Washington Post columnist James Hohmann chats with the voices behind the viewpoints. Hohmann sits down each week with the author of a compelling or unexpected guest column for The Post’s Opinions section. Together, they unpack arguments that are shaping the public conversation about issues of importance. “Please, Go On” features marquee names, as well as everyday people with original perspectives. New episodes released Fridays.
The Disorienting Feeling of Being American Amid the Israel-Gaza War
The Israel-Gaza war has dominated our news feeds and dinner table conversations and opened up rifts that cross traditional partisan lines. Three Post columnists unpack how U.S. involvement in the war makes them feel about being American.
2/5/2024 • 20 minutes, 1 second
The Empty Grave of Comrade Bishop: ‘Somebody knows’
Every 19th of October, Grenadians mark a somber anniversary: the 1983 execution of the country’s former prime minister and revolutionary leader, Maurice Bishop, and others who died alongside him. The people of this Caribbean nation still have no closure 40 years later. The remains of Bishop and his supporters were never returned to their family members and are missing to this day. In the first episode of “The Empty Grave of Comrade Bishop,” The Washington Post’s Martine Powers takes us on the personal journey that led her to learn about Grenada’s history. Martine delves into why Bishop was such an influential figure, what made the United States nervous about him and why the mystery of his missing remains continues to haunt so many on the island.Listen to more episodes here – or on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music or Spotify. You can find photos and documents from the investigation in our special episode guide here. Subscribers to The Washington Post can get early access to episodes of the series on Apple Podcasts, as well as ad-free listening. Link your Post subscription now or sign up to become a new Post subscriber here.
11/10/2023 • 51 minutes, 26 seconds
How Sam Bankman-Fried sold investors on being virtuous
SBF is fighting conventional fraud charges. But the moral philosophy that guided his decisions was anything but. We get into whether SBF is a failed messiah or just another disgraced tech mogul, and how he sold people on doing good while getting rich.Play it again, Sam: Inside Bankman-Fried’s last year in the crypto game, Michael LewisThe coin flip that could convict Sam Bankman-Fried, Jason Willick
10/17/2023 • 22 minutes, 59 seconds
If not McCarthy, then who?
Kevin McCarthy is out as House speaker. Now what? Post Opinions columnists Perry Bacon, Jim Geraghty and Dana Milbank gather for an impromptu conversation about where the House should go from here, whom the next speaker might be and whether Democrats have any responsibility to clean up the mess.Populist passions, not Trump, rule the GOP, by Jim GeraghtyMcCarthy’s gone. Republican dysfunction is here to stay, by Dana MilbankRepublicans are in disarray. But they are still winning a lot on policy, by Perry Bacon Jr.
10/4/2023 • 21 minutes, 2 seconds
Is this GOP primary even real?
Seven candidates debated in California as the former president Donald Trump campaigned elsewhere. It's putting some conservatives in a mood. Three Trump-skeptical columnists discuss what's next in the run for the nomination.
9/28/2023 • 17 minutes, 37 seconds
Child care is expensive and hard to find. What can be done?
There’s a crisis in child care, and it’s about to get worse. Three Post columnists, who happen to be parents, talk through some bipartisan solutions that could ease the pain.
9/26/2023 • 16 minutes, 39 seconds
What's next for the Fox News empire?
Fox News is now in Lachlan Murdoch’s hands. Washington Post columnists talk about what they would do next if they were him.
9/25/2023 • 21 minutes, 24 seconds
Is college football too white? How Deion Sanders might change that
College football is often about the coaches. And Deion Sanders, NFL Hall of Famer and Colorado’s new head coach, is breaking the mold. What does his rise mean to Black Americans? Three Washington Post columnists talk through it.
9/12/2023 • 14 minutes, 7 seconds
How the GOP debate felt for liberals
The GOP debate is by and for Republicans, but plenty of Democrats are watching how this race unfolds too. Washington Post editorial writer Charles Lane brings on left-leaning columnist Greg Sargent and humorist Alexandra Petri to get a sense of what liberals are thinking about Vivek Ramaswamy, the GOP candidates' responses on climate change and abortion, and the party’s divide over whether the country needs better governance, or full-on revolution.
8/24/2023 • 22 minutes, 13 seconds
What if George Conway were Trump’s defense lawyer?
Ruth Marcus is a Post Opinions columnist and one of the nation’s foremost experts on the Supreme Court and the legal system. George Conway is a lawyer and one of Donald Trump’s leading conservative critics. They sat down Thursday to talk about the Department of Justice’s latest indictment of Trump, what it means, and where the country goes from here.
