Red, White, and Confused

This week I had the pleasure of interviewing two of the candidates for the Clerk of the Circuit Court in Wise County -- and in this clip, I interview Chad Wilson.

This week on the show kicks off our election interviews with candidates across Southwest Virginia running for various positions in 2023. Today I chat with two candidates who are running for the Wise County Circuit Court Clerk: Robert England and Chad Wilson. Tune in as we chat about their backgrounds, what made them decide to run, and what their primary responsibilities would be if they were elect...

Join me this week as I chat with former U.S. Senator Jim Webb about his initial decision to run for the Senate, the campaign issues he focused on, what he is most proud of during his time in the Senate, what his biggest challenges were, and what he thinks about the filibuster and term limits.

Join me on this episode as we chat about two meetings that happened in Southwest Virginia on Valentine's Day: the Bristol VA City Council meeting and the Washington County Board of Supervisors. What are the next steps in terms of addressing the landfill in Bristol? I talk with Joel Kellogg, co-founder of HOPE for Bristol, about the petition that was presented to the Bristol VA City Council. You ma...

It has now been a little over a year since we covered the Bristol VA Landfill on this program for the first time.  Join me today as I chat with Samuel Weddington, Senior Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Bristol, Tennessee, Jackie Nophlin, a resident of Bristol, Virginia, and the President of BAMA and Pastor of Household of Faith Community Church, and Dr. Don Evans, Licensed Engineer...

On this week's show, I chat with Jennifer Hayes Clark (University of Houston) about what happened last week with the vote for Speaker McCarthy, and what we can expect over the next two years with this U.S. House Republican majority. We also discuss the rules package that was adopted on Monday, and George Santos (NY-3).

The holidays are here, which means getting together with family and friends.  While that might sound like a wonderful time of the year, it can also be extremely stressful.  So often those get-togethers turn to politics – and why wouldn’t they? With high inflation, multiple tragedies, and the midterm elections, it’s hard to escape talking about politics all together.  If (or rat...

The 2022 midterm election is finally in the books – and now everyone’s attention has already shifted to the 2024 presidential election.  Will Joe Biden run again, or will there be a new Democratic candidate for president?  Will DeSantis or Trump clinch the GOP nomination – or will another challenger step into the fray?  At this point, it is anyone’s guess. This week the show focuses...

Listen in this week as I and a few students from my Congress class (Trey Stidham and Kelli Parks) chat with Silas House about all things politics and Appalachia. Silas House is the nationally bestselling author of the novels-- Clay's Quilt , 2001; A Parchment of Leaves , 2003; The Coal Tattoo , 2005; Eli the Good , 2009; and Same Sun Here (co-authored with Neela Vaswani) 2012, and Southernmos...

In this episode, join me as I chat with two students from UVA Wise (Trey Stidham and Katelynn Parton) about one of their class projects this semester which required them to go out into the community and find out what issues citizens care about. Did residents in the 9th district know who was running in this congressional election? What was the most important problem facing people in the 9th? Finall...

Over the next couple weeks on "Red, White, and Confused", our attention is going to turn to rural America – specifically our little corner of Southwest Virginia, and what we know about the politics of rural America in general.  I’m joined in this episode by Dr. Kal Munis (Utah Valley University) and Dr. Nicholas Jacobs (Colby College), who are leading academic experts on the urban-rural divid...

November 8th is Election Day, and depending on where you live, you might be experiencing a very competitive election, with lots of ads and mailers coming to you about the candidates – or you might live in a non-competitive district, where you rarely see information about the candidates. This week, join me as I chat with Lia Merivaki (Mississippi State University) and Mara Suttmann-Lea (Connec...

In this current Supreme Court term, the Court will hear Moore v Harper – which is a case that surrounds the drawing of legislative districts by state Supreme Courts. Since many states, like Virginia, have moved their redistricting process out of the hands of their state legislature, the court's decision could have wide-reaching effects for the redistricting process nationwide. Join me today as I c...

Our elections and our dinner tables have become more contentious over time as many studies have shown increasing levels of partisan animosity.  Many Americans are concerned that our country is on the brink of losing its democracy, and studies have shown that there is a growing acceptance of political violence.  Can we stop this, and is beer the answer?  Join me on this episode...

On August 24, 2022, the Biden administration announced a new initiative on college student debt forgiveness, where borrowers are eligible for $10,000 in loan forgiveness, or $20,000 if they are Pell grant recipients.  On today's show, I chat with Mallory SoRelle, assistant professor of public policy at the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University, and   Serena Laws, senior lect...

How can Democrats turn around politics in rural America? Today on the show, I chat with Chloe Maxmin, who is the youngest woman ever to serve in the Maine State Senate at 28 years old. She was elected in 2020 after unseating a two-term Republican incumbent and (former) Senate minority leader. In 2018, she served in the Maine House of Representatives after becoming the first Democrat to win a rural...

Now that abortion has been returned to the states – some states, like Kansas, are having amendments show up on their ballots about abortion.  Join me as I chat with Nathaniel Birkhead (associate professor and department chair of political science, Kansas State University) about what happened in the Kansas primary on August 2nd, and whether the results are good news for the Democrats.

If you have been paying attention to politics on television or online, you might be thinking that we have a huge civics knowledge gap in America. From politicians saying things that are just not true about our government, to your friends and family repeating those claims on social media – the question we will discuss on today's show is whether we have a civics education crisis in America. If we do...

Last week there was devastating flooding in Whitewood, Virginia, with over 100 homes and hundreds of people affected. In this episode, I interview Arnold Vance, Bob Blevins, Carnus King, and Jim Edwards, who were spending their day on July 20th digging out the Baptist Bible Church.

Over the past few weeks, we have discussed different aspects about the Supreme Court – and today that thread continues with a larger discussion regarding privacy rights.  What exactly is a "right to privacy," and how can we get involved if we care a lot about privacy rights? I’m joined on this episode by John Domino.  John received his PhD from Miami University and is a professor at...

With recent Supreme Court decisions in cases like Whole Women's Health v. Jackson to Kennedy v. Bremerton School District and Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization , various political scientists and policymakers have been sounding an alarm about our democracy. To make sense out of what is going on with the Supreme Court and how their opinions relate to democracy and the rule of law, I chat...

In today's bonus episode, I chat with Brandon Moore about the state of local politics and how the parties are doing in attracting moderates and independents to their side of the political aisle. We discuss attending a local rally for women's rights, the conversation that happened there, and how the parties are working on (and ignoring) issues that are affecting people in Southwest Virginia.

The debate over abortion rights has been looming in this country for years – and last week, the U.S. Supreme Court officially reversed Roe v. Wade , declaring that the right to abortion no longer exists. To make sense of the ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization and what this decision means for the states, the legitimacy of the court, women everywhere, and the upcoming 2022 electi...

Today on "Red, White & Confused"- join me as I chat with Scott Basinger, Associate Professor of Political Science and Director of Graduate Studies at the University of Houston, about his work on the electoral consequences of political scandals, and Brandon Moore about current local scandals involving candidates & officials in Eastern TN and Southwestern VA.

With the recent school shooting at Robb Elementary School in Texas, there has been a wave of protests across the country surrounding the issue of gun control.  This week, I'm joined by two scholars who do research on public opinion surrounding gun policies. Alexandra Middlewood, Assistant Professor of Political Science at Wichita State University, and Abigail Vegter, Assistant Professor of Po...