On Democracy with FPWellman

Professor Austin Sarat is a political scientist and attorney. He and Fred discuss the insane legal week and what we as Americans must do to fight for this democracy. Austin is the William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Jurisprudence and Political Science at Amherst College. He is also a Five College Fortieth Anniversary Professor. He has written, co-written, or edited more than fifty books in the fi...

Kaivan Shroff joins Fred to discuss the outrageous twisting of DEI to cover for Republican racism, Taylor Swift hysteria, and much more. Kaivan is a public interest attorney who serves as press secretary for the youth mobilization nonprofit Dream For America and as senior advisor for the Institute for Education, a D.C. nonprofit. He worked on the litigation team at Everytown for Gun Safety and as...

Juliet Jeske is a journalist and producer of the Decoding Fox News newsletter and podcast. She graduated from the Craig J. Newmark School of Journalism at the Central University of New York and has been studying the right-wing media environment for many years. She and Fred discuss how much in the tank Fox News is for Donald Trump and the MAGA movement, their increasing extremism, open racism, and...

Trump can be beaten and has been in court before. This week's guest Tristan Snell was the New York AG prosecuting attorney on the Trump University case and he knows what it takes to beat Trump and his peers. Fred and Tristan discuss that and the legal peril Trump faces today. Snell is a lawyer and legal commentator featured on MSNBC and NPR, and in the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal. He s...

If you thought Trump Admin 1.0 was bad, you can’t imagine how insane the second version will be with less guardrails and thousands of acolytes installed in the government. Fred and HuffPo senior White House correspondent S.V. Dáte discuss the crazy legal arguments he’s floating and what the next year will look like. S.V.’s book, The Useful Idiot, captures Trump's failed management of the coronavir...

 How do we cut through vibes and actually reach young voters before its too late? What drives Gen Z and Millenials to the ballot box and what matters to this next generation of voter? We welcome back John Della Volpe who is America’s leading polling expert on the topic as we head into one of the most important elections of the modern era. John Della Volpe is the director of polling at the Harvard...

We end the year on a positive turn in the economy and justice finally moving for Donald Trump. Fred also caught a bug so while the news is good, his voice isn't. We are fortunate to have this great interview with MSNBC's Katie Phang from February that has never aired on MeidasTouch. She and Fred discussed the search for justice and American’s faith in our systems as we face an onslaught of more ex...

Colorado’s Supreme Court made the factual ruling that Donald Trump supported an insurrection and isn’t eligible to run for President. This week we are joined by petitioner’s attorney Mario Nicolais to chat about this stunning win. Mario is a lifelong Coloradan and attorney and a former colleague of Fred’s from the Lincoln Project. Mario has worked political campaigns at every level from municipal...

This is a special episode dedicated to the situation in Ukraine and in Washington D.C. as the U.S. Congress and White House are deadlocked in pushing through more aide for the beleaguered nation. We discuss the danger on the ground in Ukraine and the danger we face in the halls of Congress too. We speak with two brilliant guests to tell the story, first a journalist that’s been on the ground since...

Brian Stelter probably watches more Fox News than the people that work there and when the Dominion lawsuit opened up the private emails and text messages in the company he pounced. The result is his latest gripping book “Network of Lies” on how key elements of the Big Lie were fostered on Fox and the price both they and we are paying for it. Stelter is the New York Times bestselling author of thre...

Steven Beschloss has created award-winning content, as a writer, journalist, editor and filmmaker. Consistent in this work is a passion for writing and a belief in the transformative power of story. He applies that in a dozen different ways to our fight for our democracy today and especially through his newsletter ‘America, America’ focused on politics and society, democracy and justice. He and Fr...

Fred is solo this holiday weekend to dive into the real stakes of the upcoming election from Trump’s authoritarian rhetoric and even more draconian plans to how Democrats can fight back and win. The pro-democracy forces are winning but there is work to be done and issues that can carry them to victory. Check out this special one man show and an important shout out to Mike Flynn. Visit our Sponsors...

Harry Dunn is a serving police officer who defended the United States Capitol on January 6th with his fellow Capitol and District Police officers. In the aftermath he has taken it on as his mission to tell the truth about that day, understand those who came that day, and make sure it never happens again. His new book ‘Standing My Ground’ is already a New York Times bestseller and is available wher...

