Three big shifts changing politics in 2026

Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen talk through three once-in-a-generation shifts happening at the same time: the new reality of government and politics, how Artificial Intelligence (AI) will reshape the future of work, and how shattered media has fractured reality itself. The throughline is simple and unsettling: our institutions weren’t built for this speed or scale of change, and people can feel it, even if they can’t always explain it. Timestamps: 0:00 Anxiety is rational right now Political Shifts 0:54 Government norms are gone 1:59 Parties are reinventing themselves 3:46 Power ratchets and never resets 5:26 Politics becomes emotion 6:38 The next political movement The AI Revolution 7:14 AI is civilizational 8:41 The bubble won’t kill the tech 9:22 You won’t have a choice 10:38 No one is preparing workers 11:51 The industrial revolution warning 13:09 Who fears AI and why Fractured Reality 14:40 Reality is fractured 15:10 The shattered glass effect 16:34 Is this even real anymore 18:08 Living through history