For generations American men have been raised in a rigid structure of what it meant to be a man, which had its benefits in the dominant position of power in the patriarchy, but was destructive to their personal relationships and authentic selves. Now our society finds itself at a tipping point of either a resurgence, or the end, of the patriarchy as we know it. We’re living through a major upheaval and this evolution is getting a lot of pushback from men who clearly feel they are losing somethin...
Jul 12, 2022•1 hr
This 4th of July I thought we’d revisit why were are doing this podcast in the first place. What’s at stake and what why we need to care about this country and the direction it’s heading. It doesn’t matter if you feel like you’re too busy to care about politics. It doesn’t matter if you don’t think it matters, or if you think it’ll all just be fine. It won’t. It won’t all just be fine. The country is in deep trouble. And only by paying attention can we hope to solve it. We are standing on the tr...
Jul 05, 2022•20 min
President of Emily’s List Laphonza Butler joins me on the day the Supreme Court strips women of their constitutional right to bodily autonomy. We were going to talk all the positive actions Emily’s List has been taking to get pro-choice women candidates elected up and down the ballot, and the importance of supporting pro-choice candidates in this political environment but, for obvious reasons, the day’s events took us on another journey…Join us as we get fired up for the fight ahead. These peopl...
Jun 28, 2022•39 min
America is at a crossroad. There is a real possibility that we will cease to have democracy in the United States. As Rothkopf says, “Republicans don’t just want to repeat the “Big Lie”, they want to repeat the ability to do what Trump WANTED to do and disenfranchise the American people.” Holding Trump accountable is essential, but almost more important, is defeating anyone who would undermine the integrity of our elections for their own power. We have to recognize that the majority of the countr...
Jun 21, 2022•1 hr
As our guest today says, “A functioning democracy depends on a shared understanding of reality” and we all have a part to play in getting the truth and the message out. In his most recent book, “Battling the Big Lie: How Fox, Facebook and the MAGA Media are Destroying America”, Dan discusses how the right wing built a massive, billionaire funded disinformation machine that was powerful enough to bend reality to win in 2016, nearly steal the 2020 election, and left unchecked, this kind of weaponi...
Jun 14, 2022•52 min
The Republican Party hasn’t just lost their minds and become anti-democratic overnight. Democracy was always less important to them than power, so as long as democracy upheld their power they supported it, now that it doesn’t, it’s out. The goal is clear: 1950’s style white, Christian, male dominance and they’ve been plotting to bring it back since the Democratic Party betrayed the idea by opening their minds & party to expanding civil rights in the 1960’s. Today’s PoliticsGirl: Candid Conversat...
Jun 07, 2022•58 min
Today’s PoliticsGirl: Candid Conversation is with Melissa Walker, Head of Giving Circles at The States Project. How do we fight back in a broken system where the deck is stacked against us? The States Project believes everything we care about starts in the states. Yes, we have to hold onto the House. Yes, we need at least 2 more Democratic Senators to negate the power of Manchin and Sinema, but if you really want to make a real difference with your time and money, we have to turn our focus to th...
May 31, 2022•39 min
The shooting in Buffalo targeting black people. The shooting in Pittsburg targeting Jewish worshipers. The shooting in El Paso targeting Mexican immigrants. The shooting in Christchurch, NZ targeting Muslims. What do they all have in common? The Great Replacement Theory. The idea that white people are being deliberately replaced. Remember the white supremacists in Charlottesville? They were chanting, “You will not replace us! Jews will not replace us!”. This false and ignorant, race-baiting cons...
May 24, 2022•53 min
Today’s PoliticsGirl: Candid Conversation is with John Pavlovitz, writer, pastor & activist. John is the author of several best-selling books and the wildly popular blog “Stuff that Needs to be Said”. A 25-year veteran of church ministries, John is kind of a bit of an anomaly in today’s Christian communities with his deep commitment to equality, diversity, and justice—and his ability to question Christianity from the inside out. We talk about how to deal with the rising hate of the Christian far...
May 17, 2022•49 min
After a copy of Justice Alito‘s draft majority opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health leaked to Politico. The draft, confirmed as authentic by Chief Justice Roberts, in very clear terms overturns both Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey fundamentally ending the constitutional right to abortion in America. This is a hinge point in the history of America and it can not be understated what a seismic shift this is for the court to overturn 50 years of legal precedent. We talk about what ...
