Talking Politics With Mom

Millions of people took to the streets to oppose Trump and his fascism during the No Kings protests, and then they came out and voted for Democrats in massive numbers during the last election - in large part because they supported the fact that the Democrats were standing up to the Trump regime during the government shutdown and demanding that the ACA subsidies be extended... and then before we kn...

American farmers voted for Trump by huge margins... even though he campaigned on a tariff policy that was certain to start a trade war and hurt their exports of stuff like soy beans to China. He also promised to deport "illegal immigrants" (undocumented workers) who make up a large percentage of the farm sector's labor force. But they voted for him anyway - why? There is a narrative out there that...

Columbus Day, once an innocuous holiday (for some), has in recent years become a flash point for our never-ending culture war. Many (rightly) point out that Christopher Columbus was an evil man - and unleashed a genocide on Native Americans unparalleled in human history. While others (wrongly) want to celebrate this man as an American hero, who sailed the ocean blue in 1492, etc... and deny the at...

Pete Hegseth renamed the Department of Defense the Department of War, and has said that the Military's sole mission is "war fighting." Meanwhile, Donald Trump has mused about "the war within" and sent federal troops into even more cities across America, including Portland and Chicago, and threatened to arrest elected officials if they don't cooperate. ICE continues to t...

A little over 2 weeks ago, Charlie Kirk was murdered while speaking in front of thousands of people - and a video of the horrific act spread across the internet. The event has shaken the nation - and created an atmosphere of tension and fear. But instead of trying to ease that tension and fear, and try to unify the country - Trump, his administration and the Right Wing media have instead ratcheted...

Donald Trump has deployed federal agents and the national guard into Washington D.C. to take over the local law enforcement to supposedly combat crime in the city, despite the fact that crime rates are at historic lows. He already did something similar in Los Angeles. These actions, in combination with the massive increase to the ICE budget and activity have us a little bit worried... So we reache...

Trump Regret is real... whether it's because they had a family member deported, their business is suffering because of tariffs, they are on the brink of losing their healthcare, or they are mad that the Epstein Files haven't been released - former Donald Trump supporters are regretting their vote. And some are even going online and confessing their transgression, and trying to make amends...

There IS a threat to women and girls sports in America, but it's not coming from trans people. It turns out that the real threat is the anti-trans movement itself. That, and of course, money. Participation in youth sports in particular is increasingly becoming a privilege afforded only to the wealthy. And the nexus between money and bigotry is harming women and girl's sports far more than...

My mom loved sports growing up, in fact we was very good at them. But there were very few opportunities for elite women's athletes when she grew up. She spent a good portion of her life trying to help create a world that would create more opportunities for women in sports. So when the trans athletes in women's sports debate popped up - she came to that issue with a lot of strong emotions s...

In the very first episode of this show - we examined the source of my mom's conservative ideology - which largely came from red-scare propaganda about how secret communists were plotting to destroy America... But it was clear in that discussion that my mom had also internalized many of the lies sold to her about race. Since that first episode - my mom has reflected on those beliefs, and she has as...

Polls show that most people believe that DEI programs benefit Black people the most. But the truth is that DEI programs are designed to provide opportunities for a wide array of under-served communities. And it turns out that those under-served communities actually include a whole lot of White people - including our new Vice President: JD Vance. Check out our Patreon

The concept of DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) has become an all-purpose scapegoat for Republicans in recent years - responsible for everything from the LA fires to the recent plane crash in Washington DC. In this episode, Mom and I discuss the origins of how this concept became the default reactionary bugaboo, and how it is designed to distract from Trump's effort to dismantle the administ...

In 2008, 62% of young men under 30 voted for Obama. In 2024, over 50% of them voted for Trump. What the hell is going on? Part of the answer might be the influence of something called "The Manosphere" a media ecosystem that includes and caters to incels, pick-up artists, men's rights activists, and others who believe that feminism is the primary cause of all of our problems. But if y...

Donald Trump ran his 2024 Presidential Campaign, essentially, on a single issue: Immigration. He said that "illegal immigrants" were bringing crime, taking your jobs, and poisoning the blood of the nation. And the Democrats did not have an effective counter-narrative. Now, with the right-wing civil war about immigration taking place between the tech billionaires like Elon Musk and Vivek...

A half century ago during Christmas time a young marine in Vietnam wrote to my mom. This complete stranger asked for her help in making Christmas a little brighter and less lonely for his company of marines. What happened next will make you believe in the goodness of the human heart. The acts of kindness that followed from that simple letter have rippled out across five decades like a beacon of li...

So... the bad thing happened... Donald Trump won and Kamala Harris lost the Presidential election. How did this happen? WHY did this happen? Will and Mom examine those questions and look to history for some possible explanations; most notably the failed Presidential Campaign of Hubert Humphrey. And then they explore how we process the fact that millions of our fellow Americans voted for an obvious...

My formerly conservative boomer mom explains why Donald Trump MUST lose this election - and Kamala Harris MUST win. Trump is using the same fear tactics that were used by people like Joseph McCarthy in the 1950s - warning about "the enemy from within" in order to divide Americans and gain power. But who is the REAL "enemy from within"? Mom implores conservatives to put their country before party -...

My mom recalls her memories of the 1950s - a complicated era filled with contradictions. It was a time of immense American prosperity in the wake of worldwide devastation following World War 2. It was a time when the government invested in the American people... well SOME of the people. Because the 1950s was also a time with a regimented social and economic hierarchy - particularly when it came to...

Will and Mom discuss how the far-right stoked the fear of a communist takeover of America in the 1950s and 1960s to support their largely unpopular agenda of economic and imperialist policies designed to benefit the ultra-rich and large corporations. Stoking fear to benefit the wealthy... hmmm, that sounds familiar... Will and Mom also discuss how both political parties have screwed over the Ameri...

In the debut episode of Talking Politics With Mom - Some More News Director, Will Gordh (a progressive millennial) talks to his mom (a formerly conservative boomer) about what drew her to right-wing ideology when she was younger, and why she ultimately decided to abandon that philosophy - which includes a level of personal and intellectual commitment that is truly rare. Spoiler Alert: She took a j...