Paul Krugman and Elliott Morris talk about Trump, the economy, and democracy

Paul asks me about Trump's polling, the government shutdown, whether we're still in an economic "vibecession," and why I've grown more outspoken about democracy and authoritarianism

Happy Saturday, readers,

I was very honored to be interviewed on Friday by Nobel Prize winner and former New York Times columnist Paul Krugman. The video podcast of this interview is now up on Paul’s Substack (we are both émigrés from corporate media), and linked below.

Paul emailed me last week asking to record a conversation about Trump’s polls and the government shutdown likely happening next week, among other topics. I am very appreciative that Paul would put me in front of his audience (for a third time — you know the saying), so I immediately agreed.

We ended up talking about a lot of things, including the backlash to Trump’s crackdown on free speech, expression, and association in the aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s assassination — something the right has claimed as their “Reichstag fire” — and whether the president is suffering from a similar “vibecession” dynamic that plagued Democrats in 2024 (and how tariffs make 2025 different).

Paul also asks about why/how I’ve grown more outspo…