On this episode, The Washington Post's Libby Casey, Rhonda Colvin and James Hohmann are joined by religion reporter Michelle Boorstein and Rome bureau chief Anthony Faiola to discuss the papal conclave and the election of the first American pope, Leo XIV.The crew breaks down the process the cardinals followed, then dives into the politics of the conclave: How cardinals make themselves candidates, and how they try to elevate their positions behind the scenes while adhering to the strict traditions surrounding the process.And finally, the crew breaks down whether the cardinals take American politics, or world politics, into account at all when choosing a new leader for the Catholic Church.
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27:09
Is Trump trying to influence the conclave?
On this episode, The Washington Post's Rhonda Colvin and James Hohmann are joined by senior national political correspondent Naftali Bendavid to break down whether President Trump is setting up his second term to make him a chief executive associated with prosperity, or with austerity. Having run on a platform of economic populism, Trump now says the country will have to endure "pain" – but is that what voters wanted?Then, Trump is using the power of the presidency to influence, or even bully, American institutions, from law firms to colleges and universities to the news media. And is his social media post showing an AI-generated image of himself in papal clothing a joke that's landing in the Catholic community?
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29:35
The path to the 2028 primary
On this episode, The Washington Post's Libby Casey and Rhonda Colvin are joined by national political reporter Maeve Reston to break down what's going on with Democrats – from the big stars like Kamala Harris, who have recently run for office, to the up-and-coming names who are already positioning themselves for potential 2028 presidential runs.Plus, what are Democrats in Congress, and former Biden officials, doing to fight back against the Trump administration's most controversial policies?
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33:35
100 days of Trump down, 1,360 to go
On this episode, The Washington Post's Libby Casey, Rhonda Colvin and James Hohmann are joined by White House reporter Emily Davies to discuss President Trump's first 100 days back in office – from his campaign-trail promises to his shock-and-awe campaign to change the federal workforce, immigration the economy. What has Trump delivered on? And where has he gone farther than voters expected or wanted?Plus, how do Americans feel about Trump and his early policies – and is it what they voted for?
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32:07
Elon Musk ditches DOGE
On this week’s episode, The Washington Post’s Libby Casey, James Hohmann and JM Rieger discuss the ongoing fallout between Elon Musk and President Donald Trump’s top Cabinet and administration officials, as well as the CEO's announcement Tuesday that he will step away from his U.S. DOGE Service responsibilities as a "special government employee."Musk, a GOP megadonor and close adviser to Trump, has seen his net worth crumble in the aftermath of the current trade war, as his Tesla stock plummets amongst a shaky quarterly earnings report that showed a 71 percent drop in profits.Musk touted a proposal to cut $2 trillion from the annual federal budget on the 2024 presidential campaign trail, and while his DOGE team has caused chaos with numerous job cuts and potentially illegal access to sensitive data information, the actual savings achieved by the DOGE initiative may be just a fraction of what was promised.https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/04/24/elon-musk-doge-scott-bessent-tesla/?utm_source=podcasts&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=can-he-do-thathttps://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/04/18/irs-shapley-bessent-musk/?utm_source=podcasts&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=can-he-do-that
The Washington Post’s Libby Casey, Rhonda Colvin and James Hohmann gather for a weekly in-depth conversation about politics and power. From presidential candidates to members of Congress to the judicial system, Sidebar dives deep on the topics and people at the forefront of the political conversation.
The crew sits down each Thursday (with the occasional breaking news episode) to discuss what has happened that week, and what’s coming up the next week – with guest appearances from Washington Post reporters.
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