8/3/2023 • 25 minutes, 38 seconds
Was the NATO summit a diplomatic train wreck?
The team at Washington Post Opinions is using this space to bring you occasional conversations reacting to the biggest stories we're talking about. As we continue to share discussions, we’d love to know what you think and what you’re craving to hear. In the run-up to this year’s annual NATO summit in Vilinius, Lithuania, all eyes were on what prospects the alliance would give Ukraine on becoming a member. No one expected that Ukraine would be given full membership while the war was still going on. But some kind of clear signal was expected. It did not come. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, upon learning of the final language of the NATO leaders’ communiqué, tweeted angrily that it’s “unprecedented and absurd” not to set a time frame for Ukraine’s NATO membership. Members of the U.S. delegation were “furious” with Zelensky’s outburst, and in a private meeting reportedly urged him to cool down and embrace what the security aid he was being promised.Assignment editor Damir Marusic and columnists Max Boot and Josh Rogin discuss all this drama, and what implications it has for the future of the war in Ukraine.
7/13/2023 • 19 minutes, 56 seconds
What we’re talking about: SCOTUS on affirmative action
The team at Washington Post Opinions is using this space to bring you occasional conversations reacting to the biggest stories we're talking about. As we continue to share discussions, we’d love to know what you think and what you’re craving to hear. We wanted to quickly react to today’s news and hope you find the conversation useful and thought-provoking.The U.S. Supreme Court striking down affirmative action in college admissions is a huge development for law, education and politics. It’s also, if you’re a Black person who attended a school that considers race in admissions, something of a personal story. So Post Opinions columnists Christine Emba (Princeton) and Perry Bacon Jr. (Yale) discussed the ruling, its implications for potential students and graduates of elite colleges, how it fits into America’s legacy racial history and the “reckoning” of the last few years; and their own personal experiences as Ivy League students and alums.
6/29/2023 • 23 minutes, 8 seconds
Introducing “Field Trip”
Journey through the messy past and uncertain future of America’s national parks. The Washington Post’s Lillian Cunningham ventures off the marked trail to better understand the most urgent stories playing out in five iconic landscapes today.“Field Trip” is a new podcast series that will transport you to five national parks: Yosemite, Everglades, Glacier, White Sands and Gates of the Arctic. Follow the show wherever you listen.
6/23/2023 • 3 minutes, 36 seconds
Check out "The 7"
On The Post’s new podcast, "The 7," host Jeff Pierre takes you through the seven most important and interesting stories of the day. It's a way to get caught up in just a few minutes. It comes out every weekday at 7 a.m. Check it out today, then find and follow "The 7" so you're set for tomorrow. You can also read "The 7" here.
12/7/2022 • 5 minutes, 49 seconds
Marco Rubio thinks China is complicit in Russia’s war on Ukraine
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) joins James Hohmann for a conversation about the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the threat posed by China.Read Sen. Rubio’s op-ed.Listen to his speech at the Heritage Foundation.
4/1/2022 • 30 minutes, 40 seconds
Marie Yovanovitch on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
The former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine weighs in on Vladimir Putin’s war against the country, as well as Donald Trump’s past attacks on her character.
3/25/2022 • 26 minutes, 51 seconds
Gavin Grimm on the fight for transgender rights
A number of red states have moved to limit transgender rights in recent months, most notably Texas. With that in mind, we return to a conversation from last summer with activist Gavin Grimm — at a watershed moment in the struggle for trans rights.Read Gavin Grimm’s op-ed.
3/18/2022 • 23 minutes, 59 seconds
Author John Green reflects on the legacy of global health giant Paul Farmer
Paul Farmer, a global health advocate and physician whose work saved millions of lives, died in Rwanda last month at age 62. Author John Green, a mentee of Farmer’s, discusses the physician’s life and remarkable legacy.Read John Green’s op-ed about Paul Farmer.And his op-ed about giving up social media.
3/11/2022 • 22 minutes, 38 seconds
Adam Schiff on threats both global and domestic
As Russia intensifies its invasion of Ukraine, James Hohmann sits down with the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee to discuss the U.S. response, and what’s next in the Jan. 6 inquiry.
3/4/2022 • 27 minutes, 4 seconds
A Ukrainian responds to Russia’s attack
As Russia attacked her country, Ukrainian journalist Olga Tokariuk spoke with James Hohmann about the long struggle for an independent Ukraine. Read Olga Tokariuk’s op-ed.
