Podcast / See How They Run / Sep 14, 2024

Harris Crushed Trump. Will It Matter?

On this episode of See How They Run, Jeet Heer on the debate and where we go from here.

The Nation Podcasts
The Nation Podcasts

Here's where to find podcasts from The Nation. Political talk without the boring parts, featuring the writers, activists and artists who shape the news, from a progressive perspective.

Kamala Crushed Trump. Will It Matter? | See How They Run
byThe Nation Magazine

On this episode of See How They Run, D.D. Guttenplan is joined by Jeet Heer to discuss the last presidential debate and where we go from here.

Our Sponsors:
* Check out Avocado Green Mattress: https://avocadogreenmattress.com

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump, during the presidential election campaign at The National Constitution Center on September 10, 2024 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

(Win McNamee / Getty Images)

That sound you heard at around 10:45 Eastern time on Tuesday night was a collective sigh of relief from Democrats across the country. Kamala Harris had debated Donald Trump, and, unlike Joe Biden, she had survived. Not just that—she was widely declared the winner, having successfully provoked Trump into a series of incoherent rants for most of the debate’s 90 minutes.

Experts love telling us that debates don’t matter that much—that they rarely shift the dynamics of a campaign. We know that the Biden-Trump debate was a hellish exception to that supposed rule. But what about the Harris-Trump debate? Did Harris turn this into a different kind of race? Will Trump’s meltdowns hurt his chances? Or are giddy Democrats tempting fate, 2016-style?

On this episode of See How They Run, we’re debating the debate. And standing at the lectern opposite mine is our national affairs correspondent Jeet Heer.

The Nation Podcasts
The Nation Podcasts

Here's where to find podcasts from The Nation. Political talk without the boring parts, featuring the writers, activists and artists who shape the news, from a progressive perspective.

Subscribe to The Nation to Support all of our podcasts

Disobey authoritarians, support The Nation

Over the past year you’ve read Nation writers like Elie Mystal, Kaveh Akbar, John Nichols, Joan Walsh, Bryce Covert, Dave Zirin, Jeet Heer, Michael T. Klare, Katha Pollitt, Amy Littlefield, Gregg Gonsalves, and Sasha Abramsky take on the Trump family’s corruption, set the record straight about Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s catastrophic Make America Healthy Again movement, survey the fallout and human cost of the DOGE wrecking ball, anticipate the Supreme Court’s dangerous antidemocratic rulings, and amplify successful tactics of resistance on the streets and in Congress.

We publish these stories because when members of our communities are being abducted, household debt is climbing, and AI data centers are causing water and electricity shortages, we have a duty as journalists to do all we can to inform the public.

In 2026, our aim is to do more than ever before—but we need your support to make that happen. 

Through December 31, a generous donor will match all donations up to $75,000. That means that your contribution will be doubled, dollar for dollar. If we hit the full match, we’ll be starting 2026 with $150,000 to invest in the stories that impact real people’s lives—the kinds of stories that billionaire-owned, corporate-backed outlets aren’t covering. 

With your support, our team will publish major stories that the president and his allies won’t want you to read. We’ll cover the emerging military-tech industrial complex and matters of war, peace, and surveillance, as well as the affordability crisis, hunger, housing, healthcare, the environment, attacks on reproductive rights, and much more. At the same time, we’ll imagine alternatives to Trumpian rule and uplift efforts to create a better world, here and now. 

While your gift has twice the impact, I’m asking you to support The Nation with a donation today. You’ll empower the journalists, editors, and fact-checkers best equipped to hold this authoritarian administration to account. 

I hope you won’t miss this moment—donate to The Nation today.

Onward,

Katrina vanden Heuvel 

Editor and publisher, The Nation

D.D. Guttenplan

D.D. Guttenplan is a special correspondent for The Nation and the host of The Nation Podcast. He served as editor of the magazine from 2019 to 2025 and, prior to that, as an editor at large and London correspondent. His books include American Radical: The Life and Times of I.F. Stone, The Nation: A Biography, and The Next Republic: The Rise of a New Radical Majority.

More from The Nation

Trump’s Global Culture War

Trump’s Global Culture War Trump’s Global Culture War

On The Time of Monsters: Stephen Wertheim on the government's new National Security Strategy.

Jeet Heer

View of a Nexperia building in Hamburg, Germany, on November 19, 2025.

Europe’s Subservience to the United States Europe’s Subservience to the United States

On this episode of Tech Won’t Save Us: Ben Wray discusses the case of Nexperia, recently in the middle of a geopolitical firestorm.

Paris Marx

Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer speaks during the Senate Democrats’ news conference on extending expiring Affordable Care Act tax credits in the US Capitol on December 4, 2025.

Republicans and Obamacare, Again—Plus, Early, Early Bob Dylan Republicans and Obamacare, Again—Plus, Early, Early Bob Dylan

On this episode of Start Making Sense, John Nichols has our political update, and Sean Wilentz talks about the latest release in the Dylan Bootleg series.

Jon Wiener

Sudan’s Endless War in Darfur and Beyond

Sudan’s Endless War in Darfur and Beyond Sudan’s Endless War in Darfur and Beyond

On this episode of American Prestige: Mat Nashed on the state of Sudan’s ongoing civil war.

Derek Davison and Daniel Bessner

Coleaders of the far-right Alternative for Germany party (AfD) Alice Weidel (L) and Tino Chrupalla (R) in Berlin on December 5, 2025.

The Rise of the Far Right in Europe The Rise of the Far Right in Europe

On this episode of The Time of Monsters: David Broder on centrist failures feeding extremist politics.

Jeet Heer

New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani looks on as New York Governor Kathy Hochul speaks during the grand opening of the Urban League Empowerment Center in Harlem, New York City, on November 12, 2025.

Mamdani's Socialism—and Us; Plus, Football and Concussions Mamdani's Socialism—and Us; Plus, Football and Concussions

On this episode of Start Making Sense, Bhaskar Sunkara analyzes the constraints New York’s new mayor will face, and Dave Zirin comments on brain injuries among football players.

Jon Wiener

x