Go inside the making of the December Democratic presidential debate with Politico on this special edition of the Nerdcast. Scott talks to the 2020 campaign reporters covering the candidates on stage about what each candidate's biggest challenge is heading into Thursday -- and the question each one would most like to answer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Dec 16, 2019•20 min•Ep. 209
The Nerdcast talks to POLITICO White House reporter Nancy Cook and congress editor Ben Weyl about the chock-full December ahead: USMCA, prescription drug pricing, a spending bill to avert a government shutdown and, oh yeah, impeachment. Plus, national political reporters Alex Thompson and Elena Schneider talk to Scott about the tension between Pete Buttigieg and Elizabeth Warren and why things are heating up in the Democratic presidential primary. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphon...
Dec 13, 2019•29 min•Ep. 208
The Nerdcast talks to POLITICO national political reporter Christopher Cadelago about what went wrong in Kamala Harris' bid for president. Plus, national political reporter Laura Barrón-López and reporting fellow Maya King talk to Scott about the demographics on the campaign trail -- why Cory Booker and Kamala Harris have struggled to make inroads with black voters, Pete Buttigieg's failure to connect with Latino and black voters and what the path to victory through South Carolina and Nevada loo...
Dec 06, 2019•31 min•Ep. 207
The Nerdcast talks to POLITICO national political reporter Elena Schneider about the 2020 husbands on the campaign trail. The Democratic primary field is historic, with four women and a gay man running for president - but they're running in a country where only three percent of governors, the highest statewide executive office, have been women. That can make things complicated for how to introduce a male spouse on the campaign trail. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
Nov 27, 2019•17 min•Ep. 206
The Nerdcast breaks down an emblematic moment from Wednesday's Democratic presidential debate -- a question about President Trump highlighting a primary field determined, for the moment, to focus on next year's general election instead of fighting among each other. Guest hosted by Charlie Mahtesian with Massachusetts Playbook author Stephanie Murray. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Nov 21, 2019•7 min•Ep. 204
The Nerdcast talks to POLITICO’s Nahal Toosi and Ben Weyl as the first public impeachment hearing pulls the spotlight away from the campaign trail and Democrats try to engage the public in the push to remove President Donald Trump from office. Plus, political reporter Stephanie Murray joins from Boston to discuss the oddly expanding Democratic primary field, with Michael Bloomberg dipping his toes in the water and Deval Patrick going for a full cannonball into New Hampshire. Learn more about you...
Nov 15, 2019•27 min•Ep. 203
The Nerdcast talks to reporters Steven Shepard and Ally Mutnick about the election day results out of Kentucky and Virginia, what those results could mean for 2020 and how congressional maps are - or aren't - changing. Plus, campaign reporter Alex Thompson and healthcare reporter Alice Ollstein delve into Elizabeth Warren's new whitepaper on her payment plan for 'Medicare For All.' Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Nov 08, 2019•30 min•Ep. 202
The Nerdcast talks to ace congressional reporter Burgess Everett as he introduces us to the independently minded Democratic senator irritating the left and delighting the GOP: Sen. Kyrsten Sinema. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Nov 01, 2019•19 min•Ep. 201
The Nerdcast gets into the Halloween spirit with White House reporters Darren Samuelsohn and Gabby Orr, who entertain some future speculations and sketch out political nightmare scenarios. What are the worst-case fears for Democrats and Republicans heading into 2020? Plus, senior legal affairs contributor Josh Gerstein joins Scott to talk about Rudy Giuliani who continues to place himself at the center of the Ukraine story. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oct 25, 2019•30 min•Ep. 200
The Nerdcast nerds out with Maggie Severns and Zach Montellaro over the campaigns releasing their Q3 fundraising numbers. Which candidates are on top as they head into the most expensive part of the race so far and whose coffers are in the danger zone? Plus, Ben Weyl and Nahal Toosi join Scott to chat about what's new in impeachment and who's who in the cast of characters testifying on the Hill behind closed doors this week. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oct 18, 2019•31 min•Ep. 199
We unpack a key moment of the latest Democratic presidential debate -- when the differences between former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Elizabeth Warren came into focus. POLITICO's Elena Schneider joins guest host Charlie Mahtesian to break down what happened. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oct 16, 2019•11 min•Ep. 198
The Nerdcast has a stacked show this week as we get Natasha Bertrand to take us inside two prank calls to Sen. Lindsey Graham that fly in the face of his recent comments on Turkey, the Kurds and Syria. Plus, Nancy Cook, Holly Otterbein and Daniel Strauss join guest host Charlie Mahtesian to chat about what's new in impeachment and why next week's Democratic debate might actually be kind of fun. Please note this episode contains an explicit word. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone....
