For the full and ad-free version of this episode, subscribe to Politicology+ at https://politicology.com/plus In this episode, Ron talks to Casey Michel (Director of the Combating Kleptocracy Program at the Human Rights Foundation) about his book Foreign Agents: How American Lobbyists and Lawmakers Threaten Democracy Around the World and how foreign money influences our politics. They discuss: (01:46) The shadow world of foreign lobbying (03:45) Ivy Lee and Paul Manafort (07:36) The First Amendm...
May 29, 2025•38 min•Season 2Ep. 483
Contribute to Politicology at politicology.com/donate To unlock Politicology+ visit politicology.com/plus In this week’s wide-ranging Roundup, Ron Steslow and Mike Madrid (author of The Latino Century) discuss the connection between MAGA’s economic populism and immigration agendas and populism as a force seeking to dismantle existing systems. Finally, in Politicology+, they discuss the Coinbase data leak, why data leaks in the A.I. era will hurt even more, and the need for greater privacy protec...
May 23, 2025•1 hr 3 min•Season 2Ep. 482
Mike Madrid and host Ron Steslow discuss Bernie Sanders and AOC’s “Fighting Oligarchy Tour” and where economic populism on the left is heading.Related media:CNN - Bernie Sander's Town Hall Clip Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
May 21, 2025•40 min•Season 2Ep. 481
For the ad-free and full version of this episode, subscribe to Politicology+ at https://politicology.com/plus In this episode, Ron talks to Nick Anthony (Policy Analyst at the Cato Institute and a Fellow at the Human Rights Foundation) about Central Bank Digital Curriences, their potential to invade privacy, alter the dynamics of financial control, how governments are trying to justify them, and why those arguments are insufficient. They discuss: (04:16) Intro to CBDCs (07:58) How CBDCs would gi...
May 20, 2025•37 min•Season 2Ep. 480
Contribute to Politicology at politicology.com/donate To unlock Politicology+ visit politicology.com/plus In this week’s wide-ranging Roundup, Ron Steslow and Lucy Caldwell (Board Advisor to the Renew Democracy Initiative and advisor to the Forward Party) discuss how and why we’ll need to rethink our education system in the rapidly changing world. Finally, in Politicology+, they discuss Steve Bannon’s recent speech at Hillsdale College, the escalating rhetoric about being on the verge of war, an...
May 16, 2025•1 hr 24 min•Season 2Ep. 479
Contribute to Politicology at politicology.com/donate To unlock Politicology+ visit politicology.com/plus In this week’s wide-ranging Roundup, Ron Steslow and Hagar Chemali (Fmr. spokesperson for the U.S. Mission to the UN) discuss the escalating tensions between two nuclear powers, India and Pakistan, in Kashmir. Then, they talk about the spread of Islamism in the West and the threat it poses to global democracy. Finally, in Politicology+ they discuss what foreign policy would look like with a ...
May 10, 2025•1 hr 20 min•Season 2Ep. 478
For the ad-free version of this episode, subscribe to Politicology+ at https://politicology.com/plus In the second part of this two-part episode, Ron talks to Molly McKew (writer and lecturer on Russian influence and information warfare) about whether Russia is truly isolated, and what the future of American influence could look like as our self-isolation creates a power vacuum. Read Molly’s work: https://www.greatpower.us/ Follow Ron and Molly on X: https://twitter.com/RonSteslow https://x.com/...
May 07, 2025•47 min•Season 2Ep. 473
For the ad-free version of this episode, subscribe to Politicology+ at https://politicology.com/plus In the first part of this two-part episode, Ron talks to Molly McKew (writer and lecturer on Russian influence and information warfare) about the recent drone attacks in Ukraine, Trump’s “Peace Plan” and what a lasting peace might require. Read Molly’s work: https://www.greatpower.us/ Follow Ron and Molly on X: https://twitter.com/RonSteslow https://x.com/MollyMcKew Email your questions to podcas...
May 07, 2025•52 min•Season 2Ep. 476
Contribute to Politicology at politicology.com/donate To unlock Politicology+ visit politicology.com/plus Nick Gillespie (Editor at Large at Reason) and host Ron Steslow discuss AI, what it’s doing to us, and our relationship with what it means to be human. Not yet a Politicology+ member? Don’t miss all the extra episodes on the private, ad-free version of this podcast. Upgrade now at politicology.com/plus . Send your questions and ideas to podcast@politicology.com or leave a voicemail at (703)...
May 02, 2025•34 min•Season 2Ep. 475
For the ad-free version of this episode, subscribe to Politicology+ at https://politicology.com/plus In part two of this series, Ron talks to Rebecca Roiphe (Joseph Solomon Distinguished Professor of Law at New York Law School) about critical legal studies, the attacks on our understanding of what the law is and how it should function from across the political spectrum. They focus on how the chilling actions of the Trump Administration stem from a belief that law is merely an instrument of power...
