Washington Week with The Atlantic

News and Public Affairs Series / 23 Seasons

Washington Week with The Atlantic is the longest-running primetime news and public affairs program on television. The show features a group of journalists participating in a roundtable discussion of major news events and can be found at 8pm ET on most local PBS stations.

Watch Latest: S2025 E22

24m 10s

Will the Arlington Cemetery controversy damage Trump?

1m 31s

After a bizarre incident at Arlington National Cemetery between an official and the Trump campaign, the panel discusses if the politicization of the cemetery will be damaging for Trump.

How messaging about Trump is landing with voters

10m 36s

On the DNC stage in Chicago, Democratic and Republican speakers alike leveled attacks at Donald Trump. The panel discusses what matters to voters and whether Robert F. Kennedy’s endorsement of Trump makes a difference in the race.

Harris made history at the DNC. What’s next?

12m 54s

At the tail end of one of the strangest political summers in recent memory, Kamala Harris is officially her party’s presidential nominee. The panel discusses the Democratic National Convention and how Harris can translate momentum from recent weeks into winning over voters in swing states.

How will Democrats utilize Biden on the campaign trail?

7m 28s

This week, President Biden gave his first speech alongside Vice President Harris since he dropped out of the race. The panel discusses how Democrats are balancing running on Biden's record while trying to distance themselves from his unpopularity.

Why Trump is having a hard time adjusting to a new opponent

16m 40s

It’s less than 100 days to go until the election and everything is so different than it was at the beginning of the summer. In June, the country was facing the prospect of two elderly white men facing off in November and only one of those men was riding high. But now it’s Kamala Harris who has the momentum and Trump’s campaign seems heading for a shake-up.

Why Trump is still struggling to find a strategy countering Harris

11m 4s

It’s clear Donald Trump would rather be facing Joe Biden and he doesn’t know quite how to counter the surge of the Kamala Harris campaign. The panel discusses his trouble with finding a new strategy.

The state of the race as Harris-Walz ticket completes election reset

13m 15s

The Democratic and Republican presidential tickets are finally set with Kamala Harris picking Tim Walz as her running mate. The panel discusses the election reset.

The geopolitical implications of Gershkovich's release

15m 30s

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich is now free from Russian custody after one of the most complicated prisoner swaps in history. The panel discusses his release and the geopolitical implications of the exchange and the rising tensions in the Middle East between Israel and Iran.

Sizing up the benefits and disadvantages of a running mate

8m 7s

Kamala Harris will soon name and hit the road with her running mate, but in the meantime, she's taking the fight directly to Donald Trump. Just this week, the former president questioned her racial identity and is struggling to find a way to stop Harris’s momentum.

Trump campaign races for new strategy after Biden steps aside

10m 47s

President Biden has bowed out of the race and Vice President Harris has stepped up to take his place on the Democratic ticket. Former President Trump had a plan to defeat Biden but is facing a huge challenge with Harris. The panel discusses how the Trump campaign has been forced to build a new strategy.

How Harris quickly locked up Democratic support after Biden's sudden exit

12m 34s

With a little more than three months until the election, an entirely new race is materializing before our eyes. The panel discusses how Vice President Kamala Harris quickly locked up Democratic support after President Biden's sudden exit from the campaign.

How long can Biden fight the calls to drop out?

13m 30s

Looming over everything in Washington is one question, will Joe Biden stay in the race and face the Caesar of the Republican Party, Donald Trump? The panel discusses the calls from Democrats for the president to exit the campaign.

Trump delivers regular rhetoric after GOP pledged unity

10m 9s

This week, Donald Trump chose a running mate, dodged prosecution in a federal documents case and most dramatically of all, narrowly escaped death from a would-be assassin’s bullet. The panel discusses how Trump solidified the Republican Party and energized his base by choosing Senator JD Vance as his running mate.

Biden digs in as more Democrats call for him to leave the race

19m 22s

Two weeks after President Biden’s disastrous debate performance, he continues to hang on to his candidacy by his fingernails. The number of Democrats calling for him to leave the race keeps ticking upwards, but it’s hardly a tidal wave. And the president’s performance at a press conference Thursday was just fluent enough to prevent a total collapse of his campaign.

Does Biden have a path to victory against Trump?

4m 52s

On the eve of Trump’s coronation at the Republican convention, Biden seems more determined than ever to press on. But Democratic anxiety about a Trump landslide cannot be easily dismissed.

The Supreme Court's polarization and political implications

9m 18s

The Supreme Court wrapped up its term this week after a series of significant and contentious rulings. The panel discusses the dynamics of the court and the political implications of the polarization between the conservative supermajority and liberal dissenting voices.

Presidential immunity and the future of American democracy

14m 31s

It’s been a tumultuous and unsettling time in the nation's capital. A week after what could be one of the most important debates in American presidential history, the Supreme Court ruled that Donald Trump is substantially immune to charges that he tried to overturn the last election. The panel discusses what it means for the 2024 presidential race and for the future of our democracy.

Trump's debate lies escape spotlight amid fallout over Biden's performance

3m 34s

We just saw one of the most unusual debates in the history of American politics. One candidate, a convicted felon, made up stories, claimed achievements that aren’t his to claim, leveled insults and blustered his way past legitimate questions about his role in Jan. 6. And then there’s the guy who lost the debate. The sitting president seemed pale, tentative, befuddled, and at times incoherent.

Who has more to prove in the first 2024 debate between Biden and Trump

13m 18s

President Biden and the man he defeated in 2020, Donald Trump, will make their respective cases to the American people in a debate next week. Both are unpopular, they are more or less tied in recent polls, and both men are older than our previous oldest president. Only one is a convicted felon, yet the pressure is on Biden to prove that he has what it takes to continue in office.

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