As to your recent episode on voter pushback, thank you for asking us to be decent when are leaders are not. The unscrupulous can be bought on the cheap or exploited when convenient.

Informative and entertaining

Very much appreciate how Megan simplifies the complex and always presents both sides equally.

Missing Post Reports

Listening to this episode on fertility rates, and this is absolutely conservative ideology packaged as something pseudo scientific. The premise that marriage and children are the source of happiness in life AND WHOLE SOCIETIES is absurd. Also it makes my skin crawl listening to this guy mansplain what women want and why they are having less babies. Fails to address the true social and economic strains that are influencing people’s decisions around family planning. Gross.

Unfollowing because of casino ads.

This show was first presented as a positive spin on news of today. However, after listening to a few episodes, it is quite clear that this show is just conservative talk points being repackaged centrist view. Most of the guests are using bad data, as well as lack of data to Boyster their point of use and really should have no place in the public form or the market of ideas. It is quite clear that this is very much part of the continuum of death spiral of the Washington Post.

It sounded like what I could use… Except one star it’s owned by Jeff Bezos… See you later

I hope this is a real actual attempt at center politics and it would help if the host didn’t use the regular dog whistles to undermine the current admin. You can just say for example trump held schools accountable for becoming racist and politicized in a post 10/7 world based on our countrys civil rights laws. Instead of “ he attacked. Or went after.” It’s just not helpful and doesn’t educate the audience on what actually happened. Kudos for this endeavor I hope the host can actually be center focused and keep having on well meaning guests.

Loved the “Most Underrated President” and many others. Almost gave up due to early sound level problems, but it has been worth hanging in there with you.

I was hopeful this would become an interesting feature. What it seems to be is “Don’t believe what your eyes are telling you.” Optimism is great but only when grounded by reality. The Post has dropped podcasts that delivered real insight and news and we are left with this escapist drivel. The Post can do so much better and often has. This is just a sad reflection of The Post’s decline.

Again, the moderator asks the guest a question and then proceeds to answer it before the guest can!

Just need an audio engineer to make sure the levels are more even.

Turn up the volume

Best new podcast of 2025. Megan’s analysis is intelligent and insightful

I like the idea of focusing on optimistic/constructive stories with interesting thought leaders. However, I encourage the team to improve the sound quality of the host and guests by getting them better microphones. Thank you for your consideration.

Megan McArdle is always a good listen. She is always great at steesmaning the other side of any issue. A podcast highlighting optimist is needed now and nobody better to do it.

I just discovered this podcast and am enjoying it a lot so far. Her thoughts and interviewees provide some much needed perspective.

I’ll listen to Megan talk about anything on any podcast, but the sound engineering is a bit weak compared to the other shows I hear her on. WP certainly has the resources to address and I hope they do, but have enjoyed it immensely

There a few people who I could listen to for hours without getting bored: Sam Harris, Jonah Goldberg, and Megan McArdle are among them. Looking forward to a year of this podcast. She is great on the Dispatch Podcast and here as well.

The best of M McCardle and S Pinker. It is a critical and clear-eyed look at how we are actually doing as a society (hint: pretty damn well).

I’ve always appreciated Megan’s perspective when she joins The Dispatch round tables and was excited to see she was starting a podcast for TWP. Interesting ideas and it leaves me feeling - as a political moderate - at least tentatively, if not reasonably, optimistic.

While it is true that I haven’t yet listened to an episode of this but if it’s being done by Megan McArdle there is a negative infinity percent chance it isn’t epic.

Megan McArdle is a great host! Jared Polis was an excellent guest and represents a sensible Democratic vision that would have legs nationwide. The progressive fringe has ruined the party. I am looking forward to future episodes.

Stopped listening to the first episode O tried with Jared Polis at 3:53. Long discussion about dog breeding, glamorizing it unnecessarily. Go to the overflowing animal shelters and adopt.

Megan McArdle comes across as smug and condescending. I don’t think this podcast can succeed with her hosting.

Interesting interview, but please balance the voice quality and levels. Low level for interviewer very distracting. You guys are better than this. I hope.

At a moment when truth is increasingly hard to find, the time is right for this podcast. It’s also a pleasure to listen to intelligent and well-informed people discussing current events, as opposed to the doubtful actors currently in government.

Very well produced! Love their takes on current events

What you would expect from the arrogant liberal media.

