One of our very favorite columnists working today is the Washington Post’s Philip Bump. He's been a lightning rod for right wing criticism because he specializes in using data, sources, and FACTS to separate what’s real from what’s not, and cut through the fog of spin, distortion, and lying that pervades politics. He writes the weekly newsletter How To Read This Chart , to which you should subscribe . He's also the author of The Aftermath : The Last Days of the Baby Boom and the Future of Power ...
Aug 31, 2023•37 min
In a little-noticed filing, a Republican, Trump-endorsed attorney asked the Secretary of State of New Hampshire to keep Donald Trump OFF the presidential ballot. The panel discusses the massive ramifications, including whether this will unleash a wave of similar moves targeting not just Trump, but also President Biden and other candidates. Also, why Mark Meadows Maneuvers could be a BFD.
Aug 30, 2023•37 min
On the surface it seemed like just a lot of legal maneuvering, but underneath, the entire course of the January 6th trial of Donal Trump played out in a federal courtroom yesterday. Matt Robison joins radio host Howard Monroe to dissect what we heard and what it means. Also, the 14th Amendment cascade is about to begin.
Aug 29, 2023•24 min
The Wikipedia entry for Ted Strickland notes that “As of 2023, he is the last Democrat to serve as Governor of Ohio.” But when Ohio voters soundly rejected a cynical Republican ballot initiative a few weeks ago, it made us wonder, is that about to change? What happened to this onetime bellwether state, and have Democrats begun to figure out how to win it back, and other states like it? So we thought we would ask him. Ted Strickland served in the US House of Representatives for 12 years and as th...
Aug 28, 2023•35 min
Mike and I discuss the various labels you should be paying attention to in the stock market. For instance, a popular value index fund, the iShares S&P 500 Value ETF (ticker IVE) includes Microsoft which is typically a growth company. Here is where knowing the ingredients of the fund is crucial.
Aug 27, 2023•23 min
Two expert pollsters wanted to know what swing voters thought of the Republican candidates in the Presidential debate -- so they tested them with dials as they watched. The results should make the entire Republican Party nervous.
Aug 24, 2023•40 min
The first debate may be other Republican candidates' best chance to make up some ground on Donald Trump -- who isn't even showing up -- but it seems like the other candidates are going to defend him rather than try to beat him. Can that work? Or are these candidates just cementing his place as the eventual nominee?
Aug 22, 2023•29 min
As part of our financial life planning series, financial planner Mike Morton and Matt Robison explore why it is liberating to embrace the idea that individual lives may not hold significant meaning in the grand scheme of things. In fact, embracing that notion can help you do things that are more fulfilling, spend your time more wisely, and make better decisions.
Aug 21, 2023•26 min
What if the laws that allow billions of dollars of dark money to drive American politics are based on...a mistake? One of America’s most prominent legal scholars thinks that’s exactly what’s happened, and he’s going to give someone $50,000 to help him prove it. Lawrence Lessig is the Roy L. Furman Professor of Law and Leadership at Harvard Law School and the founder of Equal Citizens, an advocacy group whose mission is to fix democracy by establishing truly equal citizenship. On Labor Day, Septe...
Aug 18, 2023•39 min
Even before he became NPR's Kabul-based reporter on the war in Afghanistan, Sean Carberry had traveled the globe telling the on-the-ground stories from conflict zones that shaped our understanding of the world. Now out with his new book "Passport Stamps: Searching the World for a War to Call Home," the current Managing Editor of National Defense Magazine shares stories and lessons learned from over a decade in some of the most difficult and dangerous places on Earth....
Aug 16, 2023•38 min
The fourth Trump indictment in Georgia is being driven by the RICO statute, which has serious implications for what Trump and his conspirators can be charged with and found guilty of. Also, why haven't Republicans found a political way out of their Trump mess, and have two conservative legal scholars found a constitutional way out for all of us?
Aug 15, 2023•40 min
So many myths and lies come out of political mouths these days (especially, let's face it, from the leader of a party whose name rhymes with "Bepublican") it's hard to keep track. Then, they get reported by willing journalists who act as stenographers. The result is a doom-scroll narrative that hurts Democrats' ability to win and Republicans who want to defeat Donald Trump. Veteran radio host Matt McNeil has Matt Robison on to talk about some of the biggest ones going right now, and how to debun...
Aug 13, 2023•18 min
***Corrected to remove radio ad at the beginning*** More and more, we see elected officials in the Republican Party ignoring courts, ignoring votes, and setting up self-reinforcing rules to get what they want -- which usually includes keeping themselves in power. So what do we do when a major political party simply ignores our system of law and government?
Aug 09, 2023•25 min
More and more, we see elected officials in the Republican Party ignoring courts, ignoring votes, and setting up self-reinforcing rules to get what they want -- which usually includes keeping themselves in power. So what do we do when a major political party simply ignores our system of law and government?
Aug 09, 2023•27 min
Should the Trump trial be televised? Will we see a protective order? Why are Republicans rooting against the Barbie movie and the US World Cup team? And what is up with the Ohio Issue 1 referendum?
Aug 08, 2023•35 min
We were interviewing Kristy Parker - former federal prosecutor and current attorney at Protect Democracy - about the destruction of protections for our democratic system, when she carefully, methodically, and compellingly dismantled Donald Trump's main defenses in the election fraud/January 6 case. Also: we does it make sense to charge Trump under a statute intended to go after the KKK. And how can we reverse the assault on democracy in the US?