Apr 30, 2025•53 min•Season 2Ep. 473
Contribute to Politicology at politicology.com/donate To unlock Politicology+ visit politicology.com/plus In this week’s wide-ranging Roundup, Ron Steslow and Mike Madrid (author of The Latino Century) discuss high profile warnings that AI could outrun us very soon. Then, they talk about the death of Pope Francis and what’s next for the Catholic Church before discussing christianity’s merger with MAGA, and what that means for the fate of liberalism in America Finally, in Politicology+ they discu...
Apr 25, 2025•1 hr 15 min•Season 2Ep. 473
For the ad-free version of this episode, subscribe to Politicology+ at https://politicology.com/plus In this two-part episode, Ron talks to Rebecca Roiphe (Joseph Solomon Distinguished Professor of Law at New York Law School) about critical legal studies, the attacks on our understanding of what the law is and how it should function from across the political spectrum. They discuss: (04:57) The challenges the rule of law is facing (07:31) Understanding Critical Legal Studies (10:16) Intersectiona...
Apr 23, 2025•46 min•Season 2Ep. 472
Contribute to Politicology at politicology.com/donate To unlock Politicology+ visit politicology.com/plus In this week’s wide-ranging Roundup, Ron Steslow and Nick Gillespie (Editor at Large at Reason) discuss why it’s essential to engage with libertarian values—especially in this moment. They talk about the current assault on due process and how immigration is central to what America is and what it means. They discuss the FTC lawsuit against Facebook, the collision between The Trump Administrat...
Apr 18, 2025•1 hr 30 min•Season 2Ep. 471
Contribute to Politicology at politicology.com/donate To unlock Politicology+ visit politicology.com/plus This week, Ron Steslow and Liam Donovan (Principal at Bracewell LLP) discuss the tariff rollercoaster, the “new right” economic theory driving them, and why the Trump administration cares a lot less about the stock market than in his first term. Then, we discuss why we’re engaged in full-throttle economic warfare with China. Finally, we head to Politicology+ where we discuss how the uncertai...
Apr 12, 2025•1 hr 12 min•Season 2Ep. 470
To unlock exclusive content, visit: https://politicology.com/plus Some of the most vexing political controversies, policy questions, and cultural crises of our current moment trace their orbit around the singular legal and cultural gravity of our 1st Amendment—and the radical, enlightenment wisdom enshrined in it. What has really been going across college campuses—and what’s at stake for wider society outside the confines of higher education? Is the colloquial public square, practically speaking...
Apr 09, 2025•43 min•Season 2Ep. 469
Former presidential candidate and Former HP CEO Carly Fiorina joins Ron Steslow to discuss how short-term gains have gotten preferential treatment over long-term planning and success. (04:39) The differences between short-term vs. long-term (07:02) Expecting quick fixes to long-term problems (15:30) The shift in corporate responsibility from just shareholders to stakeholders (30:32) How the short-term goal of winning elections short-circuits governing Politicology is supported by listeners like ...
Apr 03, 2025•1 hr 20 min•Season 2Ep. 468
To unlock Politicology+ visit politicology.com/plus This week, Ron Steslow and Hagar Chemali (Former spokesperson for the U.S. Mission to the UN) meet in studio to discuss the senior administration officials who accidentally shared attack plans with a journalist on Signal. Then, we dive deeper into whether the perception of Trump as a consistent liar can create a paradoxical stability in global affairs, how an information war threatens an entire financial system, and revisiting the stakes of the...
Mar 29, 2025•1 hr 27 min•Season 2Ep. 467
In the second part of this two-episode conversation, Stanford Professors Mehran Sahami and Jeremy Weinstein join Ron Steslow to discuss their book System Error: Where Big Tech Went Wrong and How We Can Reboot. (07:11) The modern day trolley problem (16:54) Reorienting invention toward problem solving (23:16) The other skills tech companies need (28:53) The problem of the inventor/CEO (39:57) What companies and governments can do to reshape how big tech operates Purchase System Error: https://sys...
Mar 27, 2025•30 min•Season 2Ep. 466
In this two-episode conversation, Stanford Professors Mehran Sahami and Jeremy Weinstein join Ron Steslow to discuss their book System Error: Where Big Tech Went Wrong and How We Can Reboot. (05:42) Why they decided to write their book (10:56) How venture capital has shaped Silicon Valley (19:04) Optimization mindset meets Democracy (37:36) Our privacy boundaries when it comes to government and private companies Purchase System Error: https://systemerrorbook.com/ Politicology is supported by lis...
