Episodes
Monday Oct 28, 2024
A path forward in Israel-Palestine?
Monday Oct 28, 2024
Monday Oct 28, 2024
Earlier this year, Palestinian-American filmmaker Mo Husseini went viral with a Medium post about Israel-Palestine titled 50 Completely True Things. In a discussion that is probing, thoughtful, humane and even hopeful, he joins us to talk about what people on both sides are thinking, what the future might look like, and his new film, The Path Forward, which profiles Israelis and Palestinians who have lost family members in the conflict and have come together to work for peace.
Saturday Oct 05, 2024
You can't scare me, I'm sticking to the union
Saturday Oct 05, 2024
Saturday Oct 05, 2024
We interview labor reporter Hamilton Nolan, author of The Hammer: Power, Inequality, and the Struggle for the Soul of Labor about the recent rise in union organizing, the trouble with the big unions, and the bizarre fact that Donald Trump enjoys strong support among union members.
Monday Sep 23, 2024
How to really understand election polls
Monday Sep 23, 2024
Monday Sep 23, 2024
Do you overreact to every poll that comes out, endangering your mental health as the election approaches? Do the words "New York Times/Sienna poll" send you into a cold sweat? We're here to help. Ayelet and Paul talk to Michael Podhorzer, former political director of the AFL-CIO, about what to take - and not to take - from the ups and downs of each day's polls and where the election really stands.
Monday Sep 02, 2024
Campaign meme war!
Monday Sep 02, 2024
Monday Sep 02, 2024
"Kamala is brat!" If you have no idea what that means, you may not be aware that Democrats seem to be winning the war of memes in the 2024 presidential campaign. Why are they doing better at this battle of online signs and signifiers than they have in the past? And does it make a difference? Paul and Ayelet are joined by Amanda Marcotte, senior politics writer at Salon.com and author of of Troll Nation: How The Right Became Trump-Worshipping Monsters Set On Rat-F*cking Liberals, America, and Truth Itself, and Jennifer Stromer-Galley, professor in the School of Information Studies at Syracuse University and author of Presidential Campaigning in the Internet Age, to discuss what's happening in the meme war and what it all means.
Tuesday Jul 30, 2024
Everything has changed
Tuesday Jul 30, 2024
Tuesday Jul 30, 2024
Ayelet and Paul unpack Democrats' bright new dawn, with Kamala Harris now their presumptive nominee. Is she a better candidate than she was four years ago? Will Democrats now be united forever? And what's the deal with JD Vance and the childless cat ladies?
Friday Jul 05, 2024
Working through our feelings about Joe Biden
Friday Jul 05, 2024
Friday Jul 05, 2024
Is the president too old to win? Are we mad at him? What happens now? Ayelet and Paul work through their feelings and look toward the bleak future.
Friday May 31, 2024
What's Wrong With Hollywood?
Friday May 31, 2024
Friday May 31, 2024
Ayelet and Paul are joined by showrunner, screenwriter, comic book writer, and novelist Marc Guggenheim, the man behind shows including Arrow, DC's Legends of Tomorrow, and Tales of Arcadia, to talk about why Hollywood is going down the tubes and everything is terrible for writers!
Sunday May 19, 2024
An Unsettling Episode about Choking and Sex
Sunday May 19, 2024
Sunday May 19, 2024
Ayelet and Paul are joined by Peggy Orenstein to discuss her recent viral New York Times article about young people, sex, and choking. Parents, tune in to get freaked out about what Kids Today are doing!
About Ayelet and Paul
Boundary Issues is a podcast created and co-hosted by siblings Ayelet Waldman and Paul Waldman. They interview smart, interesting people who help them explore pressing personal and political issues that affect all our lives, with just the right amount of squabbling and score-settling along the way.
Ayelet Waldman is a novelist, essayist, TV writer, and quilter. Her books include Love and Treasure; and A Really Good Day: How Microdosing Made a Mega Difference in My Mood, My Marriage, and My Life.
Paul Waldman is a journalist and author whose work has appeared in dozens of newspapers and magazines including the Washington Post, where he was a columnist for many years. His Substack is called The Cross Section, and his most recent book is White Rural Rage: The Threat to American Democracy (with Tom Schaller).
And yes, that picture is, shall we say, not recent. But they used it because 1) Ayelet has a spectacular '90s perm, and 2) it shows how much taller Paul is.