The Great Purple State

In this episode, Conall and Emerson have yet another discussion about how to deal with rising fascism in the United States, and we both emphasize the importance of the simple power of naming things as they are. When we name evil and malice as such, we begin to be able to confront them. We also discuss what accountability and justice may look like in the face of the Trump administration's cont...

In what may be their best pod yet, Conall and Emerson have a deep, heartfelt discussion on navigating a perilous moment in history, and how to cultivate hope when things feel deeply bleak. Conall offers his broad perspective on the state of democracy in America, a little over one year after Trump has been back in office, alongside his analysis of the scandalous revelations and redactions of the Ep...

In a far-reaching interview with the redoubtable climate journalist Samantha Harrington of Yale Climate Connections, Conall and Emerson talk with Sam about how climate change is transforming Wisconsin and other parts of the country, how the climate crisis is being successfully fought by Native American communities, along with the Trump administration's latest threats to FEMA and how this thre...

Conall and Emerson discuss the recent Wisconsin Supreme Court election that saw Susan Crawford defeat Elon Musk’s millions in a landslide, alongside other recent events here and in America. We speak about hope, resistance, and the importance of not listening to those who would tell us that what we do doesn’t matter. 

In The Great Purple State's first-ever interview, Conall and Emerson speak with Christian Phelps, a Wisconsin state representative for Assembly District 93 (Eau Claire and the rural areas around it). We cover a wide array of topics, from the Trump administration's illegal funding freeze's impact on farmers in western Wisconsin, our upcoming state Supreme Court race and Elon Musk&apo...

In this pre-inauguration episode, Conall and Emerson discuss the presidential transition, Elon Musk's attempt to buy the American government, and how to stay calm and collected in a time of political crisis. 

Donald Trump has won the 2024 presidential election. He is set to return to Washington more empowered and vengeful than ever. Conall and Emerson give their election retrospectives and more in the Great Purple State's return episode in order to answer that vexing question: "what now?"

In this brief episode, Conall and Emerson discuss broader political trends in the state of Wisconsin and ask ourselves what the future holds for our podcast's titular state.  Op-ed Conall cites about rural American political trends: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/25/opinion/rural-voters-republican-realignment.html

In this episode, Conall and Emerson discuss the upcoming high stakes supreme court election that will determine the fate of things like Wisconsin's abortion ban, voting rights, and fair maps in the state. We explain our endorsement of Janet Protasiewicz and encourage others to vote for her!

In this final episode of our episode on Derrick Van Orden, the Republican congressional candidate for Wisconsin's Third District , Conall and Emerson make our case for why he represents a threat to Wisconsin's democracy. From his embrace of Trump's election lies to his attendance at the January 6th rally, these render him unfit to serve the people of Wisconsin's Third.  We also...

In this episode, Emerson and Conall dive into the culture wars the right has been waging against LGBTQ content, and how Derrick Van Orden's harassment of a teenage library page in Prairie du Chien proves his unfitness for office. We also discuss the extensive issues facing a district like WI-03, including agricultural monopolies, soil depletion, underfunding for rural hospitals, lack of acces...

In this first episode of a mini-series on Wisconsin's 3rd House district, Conall and Emerson dive into the political dynamics of Wisconsin's 3rd district, a mostly rural district in western and central Wisconsin, and how the political winds in the district have shifted as of late. We also spend time recapping some highlights from Derrick Van Orden, the 2020 Republican candidate for the d...

In this emergency pod, Conall and Emerson discuss recent negative events in the world - such as the highly likely overturning of Roe v Wade, the Russian attack on Ukraine, or recent shootings in Uvalde, Texas and Buffalo, New York. We discuss peoples' feelings of hopelessness and helplessness in times like these, and how we can work through these feelings while also orienting ourselves toward...

Conall's note: The reverend I quote from at the end of the podcast about trauma is Roy Peeples, pastor of Turning Point Life Church.  In this 3rd installment of a 4 part series about the 2020 presidential election in Wisconsin, Conall and Emerson dive into the tumult experienced by Kenosha after Jacob Blake was shot by a Kenosha police officer. Centering the accounts of those most impacted, w...

In this second part of a 4 part mini series on the 2020 presidential election in Wisconsin, we discuss the murder of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis and how that rippled through the country - and how it changed the presidential race.  And how Wisconsin - a state with stark racial disparities between Black and white residents - would soon be forced to once again confront racism in its own bac...

In this first episode of a 4 part series, Emerson and Conall recount the 2020 presidential election in Wisconsin. Remembering our experiences on that fateful election night back in November, we segue into a broader discussion of the dynamics of the election as they played out in Wisconsin (hopefully you like the general silliness in Emerson's masterful introduction).  We go over the contentio...

In this episode, we discuss the insurrection and attempted coup at Capitol Hill by neofascist Trump supporters witnessed on January 6, 2021. It's a date which will live in infamy, but it was not at all unforeseeable - we discuss why antifascist warnings of this type of thing were not taken seriously and what sort of consequences there needs to be for Trump and his enablers in the GOP.  Factua...

In this episode, Conall and Emerson conclude (for now) their discussion of the 2020 presidential election and the lasting damage that President Trump has done to constitutional government in the United States by lying about the election's integrity. We also examine the broader role that the Republican Party has played in facilitating these conspiracy theories, and discuss more generally the i...

In this episode, Conall and Emerson discuss the recent 2020 presidential election and the fallout from it. We discuss why former Vice President Biden was able to defeat incumbent President Trump and why Trump has been lying  about the election's integrity and launching scores of groundless lawsuits instead of accepting his electoral loss and conceding. We also discuss the greater implications...

In this episode (originally meant to be a shorter blurb, ended up being more of a standard podcast), we make the case as to why Bernie Sanders is a better choice than Joe Biden to not only defeat Donald Trump, but address the structural issues in American society that helped him rise to power. From healthcare to climate, we make the case as to why Bernie best fits the precarious moment we find our...

In this blurb (a shorter podcast on a topic of interest), Conall and Emerson discuss the presidential candidacy of mega billionaire and former NYC mayor Michael Bloomberg. We explain how we think he's trying to buy an election by saturating the airwaves and internet with hundreds of millions in ad buys, alongside doing things like *literally* paying social media influencers to post pro-Bloomb...

In this second episode to a two part mini series, Conall and Emerson discuss the role played by Customs and Border Protection and the Border Patrol in enforcing President Trump's immigration policies, and the squalid conditions in the CBP detention centers at the border that made such large headlines back in the summer. Among other things, we explore why conditions had deteriorated to such an...

In the Great Purple State's first ever blurb - a shorter and punchier podcast on a topic of interest - Conall and Emerson discuss the power to wage and declare war and how this power is divided between Congress and the President. We analyze some notable moments in the history of the struggle for war power between the legislature and the executive, such as President Abraham Lincoln's Eman...

(Note: At one point Conall refers to CBP as Customs and Border Patrol. I misspoke - it's Customs and Border Protection, of which Border Patrol is a subagency) In this episode, Conall and Emerson analyze the Trump administration's embrace of hard line, xenophobic immigration policies and the controversial agency (ICE) tasked with enforcing many of them. We also note the intellectual archi...

In this episode, Conall and Emerson do a deep dive into Trump’s 2020 re-election bid, while also analyzing the state of the 2020 Democratic primary. Conall explains the electoral strategy of Trump's 2020 campaign, and we also discuss the shifting demographics that we so often hear of - and what their political implications are. We emphasize that because of that wonderfully undemocratic instit...