Oct 11, 2019•42 min•Ep. 197
The Nerdcast sits down with Politico's Nancy Cook and Ben Weyl to go inside Trump's impeachment bunker and Pelosi's war room. Plus, get up to speed on what's going on in 2020 land: Iowa. Elena Schneider, Natasha Korecki and Charlie Mahtesian join Scott to chat about the importance of Iowa, South Carolina, New Hampshire, and a local steak fry. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oct 04, 2019•31 min•Ep. 196
Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.) helped kick off the latest phase of the House Democrats' impeachment debate when she and six other moderate members of Congress said that Donald Trump's contact with Ukraine could constitute an impeachable offense. She reflected on the weight of what that means in a raw and emotional interview with POLITICO's Michael Kruse, and Michael joins the show to share his observations. Plus: how'd we get here? POLITICO's Natasha Bertrand takes us through the timeline. Learn m...
Sep 27, 2019•29 min•Ep. 195
The Nerdcast sits down with Politico's Natasha Bertrand and Ben Shreckinger to find out what's going on at Turnberry, President Trump's luxury golf resort in Scotland where the U.S. Air Force has lodged its crews. Plus, Darren Samuelsohn tells the story of a "zombie" congressional impeachment memo: one that Hillary Clinton helped craft in 1974, was used 20 years later as a blueprint in impeachment proceedings against President Clinton and today has new life breathed into it during impeachment di...
Sep 20, 2019•32 min•Ep. 194
The Nerdcast team breaks down a key moment from Thursday's democratic presidential debate -- when former HUD Secretary Julian Castro took a swipe at Joe Biden's memory. Plus, a look at how Elizabeth Warren became Elizabeth Warren, and how she made so many enemies in the Obama Administration in the process. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sep 13, 2019•38 min•Ep. 193
On this episode of the Nerdcast with guest host John Harris: The presidential campaign may feel like it’s been going on forever, but it’s about to enter a new phase. POLITICO founding editor John Harris joined reporters Holly Otterbein, Natasha Korecki and David Siders to talk about why authenticity is so elusive, whether the left is ascendant in the Democratic party, and why candidate selfies are all the rage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sep 02, 2019•29 min•Ep. 191
This week on the Nerdcast with Scott Bland: More than half of the Democratic presidential field got bounced from the party’s debate circuit Wednesday night, but they’re not meekly exiting stage left. POLITICO campaign reporter Elena Schneider explains what actions they might take against the DNC’s debate rules. Also, voters across the country — from California to Pennsylvania to Massachusetts — grilled House Democrats on the potential impeachment of President Donald Trump at a series of events t...
