Rachel Maddow Presents: Ultra - Special Preview of “The Best People with Nicolle Wallace”

Episode Date: June 2, 2025

Who are The Best People? They’re the people who are the best at what they do and know how to bring out the best in others. On her new podcast, Nicolle Wallace speaks to the people who inspire her. As a mom. As an American. Or sometimes just as a super fan. In the first episode, she sits down with actor Jason Bateman. His show “Smartless,” which he co-hosts with Will Arnett and Sean Hayes, is the podcast that inspired her to do her own. On this special preview, Bateman shares his journey into podcasting and reflects on the political climate that gives him endless fodder for conversation. Search “The Best People with Nicolle Wallace” to listen to the full episode and to catch new episodes every Monday. Or sign up for MSNBC Premium on Apple Podcasts to get early access on Fridays. Signing up for Premium also includes ad-free listening and bonus content.

Hi everybody, it's Nicole Wallace. I'm excited to tell you about my new podcast, The Best People with Nicole Wallace. What is The Best People? Well, it's an invitation inside my short list of the smartest, funniest, wisest, most creative people I've been blessed to encounter, either personally or professionally, as a journalist, as a mom, sometimes just as a fan. The best people inspire me, they make me laugh, they tell the truth, they give the best advice. Now I'm sharing the power of those conversations with all of you. The best people are some of the most accomplished and accessible people out there. From Jason Bateman to Kara Swisher, Rachel Maddow to Sarah Jessica Parker, Doc Rivers and Jeff Daniels. This podcast is a chance for you

to hear them and see them the way I do and what you hear might surprise you. So follow the best people with Nicole Wallace. The first two episodes are available right now and new episodes drop on Mondays. Stay here to listen to a special preview of the first episode with Jason Bateman, where we talk about how he got into podcasting with his show, SmartList, his latest projects and his take on the current political mayhem. You can also subscribe to MSNBC premium on Apple podcasts for early access, ad free listening and bonus content.

I think that what makes the Trump story so amazing is nobody knows what's going to happen next. You know, I mean, the people in his cabinet don't seem to know what's happening next. You know, it's crazy. And but there's a writer's room somewhere. Somewhere. Yeah, and in that writer's room, they are figuring out these seasonal arcs that are just, they're just gobsmacking and somehow they build to these great cliffhangers too, that are kind of like, well, that's like jumping the shark.

But like for instance, remember for a moment it was it was very plausible that he was going to Win the election but start serving in prison like that was that wasn't that would be you would you would write that maybe Yeah, like that would be a shark that jumped the shark moment But no actually everything was built towards that legitimately can happen and people are trying to figure out the apparatus to get classified documents to him, et cetera, et cetera. And like to me, that's just a show I can't stop watching because he keeps outdoing himself and doubling and tripling down,

and it's not for show. It's actually a reasonable escalation based on what just happened last. It's like it's really happening. Does it change your industry at all when the real world is so batshit crazy? Does it make people think, like, oh, this couldn't happen when the real world keeps defying that frame of this couldn't happen? Well, there's plenty of projects. I've been involved with at least two of them that are directly related to key figures

in his administration that I have started developing, but then backed away because there's no way you can do that because those are still active storylines. And by the time you're done shooting it, the ending may have been written and we won't have it in the show. So yeah, it's the notion of what is plausible and possible in the political world.

and possible in the political world, I think the writers' rooms are having difficulty imagining it, even in a fictional setting, if you were to just have a fictional administration, because, you know, I think most of us come off the car lot with a standard feature of shame and an ability to become embarrassed. And that's not built into our systems of defense. You can't assume that somebody is going to drive right through shamelessness. And he does, and he is, and so we're constantly on our heels.