The Politics Guys

With the 2026 midterms approaching, Mike and Justin examine the increasingly difficult electoral landscape for Republicans, including Democrats' chances of capturing both chambers of Congress. They discuss record-breaking campaign spending, Elon Musk's extraordinary contributions, and why Trump is sitting on hundreds of millions in campaign funds while concentrating his rallies in Republican stron...

In this special full-length release of our normally supporters-only midweek episode, Mike and Michael Levy tackle a provocative question: Why are Donald Trump's approval ratings still so high? With approval in the 30s, Trump's popularity looks dismal by conventional standards. But given his controversies, policy failures, and challenges to democratic institutions, should his numbers be even lower?...

With the 2026 midterms less than four weeks away, Republicans still hold a major financial advantage—but increasingly have to decide which House and Senate races are worth saving. Mike and his fellow political scientist Michael Levy look at GOP spending pullbacks, Democratic opportunities, whether polls may still underestimate Republican support, and what it could all mean for control of the Senat...

Former Ohio Congressman Tim Ryan joins Mike to discuss why Congress has become less capable of governing—and whether it can still handle complex issues like cryptocurrency regulation. They talk about congressional dysfunction, concentrated leadership power, the decline of congressional expertise, earmarks, and the incentives that discourage lawmakers from taking political risks. Then they turn to...

On this midweek supporters-exclusive episode of The Politics Guys , Trey Orndorff (Oklahoma Christian University) and Justin Holmes (University of Northern Iowa) launch a brand-new miniseries examining key structural, legal, and constitutional turning points in contemporary American politics. In Part 1 of a three-part retrospective on the 2000 Presidential Election , Trey and Justin bypass the imm...

On this week’s episode of The Politics Guys , Trey Orndorff (Oklahoma Christian University) is joined by Justin Holmes (University of Northern Iowa). The hosts open with a discussion on an impoundment or recession request to House Speaker Mike Johnson proposing budget cuts just days before the fiscal year ends. Trey and Justin explain how such recessions have happened before and how they clash wit...

Mike talks about the What Could Go Right podcast. For our listeners interested in global events, it offers a refreshing and more balanced view of what’s happening in the world. I hope that you'll enjoy it.

Mike talks with Lindsay Owens, president and CEO of the Groundwork Collaborative and author of Gouged: The End of a Fair Price and What That Means for Your Wallet, about how new technologies are changing what companies know about consumers—and how much they can charge them. They discuss an Instacart experiment that found shoppers being shown different prices for identical groceries, the RealPage c...

Mike talks about the What Could Go Right podcast. For our listeners interested in global events, it offers a refreshing and more balanced view of what’s happening in the world. I hope that you'll enjoy it.

Mike and Jay open this supporters’ exclusive midweek episode with California’s settlement of its antitrust lawsuit challenging Paramount Skydance’s takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery. They debate whether California extracted meaningful concessions or folded under pressure, how the relevant media market should be defined, and whether concerns about David Ellison’s growing influence over CBS and CNN...

With just over a month until the midterms, Mike and Jay look at the increasingly difficult electoral environment for Republicans. They discuss Democrats’ generic-ballot advantage, unexpectedly competitive Senate and gubernatorial races, the GOP’s major fundraising edge, Trump’s effect on Republican candidates, and why campaign spending may reveal more than the polls. Next, they turn to Xi Jinping’...

Mike talks with Joan C. Williams and Jared Abbott, authors of The Left’s Coalition Crisis , about why Democrats have struggled with working-class voters and what they can do about it. Williams and Abbott argue that the familiar progressive-versus-moderate debate misses the point: successful candidates need “class competence”—an understanding of working-class values around hard work, security, fami...

On this midweek supporters-exclusive episode of The Politics Guys , Trey Orndorff (Oklahoma Christian University) and Justin Holmes (University of Northern Iowa) bring their year-long subseries on Contemporary Political Ideologies to a close. Shifting away from political philosophy and the formal content of political doctrines, Trey and Justin dive into the empirical, behavioral, and psychological...

