Beyond Politics

Victor Piniero is the author of Time Villains , an Amazon Best Book of the Month in July 2021. Kirkus Reviews, in a STARRED review says “Piñeiro scores with this tale of friendship, magic, and adventure.…Magnificent.”   Victor joins the show to talk about the book and give advice to other aspiring writers about how to get going and write their dream novel. 

Today we tackle Amazon, Amazon prime, and the many ways both obvious and unseen that Amazon has wormed its way into everything we do.  For many of us, Amazon is just a part of our daily lives. What we buy, what we watch, and what we say… Much of it runs through Amazon‘s computers and marketplaces. And from there of course, it is incorporated into Amazons algorithms, its data, it’s artificial...

What if I told you that there is clear, convincing, peer reviewed, and widely accepted research showing that things in the world around us that run on electric power could be hurting us in ways that we don’t even fully understand? It’s true.  My uncle Dr. Martin Blank -- professor at Columbia University -- was for decades one of the world-leading scientists when it came to the effect of the r...

With the death of the For the People Act - and Republicans passing more voting laws at the state level aimed that independent analysts say gives them a partisan advantage or could even allow Trump-style factions to overturn election results - we ask Rhode Island Senator Sheldon Whitehouse what on Earth Democrats can do to ensure fair elections with equal access for everyone. Also, Senator Whitehou...

The Executive Director of the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm's, Neil Levesque, breaks down the results of their latest survey, which chock full of tantalizing insights on why President Biden's approval rating -- and the strength of congressional Democrats -- is falling.  Also, what does each party need to do to get their mojo back for the next election?

Three years ago, when a little-known primary challenger pulled off a surprise win over a congressional veteran in New York, it made national political news. That upstart -- Alexandria Ocasio Cortez -- eventually became well-known for her outspoken embrace of the label “Socialist,” her big Twitter following, and as the star of countless Republican political ads that painted her as the “scary” face...

The covid pandemic has shown us all just how much we rely on science and scientists, just how important the advance of science research can be to our health and our way of life…and also, just how easily the public’s understanding of science can become confused…with real consequences. In recent years, federal support for science has flattened, major science topics have become politicized, and we’ve...

Excerpts from Matt Robison's recent interviews with West Virginia broadcaster Howard Monroe on some of the most controversial topics in the news

In recent weeks, there’s been an abrupt and significant change in the way scientists, political leaders, and the media have talked about the origins of the Covid pandemic. There was once consensus that the virus had come from an animal, but new questions have emerged, and by May 26, even President Biden had called for a new, full, and transparent investigation into whether the virus actually emerg...

Is there an explanation for the Navy UFO videos, as seen on 60 Minutes? We take a serious, respectful, rational approach in this discussion among former Congressman Paul Hodes, former congressional staffer Matt Robison, and top expert in UFO video analysis, Mick West -- featuring a careful breakdown of the videos and Hodes' own experience.   If you like this kind of lively discussion of curre...

A fascinating discussion with Cliff Schecter - one of President Biden's key campaign consultants and host of the UnPresidented Podcast - about his interviews with Paul Begala and James Carville and the fundamental question confronting the Democratic Party: given all of Donald Trump's insanity, why aren't Democrats winning more? And is there anything they can do about it?

In the days after the violent, seditious attack on Congress on January 6, the American people were briefly aghast and outraged. But barely a week later, Republican voter identification with Trump had “rebounded to pre-election levels." Nowadays, even the most searing national events get sucked down a partisan rabbit hole…and last week, Republican leadership came out against any commission on looki...

The big AT&T/Discovery deal is creating a behemoth (CNN, HBO, TLC, Food Network, TNT, TBS, etc.) streaming service. But will it work?  And why don't these combinations work more often?

There's a perception that Congress is totally gridlocked, and that the parties do nothing but bicker. But our expert guest says that maybe we're all being a little too negative, because actually, Congress gets more done while you're not looking than you'd think. And despite the historic problems we've seen recently (think insurrection), the system is kind of holding together. Frances Lee is a Prof...

Matt was a guest on West Virginia radio legend Howard Monroe's morning show, talking about how we got into such a divided place in American politics and what some solutions would look like

Last week's news that the economy added just 266,000 jobs when many economists were expecting closer to 1 million made for a lot of head-scratching. Republicans say that excessive Covid relief benefits are creating a disincentive for people to come back to work. Democrats say that recovery is a long road and that if anything, the anemic jobs numbers show that the economy needs an additional boost....

In 2020, one thing was clear: as goes African American voters, so goes the Democratic Party.  And as goes the Democratic Party, so goes the balance of power in America.  Understanding the evolving views and priorities of Black Americans -- and what drives their enthusiasm to vote -- will be critical if Democrats are to have any chance in the 2022 midterms (and beyond).  The authors...

We’ve got something a little different for you: a conversation between Beyond Politics host Matt Robison and PoliticusUSA Editor-in-Chief Sarah Jones, available as a podcast, a video, and an excerpt on PoliticusUSA. Matt and Sarah are both fascinated by the same question: how did we get to this pretty awful place in American politics and society…and how do we get out of it? In other words, what is...

Apple's decision this week to clamp down on how apps to track your behavior and movements online has reignited a debate about privacy and the information we share, both willingly and unwittingly, in the digital age.  What is often overlooked is just how much we make decisions, sometimes without even realizing it, about how much information we share about our kids. This is a deep, fraught, and...

What does Apple's big privacy release mean for Facebook's business and the broader "free" economy?  Also, the hottest investment opportunity is...house paint?

Sean Carberry, the former Kabul correspondent for NPR and the lead on Department of Defense Inspector General reports on Afghanistan, walks through what has happened in Afghanistan, whether the US could have done anything differently, and ultimately whether President Biden made the right decision to withdraw US troops once and for all. 

The Senate is a mess.  All legislative roads lead there, and usually it’s a dead end. When Presidents take executive action, it’s usually to work around the Senate. It’s the site of national catharsis over judges. And when something actually does get passed, it’s major news. But now, things might...just might... be changing. Democrats have used special senate "reconciliation" rules to pass th...

As more signs emerge of an impending surge in the economy, Chris and Matt explore how we can think about what those signs are telling us about investing and business in the near term, and also how to think beyond them to what the longer term future looks like.  Photo by Tomasz Frankowski on Unsplash

The big news on Covid last week was the decision by the CDC and FDA to call for a nationwide halt to delivering the Johnson & Johnson vaccine while they investigate a rare blood-clotting disorder. Our guest, Dr. Angela Rasmussen, is a virologist and one of the most well-known and oft-quoted scientists on Covid vaccines.  She has written for Forbes, Foreign Affairs, Slate, the Guardian, an...

Matt joins legendary West Virginia radio host Howard Monroe on his morning show to discuss the arguments around statehood for Washington D.C., why the arguments against should remind you of "My Cousin Vinny," and what the real holdup is. Also, what the government should actually do to keep people from migrating out of rural states.