May 10, 2022•47 min
Education has become a hot button topic in America. From school closings due to the pandemic, to the war on masks, to the endless talk of CRT, “parent’s rights” and the banning of books and discussions of LGBTQ issues, the Republicans, never one to let a good crisis go to waste, have found a way to capitalize on the issue to get the results they want - the Democrats, not so much. So, today we’re going to talk about public education in America and how our politics are poised to completely reconfi...
May 03, 2022•1 hr 1 min
Today’s PoliticsGirl: Candid Conversation is Shannon Watts, founder of Mom’s Demand Action, the largest grassroots group fighting gun violence in America. We talk about what it takes to make a difference, the power of grassroots action and the power of numbers. The majority of America wants common sense gun legislation. Why can’t we get it? Or can we? And what can you do to help? It’s a terrific conversation with a brilliant, passionate advocate. I think you’ll find yourself feeling inspired. Ev...
Apr 26, 2022•48 min
From critically acclaimed podcast studios Pineapple Street and Wondery comes a new 8-part series called Will Be Wild that shines a light on the human stories left out of the headlines. It goes deep into the lives of people who took part in that day. People who saw it coming. And people who fear that January 6th was just the beginning of something, not the end. Follow Will Be Wild wherever you get your podcasts, or you can listen early on Amazon Music or early and ad-free by subscribing to Wonder...
Apr 25, 2022•6 min
Conservatives are usually very committed to the idea of patriotic unity when it comes to foreign enemies, but this version of the Republican Party is different. The party of Reagan now seems closer to the party of Putin. Even an all out war being waged against freedom and democracy can’t seem to bring people to stand with the American president, if that president happens be Democrat. It’s almost as if Republicans have chosen to take the counter position, even if that means supporting Russia in a...
Apr 19, 2022•58 min
Candid Conversation is with author and lawyer Teri Kanefield as we talk about her most recent blog ‘Merrick Garland & the January 6th Investigation’. Teri is an appellate lawyer who has published over a dozen books as well as articles, essays, stories and legal briefs over the past 30 years. Her political analysis has been used in the Washington Post, CNN, NBC and most major news outlets. A vocal advocate for democracy and the rule of law, Teri has a way of looking at things that gets you out of...
Apr 12, 2022•1 hr 14 min
There are so many things we think we know but we don’t really know. When you hear someone use the word communism, socialism, Marxism, fascism…do you know what they mean? Or do you just have a general idea? Where did these ideas even come from? How did our governments evolve? What’s an aristocracy, a democracy, a kleptocracy? We keep talking about oligarchs…What’s an oligarchy? How is it different than a plutocracy? What is going on in the world and how did we get here? Honestly, this pod started...
Apr 05, 2022•1 hr 4 min
Today’s PoliticsGirl: Candid Conversation is with esteemed epidemiologist, and Public Health expert Dr. Eric Feigl-Ding. As BA.2 decimates China and takes over Europe, it’s clear that no matter how much we want to be done with Covid, Covid isn’t done with us. Dr. Feigl-Ding and I talk how we got here, what’s really happening, and what to look for next. It’s a great conversation with a brilliant mind about a situation we can’t avoid. No matter your politics, we have to do what we can to protect o...
Mar 29, 2022•52 min
In less than a year Governor Hochul has gone from Governor by default, after the abrupt resignation of Governor Andrew Cuomo, to leading gubernatorial candidate for New York’s November’s election. Born and bred in upper New York State, Governor Hochul is lawyer, a mother and lifetime public servant, Governor Hochul is also a tireless advocate for women’s rights and women in leadership. She stepped up to the plate when opportunity called, and she’s a big proponent of more women feeling the confid...
Mar 22, 2022•40 min
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is not some standalone crisis that started in late February, but rather a much bigger picture that’s coming together. A picture made up of hundreds of puzzle pieces that tell a story. A story of greed, power and ambition. A story of lawlessness and fraud. As story of weakness, and yes, a story of treason. We might never know everything that happened, but we can start by acknowledging what we do know as it comes into focus. We can no longer refuse to see what is right...
Mar 15, 2022•46 min
California Congressman Adam Schiff, Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Member of the January 6th Select Committee and one of the Lead Impeachment Managers for the first impeachment of Donald Trump, joins us to share insight on the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Congressman Schiff notes that what we’re seeing in Ukraine is not a new war. This is all part and parcel of what started with Putin a long time ago and we should prepare ourselves for it to get worse before it gets better. But he...
