Mike talks with Rachel Korberg, Executive Director and co-founder of the Families and Workers Fund, a coalition of philanthropies working to build a more equitable U.S. economy. She also serves as President of the Board at the Stonewall Community Foundation, one of the largest funders of LGBTQIA+ causes. Korberg has a Master’s in Public Policy from Yale, executive training in human-centered design from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, and has been a featured speaker at the Federal Reserve...
Jul 27, 2023•44 min
Trey and Ken continue their journey through the U.S. Constitution. They finish up Article III looking at treason. Then the pair move on to Article IV, Section 1 and discuss full faith and credit. The Politics Guys on Facebook | Twitter Listener support helps make The Politics Guys possible. You can support us or change your level of support at patreon.com/politicsguys or politicsguys.com/support. On Venmo we’re @PoliticsGuys. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jul 25, 2023•17 min
Trey & Ken start the show discussing Represenative Jayapal's remarks on Israel. It includes a discussion of President Isaac Herzog's speech. There is a historical overview of the modern Israeli state, along with a discussion of Palestine. Trey recognizes the inequality, but sees it coming from a historic battle for survival. Ken, while sympathetic, considers it apartheid. Next is the ending of the Sea Grain Initiative by Russia. Trey points out that this grain is headed primarily for Turkey ...
Jul 21, 2023•1 hr 17 min
Trey and Ken continue their journey through the U.S. Constitution. They finish up Article III looking at treason. Then the pair move on to Article IV, Section 1 and discuss full faith and credit. The Politics Guys on Facebook | Twitter Listener support helps make The Politics Guys possible. You can support us or change your level of support at patreon.com/politicsguys or politicsguys.com/support. On Venmo we’re @PoliticsGuys. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jul 18, 2023•23 min
Trey & Ken admit to taking over the show! After that they get started more seriously with a look at the NATO summit in Lithuania. The two main points of discussion are Turkey, as it relates to Swedish membership, and NATO’s relationship to Ukraine. They also discuss the decision to send cluster bombs to Ukraine. Next it is on to a pair of related stories: Justices Sotomayor and Thomas. Here Trey outlines the AP’s findings into the use of staff to promote Sotomayor’s books in comparison to ot...
Jul 14, 2023•1 hr 8 min
Trey and Ken continue their journey through the U.S. Constitution in Article III. This week they cover Sections 1 and 2 including topics on: Judicial power Judicial review Federal court jurisdiction The Politics Guys on Facebook | Twitter Listener support helps make The Politics Guys possible. You can support us or change your level of support at patreon.com/politicsguys or politicsguys.com/support. On Venmo we’re @PoliticsGuys. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jul 11, 2023•17 min
Trey and Ken begin the first of a three week show hosting! They get things started with the recent injunction stopping the White House from unduly blocking information on social media in ways that would not pass constitutional muster if it were done via a law. Ken argues it is yet another example of a corrupt court, Trey pushes back that it is selective targeting inconsistent with their user platforms. Next it is on to NAACP’s lawsuit against legacy admissions in the wake of the Supreme Court’s ...
Jul 07, 2023•1 hr 8 min
In this preview of the supporters’ midweek episode, Mike & May open with a discussion of why a number of Republican-controlled states have decided to pull out of ERIC, the formerly bipartisan effort to check for voter registration issues across states and encourage voter registration. Following that they turn to international politics, considering events in Russia and the pros and cons of US support for the war effort. Unlike old Cold Warriors Mike & Jay, May is more skeptical of open-en...
Jul 04, 2023•20 min
Mike and May open this all-SCOTUS episode with a discussion of the Court’s ruling in the big affirmative action case, Students for Fair Admissions v Harvard. Both Mike and May agree with the Court’s decision, with Mike pointing out that while like most liberals, he’s a big proponent of diversity, he doesn’t believe that Harvard and UNC’s diversity plans pass the strict scrutiny test that’s appropriately applied here. Next, they move to the LGBT / 1st Amendment ruling in 303 Creative LLC v Elenis...
Jul 01, 2023•1 hr 19 min
Mike talks with Garrett Neiman, author of the recently released book Rich White Men: What it Takes to Uproot the Old Boys’ Club and Transform America. Mr. Neiman has a BA in economics from Stanford, an MBA from Harvard Business School, and a master’s in public policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. He was a founding CEO of CollegeSpring, a national college access nonprofit, a co-creator of Liberation Ventures (a philanthropic fund focused on building power toward reparations), a Sen...