Aug 30, 2019•23 min•Ep. 190
This week on the Nerdcast with Scott Bland: White House reporter Nancy Cook explains how the Trump administration may be putting on a happy face in public, but in private, they’re worrying about a global economic slowdown triggering a U.S. recession. Also, White House reporter Daniel Lippman looks inside the president's feud with Tom Barrack, on of his closest friends. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 23, 2019•22 min•Ep. 189
This week on the Nerdcast with host Scott Bland: Evangelicals chafe at Trump’s blasphemy— POLITICO White House reporter Gabby Orr explains why. Also, POLITICO's senior politics editor Charlie Mahtesian joins national politics reporters Chris Cadelago and Natasha Korecki to break down what's happening on the ground in Iowa. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 16, 2019•25 min•Ep. 188
This week on the Nerdcast with guest-host Blake Hounshell: Over his decades in office, ‘Middle-Class Joe’s’ family fortunes have closely tracked his political career. We have POLITICO's Ben Schreckinger on to discuss his investigation on former Vice President Joe Biden's family finances. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 09, 2019•28 min•Ep. 187
This week on the Nerdcast with host Scott Bland: POLITICO national political reporter Elena Schneider and senior politics editor Charlie Mahtesian break down who came out on top in this week's democratic debates. Also: A divided Federal Reserve is cutting interest rates for the first time in more than a decade. What’s that mean and why does it matter? POLITICO financial services reporter Victoria Guida explains. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 02, 2019•19 min•Ep. 186
Cory Booker, in search of his first bona fide “moment” as he tries to work his way up in the presidential race, came ready to lunge into his critique of Joe Biden’s new criminal justice proposal as too little, too late to fix the problem of mass incarceration, after Biden’s authorship of punitive crime legislation in the ‘90s. POLITICO national political reporter Chris Cadelago joins host Scott Bland to analyze an important moment from round two of the second Democratic debate on Tuesday night. ...
Aug 01, 2019•9 min•Ep. 185
"You're wrong" for criticizing “Medicare for All,” Sen. Bernie Sanders told former Rep. John Delaney in the first answer of the night — setting up an evening of conflict between the left and the center. POLITICO health care reporter Dan Diamond joins host Scott Bland to analyze an important moment from round one of the second Democratic debate on Tuesday night. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jul 31, 2019•9 min•Ep. 184
On this special episode of the Nerdcast with host Scott Bland, POLITICO White House reporter Chris Cadelago on the things he'll be watching for during this week's debates. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jul 29, 2019•13 min•Ep. 183
This week's Congressional appearance by Robert S. Mueller III landed with a thud, so what's next for Democrats itching to impeach the president? Sarah Ferris from POLITICO's Congressional team joins the show to explain why Nancy Pelosi's team is maintaining a united front in public, even if they're arguing behind closed doors. Plus, POLITICO's Chief Economic Correspondent Ben White breaks down how the president's advisers are trying to safeguard the long-running economic boom, even if it means w...
Jul 26, 2019•23 min•Ep. 182
This week on the Nerdcast with host Scott Bland, POLITICO White House reporter Gabby Orr and Congressional reporter Heather Caygle explain the fallout of President Trump's racist tweets. Also: POLITICO national political reporter David Siders on why a big shrink to the democratic primary field might be coming soon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jul 19, 2019•25 min•Ep. 181
Today on a special edition of Nerdcast with Scott Bland: Tim Alberta, chief political correspondent for POLITICO Magazine, talks about his forthcoming book AMERICAN CARNAGE: On the Front Lines of the Republican Civil War and the Rise of President Trump. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jul 15, 2019•11 min•Ep. 180
This week on the Nerdcast with host Scott Bland: We examine some of the front-runners who have begun to emerge for Democrats, particularly on the left of the party. POLITICO's National political reporters Holly Otterbein and Alex Thompson check on the 2020 race. Also: What would you ask Robert Mueller, if you got the chance? POLITICO's national security correspondent Natasha Bertrand and POLITICO's legal affairs analyst Josh Gerstein discuss what might happen on Capitol HIll for Robert Mueller. ...
Jul 12, 2019•26 min•Ep. 179
This week on the Nerdcast with host Scott Bland: The Supreme Court had a busy week, ruling on two cases that have big political implications. First, immigration reporter Ted Hesson joins to explain how a road block has been put in the path of implementing a citizenship question on the 2020 census. Then, Scott and Charlie talk about the ruling on partisan gerrymandering. In the second segment, national political reporter Natasha Korecki explains where the democratic presidential candidates stand ...
Jul 03, 2019•31 min•Ep. 178