Political Playlist Happy Hour

As the episode title suggests, these appear to be just a few of Donald Trump's favorite things, though it's unclear if anyone's home upstairs. But fear not, Michael and Anthony are home and well at the Playlist bar, hear for another happy hour to break down the Paramount Warner Bros merger, some theories on David Ellison being poised for a presidential run in ten years, the politician on our playl...

Playlisters, hold onto your pens — literally — because we're headed to Texas. This week Michael and Anthony break down the wildest Senate race in the country: indicted, impeached, alleged pen-thief Ken Paxton vs. viral progressive James Talarico, and why a race Republicans were supposed to win in a landslide is suddenly anyone's game. We get into the ugly primary between Talarico, Jasmine Crockett...

It's week three of the bro-cast, as Michael and Anthony discuss How To Talk About Trump TV and the latest ban on the free press by the President. What did CNN, MSNow and Politico ever do to this guy? Well, it turns out, they didn't write enough nice things about him. So they've been booted from the White House. And then surprisingly Fox News and all the other TV outlets joined them in solidarity t...

Week two with the Playlist Bros, as Michael and Anthony discuss How To Talk About the sudden AI Panic! Over the weekend, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei sounded the alarm for the need to slow down AI development and something crazy happened...all the other tech bros agreed! Well, sort of...they all agreed AI is developing way too quickly, but we must compete with China and they're not regulating themse...

On this Episode of the Happy Hour, Anna begins her highly anticipated maternity leave, handing the keys to the Playlist Ferrari--err Mini Van--over to Michael and Anthony. But fear not Playlisters, they come out of the gates swinging, with a breakdown of How To Talk About Pete Hegseth's continued and troubling purge of top Generals at the Pentagon, the latest being the incredible 4-star General Ch...

Hey Playlisters, can you guess how many districts, out of the 435 in this country, are labeled actual "toss up" races? Meaning, how many are actually competitive between a Dem and a Repub? You might want to pour yourself a strong one because the number is very...very...low. And on this episode of the Happy Hour, Michael, Anna and Anthony are talking about the Politician On Our Playlist t...

On this episode of the Happy Hour, Michael Anna and Anthony discuss How To Talk About the Data Center Backlash that has surprisingly unified Democrats and Republicans--well, 71% of them to be exact. That's right, 7 out of 10 Americans (regardless of party) say they're opposed to data centers being built in their backyard. And this issue has galvanized such strong grassroots support that now both R...

On this extended episode of the Happy Hour, we're discussing How To Talk About the recent SCOTUS ruling on mail in ballots and what Trump is trying to have the US Post Office do. Then we head south to the Politician On Our Playlist: Jared Moskowitz, who won his recent primary in a completely newly drawn district. But Jared's got some beef with his own party, particularly what he sees as an alarmin...

On this episode of the Happy Hour, Michael, Anna and Anthony discuss the politician on their playlist: Rob Bresnahan, the freshman Republican Congressman from Pennsylvania's 8th district. He ran on the platform of banning congressional stock trading and guess what he's done in the two years in office? Make over 600 stock trades !!! He claims it's all legit and done through a broker, but Paige Cogn...

On this episode of the Happy Hour, Michael, Anna and Anthony discuss How To Talk About: The wheels on the Trump Train possibly coming off, thanks to the USS Lincoln, Natalie Harp, and Kim Jung-Un. That's right, three seemingly unrelated news stories dominating the headlines that are all pointing to one alarming thing: Trump is maybe falling apart. And spoiler, it's very clear he isn't surrounding...

Playlisters, we're going back to one of the OG politicians on our playlist this week, and that's none other than Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the notorious AOC. Michael and Anna have put her on the playlist this week because she's doing something pretty remarkable and never-before-done. As a young female sitting member of Congress, she's sharing her IVF journey for all the world to see, documenting e...

On todays episode of the Happy Hour, Michael and Anna discuss how to talk about the new revised Childhood Vaccine mandates based on... ideology  which is the new science, according to RFK Jr. and his band of merry brain worms. Indeed, Trump issued a new Executive Order reducing the number of required vaccines for children to 11, down from 17, and RFK Jr. and the anti-vaxxers are none too happy. Bu...

