Martin Gurri falls far below the quality and intelligence that I’ve come to expect from your guests. I applaud that you are trying to engage individuals who can share alternative perspectives. But very little in what he said and how he said it suggested that he is a deep thinker. An AI fanboy? Absolutely. Someone who can offer real insight? Why not just invite ChatGPT to the show instead.

I generally enjoy listening to this show for the quality guests and thought provoking discussions. The episode with Martin Gurri left me disappointed. He demonstrated and seeming every point of the conversation that he was not as well versed in the issues being discussed as he claimed. His insistence of reciting conspiracy theories was disconcerting, but more troubling was the host giving platform to such an uninformed guest.

Ezra is to be admired for seeking out an alternate take on the political events happening as a result of Trump’s election. But Gurri’s take seems to be, basically, ‘ I don’t know what I think Donald Trump and his people are up to, exactly, but he’s for free speech, so I’ll just give him the benefit of the doubt. I hope it will work out well in the long run.’

I didn’t know Ezra & Fareed Zakaria were the combo I needed this weekend but it was right on point. Please have him back for discussing foreign affairs…his insight is trusted, honest and always educational. I always love him on GPS. And thank you Ezra for the show, it has become a favorite of mine the last six months. Looking forward to your new book as well.

It’s good that the Ezra Klein Show is also on YouTube for maximum outreach because the conversations are so important, now more than ever. But the podcast is and will always be my go-to media event to regain my sense of sanity. I love listening, even when the wonkiness is at a level I can’t follow (or don’t want to try to follow). It calms me down to know truly smart and dedicated people are still trying to make sense of what’s going on.

….but WOOF, Martin Gurri. That was an extremely unserious interview and he cited almost no real evidence to support his claims. I would’ve liked to hear Ezra push back against him more, even though I know that’s not his style, because feelings do not a reality make.

Martin Gurri was invited as a thinker, but sounded like a hack to me. He was saying that his antennae go up when he notices a whiff of censorship, but was not alarmed about right-wing censorship. Intellectually dishonest. I didn’t hear any intellectually rigorous argument.

Overall this is a 5 star show. Martin Gurri was a major exception. I love that Ezra brings on different perspectives but this guy is just well below the shows normal standard for reasoning behind their arguments. Rough from the start but once he started casting doubt on the legality of USAID and responded to Ezra’s push back with “All I can tell you” and a string of easily disproven nonsense he cemented himself as the most laughable guests on here I’ve heard in quite a while

I am definitely to left of Ezra, but love the podcast. He needs to get better at interviewing stupid people lol, like not everyone has a well thought out, coherent ideology so the interviews are occasionally painful.

I love this show and love Ezra and I will continue listening, but wow the episode with Martin Gurri was bad—he had really bad takes and just felt like such an un-interesting thinker. Maybe his writing is interesting but he was not good as an interviewee.

Klein once again provides a forum for fascism, but this seems to be the primary mission of the NYT these days.

Ezra Blows!

Thank God we get to listen to the psychotic ramblings of a Cuban for Trump.

Hey Ezra. Fellow millennial dad, here. Thank you for putting so much into this podcast. The world is bewildering, but the perspectives and mental models you share make it feel marginally less so. I hope you're taking care of yourself. ❤️ P.S. Please come to Minneapolis or Saint Paul on your book tour! P.P.S. I hope Ada Limón will be back again soon. P.P.P.S I think we might have similar taste in "focus music." If you haven't, you should check out Hiroshi Yoshimura. ("Blink" from Music for Nine Post Cards is my personal favorite.)

I absolutely love Ezra's show most of the time, but the last episode was the worst episode he's ever dropped. I understand the exercise of bringing Gurri on, but holy cow I think my conservative uncle could have done about as good of a job and without the aggravating veil of pseudo-intellectualism.

As a self-described member of the Left, I have had my issues with Ezra for years because of his neoliberal fundamentalism and tech-Utopianism. However, I have always listened due to his range and to get insight of the centrism which dominates the Democratic Party. At this point, I’m done with this show and I am unsubscribing. He platforms and normalizes hate speech with his attempts at identifying this mythical centrist voter or by attempting to understand the Right. He is where I was 20 years ago and if the past two decades did not move you to embrace more radical left wing solutions than you are basically a self-defeating nihilist who surrenders the future to right wing extremism. He’s doubling down on what lost us this election, offers no ambitious alternative to the right and in fact provides them a centrist seal of approval.

