Mackinac Center for Public Policy

The Overton Window

Have you noticed that politicians struggle to enact the things they run on? They find themselves bound by what is popular, or at least their sense of it. The narrow range of policies that they can enact is called the Overton Window. The Overton Window podcast looks at issues around the country and the people changing what is politically possible.

Author

Mackinac Center for Public Policy

Category

Government

Podcast website

www.mackinac.org

Latest episode

Jul 10, 2026

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Episodes

‘Whichever candidate wins, they’re both promising to get rid of the personal income tax’ 10.07.2026

Oran P. Smith on South Carolina’s changing attitudes about taxation

‘The more you ask the computer to do for you, the more power you need’ 26.06.2026

Dennis Talluto on the fight over data centers

‘We need to unleash American workers, not protect them’ 12.06.2026

Dave Hebert on the state of U.S. manufacturing

‘The harsher the childcare regulations, the fewer kids people have’ 29.05.2026

Warren Anderson on how Michigan’s childcare apparatus reduces fertility

‘Affordable housing: No matter what they say in public, they're terrified of it’ 15.05.2026

Alex Cartwright on the challenge of converting hotel space into housing

‘You never talk to the people who lost the lottery, right?’ 01.05.2026

Michael James Clark on a teacher’s role and the impact of Hillsdale College

‘The difference between having a good idea and having others embrace it’ 17.04.2026

Joshua Bandoch on using persuasion to get what you want in family life and politics

‘If we do meet resistance from elected officials in Detroit, we’ll fund a referendum’ 03.04.2026

Rod Lockwood on the renewed effort to make Belle Isle Detroit’s game changer

‘People bemoan that they can't trust the news’ 20.03.2026

Jonah Goldberg discusses building The Dispatch and pushing back against clickbait journalism

‘All of your data has been stolen’ 06.03.2026

Who's stealing your tax dollars? Haywood Talcove has the answer, and it's worse than you think

‘We don't wear capes’ 20.02.2026

Donald Bryson demonstrates how think tanks help shape public policy for the better

‘A country where opportunity is still possible’ 06.02.2026

Justin Callais discusses what helps states improve life outcomes

‘Everything exploded in the world of online teaching’ 23.01.2026

Barbara Oakley on the rise, retreat, and future of online learning

‘People are very bad at managing their own finances’ 09.01.2026

Chris Surprenant talks integrating financial literacy at the high school level to improve outcomes

‘I truly believe this will transform education’ 12.12.2025

Chris Waston discusses how AI can help teachers improve student outcomes

‘Film production is a stack of gigs’ 26.11.2025

Michael Brown explains how film subsidies just don’t create jobs

‘Leadership of these unions has lost their way’ 14.11.2025

Gene Hamilton discusses shifting The Overton Window back toward the interests of American workers

‘A lot of libertarianism feels like political science fiction’ 31.10.2025

Brian Doherty talks about shifting the Overton Window in politics, statecraft, and comic books

‘We are failing in public education’ 17.10.2025

Kevin Rinke discusses literacy, leadership and lessons from politics

‘These programs do not deliver what they say on the label’ 03.10.2025

Richard Morrison and John Mozena on ESG and the potential to roll back corporate welfare

‘What constitutes separation?’ 19.09.2025

Glenn Moots discusses the evolution of church and state in America

‘Everyone already agrees that tariffs are bad, and everyone agrees that we should do something about national debt’ 05.09.2025

Dave Hebert on why many voters believe economists have conned the American people

‘It’s unlikely they’ll be able to stop tidal waves of cigarettes’ 22.08.2025

Todd Nesbit and Mike LaFaive break down their data on rising taxes and cigarette smuggling

‘When there’s a threat of failure, people innovate’ 08.08.2025

Richard Vedder discusses his book on creative destruction in higher education

‘A functioning democracy requires healthy dissent’ 25.07.2025

Stephen Henderson and Nolan Finley urge Americans to embrace civil disagreement, not avoid it

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