The Fly

The Flies sat down with former Congressman Charles Djou (HI-01) this week for an interview jam-packed with insights from his extensive career in public service. In addition to serving as a Honolulu City Councilmember (2003-2010) and State Representative (2000-2002), the Congressman was a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve. Listen now for the inside scoop into everything from his military...

GU Politics Fellow Sara Sendek brings the Fly inside the George Bush White House, shares how she developed the public affairs strategy for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and more in this interview. Listen in for insights on combating misinformation and the duty of federal government communicators to the American people from Sara's experience working under the Trump an...

How are young conservatives shaping the future of the Republican Party? What issues matter to Asian American voters? This week, we got answers to these questions and more from GOP political expert Adi Sathi, who is Chief of Staff to the Young Republican National Foundation, former GOP Director of APA Engagement, and former Vice Chair of the Michigan GOP.

Spring GU Politics Fellow Anatole Jenkins discusses political organization and mobilization in this week’s episode. Learn about his experience organizing for Barack Obama, Kamala Harris, and his most recent experience serving as National Director of States Organizing for Joe Biden. Anatole shares his analysis of key points in the 2020 Democratic Primary, how he chooses strong candidates, and more...

This week, the Flies spoke with seven Hoyas across the country who spent the fall semester working on political campaigns. From state house to presidential races, from Arizona to South Carolina, these Georgetown students took us behind the scenes of the 2020 election and shared their favorite stories from the campaign trail.

For our final interview of Season 8, the Flies Zoomed in with Fall 2020 GU Politics Fellow, Lis Smith. Lis Smith is a veteran on the campaign trail, having worked on over 20 campaigns, including Bill de Blasio’s 2013 mayoral campaign, President Barack Obama’s second presidential campaign, Governor Andrew Cuomo’s 2018 re-election campaign, and, most recently, Pete Buttigieg’s presidential primary c...

This week, the Flies interviewed Jessica Taylor, Senate and Governors Editor for the Cook Political Report. Previously, she was a political reporter for National Public Radio, where she covered elections and breaking news, ranging from the White House to Congress. Her coverage of campaigns and elections has also appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal and numer...

The Flies are excited to welcome Sarah Rogers to the podcast this week! This episode was recorded on Thursday, November 5, while election results are still being tabulated. Sarah Rogers currently works as Vice President of Navigators Global LLC, a Republican government relations and strategic communications firm in Washington, DC. Previously, Sarah has also worked as Director of Federal Affairs fo...

Our guest this week is Mary Katharine Ham, a former local news journalist turned Presidential debate moderator. MK has done almost everything in the world of journalism. She is currently a CNN correspondent and a Fall 2020 Fellow with our very own Georgetown Institute of Politics and Public Service.

This week, two of our newest Flies sat down with Washington State Commissioner of Public Lands, Hilary Franz. Commissioner Franz has over two decades of experience in environmental law and public policy. In 2016 she was elected to run the Washington State Department of Natural Resources. As Commissioner of the state’s largest wildfire fight force, she has been a key player in responding to the sev...

We're welcoming Fall 2020 Fellow Errin Haines to the podcast this week! Since starting at the Atlanta Daily World, Haines has written for major publications such as the LA Times, the Washington Post, and the Associated Press. Currently, she is Editor-at-Large for The 19th, a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom reporting on gender, politics, and policy and is also an MSNBC Contributor.

This week, we interviewed Fall GU Politics Fellow Kevin Hassett. He is a former Chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisors under the Trump Administration and currently serves as a Senior Advisor to the President. Prior to the White House, Hassett served as an economic advisor on the McCain, Bush, and Romney presidential campaigns, as well as a scholar at the American Enterprise Insti...

The Flies are bringing you an interview with Mia Love, a former 2-term U.S. Representative of the 4th Congressional District of Utah, where she was the first black Republican woman elected to Congress. Prior to her time in Congress, Rep. Love served on the city council and was elected mayor in her hometown of Saratoga Springs, Utah. She is currently a CNN correspondent and a Fall 2020 Fellow with...

Welcome back to a new season of Fly on the Wall! We're kicking off Season 8 by bringing you an interview with Faiz Shakir, campaign manager for Senator Bernie Sanders' 2020 presidential campaign. Prior to the campaign trail, Shakir was a national political director at the ACLU, and previously a senior advisor to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Make su...

This week, we interviewed Sam Cornale, the Deputy CEO of the DNC. Cornale has extensive experience working on the Obama campaigns for President and within the Obama Administration. After leaving the Obama administration, he served as the campaign manager for Tom Perez’s successful run for DNC chair.

This week, the Flies are excited to bring you an interview with Alvin Brown, former mayor of Jacksonville, FL, the largest city by land area and 12th largest city by population in the continental United States. Mayor Brown has extensive experience connecting the private and public sectors and was a GU Politics Fellow in Spring 2016.

Campaign experts Patti Solis Doyle and Karen Finney are joining the Flies this week for an exciting discussion on what the Biden campaign is looking for in a VP, the role of the VP candidate on the campaign trail, and their thoughts on what Joe Biden’s decision may be. Patti Solis Doyle served as chief of staff to Joe Biden during the 2008 vice-presidential campaign, and throughout her career has...

In the next installment of our Summer 2020 Season, the Flies interview Drew Rodriguez, a Regional Organizing Director for Joe Biden for President. Since graduating from Georgetown, Rodriguez has worked on the campaign trail across the country, including in NV, SC, and FL.

This week, the Flies are bringing you an interview with Amber Athey, the Washington Editor for Spectator USA, and host of the “Unfit to Print” podcast by the Daily Caller, where she was formerly White House Correspondent. Amber is a Hoya and Tony Blankley Fellow at the Steamboat Institute.

Welcome back to FOTW! To kick off our first-ever summer season, we’re excited today to bring you a conversation with Michelle Jaconi, an executive producer at the Washington Post, former Hoya, and member of GU Politics’ advisory board. At the Post, she runs the creative video team, where she has spearheaded the Post’s success on Tik Tok and other programming. Previously, Jaconi worked at CNN and w...

Fly on the Wall is excited to bring you a special BONUS EPISODE interviewing Congressman Will Hurd (R-TX-23). Congressman Hurd discusses his years in public service including time as a CIA Intelligence Officer and as an elected official representing the southwestern border region of Texas since 2015.

For our Season 7 finale, we're bringing you an interview with Congressman Joe Crowley (D-NY)! Congressman Crowley represented New York's 14th congressional district for nearly 20 years, throughout which he was on the frontline of Democratic leadership and numerous legislative efforts. He was a Spring 2020 GU Politics Fellow and served in the New York State Assembly before being elected to Congress...

The Flies are back this week bringing you an interview with Robert Traynham, the Head of Public Affairs for Facebook in Washington, DC. Robert is a GU Politics Spring 2020 Fellow with extensive experience in communications as a staffer on the Hill, as a TV host for MSNBC, and in the private sector.

This week, the Flies are excited to bring you an interview with Jess Morales Rocketto, the Executive Director of Care in Action and Political Director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance. Jess's career has spanned from community organizing, activism, to work on the presidential campaigns for Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

Tune in for FOTW's first virtual interview with Mike Ricci, Communications Director for Maryland Governor Larry Hogan. Ricci shares his experience communicating the response to the current COVID-19 crisis and previously served on the staff to former House Speakers Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and John Boehner (R-Ohio).