Aug 04, 2023•44 min
Matt joins legendary West Virginia radio host Howard Monroe on his radio show to talk about the big new set of Trump indictments, especially Matt's new article in Newsweek arguing "No, These Indictments Don't Strengthen Trump. That's Just Media Nonsense." Also, the Trump defenses, and what's the end game here?
Aug 03, 2023•24 min
Special Prosecutor Jack Smith just dropped four new charges on Donald Trump, indictments for conspiring to overturn American democracy and ultimately causing January 6. Former prosecutor and US Congressman Paul Hodes joins Matt Robison and Republican political consultant Alicia Preston to walk through the three biggest questions from the new charges: how strong are they, can Trump's defense work, and how will all of these mounting legal cases get done before the 2024 election? 0:00 The Charges 1...
Aug 02, 2023•26 min
No one likes money in politics. But the simple truth is, if you want to win and do the things that you believe in, you need to raise campaign cash. And one of the Democratic Party's top experts on how to do it, Josh Handelman, says, we shouldn't feel bad about that. We should embrace it. He also explains how things have changed int he past 17 years in campaigns, what works and what doesn't and Matt and Josh share some of their best secrets for being successful in campaigns.
Aug 01, 2023•32 min
Following Part One on the Ron DeSantis campaign catastrophe, Kartik Krishnaiyer, one the the nation's leading experts on Florida politics and proprietor of The Florida Squeeze and Matt Robison discuss whether a reboot is possible. ALSO: the biggest Senate race in the country that you probably should be paying more attention to. And another incredible, undemocratic, anti-democracy power grab. And if you want to see Kartik's book, check it out here . And come support us on Patreon ! https://www.pa...
Jul 30, 2023•24 min
When top elections analysts are asking whether your campaign is the worst in modern political history, you know things have gone south. And that's where things are for Ron DeSantis after a series of disasters, embarrassments, and acts of stubbornly clinging to insane positions. Kartik Krishnaiyer, one the the nation's leading experts on Florida politics and proprietor of The Florida Squeeze joins to walk through this monumental political disaster and what it means for the presidential race. And ...
Jul 28, 2023•26 min
It's time for another installment our most fun episode series on space, where we go WAY Beyond Politics. We welcome back UNH Observatory Director John Gianforte to talk about what the James Webb Space Telescope has discovered in it's first year, and run down the top five most mind-blowing images. Find the full video on our Patreon page here , and please support our work! Or if you want to pull up those images yourself, here they are: 5) James Webb Space Telescope time travels billions of years i...
Jul 27, 2023•35 min
Three under the radar stories from recent days suggest that Republicans are once again about to kneecap each other and leave a wide open path for Donald Trump. Also, disaster in Israel for democracy, an empty trying to get back to the top in New Hampshire, and what's with the death of sports sections?
Jul 25, 2023•29 min
The trump indictment three-peat is looming, and there are huge questions involved. Will this one matter politically and start to peal away Republicans? Can DeSantis make a surge off this? Is there a "David" strategy in this primary? AND, what does New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu declaring he won't run for re-election mean? IS he reconsidering challenging for the nomination?
Jul 19, 2023•33 min
Lying. Hypnotizing. Gaslighting. Did Texas’ “serial killer whisperer” and his questionable tactics ensnare an innocent man? An amazing new podcast from journalist Maurice Chammah and the Marshall Project called "Just Say You’re Sorry" poses all of those questions and ultimately asks, what’s the price that we pay for a sense that we’ve closed the books, when we might be closing them on the wrong page? Maurice Chammah is a staff writer and the author of "Let the Lord Sort Them: The Rise and Fall o...
Jul 18, 2023•35 min
It's our July mailbag! Your questions and comments answered, including: Why won't the media report more on the DeSantis Guantanamo Bay story? What's about to happen with the Trump case in Georgia? Does Jack Smith have a major ace up his sleeve against Trump? Is Jim Jordan going to be sued for his role in the Ohio State scandal? Who are the top five Dems who could be replacement White House contenders? Are Trump voters...hiding?...
Jul 17, 2023•35 min
The panel discusses the eerie parallels on a day when Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu both made new legal maneuvers to stay out of prison and regain (or regain) power. Also, what does a new grand jury empaneling mean in Georgia. And is Biden crushing it when it comes to our alliances?
Jul 12, 2023•26 min
As we record this on the morning of July 11, Israel has once against broken out in massive protests after an overnight vote in their Parliament that pushed forward the far-right governing coalition’s plan to limit their judiciary. Protestors see the plan as nothing less that a more stealthy version of the overt power grab that Prime Minister Netanyahu announced in January and that led to a shutdown of the country in March. One of co-founders of the pro-democracy protest movement is Gilead Sher. ...
Jul 11, 2023•27 min
Every so often, the political guru that the Washington insiders listen to delivers one of his deep dive analysis memos on what’s going on under the surface in politics. And everyone drops everything to see what he had to say. So when Doug Sosnik delivered his newest analysis -- explaining what the 2024 election will come down to and what four key voting blocs would decide the outcome -- we knew we wanted to bring all of our listeners and viewers the voice that the pros listen to. Doug served as ...
Jul 07, 2023•40 min
The Supreme Court wrapped its term with a rush of rulings, including in a pivotal case that pitted issues of free speech against anti-discrimination laws. Except, the case was built on a fantasy: a web designer who had never designed a website, and a request from a gay couple that never existed. So was the Supreme Court duped? And is the Court veering outside the mainstream of public opinion, or reflecting it? Also, is Ron DeSantis flailing with a bizarre new ad as his poll numbers tank?
Jul 04, 2023•29 min