2/24/2022 • 28 minutes, 16 seconds
‘Abbott Elementary’s’ Sheryl Lee Ralph on education, acting and activism
Sheryl Lee Ralph, who you might know as “Abbott Elementary’s” Barbara Howard, joins guest host Michele Norris for a conversation about finding comedy — and searing critique — in the American education system.
2/18/2022 • 39 minutes, 23 seconds
Forced into marriage at the age of 15
Sasha Taylor was only 15 years old when she was forced into marriage in Arizona. She escaped and went on to become an FBI analyst. Now she’s advocating for reform at the state and federal levels.Read Sasha Taylor’s op-ed.
2/11/2022 • 20 minutes, 15 seconds
‘Dopesick’ writer proposes a way out of the opioid crisis
Beth Macy, the author of “Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company That Addicted America,” argues that harm-reduction practices and safe consumption sites can provide a path out of the opioid epidemic.Read Beth Macy’s op-ed.
2/4/2022 • 29 minutes, 55 seconds
A Jewish refugee from Iran on why it’s hard to fight bigotry in the U.S.
After an attack this month at a U.S. synagogue, Roya Hakakian reflects on how antisemitic acts shake immigrants especially hard.Read Roya Hakakian’s op-ed.
1/28/2022 • 25 minutes, 30 seconds
A power struggle in Kazakhstan
This month, Kazakhstan faced some of the worst violence it’s seen in decades. But professor and native Kazakh Nargis Kassenova contends that, in spite of a deployment of Russian troops, the country will not return to Moscow’s fold.Read Nargis Kassenova’s op-ed.
1/21/2022 • 21 minutes, 10 seconds
‘Canceling school is not sustainable’
A professor and parent of three, Jackie Spinner says that she’s out of reserves when it comes to school cancellations two years into the pandemic. Read Jackie Spinner’s op-ed.
1/13/2022 • 18 minutes, 54 seconds
Could a coup succeed in 2024?
On the one-year anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack, retired Army Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton warns that we could be headed for another insurrection in 2024.
1/6/2022 • 21 minutes, 22 seconds
A holiday message from James
Host James Hohmann reflects briefly on the first six months of the podcast, and looks ahead to 2022.Listen to Please, Go On
12/30/2021 • 2 minutes, 33 seconds
A doctor’s advice for limiting holiday omicron risk
Public health expert Dr. Leana Wen explains why those who are vaccinated, boosted and tested should keep their holiday plans.Read Dr. Leana Wen’s column.Subscribe to The Checkup with Dr. Wen.Buy “Lifelines.”
12/22/2021 • 23 minutes, 49 seconds
A ‘ghost gun’ killed his daughter. He’s fighting back.
Two years ago, Bryan Muehlberger’s daughter, Gracie, was killed in a shooting at Saugus High School in Santa Clarita, Calif. She was 15 years old.Read Bryan Muehlberger’s op-ed.Learn more about the GracieStrong Foundation.
12/17/2021 • 24 minutes, 30 seconds
'The house that Fred built': The life and legacy of Fred Hiatt
Post legends come together to discuss the legacy of Washington Post Editorial Page Editor Fred Hiatt after his untimely death.For more, please read selected writings of Hiatt from 1996 to 2021, the news obituary by Matt Schudel, Graham's op-ed and the Editorial Board’s appreciation. The Post has also published touching tributes by David Von Drehle ("Hiatt led with wisdom, wit and a transfixing whisper"); Lane ("Fred Hiatt deserves to be remembered long after he is gone"); Milbank ("What I never got to say to Fred Hiatt"); Thiessen ("Fred Hiatt was a bulwark against the culture of contempt"); and Sergio Peçanha: ("When a giant passes").
12/10/2021 • 43 minutes, 45 seconds
The radicalization of the Supreme Court
Ruth Marcus, The Post's deputy editorial page editor, offers insight into the challenge to Roe v. Wade and explains how a conservative "rule of six" is poised to reshape the nation.Read Ruth Marcus's Opinions Essay here.
12/3/2021 • 24 minutes, 38 seconds
The team behind Glenn Youngkin's victory in Virginia
The pollster and strategists for Virginia Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin (R) discuss how they pulled off an upset victory, what it says about Virginia and how their model might be replicated in 2022.Read the op-ed.
11/24/2021 • 26 minutes, 18 seconds
Larry Summers says inflation will get worse before it gets better
Former treasury secretary Larry Summers has long sounded the alarm over inflation. As prices climb, Summers warns that failing to address an overheating economy could spell defeat for Biden in 2024. Read Summers's column on inflation.Read Summers's column on IRS reform.
