Grounded with Jon Tester & Maritsa Georgiou

We owe the parents of Kalpana Narlikar and Leo Auerbach an apology. A few weeks ago, we recorded a conversation with these two Georgetown University undergrads. Between the State of the Union and a new war, I completely forgot we had it on deck. Narlikar and Auerbach are students in JT’s discussion group this semester at Georgetown. They were kind enough to sit down with us to chat about the issue...

Dover Air Force Base received another fallen U.S. soldier Monday night as a result of the war in Iran. The Pentagon says Army Sgt. Benjamin N. Pennington, 26, of Glendale, Kentucky died Sunday from injuries he sustained in an attack March 1 on the Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia. There’s no audio on the recorded feed, which punctuates the sober reality of this moment. We talk about the latest...

To quote one of the many text messages I received Wednesday, what the hell is happening in Montana?!?!?! First it was Rep. Ryan Zinke announcing he wouldn't run for reelection days before the deadline to file in Montana. Not to be outdone, Sen. Steve Daines made a similar shocking move just minutes before the deadline to file, sparking confusion and, for some, anger. In the middle of it all, forme...

It’s hard to keep track of the latest developments in the new U.S. war in Iran, mostly because we are seeing conflicting information coming from the administration—including differing timelines and justifications. Part of the justification given for this new war has circled around Iran’s nuclear ambitions, with Trump on Saturday saying Iran attempted to rebuild its nuclear program. This is subject...

We woke up Saturday morning to the news that the U.S. is at war with Iran. By Sunday morning, we learned of the deaths of three U.S. service members and a promise of retaliation from Iran after U.S. and Israeli strikes took out Ayatollah Ali Khamenei along with dozens of other senior leaders. As we recorded this live episode, there are still so many unanswered questions. What comes next? Could mor...

If we’re the frogs, it’s getting hot in here (And no, JT hasn’t heard the 2002 Nelly hit of the same name). Thanks to former U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance for joining us live on Substack to dissect a plethora of headlines, why we’re (again) the frogs in the increasingly hot pot of water, and the importance of civil discourse in this moment. Plus, the individual actions that keep Vance an optimis...

A conversation between JT and MG about Maritsa's trip to Social Circle, Georgia in partnership with the Save America Movement. That's where the Dept. of Homeland Security recently purchased a newly built (and totally unfinished) warehouse for $128.6 million to be used for an ICE detention facility. We discuss what people in the town of 5,000 are saying, the red flags raised by experts on federal r...

With floated plans to nationalize elections, calls for armed federal forces at the polls, and the FBI raid of the Fulton County, Georgia election hub, and the SAVE Act, there's a lot to discuss before this year's midterm elections. David Becker, prominent election security expert, lawyer, and the executive director and founder of the nonpartisan Center for Election Innovation & Research (https...

Ellie Leonard’s interest in the Jeffrey Epstein story started last year on a trip to Montana (where she has deep roots), and she wanted to better understand the story’s connection to Donald Trump. Fast forward to the passage of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, Leonard has been downloading and meticulously sifting through the DOJ releases page by page. Leonard joins Grounded's first episode of S...

Jon Tester set a new record for the number of phone calls that interrupted our live stream today—but that’s part of the deal when you work with a farmer who still has a landline. Alas, no calls from sitting senators today. We wanted to hop on for a quick(ish) chat about a few of the headlines from this week in politics. We start with Attorney General Pam Bondi’s performance on Capitol Hill. How wo...

It fortuitously lined up on the calendar to have Rachel Maddow as our guest to mark one year of Grounded. We talked seriously about the moment we’re in and what keeps her up at night. We also discussed what’s working, including the pushback that’s been a theme of Maddow’s show for many years. Maddow discusses how she hardens herself against threats, the future of news consumption, and how to beat...