Jun 29, 2023•1 hr 3 min
In this midweek episode Trey & Jay continue through the U.S. Constitution. The focus: Article II, Sections 3 and 4. The Guys focus on the State of the Union, faithfully executing the law, and the presidential impeachment. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jun 27, 2023•21 min
This week the conservatives, Trey and Jay, take over the show! They begin with the plea deal offered to Hunter Biden. Trey believes it shows that Hunter has engaged in a variety of bad dealings and the Biden’s should have stepped back from his support sooner. Jay goes a step further and things there may still be a smoking gun linking to President Biden. Next, they turn to the recent ProPublica report on Justice Alito. Trey was disappointed in Justice Thomas and his clear violation of ethics laws...
Jun 24, 2023•1 hr 13 min
In the preview of this listener-chosen, listener-participation supporters’ midweek episode, Mike & Jay discuss free expression in America. They look at some important polling data on how Americans view free expression, discuss threats to free expression, consider whether free expression is always a good thing, and look at some big differences in how Democrats and Republicans view the issue. The Politics Guys on Facebook | Twitter Listener support helps make The Politics Guys possible. You ca...
Jun 20, 2023•26 min
Mike & Jay open the episode with their views on the Supreme Court’s ruling in Allen v Milligan, the big voting rights case that Trey & Ken discussed last week. They add to the conversation by focusing on the dissent, which Jay largely agrees with. Mike believes Justices Thomas and Alito make a reasonable, but unconvincing case in arguing that Alabama did not violate Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Next, they turn to a recent National Labor Relations Board ruling that makes it more di...
Jun 17, 2023•1 hr 13 min
Mike has another conversation with one of his all-time favorite guests: Bryan Caplan. Bryan is an economist at George Mason University, a prolific author, and blogs at Bet on It. In this episode, they discuss Bryan’s latest collection: Voters as Mad Scientists: Essays on Political Irrationality. Topics Mike & Bryan Discuss Include: - Twitter & Nazis & Meth (oh my!) - why Bryan hates politics - social desirability bias - hyperbole and overconfidence - innumeracy - the irrationality of...
Jun 15, 2023•1 hr 4 min
In this midweek episode Trey & Ken continue through the U.S. Constitution. The focus: Article II, Section 2. Here The Guys discuss the issue of presidential treaty power, presidential appointment power, and presidential removal power. The Politics Guys on Facebook | Twitter Listener support helps make The Politics Guys possible. You can support us or change your level of support at patreon.com/politicsguys or politicsguys.com/support. On Venmo we’re @PoliticsGuys. Learn more about your ad ch...
Jun 13, 2023•22 min
Trey & Ken begin the show with the breaking news of President Trump’s historic federal indictment. Although the story is unfolding, the guys look at what it means both legally and politically for Trump. They are in large agreement that it doesn’t change Trump’s likelihood of being nominated, but that it does decrease his ability to win the general election. Next, they turn the the U.S. Supreme Court’s upholding of the Voting Rights Act in Alabama. Here Trey & Ken deeply disagree. Trey ar...
Jun 10, 2023•1 hr 13 min
Mike talks with Dr. Jonathan Ward, an internationally recognized expert on Chinese global strategy and US-China competition. He has a Ph.D. in China-India relations from the University of Oxford, has consulted for the Department of Defense, and is the founder of the Atlas Organization, a strategic advisory group on US-China global competition for business and government. Dr. Ward is the author of China’s Vision of Victory, as well as the recently released book The Decisive Decade: American Grand...
Jun 08, 2023•54 min
In this first-ever listener-chosen, listener participation segment (which turned into an entire episode), Mike & Jay start with a look at the differences between partisanship, civil conflict, and civil war. That takes them into a discussion of the main ideological and demographic cleavages in American society, how bad they think things are, if civil conflict – and even civil war – is sometimes a good thing, and whether we’re likely to see an escalation or de-escalation in coming years. Throu...
Jun 06, 2023•29 min
Mike & Jay open with a discussion of the bipartisan agreement to suspend the debt ceiling until after the 2024 elections in exchange for spending cuts and caps that the Congressional Budget Office says will cut the deficit by $1.5 trillion over the next decade. The guys see this as a win for moderation, though they both argue that absent changes to tax policy and/or entitlement programs we aren’t likely to make much of a dent in the national debt. Next, they turn to some good economic news –...