11/19/2021 • 21 minutes, 8 seconds
A cold-case investigator on rage and rising homicides
Liz Thomson, former head of Albuquerque's homicide unit, recently returned to the police department as a cold-case investigator. She weighs in on the worsening murder rate, and how rage plays a role.Read Liz Thomson's op-ed.
11/12/2021 • 25 minutes, 7 seconds
Mitt Romney says it's filibuster or bust
The Republican senator and 2012 presidential nominee voted twice to impeach Donald Trump. He warns that ending the filibuster could be catastrophic for the Senate and give a potential future Trump presidency unrestrained power. Read Mitt Romney's op-ed here.
11/5/2021 • 21 minutes, 52 seconds
A queer author caught in culture war crossfire
Maia Kobabe's memoir "Gender Queer" is being challenged in school districts across the country, including in Northern Virginia.Read Maia Kobabe's op-ed.
10/29/2021 • 21 minutes, 6 seconds
The burden of being the first Black anything
Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson wrote about the life and legacy of Colin Powell, who in four decades of service, helped shape U.S. national security. Read Robinson's column here.
10/22/2021 • 21 minutes, 36 seconds
Lessons from a writer who spent 15 years pretending to be a White guy
Until quite recently, Annabelle Tometich wrote all her restaurant reviews under the pseudonym Jean Le Boeuf. She spoke with James about what that double life taught her about White privilege and her own racial identity.Read or listen to Annabelle Tometich's op-ed here.
10/15/2021 • 23 minutes, 44 seconds
Our constitutional crisis is here
Robert Kagan warns that the United States faces its greatest political and constitutional crisis since the Civil War.Read Kagan's essay here.
10/8/2021 • 32 minutes, 21 seconds
How to stop the coming crisis with North Korea
North Korea is testing new missiles. Victor Cha — a hardliner — encourages U.S. diplomacy in response. A foreign policy advisor to George W. Bush, Cha advocates for humanitarian assistance. Read Victor Cha's op-ed.
10/1/2021 • 22 minutes, 58 seconds
'Compassion fatigue.' A doctor is tired of Southerners making excuses to not get vaccinated.
Mississippi has one of the lowest vaccination rates and highest death rates from covid-19. A palliative care doctor pleads with fellow Southerners to get vaccinated before it's too late.Read Rick Boyte's op-ed.
9/24/2021 • 22 minutes, 4 seconds
The secret to a peaceful and prosperous Afghanistan? Educated girls.
Shabana Basij-Rasikh co-founded the only boarding school for girls in Afghanistan. Now, as the school year begins, she reflects on the power of educated women.Read Shabana's latest op-ed.Read Shabana's piece about educating Afghan girls.
9/17/2021 • 29 minutes, 11 seconds
It's been 20 years since 9/11. Are we safer now?
In a special 9/11 anniversary edition, a counterterrorism expert argues that the threat of foreign terrorists attacking the United States at home has vastly diminished. Plus, a writer who lost her father on Sept. 11, 2001 shares her pain after two decades.Read Michael Leiter's op-ed.Read Kimberly Rex's op-ed.
9/10/2021 • 28 minutes
John Grisham wants to keep innocent people out of prison
The best-selling crime novelist sits on the board of the Innocence Project, and believes our country should be doing more to prevent wrongful convictions.Read Grisham's op-ed.
9/3/2021 • 20 minutes, 32 seconds
John Bolton wants U.S. to get tough on Pakistan after fall of Afghanistan
Trump's former national security adviser says the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan presents an opportunity for the United States to confront Pakistan over its ties to the Taliban and nuclear stockpile.Read John Bolton's op-ed.Read Josh Rogin's interview with Pakistan's national security adviser.
8/27/2021 • 20 minutes, 18 seconds
An Afghan journalist's escape from Kabul
Nasrin Nawa, an Afghan journalist, narrowly escaped the Taliban's takeover of Kabul. But leaving her home country also meant leaving her parents — and sister — to an uncertain future.Read Nawa's op-ed here.And here are four related op-eds:The mujahideen resistance to the Taliban begins now. But we need help.My Afghan news channel won’t stop its important work. We hope the world doesn't look away.The Taliban says it will respect women. But we Iranians have seen this movie before.The all-girls Afghan robotics team inspired the world. Now they're trapped, waiting to be rescued.
