More than 8 out of 10 Americans think the country is divided, and a large majority says public debate has gotten worse in recent years. A recent survey found most voters agree that significant changes are needed in the fundamental design and structure of American government to make it work for current times. In this episode, we explore the urgent need for common ground with Amy Dacey, Executive Director of the Sine Institute of Policy & Politics at American University, and Pearce Godwin, CEO...
Sep 24, 2020•31 min•Ep. 13
Robert Costa, moderator of PBS's "Washington Week" and political analyst at NBC News and MSNBC, joins USC Dornsife Center for the Political Future co-directors Bob Shrum and Mike Murphy to share his insights on the 2020 presidential election, including where this race stands.
Sep 17, 2020•59 min•Season 1Ep. 16
With only weeks to go before the 2020 election, many challenges remain to holding a free and fair vote in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. From likely surge in mail-in ballots, to changes in polling places for millions of voters and the urgent need for accuracy, we discuss whether the election will be a smooth exercise of democracy or result in a constitutional crisis. David Hawkings, Editor-in-Chief and Tristiana Hinton, Audience Development Editor, of The Fulcrum explain America's many dif...
Sep 10, 2020•27 min•Ep. 12
The Republican National Convention culminated with President Trump delivering his acceptance speech in front of an unprecedented back drop. Center Co-Directors Bob Shrum and Mike Murphy share their takes on the convention's highs and lows, what to expect in the upcoming presidential debates, and answer live questions.
Sep 03, 2020•57 min•Season 1Ep. 15
From devastating hurricanes to increasing destruction caused by wildfires, growing numbers of Americans are suffering from the impacts of drought, storms and other extreme weather events. On “Let’s Find Common Ground” we’re looking at some of the most important issues facing voters as they make their choices in the 2020 election. Climate change is a much more important issue for many voters now than it was in 2016. According to a recent poll by Pew Research Center, a record-high 60% of Americans...
Aug 27, 2020•22 min•Ep. 12
Following the most unconventional Democratic political convention in history, Center Director Bob Shrum is joined by special guest Steve Schmidt to share the highlights and forecast the road ahead to November. Featuring: Steve Schmidt, Co-Founder, The Lincoln Project; Republican Political Strategist
Aug 25, 2020•55 min•Season 1Ep. 14
How far apart are we as a nation? A liberal writer from Berkeley and a conservative military veteran decided to answer that question together during a series of long road trips in an old Volvo. They drove through 44 states and on nearly twenty thousand miles of road and highways, meeting an extraordinary range of people along the way. At a time of political gridlock and hyper-partisanship, Republican Jordan Blashek, and Democrat Chris Haugh formed an unlikely friendship that blossomed not in spi...
Aug 13, 2020•24 min•Ep. 10
"The black people I come from were owned and raped by the white people I come from," wrote author, poet and academic Caroline Randall Williams in a widely-read opinion column for The New York Times. As a Black southern woman with white ancestors, her view of the debate over how America remembers its past is deeply personal. This episode is the latest in our podcast series on racism and its painful legacy. Recent protests across the country have sparked renewed controversy over confederate statue...
Jul 30, 2020•24 min•Ep. 9
John Chiang , former California State Treasurer and Fall 2020 Fellow at the USC Dornsife Center for the Political Future, joins co-directors Bob Shrum and Mike Murphy to discuss his career in politics, the pandemic’s lasting economic impact on California, and its implications for the November election and beyond. Chiang served as California’s 33rd State Treasurer until 2019. As the state’s banker, he oversaw trillions of dollars in annual transactions, managed a $75 billion investment portfolio,...
Jul 24, 2020•57 min•Season 1Ep. 13
What can we discover about personal pain caused by racism? In this episode, we speak with an inter-racial couple to find out what a well-educated white professional woman learned from her African American husband, a senior law enforcement official. Our guests are Errol Toulon , elected as first African American Sheriff of Suffolk County , New York, and Tina MacNicholl Toulon, a physician liaison and business development executive. She tells us what she's learned since their marriage in 2016, abo...