Jun 03, 2023•1 hr 20 min
Mike talks with Kevin Munger, an assistant professor of political science and social data analytics at Penn State University about his book Generation Gap: Why the Baby Boomers Still Dominate American Politics and Culture. Topics Mike & Kevin discuss include: - if generational cohorts really matter - the enduring power of the Boomers - when Boomer power peaked and when it will decline - social media, generational cohorts, and shared identity - political differences between Boomers, Millennia...
Jun 01, 2023•41 min
In this midweek show, Trey and Mike respond to listener questions on if states have the right to secede from the United States, if the modern state has a compelling interest in exposing children to ideas with which their parents may disagree, the hosts' thoughts on Biden’s record and how it will impact swing voters, and what the right level of taxation in the United States ought to be. The Politics Guys on Facebook | Twitter Listener support helps make The Politics Guys possible. You can support...
May 30, 2023•34 min
Trey is joined by Mike this week. The show begins with a discussion of Ron DeSantis’ presidential announcement on Twitter Spaces. The discussion focuses both on the content of the announcement, DeSantis running against legacy media, and the the technical aspect of the announcement itself on Twitter. Next the pair discuss Tim Scott’s presidential announcement earlier in the week contrasting it with DeSantis. They also stack up all the candidates against Trump. Mike argues that Scott is angling fo...
May 26, 2023•1 hr 20 min
In this supporters’ midweek show, Mike & Jay kick off a planned multi-part series on The Federalist Papers, covering what they are, why they were written, who wrote them, the ideals of the Federalists and their anti-Federalist opposition, and the continuing relevance of this great debate on the ratification of the Constitution. In this episode, they look at Federalist 1 & Federalist 2, as well as opposing arguments from John DeWitt (I and II) and Patrick Henry’s speech of June 5, 1788. T...
May 23, 2023•26 min
Mike is joined this week by a new co-host, May Mailman, a Harvard Law graduate and former Trump White House staffer. Mike and May start off with a discussion of the Durham report and accountability in federal law enforcement. May argues that a core problem is federal law enforcement that does too much. Mike isn’t entirely sold on that, but he agrees with her that there should be greater accountability and more severe consequences for anyone in law enforcement who breaks the rules in an attempt t...
May 20, 2023•1 hr 22 min
In this special bonus midweek episode of The Politics Guys, Mike & Jay answer listener questions on what an ‘acceptable’ level of gun deaths might be, when we’d consider abandoning our respective political parties, the verdict against Trump in E. Jean Carroll’s civil suit, negative political advertising, and how Trump in the White House in 2025 might affect the war in Ukraine. The Politics Guys on Facebook | Twitter Listener support helps make The Politics Guys possible. You can support us o...
May 17, 2023•1 hr 10 min
Trey & Ken continue their exploration of the Constitution. This week the pair begin looking at Article II, Section 1. Topics include: The historic origins of Article II The vesting clause The presidential selection process The election of 1800 The Presidential oath of office The Politics Guys on Facebook | Twitter Listener support helps make The Politics Guys possible. You can support us or change your level of support at patreon.com/politicsguys or politicsguys.com/support. On Venmo, we’re ...
May 16, 2023•25 min
Trey & Ken open the episode with a conversation about the end of immigration policy under Title 42 and the beginning of it being handled under Title 8. Trey points out that Biden is likely to lose from both sides of the ideological divide on his policy, both the left and the right. Ken thinks the policy will help Biden come the election. Both agree that there needs to be more space for immigration, specifically asylum seekers, in the United States. Next is Trump’s loss of a defamation lawsui...
May 13, 2023•1 hr 47 min
Mike, Jay, and Ryan kick off this supporters’ midweek episode examining why Oklahoma’s attorney general is asking the Supreme Court to stop the execution of a criminal Oklahoma sentenced to death. They follow that with a discussion of new federal mortgage fees and the massive housing shortage in the United States, and close with a discussion of some big changes in Americans’ views on values such as patriotism, religion, and tolerance. The Politics Guys on Facebook | Twitter Listener support help...
May 09, 2023•22 min
Mike, Jay, and Ryan open this episode with a discussion of the conviction of four members of the Proud Boys for seditious conspiracy for their actions related to the January 6th Capitol breach. They’re all against sedition (not surprising) but Mike points out some elements of the case that Jay thinks could provide some grounds for appeal. Next they turn to the debt limit. Ryan starts things off with an historical overview of the debt ceiling, after which they discuss whether the 14th amendment’s...
May 05, 2023•1 hr 18 min
