Left-wing political cartoonist Ted Rall (ex-Los Angeles Times, Pulitzer Prize finalist) and right-wing political cartoonist Scott Stantis (Chicago Tribune editorial cartoonist, "Prickly City" comic strip creator) break down the latest news and trends, with an emphasis on history, current events, cartoons, media and culture.
In a world where politics is increasingly polarized, Ted and Scott are two political opposites who used to hate one another. Now they're best friends who work toward common-sense solutions to problems in a respectful yet always fun and freewheeling conversation that gives Americans hope for the future.
LIVE Fridays, 10 AM Eastern Time:
Streaming on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DMZAmericaPodcast (https://www.youtube.com/@DMZAmericaPodcast)
Streaming on Rumble: https://rumble.com/v4gkts0-dmz-america-podcast-with-ted-rall-left-vs.-scott-stantis-right.html (https://rumble.com/v4gkts0-dmz-america-podcast-with-ted-rall-left-vs.-scott-stantis-right.html)
Here Come the Midterms (with Steve Breen) | DMZ America Podcast | Ep 261
Ted sits down with editorial cartoonist Steve Breen to discuss politics and political cartooning.
Steve Breen, 56, was born in Los Angeles and raised in Orange County as the second oldest of eight children. He earned a political science degree from the University of California, Riverside, in 1992. He began drawing cartoons for the campus paper, The Highlander, and in 1991 won the Charles M. Schulz and the John Locher Awards.
He was nearly a high school history teacher when the Asbury Park Press hired him in 1994; he became its editorial cartoonist in 1996 and won the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning in 1998. In 1999 he launched the syndicated strip Grand Avenue. He joined The San Diego Union-Tribune in 2001, won a second Pulitzer in 2009, and left in 2023 after drawing more than 5,500 cartoons. His work remains nationally syndicated by Creators Syndicate.
Steve has also written and illustrated children’s books, including Stick and Violet the Pilot, and created the animated series Powerbirds.
Scott is off today.
00:00:11 - Steve Breen Joins DMZ America
00:02:19 - How Print Cartooning Collapsed
00:06:05 - Newsrooms, Conventions, and Cliche Corner
00:10:53 - Staff Jobs versus Syndicate Freedom
00:15:53. - Why Newspapers Feared Controversy
00:25:39 - The Times Drops Cartoons and the Reprint Chase
00:33:07 - Landing Asbury Park and Almost Birmingham
00:43:32 - Can Political Cartooning Survive Online?
Live Fridays at 11 am Eastern/10 am Central. Streaming after on YouTube and the usual podcast apps.
X: @tedrall and @scottstantis
Web: rall.com (http://rall.com)
2 Oct 2026
State of the Cartooning Union (with Nick Anderson) | DMZ America Podcast | Ep 260
On DMZ, Ted and Scott sit down with Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist Nick Anderson, co-founder of Counterpoint Media.
Anderson drew for the Louisville Courier-Journal and the Houston Chronicle, where he was the last staff editorial cartoonist in Texas when the paper cut him in 2017. His work has run in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Newsweek, and USA Today. After the job disappeared, he and a partner built Counterpoint: a website and newsletter pairing left, right, and in-between cartoonists, then a syndicate that picked up artists when The Washington Post Writers Group wound down its cartoon business.
The craft still lands. The business that used to pay for it mostly does not. Full-time newspaper cartoonist jobs have collapsed from hundreds to fewer than a dozen. Counterpoint was an attempt to keep the form alive outside the newsroom, with subscribers, licensing, and a roster that included Clay Bennett, Jack Ohman, and Pedro X. Molina.
Ted and Scott ask what actually worked, what did not, and what Anderson learned from trying to float an old art form on a new model.
Live Fridays at 11 am Eastern/10 am Central. Streaming after on YouTube and the usual podcast apps.
X: @tedrall and @scottstantis
Web: rall.com (http://rall.com)
25 Sept 2026
Can Political Cartooning Be Saved? | DMZ America Podcast | Ep 259
Can editorial cartooning be saved—or is the ink already dry?
On the DMZ America Podcast, editorial cartoonists Ted Rall (from the Left) and Scott Stantis (from the Right) confront their dying craft—a profession they revered and to which they dedicated their lives.
No newspaper or website employs an editorial cartoonist under 50. The ranks have collapsed from hundreds of working professionals to roughly a dozen.
Photos from the most recent AAEC convention look less like a professional gathering and more like a reunion of retirees: gray hair, canes, and a profession that has aged out in plain sight.
They ask the uncomfortable questions: Did the industry kill itself with self-censorship and shrinking newsrooms? Did social media finish the job? Is there any path back for a form that once punched above its weight in American political life, and that caused presidents to quake in fear? Or is this simply the last generation drawing the last frames?
Sharp, unsparing, and personal.
Live Fridays at 11 am Eastern/10 am Central. Streaming after on YouTube and the usual podcast apps.
X: @tedrall and @scottstantis
Web: rall.com (http://rall.com)
Who has been a guest on DMZ America with Ted Rall & Scott Stantis
Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.
Charles Lipson
Ann Telnaes
Kamala Harris
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
4.3 / 5
6 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
7 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 47 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
60
Social presence
0
YouTube
0
Engagement
85
Contact DMZ America with Ted Rall & Scott Stantis
Guest appearances
Does not typically book guests
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Questions about DMZ America with Ted Rall & Scott Stantis
Who hosts DMZ America with Ted Rall & Scott Stantis?
Scott Stantis and Ted Rall host the show. Published by Ted Rall & Scott Stantis.
How often do new episodes come out?
The show publishes weekly, based on its RSS feed.
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The show does not typically feature guests, based on episode analyses.
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