WSJ Opinion: Free Expression Podcast By Gerard Baker Editor at Large The Wall Street Journal cover art

WSJ Opinion: Free Expression

WSJ Opinion: Free Expression

By: Gerard Baker Editor at Large The Wall Street Journal
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About this listen

 Based on his Wall Street Journal Opinion column "Free Expression," Editor-at-Large Gerry Baker speaks every week with some of the world's leading writers, influencers and thinkers about a variety of subjects. Baker will welcome his guests from the worlds of politics, philosophy, and culture for wide-ranging dialogues that will enlighten and fascinate listeners. Episodes will be released each week.Copyright © Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All rights reserved. Politics & Government Social Sciences
Episodes
  • Trump, the GOP and the ‘One Big, Beautiful Bill'

    Trump, the GOP and the ‘One Big, Beautiful Bill'
    Jul 2 2025
    Donald Trump and the Republicans in Congress set a July 4th deadline to pass a spending package the President and others gave the moniker the “One Big, Beautiful Bill.” Getting the measure to the president’s desk hasn’t been plain sailing - the Senate version passed this week only with a tie-breaking vote by Vice President JD Vance. Now fiscal conservatives in the House are battling over some of the details, but it seems likely to become law soon enough. On this episode of Free Expression, Gerry Baker speaks with economist and former director of the Congressional Budget Office Douglas Holtz-Eakin about the bill’s likely positive impact on the economy as well as the nation's dire fiscal situation, how the nation’s budget challenges still require reform of entitlements that seems politically elusive, and what this signature piece of domestic policy says about the direction of Trump’s Republican Party. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    25 mins
  • Is New York City Ready for a Democratic Socialist Mayor?

    Is New York City Ready for a Democratic Socialist Mayor?
    Jun 25 2025
    A shockwave rippled through New York politics this week as little-known 33-year old assemblyman Zohran Mamdani toppled Andrew Cuomo, whose political lineage could not compete with his scandal-ridden tenure as governor, to win the Democratic primary nomination for the city’s mayoral election. Mamdani mobilized a coalition of young voters, ethnic minorities and others behind a hard-left platform that called for even higher taxes than New Yorkers already pay and expanded government programs. He has voiced strong support for Palestinian causes and has called to “globalize the intifada” whatever that means. Meanwhile, current mayor Eric Adams plans to run as an independent as a way to head off the new young radical’s path to Gracie Mansion. What does Mamdani’s stunning success say about Democrats - in New York and in the country as a whole. On this episode of Free Expression, Gerry Baker and political analyst Heather Mac Donald look at some of Mamdani’s more radical views, break down just who voted for each candidate, and what the latest far left Democratic plans for a major city may do to New York’s economy and financial sector. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    38 mins
  • A Turning Point in Middle East History

    A Turning Point in Middle East History
    Jun 17 2025
    Israel’s air assault on the heart of Iran’s nuclear program has shifted the balance of power in the Middle East. Iran’s bid for regional hegemony and the survival of the Islamic regime itself is now under serious threat. But can Israel finish the job on its own or does it need the U.S. to tighten the vise on Teheran? While Donald Trump still says he wants to see a deal made, his administration is also weighing whether to join Israel’s assault. As the conflict continues, who will eventually define the future of the Middle East? On this episode of Free Expression, Middle East policy analyst Marc Reuel Gerecht tells Gerry Baker how much more assistance the U.S. should provide Israel, how Russia and China are reacting to the conflict, and how Iran’s future might look. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    37 mins
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I am conservative female, and young under 50 but my heroes in conservative field were the hard workers, thoughtful leaders who had brains and cared about all people not who just elected them, the screamers, carried the biggest machine gun or gave them $$$
DT is an embrassment to me and needs to fade away. Our party is sadly now run by terrified idiots or arrogrant airheads.
Reagan, George Will and writer Charles Kult. you are sorely missed.

Nope thought it would be intectually based

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