Venezuela, Renee Good and Trump’s ‘Assault on Hope’
January 10, 2026 with Stuart A. Thompson, Hussein Agha, Harriet Clark, Robert Malley, M. Gessen, Michael M. Grynbaum, Omar El Akkad • Listen
- Hussein Agha has negotiated on the Palestinian side under Yasir Arafat and Mahmoud Abbas, and co-authored 'Tomorrow Is Yesterday: Life, Death, and the Pursuit of Peace in Israel/Palestine.'
- Robert Malley has worked on Middle East policy under President Barack Obama, President Joe Biden, and President Bill Clinton, and co-authored 'Tomorrow Is Yesterday: Life, Death, and the Pursuit of Peace in Israel/Palestine.'
- M. Gessen is a Times Opinion columnist, author of the National Book Award-winning 'The Future Is History,' and has written extensively about living under autocracy and the impact of the seizure of the president of Venezuela on global law and human rights.
Recommended:
About this episode:
The shocking events of January have sent a message: America works differently now.
M. Gessen is a Times Opinion columnist and the author of books about living under autocracy, including the National Book Award-winning “The Future Is History.” They have been a clear, relentless and perceptive voice on what it means and what it is like to live in a country that is turning into a different kind of regime. And they wrote an essay on the seizure of the president of Venezuela, calling it “a blow — quite likely fatal — to the new world order of law, justice and human rights that was heralded in the wake of World War II.”
Mentioned:
“329 Days of Trump” by Michael M. Grynbaum and Stuart A. Thompson
“Two Middle East Negotiators Assess Trump’s Israel-Hamas Deal” by Ezra Klein
The Future Is History by M. Gessen
Book Recommendations:
Tomorrow Is Yesterday by Hussein Agha and Robert Malley
One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad
The Hill by Harriet Clark
Thoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at ezrakleinshow@nytimes.com.
You can find transcripts (posted midday) and more episodes of “The Ezra Klein Show” at nytimes.com/ezra-klein-podcast, and you can find Ezra on Twitter @ezraklein. Book recommendations from all our guests are listed at https://www.nytimes.com/article/ezra-klein-show-book-recs.
This episode of “The Ezra Klein Show” was produced by Annie Galvin and Marie Cascione. Fact-checking by Michelle Harris. Our senior engineer is Jeff Geld, with additional mixing by Aman Sahota and Isaac Jones. Our executive producer is Claire Gordon. The show’s production team also includes Rollin Hu, Kristin Lin, Emma Kehlbeck, Jack McCordick, Marina King and Jan Kobal. Original music by Pat McCusker. Audience strategy by Kristina Samulewski and Shannon Busta. The director of New York Times Opinion Audio is Annie-Rose Strasser.
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