The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell

Lawrence O'Donnell, MS NOW

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Politics argued like a public record.

The gist

The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell treats the day’s U.S. politics as a case file, not a spectacle. Its strongest episodes build from Trump, Iran, Congress, polling, and official claims into sustained arguments about power, consequence, and democratic restraint.

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About The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell

The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell is a formal, argument-led politics program centered on power, accountability, and the consequences of presidential decision-making. It speaks in the register of indictment. Recent episodes return again and again to Donald Trump, Iran, Congress, elections, energy costs, foreign policy, and democratic oversight. The show does not treat these subjects as isolated headlines. It builds a case. A claim about ending wars becomes a discussion of war powers, military losses, diplomacy, and the presidents who refused or accepted pressure to strike Iran. A ceasefire announcement becomes a question of what was achieved, what was destroyed, and who paid the price. A campaign fundraising number becomes evidence of political movement in Texas, Arizona, North Carolina, Ohio, or Georgia. The pace is measured, but the judgment is blunt. The program’s editorial openings often move from a specific public statement into a broader moral and historical argument, with repetition used to press the point until the contradiction is hard to miss. Guests are brought in to extend the record rather than soften the tone. James Tallarico is discussed as a Texas Democratic Senate candidate drawing Trump’s attention. Senator Klobuchar is framed through both Senate work and a governor’s race. John Kerry’s comments are used to revisit the Iran nuclear deal. Andrew Weissman, Mark Warner, Sheldon Whitehouse, Roy Cooper, Roe Cronin, Richard Stengel, and Amos Hochstein appear in the broader orbit of legal, electoral, congressional, diplomatic, and energy analysis. Jonathan Capehart also appears in for Lawrence, keeping the same emphasis on Trump, Iran, prices, and congressional responsibility. The show’s recurring concern is abuse of power, especially when public language is used to obscure concrete harm. It can be caustic. It can be indignant. Its value is the sustained accumulation of facts, consequences, and historical comparison into a clear political judgment.

Made for: For listeners who want forceful U.S. political analysis, especially around Trump, Congress, elections, war powers, and foreign policy. It suits people who prefer long editorial arguments and evidence-based condemnation over conversational punditry.

What sets it apart: The show’s strength is its prosecutorial structure: a public claim is placed beside policy fallout, historical precedent, electoral evidence, and guest verification. It is more moral case-building than roundtable reaction.

In their own words

Drawing upon his experience as a former chief of staff on the Senate Finance Committee and as an Emmy-winning executive producer and writer of ‘The West Wing,’ Lawrence O’Donnell examines the compelling and impactful political stories of the day. Join him every weeknight.

As heard by us

Based on 5 episodes we listened to · September 2026

Lawrence O'Donnell pairs forceful political judgment with interviews that trace presidential decisions through Congress, elections, military risk, and economic consequences.

The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell turns the day's political conflicts into a pointed argument, then tests that argument through interviews with elected officials and other public figures.

Read our full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

The Strait of Hormuz meets TSA funding votes when your news brain wants the follow-up question.

Press play if you want

Lawrence to ask a senator what a military plan would actually accomplish
to connect an Arizona House race with the wider electoral stakes

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Trump and Iranwar powers and ceasefiresCongressional oversightDemocratic House and Senate racesgas prices and economic falloutUSAID and foreign aidIran nuclear dealauthoritarian government warnings

Talks about

News & Politics

Best episodes of The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell

Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.

Trump’s ability to ‘BS the world’ on Iran is ‘otherworldly’, key Democrat saysApr 18, 2026

A brisk hour linking oversight, Arizona races, and higher-ed concerns.

The hour moves from criticism of presidential policy to concern over rising prices, congressional oversight, and the authoritarian drift the speaker says voters do not want.

Lawrence: Trump is now trying to get out of his war without everyone calling it a surrenderApr 10, 2026

A forceful argument that Trump's Iran move left more damage than gain.

Lawrence O'Donnell frames the segment as a hard-edged argument that Trump's break with the Iran deal left the U.S. with a mess it did not improve. The piece stays focused on that point.

Lawrence: Trump failed his own self-administered cognitive test while Iran's regime was watchingMar 27, 2026

A sharp, methodical argument about Trump, war, and accountability, widened by Ezra Levin's No Kings segment.

Lawrence O'Donnell turns Trump's cabinet-room test into a larger case about war, judgment, and whether the president can stay awake and alert in the room.

Lawrence: Senator says ‘we have a delusional president’ as war continuesMar 26, 2026

A firm blend of foreign-policy danger, political urgency, and a local lift from Emily Gregory.

This episode is at its best when it moves past the political back-and-forth and lands on the real risk of sending U.S. service members into ground combat to keep the Strait of Hormuz open.

Lawrence: Trump sounded like ‘spoiled child’ in trying to negotiate out of war he claims he’s wonMar 25, 2026

A sharp prosecutorial sweep from war questions to TSA fights and a deportation story.

Lawrence O'Donnell makes the piece a sharp critique of political cowardice. He starts with a simple idea: people who boast about war should not hide when reporters ask questions.

