Richard Helppie's Common Bridge

Rich gives his take on questions and comments forwarded to him on issues of the day and opportunities of the moment. Living up to the brand promise of The Common Bridge, this episode has something for everyone to not like. You can’t get that any place else. Topics as broad as new members for NATO, recent court and crime cases, merit-based testing, Twitter & Musk, Brittney Griner, Big Tech, and...

Rich hosts legendary restaurateur, Craig Common, of the Common Grill, a five-star restaurant located in Chelsea Michigan, a tony small town in the heart of Michigan.  They talk about entrepreneurship, civic pride, and what it means to build a strong business in a small town in today's business environment. Support the show Engage the conversation on Substack at The Common Bridge!

Rich invites Professor of History, and author, Jesse Kauffman from Eastern Michigan University to the Common Bridge, to talk about The Ukraine through history, and the geopolitical impact and implications ramifications today. Support the show Engage the conversation on Substack at The Common Bridge!

Dr. Owen Perlman comes to the show to discuss how Michigan's new auto insurance law; written by the insurance lobby, passed by legislators with no public hearing, and signed by the governor, is forcing long-term care providers to shut down, leaving the catastrophically injured, and their families, who paid for coverage over the years, with no place to go.    Support the show Engage the conver...

Rich invites veteran attorney George Sinas to the Common Bridge to talk about Michigan's recent changes in its  Catastrophic Health Care law.    Support the show Engage the conversation on Substack at The Common Bridge!

Rich hosts Bill Michels, the Vice President of Operations Americas at CIPS, and authority of global supply chain issues, to talk about the current problems of getting products to market.  Michels is a return guest from nearly exactly two years ago, on March 5, on Season 1, Episode 26.  The differences in the global supply chain status from just 24 months ago and now, is startling.  Rich and Bill d...

Rich welcomes Professor Emeritus of Texas Christian University to talk about society and civilization in history and how common forces or influences can affect stability today just as it did in antiquity.  A fascinating conversation that involves reflections on Greece, Rome, Russia and the US.  Support the show Engage the conversation on Substack at The Common Bridge!

Rich touches base with Robert Greenfield in Perth, Australia to talk about how Australia, and more specifically, Western Australia, imposed draconian pandemic laws that comparatively paled in comparison with what was going on in the US.  Greenfield is a returning guest and we're excited to announce that he is now a contributor to The Common Bridge on Substack.  Greenfield's columns will...

Rich invites former Republican and congressional advisor, Justin Higgins to The Common Bridge to talk about how both parties are failing Americans and instead are more concerned with promoting themselves on leading media outlets.  Higgins talks about how he soured on the GOP and has since  joined the Democratic Party.  He, along with Geoff Browning, produce the podcast, "Politics + Media 101&...

Rich sits down with the former chairman, president, and CEO of Washington Mutual Bank, Kerry Killinger, to talk about the spike in inflation, and the economic perils that may be lurking if the proper steps aren't taken by the Fed and on Capitol Hill. Support the show Engage the conversation on Substack at The Common Bridge!

Rich brings back Southern Methodist University legal scholar, Professor Anthony Colangelo to help explain the U.S. Foreign policy in the Ukraine, if there is one, and helps to untangle the political dynamics that have put NATO and the US on the brink with Russia. Support the show Engage the conversation on Substack at The Common Bridge!

Rich invites Henry Ford Health Systems CEO, Wright Lassiter, III to The Common Bridge to talk about healthcare, hospitals, and managed care during the last chapter of the Covid 19 Pandemic.  Support the show Engage the conversation on Substack at The Common Bridge!

Rich invites legal scholar, Professor Anthony Colangelo from Southern Methodist University, to talk about how meticulously and deviously crafted Texas Senate Bill 8- , which "relates to abortion, including abortions after detection of an unborn child's heartbeat; authorizing a private civil right of action." written by Republicans, and passed 90-1 by the party.  Professor Colangelo...