America is embroiled in total legal chaos from Trump's multiple trials, the impeachment sham in the House, the Supreme Court's ethics being investigated, and more. Fred and CNN Legal Analyst and defense lawyer Shanlon Wu break down the multiple moving parts and Project 2025 too. Shan Wu is a regular CNN and NPR legal analyst and former federal prosecutor who served in the Clinton Administration as...

Fred is joined by his good friend and former Lincoln Project colleague Jeff Timer this week to discuss the increasing normalization of violence in the GOP, their inability to govern, and the successes of the Democrats in Michigan. Timmer is a leading political and issue advocacy strategist who has spent 30 years providing big-picture counsel and communications for corporations, trade associations,...

Retired Sergeant Aquilino Gonell was brutally assaulted defending the U.S. Capitol on January 6th. His injuries ended his police career but led him to finding his voice to fight back against the people who participated in that brutal attack on our nation. He and Fred discuss that day, his service to the nation, and his disgust seeing those who organized the attack still in power. Aquilino is a Dom...

Pennsylvania first term Representative Chris Deluzio joins Fred from the Capitol as total chaos unfolds and the House Republicans fail to find any consensus on a new Speaker. Nothing is getting done for the country or our allies as the clock ticks down to another shutdown. Rep. Deluzio is a native of Western Pennsylvania representing Pennsylvania’s 17th district. An Iraq War veteran, Naval Academy...

We have the crossover event of the year as MeidasTouch Legal AF Co-Host Michael Popok joins the show to talk about the insanity in the House GOP, Donald Trump's fading mental capacity, and much more. Michael is a 30 year+ national trial lawyer and strategist at Zumpano Patricios & Popok with offices in New York, Miami and Las Vegas. Beginning in 2020, he co-founded and co-hosts one of the top glob...

Fred was on the road this week in Washington D.C. lobbying for Ukraine funding and in St. Louis for the Democratic National Committee's Fall Meeting. He chats with DNC Chairman Jaime Harris, Minnesota Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan, and Richmond Mayor Lavar Stoney about what the party faces and how they plan to keep the winning momentum going. In addition, Eugene Vindman spoke with veterans on Capito...

Representative Dan Goldman sits on both the House Oversight and the so-called Weaponization of Government Committee and has been battling back the extremists in the Republican Party since he arrived in Congress. There are some there who would be happy to see the building burn and as we hurdle towards a government shut down and sham impeachment investigation, we all get to see it too. He gives us t...

Over a decade since Eric Deggans wrote the book 'Race-Baiter' about the media's role in our civil discourse surrounding race and more they haven't seemed to learn any of the lessons. He and Fred discuss the role of the news media in today's civil discourse, the dangers of re-writing history, why DEI in journalism matters, and much more. Eric Deggans is NPR’s first full-time TV critic and media ana...

Simon Rosenberg is the producer of the Substack community the ‘Hopium Chronicles’ and was the founder and president of NDN/New Policy Institute, a center-left think tank in Washington, DC. He moved on this year to take his fight for our democracy into a direct mission of motivating and informing Americans on the way we can take back our nation. Simon has been a leader in efforts to modernize the c...

Alex Vindman has seen how the Republican attack machine personally and knows how dangerous it is for national security. Now Tommy Tuberville is sitting on 301 promotions and growing while the GOP undermines efforts to defeat Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It won’t just hurt us today but years from now too. Vindman is a retired Army officer who served on the National Security Council in the Trump Wh...

Rex Huppke is known for his sharp wit and tongue in cheek columns on politics and our nation. He and Fred talk about the crazy moment from mugshots to making Alex Jones super mad. Rex is a national opinion columnist at USA TODAY where he occasionally writes midly amusing columns on the news of the day. Before joining USA Today he was with the Chicago Tribune for an interminably long time. Huppke s...

Democrats are everywhere including places that have been essentially abandoned to the GOP in rural areas. Jess Piper is the ‘Dirt Road Democrat’ who speaks to what is happening in these places and what we need to do to take them back. She and Fred discuss the challenges, what it’s like to run for office in tough places, and what is next to start taking back rural America. Jess is the Executive Dir...