Office Hours with Karpf and Loge

Happy 250th birthday, America! The Reflecting Pool is green, the country just agreed to pay $300 billion for losing a war, and Karpf and Loge are here to make sense of who's cashing in on our broken politics. They also dig into the clipping economy around the World Cup, and how much of our cross‑cultural joy is real. Links: What Color is the Reflecting Pool? An Investigation | The Atlantic 6 p...

On this episode of Office Hours, Karpf and Loge discuss the White House's UFC event and what lessons to take from Graham Platner's Senate primary victory. Also, Loge is joined by an overall-clad guest. Episode Links: Semisovereign People | E. E. Schattschneider Pew Political Typology | Pew Research Center

This week, Karpf and Loge dissect the remains of the DNC's leaked 2024 autopsy report and lament the consultant who wrote it. They also chat about how recent GOP primary results affect the 2026 midterm elections, Arsenal, and the new Minions movie. Episode Sources Read the DNC's 2024 Autopsy Report | New York Times Here's What I Told the DNC Autopsy | The Bulwark Where Things Stand in...

This week, Karpf and Loge discuss how worried they are about Hantavirus, the redistricting fight following SCOTUS's decision Louisiana v. Callais , and how elected officials can ethically play hardball. Footnotes: ⁠⁠Elite rhetoric can undermine democratic norms | Ethan Porter et al⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Federalist 1 | Alexander Hamilton⁠⁠ ⁠⁠The hidden effects of the Voting Rights Act | Good Authority⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Elon D...

Office Hours is back, and Washington looks more like the Trump Taj Mahal every day. Karpf and Loge talk the logic of the Trump administration, what is and isn't breaking under Trump 2.0, and the White House Correspondent's Dinner. Footnotes: ⁠Everyone Has Trump's Phone Number Now | The Atlantic⁠ ⁠Killing in the name of....nothing | The Verge

Finally a hot take on Biden, Harris and what comes next from a couple of middle-aged guys in Washington. In a special, one-time, emergency podcast Karpf and Loge talk Biden, Harris, possible VPs, Karpf plugs Pete Buttigieg, and Loge name-checks Roland Barthes and Philip Tetlock.

AI is more, and less, terrifying than you thoughtKaprf and Loge return for a live reunion episode recorded at the  Buzz Advocacy Summit . Karpf rants about generative AI, tech and politics while Loge name-checks Aristotle, and they both agree AI more - and less - alarming than you probably thought.

On the final episode of before an extended hiatus, Karpf and Loge talk APSA and a hotel strike, ethics of deciding whose money to take, and critical need to not only defend democratic institutions, but also to pro-actively promote them. Hiatus note: We're available for conferences, weddings, Arbor Day parties, or whatever special occasion calls for hot takes with footnotes. TTFN.

Karpf and Loge encourage academics and researchers to keep focusing on challenges facing society, and for universities and funders to make a loud and consistent case for the importance of that research. It's past time to play offense. Plus we make fun of Elon Musk.

Thoughts on Threads, Post, Blue Sky, podcasts and what strategic comms professionals should do about all of it. Dave is also still concerned about climate change and the end of the world.

Like everyone else, Karpf and Loge are tired of Trump but keep talking about him anyway. They also talk about Red Bike Guy and the power of mockery, and lessons for Major League Soccer and Messi from strategic political communication.

On a post-season pre-summer school bonus episode Karpf and Loge talk Musk, comms lessons learned from the US COVID response, CNN, Trump channeling Eminem's 2002 hit "Without Me," and political attacks and political narratives.

Karpf and Loge talk about the comms and content of the writers' strike, AI generated "news" sites, partisan "news" and the endless gunk it's creating, and PornHub versus Utah in a debate no one wants to admit they have a stake in.

On an emergency podcast Karpf and Loge talk Tucker Carlson and Fox, Twitter blue check mayhem, Disney suing DeSantis, an RNC AI stunt, and a strat comms lesson from cheese in Taco Bell products. It's been quite a 72 hours.

Karpf and Loge discuss the importance of structure and power in policy change and elections, and the limits of comms given power and structural constraints. Plus we offer tips for people doing policy comms, and Karpf points out one more way in which Elon Musk, Elon Musks.

The politics of Trump haven't changed, but he's a pundit employment machine; Musk and DeSantis continue to fail to think "what now, what next, then what?"; colleges as rhetorical constructions to attract students and raise money; a meatball made of extinct woolly mammoth DNA; and an old WWII fort off the English coast that claims to be a country, is half the size of a soccer fiel...

If Trump is arrested most voters will say 'I told you so,' but that doesn't make getting indicted a sound political strategy. The argument for what the failure of Silicon Valley Bank means is underway and will determine what, if anything, happens as a result. Plus ChatGPT makes up stuff that makes Dave sound smart.

ChatGPT for strategic communication, language choice involves strategic and ethical choices, plus ranting about CPAC, doomsaying is bad, comedy is good, Jurassic moths and invisible asteroids.

Nikki Haley is running for President, the State of the Union is a strategic comms circus, Elon Musk is doing Elon Musk things, and if they're actually space aliens and not spy balloons the timing is super inconvenient.

Karpf and Loge talk Trump being allowed back on Facebook and what the Republican primary looks like, strategic comms and protests, and the English football (soccer) team Reading FC raising awareness about climate change. Plus fan mail from dog walkers, and Loge finally has COVID making the random rants even more random than usual.

In the first episode of season four, Karpf and Loge talk Chat GPT in the classroom, the politics and comms of the debt ceiling, classified documents, and Congressman Santos. And they promise a lot of footnotes here:  medium.com/@PeterLoge

Political analyst and former Republican strategist Sarah Isgur joins Karpf, Loge and a live studio audience to talk Senator Sinema and Republicans in 2024. Against his wishes we sing "Happy Birthday" to Dave Karpf.

In the final episode of season three, Karpf rants about Elon Musk (of course) and Karpf and Loge talk about why the story of the midterms matters for 2024. They agree that the story should be that voters like democracy and rights - and will punish people who threaten to take away either.

Why climate activists are good for companies that provide security to art galleries, why the mid-terms look like they'll be unsurprising and possibly terrifying, and Karpf and Loge want your take on how advocates can use next month's men's World Cup in Qatar to make the world a better place.

Karpf gloats about being right about Biden and marijuana, messaging and the midterm elections, and what DeSantis got right about disaster politics and why that's bad for democracy. Plus challenges to the space time continuum and we pitch Nyquil to sponsor us.