On this week’s episode of The Politics Guys , Trey Orndorff (Oklahoma Christian University) is joined by political scientist Justin Holmes (University of Northern Iowa), filling in while Ken Katkin takes a short hiatus. The hosts break down a bizarre Senate Judiciary oversight hearing with FBI Director Kash Patel, an explosive congressional report on executive pardon brokers, a House vote to end U...

Mike talks with Blake Ashby, co-founder of the Institute for Urban Capitalism and author of Socialism and the Democratic Party: The Case for a Return to Moderated Capitalism . They discuss why younger and older Americans hear very different things when they hear “socialism,” what Marx got right about capitalism—and where socialism goes wrong—and why Ashby argues that neither laissez-faire capitali...

Mike and Michael open this midweek supporters’ episode with the Trump administration’s new Postal Service rules for mail ballots, a federal judge’s injunction blocking them, and whether the Supreme Court is likely to intervene. That leads to a broader debate over Trump’s attacks on mail voting, election distrust, MAGA’s cult-like dynamics, and whether criticism of the Supreme Court’s emergency doc...

Mike and Michael mark the 25th anniversary of 9/11 before turning to the GOP’s first midterm convention, Trump’s effort to mobilize lower-propensity voters, John Fetterman’s unusual Republican outreach, and the battle for control of the Senate. They also discuss the New Hampshire and Rhode Island primaries and debate Missouri’s redistricting fight, including whether changing congressional maps bet...

On this midweek supporters-exclusive episode of The Politics Guys , Trey Orndorff (Oklahoma Christian University) is joined by Justin Holmes (University of Northern Iowa) in an extra-long preview for non-supporters. Listen to an entire segment this week as Trey and Justin break down a high-stakes constitutional dispute over interstate extradition between Minnesota and Texas. Then, join as Trey and...

On this week’s episode of The Politics Guys , Trey Orndorff (Oklahoma Christian University) is joined by Justin Holmes (University of Northern Iowa), filling in while Ken Katkin takes a few weeks away from the show. The pair start by looking at breaking down the decision of SCOTUS to allow the White House Ballroom Construction to continue. Trey and Justin discuss the mechanics of standing and why...

Is America really losing its technological edge to China? Mike talks with Mehran Gul, author of The New Geography of Innovation , about why U.S. tech dominance may be stronger than it looks—and why China has nevertheless become a genuine innovation powerhouse. They explore Silicon Valley’s surprising government roots, the critical role of venture capital, Europe’s struggle to compete in AI, South...

In this supporters’ exclusive midweek episode, Mike and Jay dig into three fights over elections, technology, and government power. First, the Supreme Court intervenes in the battle over President Trump’s new mail-ballot rules—raising questions about standing, last-minute election changes, presidential authority, and whether states can realistically comply before the midterms. Then they turn to Me...

Mike and Jay open with a discussion of what President Trump hopes to gain from 50% tariffs on America’s second-largest trading partner, whether Trump fundamentally misunderstands the value of allies, and how his approach could strengthen China rather than contain it. Then they turn to Republican politics after Trump-backed candidates win closely watched races in South Carolina and Oklahoma. How mu...

Mike, Justin, and Michael open this supporters’ exclusive midweek episode with a look at the Trump crypto fortune, conflict-of-interest questions surrounding World Liberty Financial, Trump’s newly approved national trust bank, and the stalled CLARITY Act. Then, they consider why data centers have suddenly become a bipartisan political liability. The guys dig into rising electricity costs, water us...

Mike is joined by fellow political scientists Michael Levy and Justin Holmes to break down what the latest primaries say about the Democratic and Republican parties, whether the Iran war is exposing serious limits in U.S. military readiness, and what AOC means when she says “Woke 1 was crazy.” They start with Florida, where Trump-backed Byron Donalds won the Republican gubernatorial nomination and...

On this midweek supporters-exclusive episode of The Politics Guys , Trey Orndorff (subbing for Mike Baranowski) is joined once again by political scientist Michael Levy to go down a pair of deep policy and academic "rabbit holes" that they couldn't fit into the main weekend show. The guys start by analyzing German energy giant RWE’s $1.22 billion settlement with the Department of the Interior to a...