Beyond Politics

Chris Hill, host of the country's #1 stock investing radio show, joins Matt to dive into the question of whether we are actually in a recession, and whether that question really matters.  There are confusing, contradictory market signs, promising indications, and warnings that could spell trouble ahead.  Chris and Matt try to untangle the indications from jobs, retailer's earnings, stock...

A new, highly-regarded poll from the St. Anselm's Institute of Politics is providing the best understanding yet of the politics of abortion after the Supreme Court's historic ruling ending Roe v. Wade. Neil Levesque, Executive Director at the IOP, takes us inside what they found, including how they are differentiating between people's personal views and how they will behave politically, and why th...

Our panel of former US Congressman Paul Hodes, conservative columnist Alicia Preston, and former staffer/campaign manager Matt Robison unpacks what we've learned in recent days about Donald Trump's hidden stash of top secret files, and identifies the one big question that no Republican Trump defender seems able to answer.  Also, are things truly turning in Dem's direction politically?

On April 14 2021, President Biden announced that a full withdrawal from Afghanistan -- one that President Trump had previously promised would  happen by May -- would go forward by September 11.  The withdrawal turned out to be chaotic and deadly.  By August 15, Kabul had fallen to the Taliban, and 13 US service-members were subsequently killed. Now, as we approach the one year anniv...

Former Democratic Congressman and prosecutor Paul Hodes, conservative consultant Alicia Preston, and host Matt Robison break down the early legal and political fallout from the surprise FBI raid on former President Trump.  Paul explains from a prosecutor's standpoint what the behind-the-scenes mechanics are of getting a warrant like this, Alicia analyzes the Republican reaction, and Matt runs...

The Senate passage of the Inflation Reduction Act caps a surprisingly successful summer for President Biden and Congressional Democrats in which they passed major legislation to help veterans exposed to toxins, to increase manufacturing competitiveness against China, a bipartisan deal to rein in gun violence...not to mention President Biden holding together the western alliance against Vladimir Pu...

Recently, legendary West Virginia broadcaster Howard Monroe has been wondering: has something deeply changed about the 2024 picture?  It seems like both Donald Trump and Joe Biden's position has been softening in measurable ways. So what is the trajectory of the next presidential race?  Matt Robison joins him to walk through what the indicators are -- and aren't -- telling us. 

The day before Joe Manchin made his thunderbolt announcement of the new Inflation Reduction Act, I had a conversation with one of the Democratic Party's top communications strategists. Jim Manley - who served as senior communications advisor and spokesman for then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid - walked me through the question of whether all this wrangling over President Biden's economic agenda...

In this crossover edition of Great Ideas and Beyond Politics, we take a closer look at Christian nationalism. Recently, controversial Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene said that she’s a Christian nationalist...and the Republican party should be too. In fact, increasing numbers of candidates have embraced the language of Christian nationalism, if not the outright label, in the past ye...

Late last week, a blockbuster report from Jonathan Swan of Axios detailed how former President Trump’s top allies are prepping a plan to purge the federal government. They want to remove thousands of key decision-makers and replace them with MAGA loyalists, all through an Executive Order called "Schedule F."  The report shows that even beyond the usual targets like EPA and the IRS, the Trump...

Chris Hill, host of Motley Fool Money, explains what the low earnings reports and downward guidance from major retailers really reflects about the economy.  Does it mean that the biggest sellers see troubled times ahead, or is something else going on?  Also, why is Google forever?  And is now a good time to buy...grills?!?

Did last week mark a major crumbling in Donald Trump's pillars of support? Today, we bring you another episode of our in-depth roundtable analysis show "Balance of Power" in which we look at a not-so-subtle turn in conservative media around the former President.  Also, is it time for both parties to turn the page to a new generation? Why is one of the biggest Senate races in the country swing...

If you’re like us and most of the Internet, you spent last week goggling at the very first, and absolutely stunning, images from the James Webb Space Telescope. These images lead us right into the most profound questions about the cosmos, and our own existence...and they help to put some of our fights, disagreements, and problems here on this pale blue dot (the kinds of things we normally cover on...

Also, have the January 6 hearings been valuable? Are in-party challengers emerging for Trump and Biden? And will the horrifying Ohio case and similar tragedies that are surely coming change the impact of the Dobbs decision for voters?

Mark Bergman has advised some of America's best-known political leaders on effective messaging...and he's worried. We need to do better among non-college educated voters, but he says that "the Democratic Party is not giving them an option and an economic alternative. They agree with us on all these other issues, but the Democratic party needs an economic message. Can you tell me what it is? I coul...

Chris Hill of Motley Fool Money explains what's going on with the Elon-Twitter deal meltdown.  Also, the economy is looking up, and expectations are super low, so could we be in for a market surge on even meh earnings reports? And a huge summer movie benchmark for Hollywood.

A spat between the White House and progressives was followed in short order by a slew of stories about whether Biden is too old to run again.  Coincidence? Also, should the nomination process become a reality show? Is there really room for a centrist party in America?  And is there a Constitutional right to eat dinner?

Paul and Kevin Landrigan cover the front page New York Times article about awakening democracy in Croydon, New Hampshire. The town rose up, shook itself off, and organized to confront Free Staters who had taken advantage of citizen complacency. They also cover the race for NH  Governor. A new poll from Democratic candidate Senator Tom Sherman gives him a shot with abortion politics as th...

Mark Putnam has helped to elect 11 governors, 10 senators and dozens of House members. He may be best known for the fact that when Barack Obama had enough money in 2008 to produce not a 30 second ad but a 30-minute film, he turned to Mark Putnam to direct it. According to the Washington Post, Mark has “a reputation in Beltway circles as the go-to guy for candidates running tough races in red state...

Privacy experts and pro-choice advocates are trying to get a handle on a new threat in post- Dobbs America: that our online behavior in apps, searches, or even just keeping our phones in in our pocket at the wrong time could send women or doctors to jail. Its a wild west of data collection and sale out there, and the new patchwork of abortion laws across states could mean that our digital footprin...

From time to time, Paul and Matt take a step back to look more deeply at a few topics, and in this episode, we examine the narrative about January 6 Committee star witness Cassidy Hutchinson's age, and what role young professionals really play in Washington.  Are they bystanders, or the power behind the thrones? [hint: it depends].  Also, Mitt Romney's widely-discussed piece in the Atlan...

From time to time, we all need a break from the news, current events, and politics. On this show, the way we do that is to go way, way beyond politics every few months and hear about what's going on at the frontier of human discovery in space. Today we talk about the amazing views of all the planets in our solar system available in the sky right now, the first image of the black hole at the center...

We welcome back two friends of the show, Mario Broussard and Alex Ivey who are senior vice president and vice president of research respectively at Global Strategy Group, one of the premier polling, research, and public affairs companies in America. Mario and Alex have just released the latest edition of their fascinating research project The Melting Pot: An Ongoing Look at Racial Politics in Amer...

In the wake of the Dobbs decision overturning a constitutional right to abortion, we wanted to re-release a discussion we had two months ago with Dr. Randall Balmer of Dartmouth College about the real history of the religious right's crusade against abortion. Because this moment is the direct result of a tactical decision that religious conservatives almost stumbled into 44 years ago. In fact, Dr....

As we were recording another show, news broke about the Dobbs decision that overturns the right to abortion in America. Our panel -- featuring former Democratic Congressman Paul Hodes, conservative commentator Alicia Preston, and political analyst Matt Robison -- immediately switched in real time to discussing the decision.  Alicia provides a pro-life view, but with an empathetic response fro...