A Gentlemen’s Disagreement

Sam Klug, professor of U.S. history at Loyola University Maryland, joins us to discuss his new book, The Internal Colony: Race and the American Politics of Global Decolonization. We talk about the global decolonization movement of the mid-20th century, the ties between that global movement and domestic issues of race and class in the U.S., and how all of those issues continue to reverberate today.

Our fifth annual Presidents Day Mount Rushmore-style draft, joined, once again, by our friends Dan Gonzalez and Devon Hull, and this year we are drafting the most influential works of literature in U.S. history. A fun episode for any lover of U.S. history and/or literature!

David A. Graham of The Atlantic joins us to discuss President Trump's cabinet nominees, their confirmation process, his appointees, and what his personnel strategy helps to show us about the overall direction of his nascent second administration.

Suriya Jayanti of the Atlantic Council and TIME joins us to talk about this period of energy transition and the necessity of nuclear power to that transition. 

He's baaaaack. We react to the return of President Trump, a man at the apex of his power.

Charles Sykes of MSNBC, The Atlantic, and The Bulwark joins us to discuss President Biden's legacy as his four years as president and fifty years in politics comes to a close this week. We discuss that legacy within the context of the life and legacy of President Carter, who is, perhaps, a presidential analogue of Biden's.

Robert A. Levy, former chairman of the board of the Cato Institute, joins us to discuss antitrust laws. Do these laws help or hurt competition? When, if ever, should the government step in to protect and promote competition in the marketplace? We delve into these questions and many more in our conversation with Bob.

Our annual look back at the stories that dominated our discourse this year.

From a pair of killings in New York City to the actions of Israel and Russia internationally, how we view these incidents often seems to be tied to how we view the concept of self-defense. Is there an innate right to self-defense? If not, who can claim self-defense and against whom? Is the right of self-defense tied to the means? If so, how far does it extend? What does it permit? Can self-defense...

We're back to hit a series of topics that have been in the news over the past couple of weeks both in the U.S.--the murder of the UnitedHealth CEO, President Biden's pardon of his son Hunter, the rise of Bitcoin--and abroad--the overthrow of the Syrian government, the declaration of martial law by the South Korean government, and the collapse of the French government.

Republicans have won the Presidency, the Senate, and the House. Conservative justices dominate the Supreme Court. What was the cost of those victories? Where does the current environment leave people who don't align with this vision for the country? We ruminate on those questions and more in this episode.

With the election behind us, we turn our attention to the Supreme Court, which is sure to have a say in what happens over the next four years. Kevin J, McMahon, Trinity College professor and author of a trilogy of books examining the relationship between democracy and the Court, joins us to put this Court in historical context, analyze what the current composition of the Court says about the state...

In the wake of another U.S. presidential election dominated by discussion of the electoral college, we are joined by Patrick Rosenstiel, senior consultant to the National Popular Vote campaign, who makes the case that the switching from the current electoral college system to a national popular vote would be the single biggest improvement we could make to our democracy--and that this election prov...

We try to make sense of the election results, including what it says about our country now and what it means for our country moving forward, before we are joined by our good friend Ray Mooney to provide the Trump-voter perspective.

We wanted to fit in one more episode before the election looking at the state of the economy. Alana spent time on the ground of the swing states and told us what the vibes were like heading into election day. 

We were joined by Brigham & Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School psychiatrist Dr. John Fromson to discuss the potential and pitfalls of the legalization of psychedelics. We debated legalization through ballot initiatives versus legislatively, the hopes versus dangers medically, freedom versus safety, and much more.

We dive into each of the five questions on the Massachusetts ballot, explaining what a "yes" or "no" vote means and exploring the pros and cons of each measure. We also look at ballot questions nationally to identify trends we are seeing across the country and discuss how these questions might impact races up the ballot in the upcoming elections.

Steve Kornacki joined us this week for a deep dive into the upcoming U.S. elections. Steve broke down the battleground states for the presidency, the races that will decide the Senate and the House, and the overall demographic and issues-based trends that will ultimately impact the results in November.

We are joined this week by the Libertarian Party's candidate for President, Chase Oliver (4:02-40:38), and Vice President, Mike ter Maat (40:46-1:29:42), for wide-ranging conversations about third-parties, policies an Oliver-ter Maat administration would pursue, what success in November would look like, and much, much more.

We are joined this week by lobbyist Austin Jackson to try to examine the present and future of college athletics in the time of NIL, the transfer portal, and shifting conferences. We analyze the roles that Congress, the NLRB, and the courts will play in defining the future of college sports.

We stayed up past Ricky's bedtime to discuss our immediate reactions to and takeaways from the debate between former President Trump and Vice-President Harris.

We are joined by Dr. Rachael Navarre to discuss the findings from her most recent book, including why populism, extremism, and conspiracy theories have taken hold in so many democracies across the world over the past decade.    

We welcome Jacquetta Van Zandt back to the program to get her thoughts on the last two months of Democratic politics. We discuss the abandonment of President Biden, examine how Vice President Harris has captured the imagination of the party, debate whether the country is ready for a Black/Indian/woman president, and offer some advice for the Harris campaign moving forward. Whether you're just tuni...

We are joined this week by Simpson College Professor of History Nick Proctor to examine the many parallels between 1968 and 2024. The events of 1968 culminated in the infamous Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Will the events of 2024 produce a similar Democratic Convention in Chicago this week?

While we are still in the honeymoon phase of the Harris candidacy, we take a look at what candidate Harris stands for policy-wise and how policy under a Harris administration might differ from both the Trump and Biden administrations.