I was really enjoying this show until the interview with Martin Gurri, whose lack of intellect or self-awareness would alarm neuroscientists studying the extremes of human potential. I will give two examples that stuck out to me: 1) At one point Gurri cites as evidence that a specific government cannot be authoritarian because it’s firing members of the bureaucracy (i.e., shrinking government). Mr. Gurri, who cites his childhood in Cuba as evidence of his credentials, may have grown up in an authoritarian society but I suspect he missed the revolution that brought it about—authoritarian revolutions attack the government so that the authoritarian can create his own government with his own loyalists. 2) Murri criticizes USAID and suggests it was a pointless relic of the Cold War and suggests we put the law “aside” and acknowledge that killing USAID was for the best. Murri apparently does not understand the concept of self governance. The law is the point. If congress wants to spend money on dumb program, that’s what congress gets to do. It is not up to anyone in the executive branch to violate the law to contravene the will of congress or the American people. What a waste of time this episode was. Do better Ezra.

I used to love this show. Having a pro Trump ex cia “ intellectual” on to gush about how much Trump loves free speech one month in is , at best , extremely tone deaf ! This is not the time for both sideserism Ezra ! Also Jake A - who cares??! Bernie, AOC , Kyle Kulinski, Krystal Ball…

I appreciate the episode with Martin Gurri. The discussion was so civilized which for some of us, it is impossible to have such conversations without it going of the rails. I do not have the talent to debate and it is important that I can listen to “the other side’s” case without getting my heart rate up. More of this would be great. Also, have you considered BlueSky?

I’ve long appreciated The Ezra Klein Show for its thought-provoking discussions, but lately, it feels increasingly unbalanced. Today’s episode (2/25) was a glaring example—Ezra’s guest heaped praise on Trump for “shaking up the system,” all while overlooking the fact that this meant installing billionaires and far-right podcasters in positions of power. What was most disappointing was Ezra’s lack of pushback. Instead of challenging these assertions, he essentially just elevated the guest’s perspective unchecked. If this podcast continues in this direction—platforming narratives that normalize or excuse Trump’s authoritarianism without critical engagement—I’ll have to move on. It’s frustrating to see even thoughtful writers like Ezra seemingly capitulate to the fear of Trump rather than holding power to account.

It’s super hard to take this show seriously when they have blatant partisan hacks like Marin Gurri on. Come on. Are we this desperate for guests? I’m fine hearing from people with different political views than mine but I prefer if they’re not blathering idiots.

Rep. Auchincloss shares in clear and direct language solutions for housing, education and healthcare needs the Democratic Party can run on. Inspirational!

Fox News plays a big role in what voters believe. You never mention Fox’s influence or misinformation. Yet you evaluate Dems and what how voters view them. Newt Gingrich made voters hate them. How should democrats fight this?

I appreciate Ezra and his thoughts on relevant current events. He explains current events with thought and genuine care.

Ezra is a lighthouse in these dark times. Thank you for helping me stay sane!

Ezra. Are you a smoker or is this vocal fry? I’m on my third episode and it is starting to distract me. Currently listening to Auchincloss. Pretty good content but stop talking like a twenty two year old.

You do a great job …. Would you consider having Katherine Stewart on with her new book Money, Lies and God?

Your Feb. 18 show with Jake Auchincloss had me feeling optimistic for the first time since the election. Thank you and please, please keep talking about solutions.

Tried listening, but the pearl clutching is performative, disgusting and so typical of these leftist podcasts. You already what they are gonna say. Why not just feed news into a biased AI program and youll save 120k or whatver Ezras salary is.

Ezra, twice in your show you mentioned USAID should be audited and its programs reviewed. Please do your homework. I assumed you understood how Congressional budgets and CNs worked. I understand you were trying to be middle of the road and provide a moderate take on the current demise of democracy. However, perpetuating the myth that USAID isn’t audited, and its programs aren’t vigorously reviewed and changed with every new Administration is simply untrue. I expected more from you.

I tried listening to this and was hoping to get a well rounded thought provoking conversation with guests that could provide context and detailed expertise. What I got was another liberal journalist shoving the ‘virtues’ of the Democratic Party platform down anyone’s throat who can fight their way through the biased drivel. Listen to this if you want to reinforce your confirmation bias, not to get a balanced view of an issue.