Mar 08, 2022•33 min
The current, far right, conservative make up of the Supreme Court clearly has an agenda, and it’s terrifying for the legitimacy of our rule of law and way of life. So today we’re going to talk about the Supreme Court, its importance to American society, it’s capture by the far right and what, if anything, can be done to save it from itself. I want to be clear, this is a completely destructive situation and pretending any of this is business as usual will be America’s undoing. In fact, ignoring i...
Mar 01, 2022•55 min
Inflation is an obvious problem in America right now. The cause, however, is little less obvious. We have a supply chain problem due to the pandemic, but we also have companies recording record profits, and one whole political party who would rather weaponize inflation than solve it. I’m no financial expert but when this many people are talking about the same thing, it’s important for us to at least understand the broad strokes so we’re dialed in and asking the right questions. If you’ve ever be...
Feb 22, 2022•47 min
Active and prolific Republican communications and PR strategist for most of his career. Schmidt worked on the George W Bush presidential campaign, the Schwarzenegger campaign for California Governor, and ran John McCain’s presidential campaign in 2008. Schmidt was the Vice Chair at Edelman PR and a political analyst for MSNBC. A founding member of the Lincoln Project, a group founded to campaign against Donald Trump, Schmidt officially left the Republican party in 2018 saying, “Today’s GOP has b...
Feb 15, 2022•55 min
Between Tucker Carlson doing an entire prime time segment on the brown M&M's shoes, to The New York Times printing deceptive clickbait titles and op-eds from known liars because they think it’ll sell, to major corporations systematically buying up and dismantling our entire media structure in the shadows, something has clearly gone wrong with media in America. This episode takes a look at how our media got off track, what we should be looking out for, and why we should be demanding better laws, ...
Feb 08, 2022•46 min
Alexander Vindman was the Director for European Affairs for the National Security Council under Donald Trump and the military officer who reported the now infamous phone call between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that led to the first of Donald Trump’s two impeachments. Vindman is a military expert in all things Ukraine/Russia and his wife Rachel, a popular writer and podcaster, fills in the civilian perspective. We talk the threat of war, Russia/NATO and America’s r...
Feb 01, 2022•54 min
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki joins us today for our new segment PG:CC to discuss where we’re at at the one year mark of the Biden Administration. We dive into the disconnect between what is really happening and what we hear about. We talk Covid, voting rights, the Supreme Court, and the democratic messaging problem. It’s a candid conversation with someone in the know to give us all a better idea of where we stand and what we can do to moving forward. I hope you like it!! Please RATE and...
Jan 25, 2022•41 min
The autocrats of the world are on the rise and one party in America seems more than happy to join their club. We need a resurgence of democracy, not only at home but around the world or those who would seek to sink the west will finally succeed and the values and human rights that we have come to take for granted will be a thing of the past. Stick with me, so you know where we are and we can point our way in a better direction. I say all of this not to upset you, but to prepare you. We have to a...
Jan 18, 2022•51 min
Democracy is not doomed. We can fight for it. But the first step is to acknowledge we HAVE to fight for it. To recognize the reality of what CAN happen, and accept what WILL happen, if we don’t all work together to fix what’s broken. Democracy is under attack and it’s under attack, not from outside forces, but from one of the two major parties right here in the US. This is an unprecedented crisis that must be met with unified resistance. We are at the tipping point. We must make sure enough of u...
Jan 11, 2022•43 min
The right to vote in America is under attack. The Republicans, and the dark moneyed powers who fund them, have made a calculated decision to rig the elections in their favor to regain and retain power. Between redistricting, partisan gerrymandering, voter suppression laws and criminal intimidation Republicans have decided to abandon the fundamental right to a free and fair election and if the Democrats don’t do something about it while they can, we could easily lose the country forever to this c...
Jan 04, 2022•53 min
Based on the recent powerpoint presentation, text messages and correspondence that Donald Trump’s Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows, released to the January 6th Bipartisan Select Committee, we can now see, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the 45th President of the United States, in collusion with his team and current sitting members of Congress deliberately attempted to overthrow the Government of the United States and end American Democracy as we know it. The plot was premeditated, is ongoing, and i...
Dec 21, 2021•49 min