The Politics Guys

Trey & Ken open the show with a discussion of Frank James arrest. Big topics include the nature of his arrest, discussion of crime trends in the U.S., the role of weapons in crime trends, and the political ramification of those trends. That's followed by Oklahoma's newly passed abortion ban. The ban, which has no exceptions, was followed by Kentucky's. Trey & Ken discuss the future of priv...

Trey talks with Larry Jacobs, founder and director of the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance (CSPG) and holder of the Walter F. and Joan Mondale Chair for Political Studies at the University of Minnesota's Humphrey School of Public Affairs on his latest book Democracy Under Fire: Donald Trump and the Breaking of American History. Topics Trey & Larry discuss include: – The history...

Mike & Jay open the show with a discussion of the Supreme Court confirmation vote for Ketanji Brown Jackson. They focus on Mitt Romney’s flip from “no” vote on Jackson’s confirmation to the DC Circuit last summer to his “yes” vote on Supreme Court confirmation. Jay agrees with Romney’s assessment of Jackson and feels that the default should be to approve qualified nominees of the president, bu...

Mike talks with Chris Brady, a New York Times bestselling author, speaker, humorist, and businessman. His latest book is The Bitcoin Bride: A Rascal Money Story. Topics Mike & Chris discuss include: - what cryptocurrency is and how it works - Bitcoin as “freedom money” - the inevitability of traditional currency losing value - “Gold Bugs” and cryptocurrency - President Biden’s recent Executive...

Mike & Jay open the show with a discussion of multiple developments concerning the events of January 6th, including Ginni Thomas’s text messages and Justice Thomas’s refusal to recuse, White House communication records on that date, and whether Donald Trump should be investigated and potentially prosecuted for his role in the events of that day. After that they turn to Russia’s war against Ukr...

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | PocketCasts | Overcast | Stitcher | RSS Trey and Mike host this week's show and start with the confirmation hearings for Ketanji Brown Jackson. Topics include the importance of position taking over substantive conversations, the questions of sentencing in child pornography cases and judicial philosophy. Next the pair take on the newest revelations on Hunter Biden and hi...

Mike & Trey talk with Isaac Saul, a political reporter who shares our belief that information bubbles are a big problem. Instead of just bemoaning this and encouraging people to try and somehow break out of their partisan bubbles, Isaac decided to do something about it – he founded Tangle. If you're a fan of The Politics Guys, you'll really appreciate Isaac's work. Topics we cover include: med...

Mike & Jay open the show with a look at the latest in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, now in its third week. They discuss whether the United States should be doing more to help Ukraine, some military realities, whether or not Putin is a war criminal, revoking Russia’s Most Favored Nation trade status, what to expect of China, and a lot more. Following that is a discussion of two Federal Reserve...

Trey talks with scholar Justin Gest (@_JustinGest), an associate professor from George Mason Universty's Schar School of Policy and Government, and author of the upcoming book Majority Minority. Things Trey & Gest get into include: The future of majority minority politics in the United States Understanding nationalism The intersection of ethnicity, nationalism, and politics Trinidad and Tobago...

Mike & Jay open with a look at the flurry of activity surrounding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine - the death toll and human cost, Russia’s cratering economy, energy policy ramifications, and much more. They also take a look at President Biden’s new Executive Order on cryptocurrencies, which some believe Russia may be using to at least partially evade sanctions. After that it’s two verified sight...

Mike talks with Andrew Rice, a contributing editor at New York magazine, former staff writer at The Hill, and the author of the recently published book The Year That Broke America: An Immigration Crisis, a Terrorist Conspiracy, the Summer of Survivor, a Ridiculous Fake Billionaire, a Fight for Florida, and the 537 Votes That Changed Everything, which is the topic of their discussion. Things Mike &...

This week Trey and Ken host the show and start by bringing updates on Russia and Ken's perspective to the ongoing crisis. Specifically the pair discuss the recent attack on a nuclear power plant and the Congressional resolution condemning Russia.  Next the pair talk about client, attorney privilege as it may or may not apply to John Eastman, which apparently opens Trump to the possibility of crimi...

