My colleague Ross Douthat is leaving The Times after 17 years to become a correspondent on “60 Minutes.” Before he goes, I’m asking him a few questions.
Douthat has had a unique vantage point on the news media and politics over the last few decades. He’s typically held the role of explaining the right to more liberal audiences, starting as an undergrad, when he was a conservative columnist for The Harvard Crimson. Douthat has also lived through the seismic changes in the media from the both the inside and the outside: He’s made his career at legacy media institutions, but I first got to know him – and spar with him – as an early-2000s blogger (and I have the 20-year-old Bloggingheads.tv clips to prove it).
So what does Douthat make of the transformations he’s lived through? How did blogging change journalism? How did a Republican Party powered by evangelical Christians become a political party dominated by Catholics and pagans? What has he learned about persuasion from writing for liberal audiences? And with the resources of “60 Minutes” behind him, will he finally crack the U.F.O. story once and for all?
Mentioned:
<a href="https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiv/en/encyclicals/documents/20260515-magnifica-humanitas.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Magnifica Humanitas</a> by Pope Leo XIV
“<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/25/opinion/gender-sexual-revolution-men-women.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Is It Time for a New Sexual Revolution?</a>” with Louise Perry, Interesting Times with Ross Douthat
“<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=livIbni7x7o" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Christopher Nolan’s Finest Trick</a>” by Ezra Klein
<a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/42417/grand-new-party-by-ross-douthat-and-reihan-salam/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Grand New Party</a> by Ross Douthat and Reihan Salam
Book Recommendations:
<a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/119454/speak-memory-by-vladimir-nabokov-introduction-by-brian-boyd/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Speak, Memory</a> by Vladimir Nabokov
<a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/D/bo216864201.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">De Gaulle</a> by Julian Jackson
<a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Treasure-Island/Robert-Louis-Stevenson/Enriched-Classics/9781416500292" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Treasure Island</a> by Robert Louis Stevenson
Thoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at ezrakleinshow@nytimes.com.
You can find transcripts (posted midday) and more episodes of “The Ezra Klein Show” at <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/column/ezra-klein-podcast" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">nytimes.com/ezra-klein-podcast</a>, and you can find Ezra on Twitter @ezraklein. Book recommendations from all our guests are listed at <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/article/ezra-klein-show-book-recs.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://www.nytimes.com/article/ezra-klein-show-book-recs</a>.
This episode of “The Ezra Klein Show” was produced by Annie Galvin, Marie Cascione and Rollin Hu. Fact-checking by Kate Sinclair, Mary Marge Locker and Julie Beer. Our senior engineer is Jeff Geld, with additional mixing by Johnny Simon. Our recording engineer is Johnny Simon. Cinematography by Marina King. Video editing by Arpita Aneja and Julian Hackney. Our executive producer is Claire Gordon. The show’s production team also includes Jack McCordick, Kristin Lin and Emma Kehlbeck. Original music by Pat McCusker. Audience strategy by Shannon Busta. The director of New York Times Opinion Shows is Annie-Rose Strasser.
Subscribe today at <a href="http://nytimes.com/podcasts">nytimes.com/podcasts</a> or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher">https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher</a>. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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