Michael Wolff’s book Fire and Fury Inside the White House has DC and the political media sphere in turmoil. The book recounts the chaotic first year of the Trump administration—full of vicious infighting and an unstable president. But Wolff’s book does not meet rigorous journalistic standards.
How does the White House resist something they see as inherently false? And how seriously do journalists use Wolff's book as an accurate White House portrayal? How do readers?
These were all questions that the Sunday talk shows grappled with. The most explosive interview was with White House strategist Stephen Miller on State of the Union. Never in Polilogue’s run or in any of the 2016 campaign, have we seen a more hostile and aggressive interview. Stephen Miller clearly came on the shows to fight—and Jake Tapper tolerated none of it.
This week, we also discuss another important story from Sunday: Oprah Winfrey’s speech at the Golden Globes. It connected the current #MeToo moment with past discrimination and looked towards the future of gender equality. But without saying a name or evening mentioning the year 2020, Oprah Winfrey has triggered chatter (and screams!) for her to run in 2020. She accomplished this all with a single 9 minute speech. We talk about why her speech matters—and why whatever Oprah does next will likely influence American society.
- Introduction
- Editor's Note
- Oprah dominates Sunday evening
- Highlight / Lowlight
- Michael Wolf's Fire and Fury
- Stephen Miller responds to Fire and Fury
- Rankings
- Closing
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Naomi's website: www.startwithaquestion.org