Last week, Senators Joe Manchin and Chuck Schumer announced that they had reached an agreement on a climate, tax and health care bill, an outcome that seemed unlikely just a few weeks ago. In this installment of the FiveThirtyEight Politics podcast, the crew discusses how Congress has been passing a number of laws recently and whether that trend will continue with the new Inflation Reduction Act. Speaking of inflation, the team also breaks down how the latest economic debate — whether the United States is heading into recession — could affect the midterm elections.
Finally, they cover some juicy political news from the past week, including the relaunch of Andrew Yang’s Forward Party, which has joined forces with two centrist groups, and the Washington Post’s report that the Justice Department is investigating the actions of former President Donald Trump regarding his January 6 criminal investigation.
You can listen to the episode by clicking the “play” button in the audio player above, or by downloading it to iTunes, the ESPN app, or your favorite podcast platform. If you’re new to podcasts, learn how to listen to them.
The FiveThirtyEight Politics podcast is recorded on Mondays and Thursdays. Help new listeners discover the show by leaving us a rating and review on iTunes. Have a comment, question, or suggestion for “good polls vs. bad polls”? Get in touch by email, on Twitter or in the comments.
Galen Druke is the podcast producer and reporter for FiveThirtyEight. @galendruke
Nate Silver is the founder and editor-in-chief of FiveThirtyEight. @natesilver538
Sarah Frostenson is FiveThirtyEight’s political editor. @sfrostenson