Jul 16, 2020•30 min•Ep. 8
Outrage, grief, and despair over cases of police brutality and racism erupted nationwide, with growing demands for major reforms. The protests appeared to sway public opinion. A Washington Post poll in June found that 69% of Americans agreed that the killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis suggests a broader problem within law enforcement. This episode brings together a police chief and a critic of law enforcement. Both discuss their hopes for better policing in the future, and find som...
Jul 02, 2020•40 min•Ep. 7
Mimi Walters , former Congresswoman (R-CA) and Fall 2020 Fellow at the USC Dornsife Center for the Political Future, joins co-directors Bob Shrum and Mike Murphy to share some thoughts on the 2020 election and her decades-long career in public office. From investment executive to elected official, Walters most recently served as U.S. Representative for District 45 in Orange County, until 2018. She also served in both the California State Senate and Assembly and got her start in politics as a cit...
Jun 30, 2020•55 min•Season 1Ep. 12
As the pandemic has unfolded, social media has once again demonstrated how it can inform – or mislead – by encouraging the spread of literally deadly information. Center Co-Directors Bob Shrum and Mike Murphy moderate a discussion on the implications of misinformation from political, social and engineering perspectives – and how it could alter the course of social media. In partnership with the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences' Dornsife Dialogues series. The panelists include:...
Jun 22, 2020•50 min•Season 1Ep. 11
Still reeling from a global pandemic, protests across America erupted in cities across all 50 states, sparking a worldwide movement in over 20 countries. Violence against black men and women, like George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and many others, perpetrated by police has plagued this country for decades. The demand for systemic change for how cities are policed and how racism penetrates so much of American life has become a national, multicultural discussion. This panel explores how we got here an...
Jun 19, 2020•59 min•Season 1Ep. 10
Nationwide protests against racism, police violence, and racial inequality have shaken the nation to its core. Support for Black Lives Matter and anger over police treatment of African-Americans grew dramatically in recent weeks. Outrage over the disturbingly graphic deaths of George Floyd and other black men and women have changed the debate over racism. In this podcast, we look for potential areas of common ground, and consider the prospects for lasting change. Our guests are Ilyasah Shabazz ,...
Jun 18, 2020•33 min•Ep. 6
Communities of color face visible threats. The recent murder of Ahmaud Arbery, a young Black jogger in Georgia, and the killing of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis, reverberated across the country, sparking an outpouring a pain and rage. These cases of racial violence and bias were only the latest on a very long list of attacks and murders of African-American men and women. At this profoundly painful time, we speak with musician and bandleader, Daryl Davis , a Black man who has spen...
Jun 04, 2020•35 min•Ep. 5
Barbara Boxer , former U.S. Senator (D-CA) and Fall 2020 Fellow at the USC Dornsife Center for the Political Future, joins co-directors Bob Shrum and Mike Murphy to reflect on her career and look ahead to the November election. Boxer was elected to the United States Senate in 1992 during the “Year of the Woman." She served four terms and retired in 2017, having also served five terms as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives and six years on the Marin County Board of Supervisors. Known as...
Jun 02, 2020•58 min•Season 1Ep. 9
The coronavirus emergency is the world's biggest crisis of the 21st century--worse than the tragic losses on 9/11, and the economic damage of the great recession. Using lessons from history, we look at positive ways for all of us to emerge from the pandemic. Retired Admiral James Stavridis spent 37 years in the US navy and served in both Democratic and Republican administrations. He led US Southern Command in Miami and served as the 16th Supreme Allied Commander at NATO. His latest book is "Sai...
May 21, 2020•26 min•Ep. 4
The times ahead may be radically different than what most of us have experienced so far in our lives. This episode considers what kind of sacrifices will have to be made now and in the future. How can volunteers make a difference? What needs to be done to prevent a further fraying of the fabric of our national life? Guest: Professor Paul Light of New York University, who often writes about public service, and has testified before Congress.
May 07, 2020•24 min•Ep. 3
What does it take to be an effective leader at a time of unprecedented crisis? We look at the vital skills great leaders share in common. Guest: Retired four-star general, former Supreme Allied Commander Europe, and 2004 Democratic Presidential candidate, Wesley Clark. He shares his unique experience in the military, business, politics, and as the leader of the non-profit group, Renew America Together.