8/20/2021 • 20 minutes, 13 seconds
Your questions about the delta variant answered, with Dr. Leana Wen
In a bonus episode, Post readers and listeners ask public health expert Dr. Leana Wen about the delta variant, vaccine hesitancy and how we protect kids as they return to school.Subscribe to Dr. Wen's newsletter here: https://wapo.st/checkup
8/17/2021 • 28 minutes, 10 seconds
Why a Florida superintendent is defying DeSantis on masks
Carlee Simon, superintendent of Alachua County Public Schools, defends her district's decision to require masks, even if it means losing her own salary. Read Carlee Simon's op-ed here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/08/09/florida-schools-mask-mandate-ban-desantis-alachua/?utm_source=podcasts&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=please-go-on
8/13/2021 • 21 minutes, 41 seconds
Norman Lear, 99, reflects on Archie Bunker in the age of Donald Trump
Fifty years after “All in the Family” premiered, the legendary television writer and producer laments how many headlines seem drawn from the past.Read Lear’s op-ed for The Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/07/27/norman-lear-99th-birthday/?utm_source=podcasts&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=please-go-on
8/6/2021 • 17 minutes, 20 seconds
Why employers should do away with college degree requirements
Byron Auguste, CEO of Opportunity@Work and former jobs czar under the Obama administration, joins James for a conversation about degree discrimination in the workforce.Read Byron Auguste's op-ed: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/07/20/majority-americans-lack-college-degree-why-do-so-many-employers-require-one/?utm_source=podcasts&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=please-go-on
7/30/2021 • 28 minutes, 27 seconds
The FBI's failures to investigate Larry Nassar
Former gymnast Rachael Denhollander, the first woman to publicly accuse Larry Nassar of assault, is now a lawyer and advocate. As the Olympics begin, she reacts to the Justice Department's inspector general report on the many warnings the FBI ignored.Read Denhollander's op-ed: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/07/15/rachael-denhollander-larry-nassar-fbi-failures/?utm_source=podcasts&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=please-go-onRead Horowitz's report: https://www.washingtonpost.com/context/fbi-inspector-general-finds-major-flaws-in-handling-of-gymnastics-sex-abuse-case/59d6af8e-7367-450f-9fe8-91009bde6085/?utm_source=podcasts&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=please-go-on
7/23/2021 • 36 minutes, 45 seconds
The war on truth is raging. Here's how we end it.
How do you debate someone who's operating from a fundamentally different set of facts? We hear from Lee McIntyre and Jonathan Rauch about what it will take to win the war on truth.Read their op-ed: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/06/25/war-truth-is-raging-not-everyone-recognizes-were-it/?utm_source=podcasts&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=please-go-on
7/16/2021 • 20 minutes, 49 seconds
Sociologist Philip N. Cohen says generation labels are meaningless — and we should quit using them
Marketers love them. Journalists often use them. But do generation labels like "baby boomer" and "millennial" mean anything? Cohen, who researches social identity, says no — and he and other sociologists want the Pew Research Center to stop using them.Read Philip N. Cohen's op-ed here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/07/07/generation-labels-mean-nothing-retire-them/?utm_source=podcasts&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=please-go-on
7/9/2021 • 16 minutes, 25 seconds
Gavin Grimm on a watershed moment in the fight for transgender rights
Gavin Grimm was a sophomore in high school when he became a household name in the movement for transgender rights. This week, vindication arrived from the Supreme Court.Read Gavin's op-ed here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/06/30/gavin-grimm-transgender-bathroom-supreme-court-victory/?utm_source=podcasts&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=please-go-on
7/2/2021 • 24 minutes, 38 seconds
Interior Secretary Deb Haaland on the dark history of Indigenous boarding schools
The first Native American Cabinet secretary in U.S. history opens up about her own grandmother’s experience with family separation after announcing a comprehensive review of the troubled legacy of federal boarding schools.Read Haaland's op-ed here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/06/11/deb-haaland-indigenous-boarding-schools/?utm_source=podcasts&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=please-go-on
6/25/2021 • 23 minutes, 23 seconds
‘Democracy is under siege’: Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs
Arizona's top elections official presses the Senate to pass the For the People Act, even if it requires fellow Democrat Kyrsten Sinema to change her position on the filibuster.
6/18/2021 • 18 minutes, 42 seconds
VP Kamala Harris on women in the workplace
In the inaugural edition of "Please, Go On," Post columnist James Hohmann speaks with Vice President Harris about the exodus of women from the workforce during the pandemic.Read Harris’s op-ed here.
6/11/2021 • 19 minutes, 25 seconds
Introducing ‘Please, Go On’
Washington Post columnist James Hohmann sits down with the author of a compelling op-ed from The Post’s Opinions section. “Please, Go On” features marquee names and everyday people with original perspectives. New episodes Fridays. Launching June 11.