Rich invites Fr. Thomas Reese, who recently authored a piece entitled "Someone is Killing Republican and Trump Voters" that explores the notion that conservative media's push to downplay  Covid-19 vaccination efficacy are causing the death of their very own constituencies.  Fr. Reese is a Jesuit priest and Senior Analyst at Religious News Service.  He also has a doctorate in politic...

Rich talks about his expansion of The Common Bridge program to now include a space on Substack in addition to his successful podcast and YouTube channel.   With this addition at  richardhelppie.substack.com, Rich is further facilitating the growth of his popular fiercely non-partisan policy discussion as more and more people move away from the predictable divisive discussion on cable and network n...

Rich invites U.S. Army veteran, and executive secretary of The A. Scott Foundation to the Common Bridge, to talk about his incredible efforts traveling around the world in search and recover of the remains of United States WWII missing in action, and prisoner of war soldiers. Since 2009, Mr. Schwimmer volunteers as part of the Florida-based archaeological team, History Flight, Inc., by taking nume...

In a special return episode, we reprise an earlier episode with Harvard professor, and biostatistician, Martin Kulldorff.  Dr. Kulldorff, along with colleagues, Dr. Sunetra Gupta, and Dr. Jay Bhattacharya authored The Great Barrington Declaration in October of 2020 during the onset of the Covid pandemic.  The Great Barrington Declaration advocated letting COVID-19 spread in lower-risk groups to pr...

Rich welcomes back University of Michigan Professor Emeritus of Internal Medicine, and Immunologist, Dr. James R. Baker, Jr., M.D., who brings words of both encouragement and warning as the world comes to what he feels is the beginning of the final throes of the Covid-19 pandemic.  Dr. Baker has been a valued guest on the Common Bridge since the beginnings of the coronavirus over a year ago, and b...

Rich brings back the Honorable Milton L. Mack, Jr. for a discussion on Mental Health, Jury Bias, and Judicial Reform.  Judge Mack has been a leading voice on how mental health issues affect over half of the court cases in the US and how this needs to be addressed in judicial reform. He has also been on the forefront of bringing cutting edge technology into the courtroom. Support the show Engage th...

Rich brings back author, journalist, and political analyst, Matt Taibbi to talk about the circling of the drain of American journalism.   What used to be news has now become affirmation and entertainment programming.  What used to be the search for truth, has now been replaced with glamour talking heads with no journalism background who ignore stories that don't fit that show's narrative...

Rich invites author Habi Zhang whose recent column in the Wall Street Journal regarding the ease of which children in the US are challenged at school compared to those in China, as caused some controversy.  Rich and Habi discuss education, cultural differences, and social differences and how perhaps China is not only taking notice, but also will take advantage. Support the show Engage the conversa...

Rich and Brian go through viewer mail and answer questions about the Infrastructure bill, congressional challenges, minimum wage, the Rittenhouse case and more. Support the show Engage the conversation on Substack at The Common Bridge!

Rich talks with attorney Wolfgang Mueller about the accidental shooting on the movie set, "Rust" as well as an analysis of the Kyle Rittenhouse trial currently taking place in Kenosha, Wisconsin and how firearms rules were or were not taken into account. Support the show Engage the conversation on Substack at The Common Bridge!

Rich welcomes back a favorite guest, Cornell Professor Rick Geddes, who talks about the history of the US Postal Service, how it was the first monopoly, and why it flourished in the last century and since the turn of this century, has floundered in the face of high costs and new technologies that threaten to make it obsolete.  Support the show Engage the conversation on Substack at The Common Brid...

Rich talks with Professor Erik Bean about his new book, Bias Is All Around You: A Handbook for Inspecting Social Media & News Stories   which is about how to authenticate any form of information for possible bias before its used and/or shared either online, or even in normal conversation. Support the show Engage the conversation on Substack at The Common Bridge!