Why obscure candidates and viral clips are reshaping political attention
This preview, based only on the show notes, points to a conversation about how attention is behaving differently in American politics this election cycle. Ezra Klein brings on Chris Hayes to explore why some candidates break through online, why others don’t, and what that may mean for 2028 and beyond.
This episode looks like a timely, ideas-first discussion rather than a horse-race recap. Based on the show notes, Ezra Klein uses a set of striking recent examples — Graham Platner in Maine, James Talarico in Texas, Jon Ossoff’s viral momentum and Spencer Pratt’s online visibility in Los Angeles — to ask a bigger question: what actually earns and sustains political attention now? Chris Hayes is a fitting guest for that frame. The notes identify him not just as the host of *All In With Chris Hayes* but as the author of *The Sirens’ Call: How Attention Became the World’s Most Endangered Resource*, suggesting the conversation will connect campaign dynamics to a broader theory of media, virality and public focus. If you’re interested in how scandal, novelty, charisma and platform-specific fame interact, this seems especially worth a listen. The examples in the notes hint at a contrast between attention that converts into electoral success and attention that stays mostly performative or online. This also seems like a good pick for listeners trying to understand the early shape of the 2028 conversation without getting lost in pure speculation. The mention of Ossoff’s viral videos suggests the episode may examine how future national contenders are being built in public, one clip at a time. One useful extra from the notes: there’s a substantial reading/listening trail attached, including pieces on Jared Golden, Jon Ossoff and James Talarico, plus Talarico appearances on *The Ezra Klein Show* and *The Joe Rogan Experience*.
About this episode
<p>Attention is working in really unusual ways this election cycle.</p> <p>Graham Platner, a political unknown a year ago, ended up dominating his Senate primary against Maine’s sitting governor – even as his campaign was rocked by a series of scandals. James Talarico also seemed to come out of nowhere to become the Democratic nominee for Senate in Texas. Jon Ossoff has ginned up a ton of excitement as a potential 2028 presidential contender, in part because of his viral videos. Meanwhile, the former reality TV personality Spencer Pratt became a political star on X during his bid to become mayor of Los Angeles and yet failed to make the runoff.</p> <p>All of this has a lot of lessons for how attention is working right now in American politics. So I wanted to have on my favorite person to talk to on this topic. Chris Hayes is the host of “All In With Chris Hayes” on MS NOW and the author of “The Sirens’ Call: How Attention Became the World’s Most Endangered Resource.”</p> <p>Mentioned:</p> <p><strong>“</strong><a href="https://www.bangordailynews.com/2024/07/02/opinion/opinion-contributor/jared-golden-donald-trump-going-to-win-election-democracy-be-just-fine/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>Donald Trump is going to win the election and democracy will be just fine</strong></a><strong>” by Jared Golden</strong></p> <p><strong>“</strong><a href="https://substack.perfectunion.us/p/we-took-aoc-to-a-deep-red-data-center" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>We Took AOC to a Deep Red Data Center Town</strong></a><strong>” by More Perfect Union</strong></p> <p><strong>“</strong><a href="https://crooked.com/podcast-series/america-dissected/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>America Dissected</strong></a><strong>” by Dr. Abdul El-Sayed</strong></p> <p><strong>“</strong><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/13/opinion/ezra-klein-podcast-james-talarico.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>Can James Talarico Reclaim Christianity for the Left?</strong></a><strong>” with James Talarico, The Ezra Klein Show</strong></p> <p><strong>“</strong><a href="https://youtu.be/_jOGPvMftb8?si=M_VWX08N0Giy8Nxw" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>Joe Rogan Experience #2352 - James Talarico</strong></a><strong>” with James Talarico, The Joe Rogan Experience</strong></p> <p><strong>“</strong><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/08/opinion/jon-ossoff-president.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>Why Everyone Wants Jon Ossoff to Run for President</strong></a><strong>” by Michelle Goldberg</strong></p> <p><strong>“</strong><a href="https://theonion.com/obama-suddenly-panicked-after-gazing-too-far-into-futur-1819570100/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>Obama Suddenly Panicked After Gazing Too Far Into Future</strong></a><strong>” by The Onion</strong></p> <p>Book Recommendations:</p> <p><a href="https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374618599/transcription/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>Transcription</strong></a><strong> by Ben Lerner</strong></p> <p><a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/290370/the-godfather-by-mario-puzo/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>The Godfather</strong></a><strong> by Mario Puzo</strong></p> <p><a href="https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/courtney-maum/alan-opts-out/9780316599122/?lens=little-brown" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>Alan Opts Out</strong></a><strong> by Courtney Maum</strong></p> <p>Thoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at ezrakleinshow@nytimes.com.</p> <p>You can find transcripts (posted midday) and more episodes of “The Ezra Klein Show” at <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/column/ezra-klein-podcast" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>nytimes.com/ezra-klein-podcast</strong></a>, and you can find Ezra on Twitter @ezraklein. Book recommendations from all our guests are listed at <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/article/ezra-klein-show-book-recs.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>https://www.nytimes.com/article/ezra-klein-show-book-recs</strong></a>.</p> <p>This episode of “The Ezra Klein Show” was produced by Rollin Hu. Fact-checking by Michelle Harris with Julie Beer and Kate Sinclair. Our senior engineer is Jeff Geld, with additional mixing by Johnny Simon. Our recording engineer is Johnny Simon. Our executive producer is Claire Gordon. The show’s production team also includes Marie Cascione, Annie Galvin, Kristin Lin, Emma Kehlbeck, Jack McCordick, Marina King and Jan Kobal. Original music by Pat McCusker and Aman Sahota. Audience strategy by Shannon Busta. The director of New York Times Opinion Shows is Annie-Rose Strasser.</p> <p><p>Subscribe today at <a href="http://nytimes.com/podcasts">nytimes.com/podcasts</a> or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher">https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher</a>. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.</p></p><br/> <p>Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.</p>