The Fly

We are excited to have Donna Brazile, Yolanda Caraway, Leah Daughtry, and Minyon Moore, the authors of “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Politics" for our second episode of the season! All four of these women have had extensive experience being at the center of Democratic national politics from the time of Jesse Jackson’s unsuccessful run for the presidency in 1984 to the Bill Clinton White H...

Welcome back to Fly on the Wall, Season 5! To kick off our new season, we're thrilled to welcome Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) to the pod. Alec and Hayley talk to her about her background, foreign affairs in Cuba and the Middle East, and the future of the Republican party and women in politics. She is also a GU Politics Fellow this semester so check out her weekly discussion group if y...

It's our last episode of Season 4! It's been a great semester of guests and we have one last phenomenal one for you all. On the pod this week is Melanne Verveer, former Chief of Staff to First Lady Clinton, former Chair and Co-CEO of Vital Voices, and the First United States Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues. We discuss international relations and women's rights, so tune in for this ab...

This week we are thrilled to have Ed Goeas on the pod! He is a GU Politics Fellow this semester and the current President and C.E.O. of The Tarrance Group, one of the most respected and successful Republican survey research and strategy teams in American politics today. He is widely recognized as one of the country’s leading political strategists, and is an often sought-after consultant. He has he...

Want to learn more about the Mexican elections that took place last summer? A group of Georgetown students travelled to Mexico to gain first-hand experience of how campaigns were operated and to learn more about the political world in Mexico. It's an interesting insight into how politics works in another country so tune in!

We're happy to welcome GU Politics Fellow Suzanne Kianpour to the pod this week! She is an Emmy-nominated foreign affairs and political journalist, currently working for the BBC. With previous postings in Beirut, London and Los Angeles, her reporting has taken her around the world: from various conflict zones in the Middle East to Europe traveling with then-Secretary of State John Kerry in a front...

This week on the pod, we're diving deep into legislative politics on the Hill. Our two guests are both Hoyas: Robert Flock, the Associate Director of Advocacy for Legislative Affairs at Credit Union National Association and Colleen Nguyen, the Legislative Director for U.S. Rep. Kathleen Rice. They have a lot to say about their respective jobs and how lobbyists and Hill staffers interact so you'll...

This week on the pod we have Jaime Harrison and Amos Snead, two veterans of Capitol Hill who decided to write a bipartisan book about their experiences - called Climbing the Hill. They have fantastic advice and amazing stories of what federal legislative politics is like, so be sure to listen!

We're thrilled to have South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg on the pod this week! He is the first openly gay mayor in the U.S. and was formerly a candidate for DNC Chair. He has a lot of great knowledge to share about local government so tune in!

We are so excited to welcome Michael Tyler onto the pod! He is currently the Chief of Staff to DNC Chairman Tom Perez. Previously, he worked on numerous campaigns such as Obama '08, Michelle Nunn, Russ Feingold, and others. Tune in to hear a fascinating episode with lots of great advice for anyone interested in getting into campaigns and politics!

We're happy to welcome 4 of the authors of the book, West Wingers! In this pod, you'll hear from Gautam Raghavan, Cecilia Muñoz, Ned Price, and Brad Jenkins - all of whom were Senior White House officials.

U.S. Representative Ro Khanna represents California’s 17th district, encompassing parts of Silicon Valley. He previously served as a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce in the Obama Administration.

We're happy to welcome another GU Politics Fellow, Tim Lim, onto the pod this week! Tim previously worked on President Obama’s re-elect through Gen44 and on Hillary Clinton’s National Finance Team in 2016. He has also worked on digital strategy at the Bully Pulpit initiative and now has his own political consulting firm.

For our second episode of the season, we're happy to welcome a GU Politics Fellow, Erin Conaton. Previously, she has served as the Staff Director of House Armed Services Committee; Undersecretary of the Air Force; and Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness. She is also a Hoya!

We're excited to welcome Josh Pitcock onto the pod for the first episode of Season 4! He's been with Vice President Mike Pence since 2005, serving as a close confidante and most recently, his White House Chief of Staff. Get ready for an amazing season!

Katie Walsh Shields joins us in our last pod of the semester (cue tears). But never fear — the former RNC Chief of Staff delivers great insight into the role of data and what it's like to work for a party during a presidential election. We'll be releasing a few episodes over the summer, so be on the lookout!

Former Chief of Staff to Nancy Pelosi, Nadeam Elshami, joins us on the pod this week! Christian and Kendall talked to him about his long career on the Hill, all the way back to his start in the mailroom. You won't want to miss — Nadeam's story is fascinating.

Two former White House Social Secretaries joined us on the pod this week — Lea Berman of the Bush 43 White House and Jeremy Bernard of the Obama White House. They both shared fascinating insight on the politics of event planning and the excitement of programming on the biggest stage in the world.

Long-time Republican communications strategist, Kevin Madden, joins us on the pod this week. Justin and Alec talk to him about his time working for John Boehner on the Hill, and for both of Mitt Romney's presidential campaigns. He had a lot to say about how the work of messaging in politics has changed over the years with the increasingly rapid news cycle.

Our interview this week featured former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder. Alec and Justin talked to him about some of the biggest national cases he handled in his time in the Administration, plus what he's doing now as Chair of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee working to fight against gerrymandering.

Former Obama White House staffer, Kyle Lierman, joins us on the pod this week to take us through his journey in politics, beginning as a Field Director in '08 all the way to the White House and beyond. We talked to Kyle about some of the big initiatives he worked on during his time at the White House including "It's On Us" and the Obama team's celebrity outreach programs - plus, how he's keeping t...

This week, we chatted with Jason Kander — former Missouri Senate candidate, Let America Vote founder and host of Crooked Media's Majority 54 podcast! We discussed his early experiences in public service, as well as his more recent work leading the fight for voting rights with LAV. Plus, we asked him about his own podcast and what he hopes to accomplish through the conversations he hosts there.

We sat down with Spring '18 GU Politics Fellow and former First Lady of Virginia, Dorothy McAuliffe, to talk about her lifelong dedication to public service. From meeting presidential candidate Jimmy Carter at her home in Florida, to serving Virginia as First Lady, Dorothy has some incredible perspective and stories about what it means to jump into a career of public service.

Happy International Women's Day! Hear from Marie Harf and Rebecca Turkington — two trailblazing women who share their takes on the importance of gender equity in politics.

Clint Smith, a teacher, writer and activist, joins Christian and Justin on the pod this week to discuss his career and how he raises his voice on issues he cares about. Happy Spring Break, Hoyas!