Some interesting and scary observations, but not helpful.

Intelligent, thoughtful and kind . Ezra is a breath of fresh air bringing insights and guests to help make sense of the current instability.

Always look forward to a new episode for a solid and well-informed left-wing point of view. I wish Ezra was allowed to push back harder on some obviously untrue statements some high-positioned guests express, and in all fairness he does that with most guests. Great podcast, thank you, Ezra!

Ezra Klein synthesizes what is happening in a way that is hope-filled and critical of both parties - something that is critical now. What you’ll hear on this show adds depth to what you might hear on the daily, etc. It took me a while (years) to follow along with the podcast, so try to stick with it! FWIW the recent reviews of the Kara Swisher episode are not reflective of all episodes. Swisher has her take on and role in the space, and brings this vibe to other podcasts she’s on. If you don’t like the vibe skip that episode (which was a fun listen anyway).

Disappointed. I wanted to like this show bc I love The Daily. Maybe I caught a bad episode but the recent one about Musk with guest Kara is unlistenable. She clearly has a huge chip on her shoulder about the tech CEOs. It discredits her to hear things like ‘I bet he can’t jog 4 blocks, I could beat him up in 5 seconds, they obviously hate women’. I just ended it at that point. I’m looking for valuable discussion. Maybe I’ll try a few more episodes and see.

I started out listening to the Ezra Klein podcasts based on the title and presumed subject matter. Might it be of interest to me? All of them got me interested, no matter what the topic and, pretty soon, I began to listen to them regularly. Eventually, I found myself looking forward to the new releases. I am now pretty much an "Ezra addict." Whoever the guest, and no matter the topic, I listen to all of them. There is nothing superficial about Ezra and his guests. They aren't satisfied with easy answers. They probe beyond the normal explanations and platitudes and peel back the onion. There is nothing like it. Highly recommend!

Hi. This is JIMMY 🙂 ~|~ /\ Jimmy has never Travelled Before. Let's Change that! Copy and Paste Jimmy Around the Review Section. Let’s make Jimmy travel around the World of podcasts.

Her guest photo kinda says it all. Both she and (every other interviewer is better than) Ezra are lost. What’s this “oh no don’t upset big rich racist baby!” analysis of the Biden non invite over Musk’s odious union position? That was the right thing to do. Accolades for cars that hit pedestrians and are just iPhones on wheels to collect your data for tech feudalists and rockets that explode and pollute space and rain down debris on the ocean? You play the SNL clip and you think it’s charming? Nope. Total cringe from a garbage person with no clue how they’re coming off. Good at using twitter is like good at using toilet paper. Worst society ever. Solar flares can’t come soon enough

Kara Swisher cuts right through the insecure bravado and tells it like it is. She suffers no fools when it comes to the Tech Bros’ endless need to be the heroes of their story. I want to clone her so she is a part of Musk’s Martian colony and prevent humans from becoming an interplanetary species with SDE.

The tone-deaf smugness of Klein and his guests (like Swisher) continue the patterns of pretension and arrogance that lost us the election this last cycle. Until we learn how to get outside of our ideological bubbles and quit pandering to the farthest left, I’m afraid we’ll forever lose the middle, and our Orange leader and his minions are here to stay.

Get a life lady, what a clown.

A thoughtful & intelligent discussion/discourse of current events/politics for those who care about truth & solutions in sea of reactionary media - the anti-reactionary podcast.

What is a man?

Kara is a bitter tech gossip columnist with no serious credibility

I appreciate Ezra’s intellect. He’s generally well informed and has highly relevant guests. I just find his tone to be a bit smug. I also don’t really care for his occasional advocacy of the devil(figuratively). I personally think that ship has sailed in American politics.

Gee whiz - do you think it might be drugs? There’s a dismissive mention of that in the interview with the Elon Musk expert Kara Swisher. Because all the other tech guys do drugs is not a reason to dismiss the fact that this might explain his behavior.

This was the first guest in a while that really clicked with me. I loved her candor and her boldness. Such an intelligent and knowledgeable woman.

This show is the perfect encapsulation of why most Americans hate the NYT. Everyone is pretentious and taking every chance to show off their connections. They are condescending but also completely clueless at the same time.

Thank you for your constructive, thoughtful and informative reporting and insights. As dark as things are you help frame how to respond and address these challenges!!