2026 has already been a long year, which means we didn’t get to a fraction of the questions we had for former Rep. Adam Kinzinger. He tells us why he’s not immediately losing sleep over proposals to nationalize elections, but also what voters can do to ease concerns. Kinzinger has long been the focus of Donald Trump’s ire, especially since he was one of only two Republicans who served on the House...

We’ve reached the point in the timeline when the federal government starts arrested journalists. We didn’t plan to release an episode tonight, but we’re thankful Dave Aronberg, former state attorney of Palm Beach County, was able to jump on with us at the last minute to unpack some legal headlines, including the arrests of independent journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort and the latest release o...

Legal questions continue to swirl over the current surge of ICE agents in Minneapolis—reportedly enough agents to equate to FIVE TIMES the manpower of the Minneapolis Police Department. We asked former DOJ pardon attorney Liz Oyer to join us for a discussion about what’s happening on the ground and inside the Dept. of Justice. We dissect questions emerging as ICE agents and leaders spread misconce...

PBS News White House correspondent Liz Landers joins Grounded to discuss her latest reporting that ties official administration language to extremist groups and white nationalist circles. We talk about how these messages are being used to recruit new ICE officers, the administration’s response and why experts have expressed concern. Plus, how to support public journalism oulets like PBS at a time...

t’s hard to believe all of the major news that happened in 2026—and we’re only nine days in. The capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was not even one week ago. We’ve seen reporting that the U.S. government is considering sending individual checks of up to $100,000 to Greenlanders, and of course the protests happening all across the country after the killing of Renee Nicole Good in Minne...

Minnesota again finds itself at the center of a political firestorm with the ICE killing of Renee Good, 37. Bystander footage contradicts the message from the Trump administration. The mayor of Minneapolis has told ICE to “get the fuck out,” while Gov. Tim Walz has alerted the National Guard. It’s a pivotal moment that we discuss in depth with Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN) and longtime political journali...

We didn’t plan to release a weekend episode, but that all changed when we woke up to news the U.S. launched attacks on Venezuela and captured the country’s leader. In a news conference later Saturday, President Donald Trump said the U.S. is now “going to run” Venezuela until there’s a safe, proper, and judicious transition. But what does that mean? Sen. Angus King (I-ME) joined us for a discussion...

As the press comes further under attack, journalists who are driven by integrity have found themselves exploring new ways to share unvarnished truth. We talk with Zach Toombs of Evident Media about the new nonprofit news outlet, their latest investigative work around immigration raids, and how to get this type of content into more hands. We also discuss the state of the press and the need for inde...

In what we hope is our final episode before the Christmas break, we take on one of the biggest stressors for American families: the cost of food. Why are grocery prices rising so quickly, and what can be done—locally and federally—to rein them in? Scott Faber of the Environmental Working Group joins us to explain the many factors at play, from the war in Ukraine to immigration crackdowns to indust...

Our conversations with Michael McFaul, former U.S. ambassador to Russia, always go by way too quickly with pages of unasked questions. We still fit a lot in, including the state of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. We discuss mistakes made in the Cold War, the difference in threats between Russia and China, and why he says his long-term strategy is for all American interests, not just member...

Former ambassador and national security adviser Susan Rice joins Grounded to discuss why America’s current foreign policy strategy amounts to “superpower suicide.” On the Russian invasion into Ukraine, Rice says not enough was done to stop Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2014 during the invasion of Crimea. When will it end? “He doesn’t stop until he is stopped,” Rice said about Putin. Rice pro...

We tried and (mostly) succeeded in our first live recording with a live in-person audience! The audio isn’t perfect, but we thank you for your patience! Former Montana Gov. Steve Bullock joined us for some headlines before we dove into this week’s topic: A Montana effort to make the effects of the Citizens United decision a moot point—with hopes the effort will spread to other states. That’s where...

It’s hard to predict when news will break, but today’s episode is quite timely. We invited Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) to join us on Grounded after being one of the subjects of a video that prompted the President of the United States to amplify posts calling for six members of Congress to be hanged. We talked about the video, if he expected this response from the White House, and if he thinks he’s bein...