Bari Weiss hosts Ted Cruz at a live event on January 18, 2025, in Washington, DC.
(Leigh Vogel via Getty Images for Uber, X and The Free Press)
Bari Weiss, founder and editor of The Free Press, has often been profiled in the media, but usually in a superficial way that focuses on her personality and disputes with fellow journalists. She is currently on the cusp of great power, reportedly working on a deal to sell The Free Press and take a senior position at CBS. David Klion, Nation columnist and frequent guest on the podcast, has written and exceptionally trenchant analysis for The Guardian of Weiss’s politics and they way they align with the Trump administration’s war on critical voices. Klion writes:
Just as with CBS a year ago, Weiss and the Free Press were there to help reactionaries at elite institutions advance their internal turf wars—and unlike a year ago, those reactionaries can now count on the full weight of Trump’s authoritarian administration to back them up….
The pattern is clear: if you work at a liberal institution and you want the Trump-controlled federal government to step in and discipline it, Bari Weiss is there to help.
I was pleased to talk to David about Weiss’s career and how she has used her influence as an ideological enforcer, one that has the support of many wealthy patrons and powerful political allies.
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