Beyond Politics

Today, we feature the host of an amazing podcast called Gatecrashers , an eight-part series that tells the fascinating history of how the modern college admissions system (in fact, the entire notion of academically rigorous elite schools) that we know in America -- with its applications, essays, interviews, standardized tests, and US News lists -- all sprang from a surprising starting point: an ef...

Neil Levesque of the St. Anselm's Institute of Politics returns to run through findings from their latest high quality poll, showing why Democrats have an edge in key races despite President Biden's low approval, whether Democratic meddling in Republican primaries worked, what role abortion is really playing in the election, and whether we're getting an early bead on the shape of the 2024 Republic...

The panel breaks down how Herschel Walker could have avoided a potentially campaign-sinking message catastrophe (besides not being an awful person in the first place) with some age-old political tactics. Also, Trump lawyers lying, huge issues on the Supreme Court docket, and is Mehmet Oz about to be eaten by Alicia's dogs?

Congressman Jamie Raskin of Maryland was a professor of constitutional law at American University’s Washington College of Law for more than 25 years.  That’s part of the reason he was named the lead impeachment manager for the Senate trial during the second impeachment of then-President Donald Trump for inciting an insurrection at the United States Capitol. For over a year, he has been servin...

It's been called risky, controversial, playing with fire...and that's just the Democrats talking.  But now that the tallies are in, it is clear that Democrats spending $53 million to wade into Republican primaries was the right move.  Matt joins The New England Take to explain why, based on his article published on The Editorial Board and Alternet .

Recently the Center for American Progress issued a report that said “Online service companies have produced substantial wealth, but these gains have failed to reach the American workforce more broadly. Pervasive, ubiquitous digital surveillance has eroded Americans’ civil liberties. Exploitation of people’s data has created novel consumer threats around privacy, manipulation of consumer behavior,...

The panel dives in to understand the key issues that are driving the midterm elections and where things stand on them: abortion, the economy and inflation, immigration, and Trump. Which party is driving the narrative onto their home turf, and how are voters reacting?  Also, are Dems kidding themselves with polling, again?  And did NASA just make one of Marjorie Taylor Greene's Jewish spa...

In the last few years, we’ve seen ideas that were once on the far fringes of American political thought become some of the most important and frightening factors in our politics. Overturning elections. QAnon. "Alternative Electors." Strict originalist views on abortion. And now, using an obscure section of the Constitution to create a right-wing rewrite of the Constitution itself. Former US Senato...

Political scientist Dr. William Ewell and I just wrote an article for Newsweek breaking down the go-to Republican panic move every time they run into a rough patch politically.  Pull a stunt on immigration, no matter the human cost.  William joins me to run through the Groundhog Day history and likely future of their immigration ploy, and how it will probably be the ideal cover Republica...

Chris Hill of Motley Fool Money on why no one knows what to make of the confusing mess of economic data and business news...and that's making the market super jumpy.  Also, Amazon goes all in on the NFL. 

Just as Republican Senator Lindsay Graham scored a possible own-goal by proposing a national abortion ban, suddenly Ron DeSantis Diverted media attention onto his stunt to fly migrants from Texas to Massachusetts. Are Democrats at risk of letting the election focus change to Republicans' favorite territory.  Also, the country dodged a train last week when President Biden helped to avert a rai...

Brookings Institution expert Jonathan Rauch breaks down his amazing viral article for The Atlantic, "Trump's Second Term Would Look Like This," detailing a nightmarish future with an unprecedented assault on the agencies, military, courts, and democracy. Rauch is the author of eight books and a contributing writer to The Atlantic.   He was the recipient of the 2005 National Magazine Award, th...

Also, the tide turns in Ukraine. The big primaries today.  And should Democrats try to keep Trump off the ballot?

Several weeks ago, an NBC news poll found that the number one issue for Americans was not inflation, but the threat to democracy. Yet, despite American's clear concern, and despite Republican gaslighting about the supposed liberal bias of the media (hint, it's the opposite, as we cover in this episode), former Chicago Sun Times Editor Mark Jacob says that the stunning rise of fascist forces in Ame...

Time Magazine recently described Jesse Ferguson by saying that he "as been one of the quiet forces inside rooms where power has been negotiated, won, or ceded over the last two decades." He's one of the most sought-after messaging experts among Democrats, and he has a lot to say about the key thing that Democrats always seem to get wrong when talking to voters, and how to fix it (hint: there's an...

The shape of what and how we view things on television is rapidly evolving, with the NFL moving to Amazon, NBC potentially dropping an hour of prime time, and sports looking to a streaming future.  Chris Hill, host of Motley Fool Money, explains the dizzying changes and what might be coming next.  Also, what will the homestretch of the business year look like?

By which we mean the homestretch toward the midterms, with 9 weeks until election day, and the outcome depending on voters' priorities between inflation and autocracy. But also, President Biden's big speech last week depicted a country on the brink of a total meltdown, with MAGA forces poised to upend 250 years of democracy. Are we actually that close to the brink, and if so, was his speech the ri...

Several years ago, Newt Gingrich created a bit of controversy when he said in an interview that feelings are facts, and that the way people perceive an issue has just as much to say about it’s reality as any set of statistics that you could gather. Many people scoffed or reacted with outrage...but the truth is, he was kind of right: for instance, the way people feel about the economy has a strong...

We’ve been talking a lot about President Biden's decision to give holders of student loan debt substantial aid by canceling up to $10,000 in debt for those making less than $125,000. It seems like the decision has made no one happy, and that's definitely true of today's guest. Brian Riedl is a Senior Fellow with the Manhattan Institute who is an expert in economic policy, having worked for six yea...

Or will it amp it up even further? The panel dives into why Democrats are gaining ground, and whether President Biden's big move on student debt is the right thing to do both economically and politically. Plus, Lindsay Graham makes the MAGA hostage threat explicit: stay away from Trump, or the base will attack (again). Does that mean prosecutors should back off?

In the past week, Republican attacks on the Inflation Reduction Act around how it funds tax enforcement have gotten downright scary, claiming that the IRS will use the additional funding to hire thousands of armed agents and threaten Americans’ life and liberty. It's nonsense, but it's nothing new. Back in December, we did an episode of Great Ideas that ran through the myths, realities, and partis...

We work very hard on this show to get out of our bubble and challenge our perceptions about what is happening, so that we don't end up just living in a political echo chamber. There’s no better way to do that for Democrat than to hear from one the very top Republican pollsters working today. Right now, the big question is whether there is a real shift going on in politics...is it just a case of De...

This week, we're focusing on the question of the big vibe shift in politics: is it just a hazy feeling among Democrats, or a real reflection of a significant change in their favor?  Aliza Astrow is a senior political analyst at Third Way who conducts public opinion research and analysis on voter views, and she walks through whether, how much, and why voters may be warming to keeping Democrats...

Numerous data points are suggesting that there may be some positive trends for Democrats, along with some troubling signs for Republicans.  Dems have been acting downright giddy about what they see as the recent turn.  But is it mostly in their mind?  Is it going to be enough? Or are they getting meaningful traction at just the right time? The panel weighs what we're seeing out ther...

Since the FBI search on Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home more than a week ago, the response from Republican office holders has been to demonize the Department of Justice, FBI, and law-enforcement in general. Republican firebrand Marjorie Taylor Greene called for the FBI to be "destroyed and defunded," and the echoes of that exact sentiment have sounded throughout Republican Party leadership. Our gue...