Mike & Jay are joined by Trey on this episode of the podcast, which starts off with an extended discussion of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The guys get into likely outcomes, Putin’s strategic savvy, the ineffectiveness of sanctions, democratic vs authoritarian regimes, prospects for energy policy in Europe, the GOP split in reactions to Putin and Russia, how Russia’s actions might affect Chin...

Mike talks with Bryan Caplan, Professor of Economics at George Mason University and a prolific and always interesting blogger for Econlog. He's the author of multiple books, three of which Bryan and Mike have discussed on previous episodes: The Myth of the Rational Voter (interview), The Case Against Education (interview), and Open Borders (interview). Today they discuss Bryan’s latest book Labor...

Mike & Jay kick off the show with a look at what seems to be the “it’s only a matter of time” Russian invasion of Ukraine. Jay thinks that the Biden administration’s approach has been very good to this point, while Mike attempts to present the non-interventionist, “America First” case for staying out of Russia’s (and possibly China’s) spheres of influence. Then it’s on to two lawsuits - the fi...

In this episode Emily Smith of Oklahoma Christian University joins Ken & Trey. The trio begin by looking at the Supreme Court's recent decision to allow Alabama redistricting maps to remain, despite a potential conflict with the Voting Rights Act.  Following this the trio talk Trump and his 15 boxes of documents retrieved by the National Archives and Records Administration. Trey focuses on the...

Mike & Jay start off this week’s episode with a look at the latest developments in the no longer “immanent” Russian invasion of Ukraine (at least not according to the White House). That’s followed by discussion of Donald Trump’s comments on the Electoral Count Act, pardons for those involved in the January 6th Capitol rioting, and the Republican National Committee’s censure of Republican House...

Mike talks with Glenn Hubbard, the Russell L. Carson Professor of Finance and Economics at the Columbia Business School. Professor Hubbard is the author of a number of highly regarded economics texts and he's also served as the chairman of the US Council of Economic Advisers from 2001 through 2003. His latest book, and the topic of this conversation, is The Wall and the Bridge: Fear and Opportunit...

This week it’s a special three-person episode: Mike, Jay, and Ken. They kick things off by discussing the retirement of Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, including his role on the Court, potential replacements, and the upcoming confirmation battle. They stick with the Supreme Court in their discussion of two big affirmative action cases the Court has agreed to hear, both concerning alleged dis...

This week Trey and Ken host the show. The first story is discussing the filibuster and the Democrats inability to change it for voting rights. Trey gives a brief history of the filibuster. Ken argues it has been weaponized since the 1990s. Trey suggests weaponization depends on the policy outcome desired. Next, they turn to the Supreme Court's ruling on the January 6 Committee's request for docume...

This week Mike, Jay and Trey all host the show. Mike pays tribute to his late mother and this episode is dedicated to her memory. The first story is vaccine mandates. The trio parse out the questions of legality from policy. All three hosts are in large agreement on legality, but there are some differences in the best policy moving forward. Next, they turn to Biden's speech in Georgia and his acco...

Mike & Jay start the first Politics Guys show of 2022 by looking back at the events of January 6th, 2021. They discuss how they viewed the Capitol riot then, how they see it now, the value of the House January 6th Commission, and how much of a hold Donald Trump and “The Big Lie” has on the Republican Party. January 6th happened in large part because of Congress’ role in certifying presidential...

In this final episode of 2021 Trey and Ken look back to the biggest moments of 2021 in order to make some predictions about the big issues of 2022. They cover the party system, the durability of democracy, economic policy with a focus on inflation and spending, midterm predictions, the pandemic, and a bit of thought on the 2024 presidential election. The Politics Guys on Facebook | Twitter Listen...

This week Trey is joined by Ken and they start the show discussing Mark Meadows and the House's criminal contempt vote. The conversation focuses on the legal nature of executive privilege, the nature of 5th Amendment protections against self-incrimination, and the likelihood of the proceedings simply making it to the next election. After that the pair move on to discuss the wider information drop...

After a tribute (of sorts) to Bob Dole, Mike comes in hot on the Supreme Court’s decision on the Texas abortion case. That surprises Jay, who feels it’s a victory (of sorts) for abortion providers in Texas. Mike agrees with Chief Justice Roberts who, in his partial dissent, argues that “it is the role of the Supreme Court in our constitutional system that is at stake.” Next, they discuss the debt...