Mar 27, 2025•31 min•Season 2Ep. 465
To unlock Politicology+ visit politicology.com/plus This week, Ron Steslow and Mike Madrid (author of The Latino Century) discuss ‘supply-side progressivism’ and Ezra Klein and Derrek Thompson’s new book Abundance, and what their vision for the progressive government looks like. Then, we dive deeper into what the Trump team means when they say they are “detoxing” the economy, why and how they are remaking the world financial and security order, why it seems so chaotic, and the stakes of their ap...
Mar 21, 2025•1 hr 21 min•Season 2Ep. 464
Pat Condo (Founder and CEO of Seekr Technologies) joins Ron Steslow to discuss the media landscape, their search tool that uses Artificial Intelligence to index websites and news stories to rate the content so readers can make better informed choices about what they read. (02:26) From navigation technology to search technology (05:46) Why he decided to create Seekr (37:50) What makes Seekr different from other search engines (44:22) The incentive structure for news organizations (51:20) How Seek...
Mar 19, 2025•46 min•Season 2Ep. 463
To unlock Politicology+ visit politicology.com/plus This week, we’ll talk about turbulence in the stock market and the fight over the Continuing Resolution to avert a shutdown Then, we talk about a new Facebook whistleblower who detailed the lengths Meta was willing to go to to operate in China. Finally, we head to Politicology+,where we’ll preview Alex Isenstadt’s new book Revenge: The Inside Story of Trump’s Return to Power Joining Ron Steslow on this week’s panel: Alex Isenstadt (Senior Polit...
Mar 14, 2025•57 min•Season 2Ep. 462
Matt Lewis, Alex Isenstadt and host Ron Steslow discuss Alex’s new book Revenge: The Inside Story of Trump’s Return to Power Read Alex’ book Revenge: The Inside Story of Trump’s Return to Power — https://bit.ly/4kvx94g Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mar 14, 2025•14 min
Katty Kay (veteran reporter and four-time NYT bestselling author) joins host Ron Steslow to discuss her new book The Power Code: More Joy. Less Ego. Maximum Impact for Women (and Everyone), co-written with Claire Shipman. (02:12) Katty’s background and why she started looking at power (07:07) Women are passing men in college degrees, but not the boardroom (13:10) Why women have been more likely to avoid power (16:10) “Power over” vs “power to” (20:20) How reframing power changes how women approa...
Mar 12, 2025•35 min•Season 2Ep. 461
To unlock Politicology+ visit politicology.com/plus This week, President Trump’s first address to congress of his second term. Then, we talk about Third Way leading the charge as Democrats rethink not only their brand but their positions as they plan for the future of the party. Next, we turn our attention to AI for some provocative, non-technical considerations that are neither theoretical nor distant. Finally, we head to Politicology+,where we’ll go behind the scenes of the White House’s accel...
Mar 08, 2025•1 hr 8 min•Season 2Ep. 460
Marc Polymeropoulos on that Oval Office Disaster and the Trump Admin’s Abandonment of Ukraine Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mar 04, 2025•46 min•Season 2Ep. 459
Susan Del Percio and host Ron Steslow discuss a piece in The Atlantic calling for Democrats to clean house. Related reading: The Atlantic - Democrats Need Their Own DEI Purge - The Atlantic Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mar 01, 2025•27 min
To unlock Politicology+ visit politicology.com/plus This week, we discuss the Trump Administration’s 180 degree turn on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Then, we talk about why housing prices keep climbing even with higher interest rates—and why we should be thinking about a paradigm shift in how we think about owning a home. Finally, we head to Politicology+ where we’ll talk about a piece in The Atlantic calling for Democrats to have a DEI purge Joining Ron Steslow on this week’s panel: Susan Del ...
Mar 01, 2025•1 hr 20 min•Season 2Ep. 458
James Kirchick joins Ron Steslow to discuss his book Secret City: The Hidden History of Gay Washington (01:55) Why he wrote the book (06:43) The interwoven political history and gay history in Washington (14:33) The melting pot of the gay community and why it was seen as a threat (19:55) The trope that whatever is bad must be gay (31:51) The Lavender Scare (35:53) The tension between the gay loyal foot soldiers of Ronald Reagan and courting the religious right (49:00) What was challenging about ...
Feb 27, 2025•1 hr•Season 2Ep. 457
To unlock Politicology+ visit politicology.com/plus This week, we discuss DOGE’s complicated story, why we do need to cut spending, and whether they’re being realistic about what that will take Then, we talk about the Trump plan to dismantle the federal Department of Education After that, we talk about the European speech laws that are in the spotlight after a 60 Minutes segment and a speech from Vice President Vance Finally, we head to Politicology+ where we’ll talk about Democrats job approval...
Feb 22, 2025•1 hr 13 min•Season 2Ep. 456