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About The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell

In their own words

As heard by us

Why you'd press play

Talks about

Best episodes of The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell

Podcasts like The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell

Episodes

GOP worried Trump will drag party down in midterms

Lawrence: Trump decides to put the nation in a constitutional crisis as Xi Jinping visits

Lawrence: Trump is the 'lead witness' for media companies suing over his White House ban

Lawrence: Loyal to Trump, Ossoff's GOP rival is campaigning in the stupidest & most fraudulent way

Lawrence: Trump’s perverse jealousy of JFK is driving his destruction of the Kennedy Center

46 days out, Trump & Republicans face brutal poll numbers in state after state

Lawrence: Trump never tells the truth, except about protecting billionaires

Lawrence: Whether on interest rates or the Iran war, Trump proves he’s a ‘pathological liar’

Lawrence: Only Trump could deliver Kash Patel’s bestiality madness into a Senate hearing room

Lawrence: Trump worst person to be in White House when AI could do what nuclear weapons haven’t

'REALLY WEIRD': Trump getting supporters to pledge to 'cheat like hell' in election raises alarms

Lawrence: Not one person who heard Trump's $5,000 election offer believes he means it

Lawrence: Republicans boycott Trump’s pretend convention as Democratic campaigns find new strength

Lawrence: What are Donald Trump's deranged social media posts if not evidence of insanity?

Trump’s Iran war drags on with 60 days until midterms (Pt. 1)

Trump’s Iran war drags on with 60 days until midterms (Pt. 2)

Iran war at a stalemate as Trump claims U.S. is winning

Trump flails as his Iran war drags on with no strategy

U.S. & Iran launch airstrikes for second time in three days

Trump’s Canada trade war could affect midterm elections

Trump’s trade war & Iran war have cost Americans billions

Lawrence: Future generations may laugh at Trump’s madness. But first, we will have to survive it.

Lawrence: Attacking voting by mail, Donald Trump wants to take away what Abraham Lincoln gave us

Lawrence: Trump admin.’s childish threat of ‘economic D-Day’ is mocked by Iran as ‘improv night’

Lawrence: SCOTUS, like Natalie Harp, pretends to believe Trump works on ‘election integrity’

Trump rallies voters for Graham in SC GOP Senate runoff

Lawrence: Trump’s Treasury Secretary said ‘we don’t know when’ Trump’s war will end.

Lawrence: Trump’s ‘lust for vengeance’ could cost Republicans in the House and Senate

Lawrence: Trump-endorsed primary losses show Trump might not pick the next GOP presidential nominee

Trump & officials downplay concerns about USS Lincoln

Trump dismisses concerns over conditions on the USS Lincoln

Lawrence: Aircraft carrier morale crisis is result of Trump’s failure.

Lawrence: With Air Force One switch, Trump fails his self-imposed Hollywood Hero Test

Lawrence: Donald Trump has lost control – even his choice of airplane

‘YOU CAN’T AFFORD TO BREATHE’: Exasperated voters bash Trump who claims they aren’t mad at him

Democrats see midterm momentum as Trump approval tanks

Lawrence: The mystery of what Trump’s agents were doing in Michigan may make sense on Election Day

Lawrence: Caving to Trump, Tillis & Cornyn prove once a senator, always a senator

TRUMP’S TERRIBLE WEEK: 72% disapprove of Trump’s handling of his Iran war

Lawrence: Trump cares more about his slush fund & tax amnesty than Blanche’s confirmation

Lawrence: Republicans attacking Anthony Fauci is 'one of the darkest days in our Senate's history'

Lawrence: Trump proves he’s the stupidest negotiator in the history of American government

Lawrence: Day 150 shows what happens when a madman starts a war

Pentagon lowers number of troop deaths in Iran war

Trump threatens to commit potential war crimes on Iran

Combative Hegseth faces tough questions from senators

'Operation epic failure': Trump & Hegseth blasted by Rep. Jeffries as Iran war death toll climbs

Trump’s poll numbers plummet on economy and his war in Iran

Lawrence: Trump’s ‘demented’ speech showed how ready he is to interfere in the election

Lawrence: Blanche confessed who he really serves when he said of Trump ‘I’m his lawyer’

Lawrence: Cowardly Susan Collins did nothing to protect Maine from Trump’s invasion forces

Lawrence: Trump sued himself - and lost.

Trump reiterates claim that U.S.-Iran ceasefire is ‘over'

Lawrence: Trump says 'I don't know' when asked about the war in Iran he started

Graham Platner says he’s withdrawing, denies allegations

Lawrence on the lesson of the Platner campaign: Always wait for the vetting

Lawrence: JD Vance’s old accusation of Trump being ‘cultural heroin’ was on display this weekend

Lawrence: Trump cannot survive a federal criminal justice system that works

U.S.-Iran talks in Qatar end without breakthrough

Trump loses SCOTUS fight to end birthright citizenship

Secretary Rubio & envoy Witkoff brief Congress on Iran

Trump accuses Iran of ‘foolish violation’ of ceasefire

Lawrence: Republican 'Cowardly Lions' of the Senate will live the rest of their lives in disgrace

Lawrence: Bill Cassidy did what no GOP senator has done to Trump in a decade. Yell at him.

Lawrence: Republican Senator Sheehy just made Donald Trump Iran's ‘dope’

Haberman and Swan react to Trump's attacks on them ahead of damning book, 'Regime Change'

Lawrence: Trump picked the worst place in the world to sign his terrible deal with Iran

Lawrence: Trump chose to play Obama's game and lost badly.

Lawrence: Trump's describing his so-called Iran deal the only way he knows how. With nonstop lying.

Lawrence: White House effectively says NYT reporters must have tapes of Situation Room meeting

U.S. & Iran move closer to a deal to resume peace talks