Show Notes
Billionaire philanthropist David Rubenstein (Carlyle Group co-founder, Baltimore Orioles owner, and host of Bloomberg's The David Rubenstein Show) talks about Trump's future, the war with Iran, AI, and his new book, Speaking of America: Great Conversations at the Library of Congress.
Rubenstein explains why he bought the Orioles as a gift to his hometown, and why tripling the payroll didn't buy a winning season. He talks about his "patriotic philanthropy," from repairing the Washington Monument to sending replicas of the Declaration of Independence to every governor and U.S. embassy for America's 250th. He also covers his path from Jimmy Carter's White House to private equity to the Giving Pledge.
From the book, he shares stories from his bipartisan dinners for members of Congress: Michael Beschloss on wartime presidents (the U.S. hasn't formally declared war since 1941), Eric Schmidt and Henry Kissinger on artificial intelligence, Beverly Gage on J. Edgar Hoover's secret files, and Chris Wallace on how the 1960 Kennedy–Nixon debate created modern TV politics.
On current events, he discusses the end of the post-WWII world order, how the Iran conflict might end, rising antisemitism since October 7, early 2028 contenders like Andy Beshear and J.D. Vance, and whether MAGA can outlast Trump. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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This week Donny Deutsch and Lou Pellegrino run through who's up and who's down in American culture. They start with a CDC report finding that most U.S. adults are running on empty, then compare notes on five o'clock naps and why sleep has become a $100 billion industry. From there it's senior TikTok creators talking openly about sex and intimacy, the University of Chicago banning AI and laptops from its core courses, and the dictionary's newest additions, including "parasocial," "cuffing season," and "Sunday scaries."
Anthony Scaramucci joins Donny Deutsch to break down his new book, All the Wrong Moves: How Three Catastrophic Decisions Led to the Rise of Trump, a sharp and surprisingly self-critical look at how America got here. The SkyBridge founder and co-host of The Rest Is Politics: US walks through the three turning points he believes set the stage for MAGA: letting China into the WTO without checking its rise, the post-9/11 wars funded by tax cuts that blew up the deficit, and a 2008 bailout that rescued the banks but left Main Street behind. As Scaramucci puts it, Occupy Wall Street and the Tea Party "had a baby, and they named it baby MAGA."
CNN's Dana Bash joins Donny to talk about her new bestseller, The Elections That Changed the World: 15 Pivotal Moments That Shaped How We Live — from Hitler's rise through a democratic vote to the small-town election that launched Martin Luther King Jr. into the civil rights movement.