Endgame with Fintan O'Toole

About Endgame with Fintan O'Toole

Join Fintan O’Toole, Advising Editor at The New York Review, as he and his guests discuss the great unraveling of the American order—and imagine what comes next. Each week they’ll explore some of the major contradictions that have shaped the United States since its founding 250 years ago, looking closely at subjects that range from Civil War history to contemporary fiction, from Thomas Jefferson to Bernie Sanders, from Gilded Age monopolies to tech oligarchs. What can Shakespeare and Nazi Germany tell us about the current presidency? Making unexpected connections and always drawing out the human drama within complicated ideas, Fintan and his guests—including Annette Gordon-Reed, Ben Lerner, Colin Grant, Jean Strouse, and Dan Chiasson—take the best of New York Review essays and turn them into a conversation. Endgame with Fintan O’Toole is a New York Review podcast. Show Art: Jason Logan

Publisher

New York Review Podcasts

Category

arts · news

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

12 Oct 2026

Latest episode

27 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

5 of 5 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   27 Oct 2026TRANSCRIPT

   America's Second Gilded Age: Jean Strouse

   Host Fintan O'Toole interviews historian Jean Strouse about America's Second Gilded Age and its enduring institutional roots.

2. 

   20 Oct 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Bernie Sanders's Utopia Lab: Dan Chiasson

   Host Fintan O'Toole interviews poet and critic Dan Chiasson about Bernie Sanders's progressive vision and political journey, offering insights into the pursuit of happiness as a political goal.

3. 

   13 Oct 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Jefferson, Independence, and Slavery: Annette Gordon-Reed

   Host Fintan O'Toole interviews Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Annette Gordon-Reed about Thomas Jefferson's complex legacy of freedom and slavery.

4. 

   13 Oct 2026TRANSCRIPT

   The Great Unraveling: Fintan O'Toole

   Host Fintan O'Toole interviews himself about America's contradictions and the possibility of change amidst denialism.

5. 

   12 Oct 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Introducing: Endgame with Fintan O'Toole

   Fintan O'Toole, Advising Editor at The New York Review, interviews guests to explore the unraveling of the American order and envision its future.

Inside a recent episode

America's Second Gilded Age: Jean Strouse

Published 27 Oct 2026 · Transcript excerpt

[…] It has to be based on some sort of predictability. And that is precisely what seems to have been lost. There is a parallel now, I suppose, to that kind of Wild West capitalism. The tech revolutions that we're still going through have a similar kind of character to them. But there doesn't seem to be a Morgan-type figure, or there doesn't seem to be any sense that actually it's in our long-term interest to have sustainability at the heart of capitalism. Yes, yes. There was no sense that the government should do that in the late 19th century, but now it's all the government that's supposed to do that, but isn't really doing it. […]

Who has been a guest on Endgame with Fintan O'Toole

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Jean Strouse
• Dan Chiasson
• Annette Gordon-Reed

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

5 ratings

Contact Endgame with Fintan O'Toole

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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