regulatory vacuum around AI — deepfakes have terrifying implications for elections and civil litigation is currently the only meaningful path to push back — and she warns that the election of judges has corrupted the rule of law in ways America needs a movement to address. Despite all of this, she is genuinely hopeful: Common Cause is litigating against the corruption, organizing a million conversations between activists and ordinary Americans, and operating from the conviction that the public isn't stupid and still loves this country. Her closing argument is the most American one possible: the United States has always emerged from its darkest periods better than it went in — but only because people refused to accept the broken system as permanent, and that work has to start now.
Finally, Chuck reveals his ToddCast Top 5 list of Democrats who could be vaulted into 2028 contender status for the presidency if they perform well in the midterms. He highlights two midwestern gubernatorial candidates, two upstart senate bids and one name that stands above the rest… Jon Ossoff of Georgia. He also answers listeners’ questions in the “Ask Chuck” segment.

Predict the action all the way through the finals. Sign up now for your twenty-five dollar bonus on https://fanduel.com/predicts
Link in bio or go to https://getsoul.com & enter code TODDCAST for 30% off your first order.
Refresh your wardrobe with Quince. Go to https://Quince.com/chuck for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns.
Thank you Wildgrain for sponsoring. Visit http://wildgrain.com/TODDCAST and use the code "TODDCAST" at checkout to receive $30 off your first box PLUS free Croissants for life!
Timeline:
(Timestamps may vary based on advertisements)
00:00 Chuck Todd’s introduction
03:30 Ken Paxton trounces John Cornyn in runoff election
05:00 Texas Republicans are the base for what grew into MAGA nationally
07:15 The insurgent wing of the GOP consistently wins in Texas
09:00 Paxton is the least electable nominee, but he’s still electable
10:30 Is 45% Talarico’s ceiling, or can he move that number higher?
11:30 Texas is slowly moving towards swing state status like Georgia did
13:00 Ingredients are there for a Democrat to finally break through in TX
15:30 Senate Republicans won’t be happy having to serve with Paxton
16:00 Texas is more winnable than other races for GOP, will have to spend in TX
16:30 Republicans will have to spend big to drop the anvil on Talarico
17:30 We’ll find out how talented of a political athlete Talarico is
19:30 This will be the magnet race that national reporters will focus on
21:30 Race will cost the GOP $500m that can’t be deployed elsewhere
23:15 Democrats now have a better chance of winning the senate
24:00 The Pope speaks to more than Catholics, seculars look to him for moral clarity
25:00 The Pope is formidable influencer in America
26:15 The Pope speaks out about AI, concentrated power & the “just war” theory
26:45 He compared automated weapons to slavery
28:00 The Pope spoke out similarly in 1891 during the Industrial Revolution
29:00 The Pope’s document says AI is not morally neutral
30:15 Document argues that technological capital needs to be regulated
30:45 The church has had a “just war” framework for hundreds of years
31:15 Pope Leo says “just war” framework is outdated
32:15 Document argues no algorithm can make war morally acceptable
33:15 Document argues against the concept of nuclear deterrence
33:45 Pope apologizes for church’s role in slavery
34:30 Document says AI systems reduce human beings into targeting data
35:00 Pope argues the dehumanization of AI targeting is similar to slavery
36:00 While not saying it directly, the document is speaking about the United States
37:00 The document is an indictment of American military dominance
38:30 Document does have a carve-out for self defence
40:15 The document was speaking directly to American politicians
41:30 A call for a moral framework for AI can live above the political discourse
42:30 Pope argues church was too slow on slavery, can’t be slow on AI
49:00 Virginia Kase Solomon (Common Cause) joins the Chuck ToddCast
50:30 Common Cause works to hold the government accountable to the people
51:30 Corporate lobbies have disproportionate power compared to people
52:15 Many people threw their hands up after Citizen’s United
53:30 States are working to change campaign finance rules
55:15 States can ban companies in their state from making political donations
57:00 Rules changes but money always seems to find a way around them
59:00 Parties stopped becoming the epicenter of political donations
1:00:30 There are bipartisan calls to do something about money in politics
1:02:00 More GOP support for reform at the state level than national level
1:02:45 We’re on a runaway train for money in politics
1:03:30 Big tech money goes to whoever is in power
1:04:00 The country is being run like a corporation
1:04:45 Jamie Raskin has started an anti-corruption task force
1:05:15 A congressional stock trading ban has massive public support
1:06:15 Trump is obviously corrupt, but people fear him too much to act
1:07:30 Forced disclosure of large dollar donors would reduce donations
1:08:30 Amy Klobuchar has put forward the Disclose Act in almost every congress
1:11:00 The Trump administration’s corruption is beyond egregious
1:11:45 Trump stealing $1.8 billion from taxpayers, makes Watergate look quaint
1:13:15 Young voters have grown up being normalized to this corruption
1:13:45 There will be a backlash to the corruption at some point
1:14:45 America’s long term global standing has been severely damaged
1:15:30 Common Cause is involved in litigation trying to prevent the corruption
1:17:30 Striving to have a million conversations between organizers & normal people
1:18:45 People are struggling and feeling fatigued
1:20:30 It took staggering levels of corruption in Hungary before Orban was toppled
1:21:30 Opposition in Hungary tied corruption to degrading quality of life
1:23:30 A fairness criteria was implemented in the California redistricting
1:24:30 CA and VA put redistricting before the voters, but still a race to the bottom
1:25:00 The Supreme Court hasn’t offered any solution to gerrymandering problem
1:26:00 Congress is too small to effectively represent the public
1:26:45 The senate is horribly malapportioned
1:28:30 The way the founders designed the country doesn’t work anymore
1:29:00 The founders gave us the tools to fix the democracy
1:31:15 There’s no incentive to work in a bipartisan manner or compromise
1:32:45 We’ve lost the “statesmen” in congress who vote their conscience
1:33:30 Politics has become a zero sum game
1:34:45 Politics has always been dirty, but we’ve hit an all-time low
1:36:00 Government seems completely unequipped to regulate AI
1:38:45 Deepfakes impact on elections are very concerning
1:40:00 Civil litigation is the only current path to push back on AI
1:41:30 Status of “sunshine laws” in the country? Could they be rolled back?
1:43:45 Need a movement against the election of the judiciary
1:46:45 The reason for optimism… is that people aren’t stupid and love the country
1:47:30 Our country has always emerged better after dark times
1:49:30 Chuck’s thoughts on interview with Virginia Kase Solomon
1:50:30 ToddCast Top 5 2028 contenders depending on their 2026 performance
1:54:00 #5 Amy Acton
1:56:15 #4 Rob Sand
1:57:45 #3 Graham Platner
2:01:15 #2 James Talarico
2:03:45 #1 Jon Ossoff
2:07:15 Ask Chuck
2:07:30 Why are people rounding up Trump’s 1.776B slush fund to $1.8b?
2:09:30 Supporting candidates you oppose just for judicial confirmations?
2:16:30 New Parallel AI model that prioritizes original writing and journalism?
2:20:15 How are candidates allowed to deploy financial resources during campaigns?
2:24:30 Pattern of Dems fixing the economy and GOP making it worse?
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