How Early 2000s Pop Culture Pitted Women Against Each Other
In the early 2000s, girlhood became a spectacle. It was sold through reality TV, tabloid scandals, and the early Internet. And it’s still shaping the way we see women today. Audie talks with Sophie Gilbert, culture critic and author of “Girl on Girl: How Pop Culture Turned a Generation of Women Against Themselves.”
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26:46
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26:46
What ICE’s Rapid Expansion Could Mean for Your Community
President Trump's megabill sets Immigration and Customs Enforcement up to be the highest-funded federal law enforcement agency. Journalist Garrett Graff tells Audie how a relatively new federal agency rose to the top and why people should “get used to” seeing ICE agents in their community.
Garrett Graff writes the newsletter Doomsday Scenario and hosts the Long Shadow podcast.
For more CNN reporting on ICE’s expansion: https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/09/politics/ice-cbp-police-los-angeles-immigration
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27:33
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27:33
Will Tariffs Bring Trouble to Toyland?
These days, the toy industry isn’t all fun and games. Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks sits down with Audie to talk about how trade wars and culture wars are shaping the state of play in America.
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26:38
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26:38
George Takei’s Journey Through Fear, Silence, and Activism
Star Trek legend George Takei has spent a lifetime confronting injustice: his family was sent to internment camps during World War II, he fought for civil rights in the 60’s, and later in life he became an activist in the LGBTQ+ community. Takei talks with Audie about his new graphic book, “It Rhymes with Takei,” a story about the experiences that shaped him, and what they say about patriotism, protest, and the state of American democracy.
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27:42
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27:42
Alaska’s Senator: 'You’re Roadkill in the Middle’
Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski spent the past two decades making a name for herself as a Republican who regularly straddles party lines. In a new book, Far from Home, Murkowski delves into her journey navigating hyper-partisan politics -- from the Tea Party to the Trump era. She sits down with Audie Cornish for a conversation about whether there’s still room for pragmatism and consensus-building in the modern-day GOP.
Watch this conversation on YouTube.
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Every Thursday on The Assignment, host Audie Cornish explores the animating forces of this extraordinary American political moment. It’s not about the horse race, it’s about the larger cultural ideas driving the conversation: the role of online influencers on the electorate, the intersection of pop culture and politics, and discussions with primary voices and thinkers who are shaping the political conversation.