Usually our Thursday episodes shine a light on something interesting or productive coming from a young member of Congress or candidate. Today, it's a different story. Because Rep. Max Miller (R-OH) is facing some very serious accusations of abuse against his ex-wife, Emily Moreno, and their young daughter. What makes this even more complicated, is that Emily Moreno's father, Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-...

On this episode, Anna and Michael raise their eyebrows at the pending confirmation of Todd Blanche, the current acting, soon-to-be official Attorney General of the United States. Because here's the thing, Blanche is Trump's former personal lawyer. Does this smell of corruption? It sure does. A handful of Republican senators got Blanche to agree to not pursue Trump's weaponization fund which would...

On this episode, Anna and Anthony are joined by Tram Nguyen who beat a Republican to win her seat in the state house and now is running in a competitive Democratic primary to seek a seat in Congress. She's a refugee who started her career as a legal aid attorney and thinks her background as a public servant makes her the best candidate in this primary. The seat is a safe Democratic one, held for s...

On this episode, Anna and Anthony break down the upcoming primaries and which races are worth paying attention to. From intra-party fighting to the ridiculous effects of gerrymandering, the primaries in Michigan, Missouri, Tennessee, and Virginia have some juicy and frustrating storylines. We may be living in our very own Game of Thrones, but the truth is that these races MATTER for all of us and...

On today's episode, we continue our Primary Watch series with Elizabeth Dempsey Beggs who is running in the Democratic primary in Virginia's first district. Her approach to campaigning is born out of being a military veteran and foster parent, and coming from a family that has always been dedicated to service. We chat with Elizabeth about child care and the economic implications of a broken foster...

On today's episode, we talk about the tragic loss of American service members in the past few days as fighting with Iran has taken hold again. And ask the unfortunate question... what is their sacrifice really for?? Doesn't seem like those nuclear capabilities are going anywhere just yet. But on the other side of the globe, much closer to home, Cuba seems to be the next target of Trump's 'no forei...

Primary Watch continues on the Happy Hour as Michael and Anthony sit down with Congressional Candidate Bernard Taylor, a firefighter and EMT who's running for a seat in Florida's 21st district. Bernard is a very interesting candidate because prior to running, he built a formidable social media following from making videos about being on the front lines of our healthcare system as a paramedic. He's...

On this episode of the Happy Hour, Michael and Anna discuss how to talk about the nine key upcoming Senate races in this year's midterms that are going to determine who controls the Senate. They include races in Texas and Maine, which have garnered national news--and not necessarily for all the right reasons! But they also include places like Iowa and New Hampshire, which are equally in play for D...

On this episode of the Happy Hour, Michael, Anna and Anthony talk about Haley Steves, the politician on our playlist. She's a Democratic Congresswoman in Michigan and she's running for the Senate. And now, there's been a new shake up in the race, with State Senator Mallory McMarrow dropping out of the race, leaving Haley and Dr. Abdul El-Sayed as the remaining two Democrats. Haley is the centrist...

On this episode of the Happy Hour, Michael and Anna are joined by Nico Agosta to discuss Campaign Finance Reform. Nico is the founder of Stocking The Capitol, a platform that tracks and evaluates each member of Congress' campaign financial contributions and well as personal stock trades, and awards them a letter grade based on how clean or dirty the source of their money is. If you take only grass...

Okay Playlisters, get ready for this episode...! Anna surprises Michael and Anthony with an episode topic neither were expecting: Hot or Not?!? That's right, on this episode of the happy hour, the gang play Hot Or Not for Anna's top ten Hottest Members of Congress list...and while we def rank their looks, we also rank some of their policies, so it's not all maxim covers. Maybe, SI Swimsuit Edition...

On this episode, Anna and Anthony dive into what the new recipe is to be a successful woman in Republican politics. Reps. Julia Letlow of Louisiana and Ashley Hinson of Iowa are both on the ticket to become senators of their states. We dig into why these women have 'it' and why, in Trump's America, they seem particularly well-fit for the bill of 'Republican female senator' in a party that has appa...

On today's episode, Anna and Anthony dive into the evergreen topic of JD Vance's flip flopping ways. This time, it's about his complete and necessarily reversal of opinion on the Iran war which has landed him in the hot seat of leading negotiations with the adversary for better or worse. Vance, a one time 'no foreign wars' type of guy, is now beating the drum for the administration's stance that a...