Really enjoying this show, especially with their inclusion of more diverse viewpoints lately and some respectful disagreement on the show.

Being an independent in this era is hard. listening to these guys act like Bill Maher was too dumb to see past Trumps “act” and not take his assessment at face value that he is actually personable in a private setting. Their hatred is so blinding. And all the popular comedians are right leaning currently and they hardly know who any of them are even though they have the biggest pods in the country. So painful how hard they are trying to stay left.

New editorial guidance kicking in I guess… don’t talk about anything the regime wouldn’t like

The country is on fire and episodes are about things like “why is it so difficult to stop making pennies?” Really? If the hosts are somehow constrained by WP leadership, have the courage to strike out with your own podcast! The talents and knowledge of the likes of Milbank, Marcus, etc. — Kane was excellent on this podcast but now he seems out of the picture? — are being squashed and wasted.

It is obvious that the WaPo is enthralled to King Trump

I was interested in the topic of remote work and this return to office now being implemented. But I couldn’t get past the hosts giggling and bad jokes. Felt like a bad lunch table in high school. It’s too bad to, Heather Long always had great info and it gets lost here.

But it’s under the bezo’s umbrella…it makes me want to seek out other sources that aren’t.

Obligatory opener about how I’m generally pretty progressive. I actually agree with the views most of the hosts hold, and maybe I’m old school on this, but I really appreciate a political take that at least PRETENDS to be unbiased. This is not that. Post Reports at least attempts to give a more well rounded view (though it often fails spectacularly) of current events, this show doesn’t even try. It is just like every other sad, tired, uninspired, and played out legacy media take on current events out there. Nothing to see here people.

Thank you for this, I have been wanting to dive in for more info concerning the SG’s announcement. I do have one question, what is “bin” drinking? Half kidding of course I think your MD guest was saying “binge” but it sure sounded like “bin”.

The episode on alcohol risk was informative, appropriately nuanced, and somehow also entertaining. Really well done. Thank you!

Abandoning your values because of Bezos and now making people listen to putzy roofers blather on endlessly…no thanks, I’m out.

Once a beacon of journalistic integrity, The Washington Post has become a shadow of its former self since Bezos took over, and Impromptu suffers the same fate. The podcast can’t be trusted when it’s backed by a publication that repeatedly prioritizes corporate interests over unbiased reporting. Bezos’s meddling in the press is well-documented, turning what should be independent journalism into a tool for advancing his agenda. Impromptu is just another example of the Washington Post’s decline—a slick facade masking a deeper credibility crisis. Don’t waste your time on this thinly veiled PR machine. Look elsewhere for honest, independent content.

He killed the Post. I’m out.

On the episode about the potential harms of social media and smartphones their “experts” said it’s not the fault of phones or the social media services and that, “if it were the 80s the kids would just go find another clique or group and still have the same bullying problems.” I am just in awe of the ignorance of this comment. I’m not even mad, it’s hugely impressive to be this removed from reality, or just basic cause and effect.

The podcast answer to needing thoughtful, informed, analytical discourse, especially around contentious subjects. Excellent example for how to hear and consider varied opinions; how to respectfully disagree or agree with an open mind. Nice tone too. Highly recommend.

Thanks for bringing truly informed discussion to our ears. It’s a bit like My Dinner With Andre on topical issues. I eagerly await every discussion and love hearing from the WP columnists.

Listening to intelligent, thoughtful people talk about the issues I care about with ease, perspective and even some humor is so refreshing. I have been eagerly awaiting each episode since I first heard about the show. Keep up the good work!

Good presenter - contributors knowledgeable and concise Better than Washington Post main site. Good addition to news analysis JL

I enjoyed the podcast. It gave me a little idea about what opinion writers are thinking about when they write a column. As a regular reader, I find there Post’s coverage of the environment pretty good, but this one was all wrong. I live in California and everyone I know has an EV and there are plenty of charging stations in public places and apartment buildings. The real story is will the electric grid hold up for this and when will we acknowledge that convenient public transportation be available. As usual people back east are so behind the times on these things they are living in the past. This podcast is provocative and exciting!

First podcast I’ve ever listened to. I was petrified about the SCOTUS hearings this week about Mifepristone and their possible outcome. This podcast put my fears at rest with information and humor. Impromptu is a show I will tune into again and again.