Reasonably Optimistic

No blood for oil? That doesn’t make sense for Venezuela.

Early on Jan 3, news broke that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro had been captured by U.S. troops and was being flown to New York to stand trial. Later that day, President Donald Trump said the United States would take control of Venezuela’s massive oil reserves. Protests erupted almost immediately, reviving the Iraq War–era slogan, “no blood for oil.”Host Megan McArdle breaks down the long, troubled history of Venezuelan oil and explains why the U.S. has a responsibility to help rebuild the country's economy.Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

How the internet changed politics — and our lives — forever

Matthew Yglesias has been a disrupter his entire career. He started as an early adapter to the web, running a blog before blogs were a thing. He went on to co-found the media company Vox and has written all over the internet. He joins host Megan McArdle to discuss their career trajectories and how the internet has changed both media and politics. Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

Was 2025 the ‘end of America’? Of course not.

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Charlie Kirk was killed on her campus. This is what happened next.

After Charlie Kirk’s death on her campus, Utah Valley University president Astrid Tuminez found herself in an impossible position. She was at the helm of Utah’s largest public university and had to find a way to lead her campus after the tragedy. Now, at the end of the fall semester, she joins host Megan McArdle to discuss how her faith, upbringing and love for her community gave her the strength and wisdom to get through. Plus, she shares the lessons she learned through the process to help other leaders — including the president of Brown University — who may find themselves in a similar position.Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

‘The weirdest Democrat in America’

There’s no one in politics quite like the Democratic governor of Colorado, Jared Polis. He's a serial entrepreneur who cashed in on the dot-com boom and has pushed back on over-regulation of artificial intelligence and the tech industry. He’s in favor of abortion rights, but was against overregulation of mask mandates. He's pro-business and pro-weed. The “pro-liberty” governor joins host Megan McArdle to discuss Trump’s tariff and immigration policies, transgender care and how to make housing and health care more affordable.Timecodes00:00 Welcome Gov. Jared Polis01:27 Jared Polis’s entrepreneurial start03:54 Three most important qualities in an entrepreneur04:28 Most important qualities in a governor05:00 Transition from tech to government05:52 Transition from Congress to governor07:03 First year as Governor08:20 Regulation of Tech Companies11:45 The “Pro-business,” “Pro-trade” Party15:02 Are tariffs shifting voters?16:35 Being pro-freedom17:22 The only Democrat in The Liberty Caucus 18:39 The polarization of transgender care22:59 The Jared Polis brand of politics23:29 Making health care more affordable27:40 Making housing more affordable31:14 Does his politics have national appeal?32:22 Jared Polis’s MAGA uncle33:24 Can Americans be civil again?34:55 How to fix Congress 36:02 The activist base of the Democratic Party37:36 One thing to praise Trump on 38:32 Collecting Coins41:02 What is Jared Polis reasonably optimistic about?Subscribe to The Washington Post here.