May 07, 2020•25 min•Ep. 2
The world is struggling with a devastating global health emergency, but pressure is building to end lockdowns and ease other restrictions. What are the best ways to restart the U.S. economy without risking public health? We discuss how to find common ground while navigating this challenge. Guests: Jared Bernstein , former economic advisor to Vice President Biden in the Obama Administration and Maya MacGuineas, President of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget ....
May 07, 2020•27 min•Ep. 1
As the tone of public discourse becomes increasingly angry and divisive, Common Ground Committee offers a healing path to reaching agreement and moving forward. We talk with top leaders in public policy, finance, academe and more to encourage the seeking and finding of points of agreement, and to demonstrate how combating incivility can lead us forward.
Apr 30, 2020•2 min
Co-Directors of the USC Dornsife Center for the Political Future discuss the impact of COVID-19 on the presidential election. Bob Shrum, the former senior strategist for Al Gore, John Kerry, and a host of Democratic senators and governors, and Mike Murphy, the former senior strategist for John McCain and Mitt Romney and a political analyst for NBC News, discuss the latest on changing voter attitudes toward the Trump administration, voting while sheltering in place and the dilemmas and opportunit...
Apr 14, 2020•53 min•Season 1Ep. 8
Center Director Bob Shrum moderates a discussion exploring how the primary campaigns and developments in Washington are shaping the general election landscape. The panelists include: Rob Collins - Republican strategist; Former Executive Director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee Christian Grose - Associate Professor of Political Science and Public Policy, USC Dornsife; Academic Director, USC Schwarzenegger Institute for State and Global Policy Betsy Fischer Martin - Emmy-winning jo...
Mar 13, 2020•1 hr 9 min•Season 1Ep. 7
Fifteen states, including California for the first time, cast their votes for the 2020 primaries on Super Tuesday, March 3. A round table of experts weighed in on the results in real-time and offered predictions on what to look for next. The panelists include: Christina Bellantoni - Director, USC Annenberg Media Center Bill Carrick - Strategist for Sen. Dianne Feinstein, LA Mayor Eric Garcetti, Sen. Ted Kennedy, and President Bill Clinton Jeff Greenfield - Politics and Media Analyst; Spring '20 ...
Mar 06, 2020•1 hr 4 min
Center Co-Director Mike Murphy is joined by U.S. Representative Will Hurd, R-Texas. He is the only black Republican in the U.S. House, representing Texas' 23rd district that spans San Antonio to El Paso. In his three terms, he has broken from his party by supporting universal background checks for gun sales and the LGBT Equality Act, as well as opposing Trump's border wall. Rep. Hurd served as an undercover officer in the CIA in the Middle East and South Asia for nearly a decade. He shares his i...
Feb 27, 2020•59 min•Season 1Ep. 5
Center for the Political Future Executive Director Kamy Akhavan moderates a panel on the roots and rise of tribalism on American life, past and present, its impact on the state of politics and governance in America, and the role of political leaders in worsening the trend or reversing it. The panelists include: Ron Christie - Former Special Assistant to President George W. Bush and Vice President Cheney Stevan Hobfoll - Author, “Tribalism: The Evolutionary Origins of Fear Politics” Jonas Kaplan ...
Jan 28, 2020•1 hr 11 min•Season 1Ep. 4
Center Director Bob Shrum is joined by John Della Volpe, Director of Polling at the Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics to discuss the impact of millennial voters on the 2020 election. In partnership with the Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership and Policy.
Jan 17, 2020•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 3
Center Director Bob Shrum is joined by former White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci. After the release of his book, "Trump: The Blue Collar President," he has again made headlines withdrawing his support of President Trump. Scaramucci shares where he stands now on Trump's re-election, the Democratic field, and the state of the Republican party.
Jan 15, 2020•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 2
At the USC Dornsife Center for the Political Future, veteran strategists Bob Shrum and Mike Murphy regularly talk with top operatives on both sides of the 2020 contest and the journalists who are covering it. The conversations get behind the curtain -- because what seems to be happening in the campaign is often different than what really is. What are the calculations in the war rooms of 2020? How is the media covering the race, and how is the coverage shaping the outcome? Hear from those who’ve ...
Dec 09, 2019•2 min•Season 1Ep. 1
