The Politics Guys

Mike talks with Henry Petroski, a Professor of Civil Engineering and History at Duke University. Dr. Petroski is a prolific scholar and public intellectual - in addition to publishing nineteen books and hundreds of articles in newspapers, magazines, and trade publications, he’s authored over seventy-five academic journal articles. His many books include: The Pencil: A History of Design and Circums...

This week, Mike and Jay start things off by talking about the politics of Hurricane Harvey, including the quality of the government's response, how well President Trump personally responded, and the role federal flood insurance plays in disasters like this. Next, it's an update on President Trump's ban on transgender troops in the military. The Guys begin with a discussion the wisdom of Secretary...

Mike and Jay weren't able to get to everything they wanted to cover on Saturday's show, so they decided to do this 'Saturday Spillover' show. In it, they talk about President Trump's escalating battle with Senate Republicans, the largest ever NFL football team national anthem protest, whether Donald Trump actually looked at the eclipse without protective glasses and why it matters, as well as answ...

This week's show starts with Mike and Jay talking about two late-breaking stories: President Trump's pardon of former Maricopa County AZ sheriff Joe Arpaio and the president's memo formalizing the ban on transgender troops which he previewed in late July on Twitter. Neither Mike nor Jay think that the pardon is a good idea, as it sends a message that law enforcement officials can ignore the rule o...

Mike talks with Saadia Madsbjerg, a Managing Director at the Rockefeller Foundation. Ms. Madsbjerg's work focuses on innovative finance solutions that change the status quo and raise private sector investment capital to further the Foundation’s goals of building greater resilience and promoting inclusive economies. In this episode, Mike and Ms. Madsbjerg discuss what the Rockefeller Foundation doe...

This week’s show starts by examining Trump’s ever changing statement on Charlottesville, VA. Trump would end up setting a more measured tone renouncing Neo-Nazi’s and other hate groups, but then on Tuesday Trump became combative with reporters and argued there are two sides to the story, specifically calling out the “alt-left.” The shift has seemingly shaken the White House as Trump goes off messa...

Mike talks with author, journalist, and environmental activist Mark Lynas. He's a frequent speaker around the world on climate change, biotechnology and nuclear power, and was climate change advisor to the President of the Maldeeves from 2009 - 2011. In 2013 he was appointed a Visiting Fellow at Cornell University’s Office of International Programs, and now works with the Cornell Alliance for Scie...

This week's show starts with the tragic events in Charlottesville, VA where there were multiple clashes between white nationalist protesters and counter-protesters, the most horrific by far being a young white man deliberately ramming his vehicle into the counter-protesters, resulting in one death and 19 injuries. President Trump condemned the violence, but made no specific mention of white nation...

In this listener mail episode, Mike and Jay tackle a bunch of questions including whether we're spending the right amount of money on the right things for national defense, how to deal with a future in which machines are doing so many of the things people currently do, news outlets and columnists we don't agree with but respect and recommend, why Americans pay so much for health care when American...

Mike and Jay start this week with an analysis of the shakeup among President Trump's top advisors. First it was Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci being fired 10 days after he was named to the position and before his first official day on the job. The man behind the firing was new White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, who many conservatives hope will bring some order and discipline to the...

Mike talks to Bill Ritter Jr., director of the Center for the New Energy Economy at Colorado State University. Prior to that he served as Governor of Colorado from 2007 to 2011. During his term, Governor Ritter established Colorado as a national and international leader in renewable energy by building a New Energy Economy that's creating thousands of new jobs and establishing hundreds of new compa...

This week Trey and Jay team up to take on a fast moving week in the world of politics! We start with the McCain and company torpedoing the so-called skinny bill in the Senate. It looks like Republicans are having a tough time passing legislation and both Trey and Jay agree that with any other Republican president the legislation would have passed. Then we turn to the profanity laced Anthony Scaram...

Lawrence Lessig on Campaign Finance Reform Mike talks with Lawrence Lessig, the Roy L. Furman Professor of Law and Leadership at Harvard Law School. Prior to his time at Harvard, Professor Lessig clerked for not one, but two of Mike's intellectual heroes, Judge Richard Posner and Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. Professor Lessig is the author of numerous books on law, commerce, culture, and i...

This week, Mike and Jay open the show with their thoughts on Senator John McCain, who this week announced that he has a particularly aggressive form of brain cancer. Despite their occasional policy differences with Senator McCain, both of the Guys agree that McCain is a genuine American hero and wish him all the best as he fights his cancer. Next, it's a look at the confusing case of the Senate he...

Mike talks with Dr. Kenneth Rogoff, Professor of Economics and Thomas D. Cabot Professor of Public Policy at Harvard University. From 2001–2003, Dr. Rogoff was Chief Economist at the International Monetary Fund. He's a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, serves on the Economic Advisory Panel of the New York Federal Reserve, and is a member of the National Academy of Sciences as well...

This week's show starts off with a look at the latest iteration of the Senate health care bill. While there are some changes from the initial version, Mike is still opposed, Jay is still 'eh' and neither of them think it has the votes to pass - at least not without seriously sweetening the pot for some GOP senators and their states. After that, it's a look at the recent revelations about Donald Tr...

Mike talks to Harvard's Gary King, author or co-author of over 150 scholarly journal articles, 20 open-source software packages, eight books, and winner of more prizes, awards, and honors than you can shake a stick at. Dr. King is a fellow in eight honorary societies, including the National Academy of Sciences. He is unquestionably one of the preeminent political scientists of the last half centur...

This week the show kicks off with Mike and Trey talking about the July 4th North Korean Missile Test. The launch is important because it marks the first intercontinental ballistic missile successfully launched by North Korea and Kim Jung Un. Both Mike and Trey agree there are no great options, but that the options that do exist should rule military intervention off the table. Next Mike and Trey ex...

Mike talks to Brooke Gladstone, co-host and managing editor of WNYC’s On The Media. Ms. Gladstone has won multiple awards for her reporting, including a National Press Club Award and two Peabody Awards. She’s also the author of two books: The Influencing Machine, a media manifesto in graphic form and, most recently, The Trouble With Reality: A Rumination on Moral Panic in Our Time, which came out...

This week's show starts off with Mike and Jay taking a look at the currently stalled Senate GOP healthcare bill. Between the bill's broad unpopularity and a devastating Congressional Budget Office score, it looks like it's going to be tough for Mitch McConnell to get this bill through his chamber without some significant changes. While Mike and Jay differ greatly on the merits of Obamacare, they b...

There was so much intense listener response to Mike's recent interview with Townhall.com columnist Kurt Schlichter, that Mike and Jay decided to devote the first part of this listener mail episode to addressing those responses and explaining why Mr. Schlicter was invited on the show. Mr. Schlichter himself appears in this episode, to explain what he meant when, in the interview, he repeatedly refe...

This week, Mike and Jay start things off by talking about health care bill unveiled by Senate Republicans. Mike sees it as a nearly trillion dollar tax cut financed by draconian cuts to Medicaid, whereas Jay believes it may help by giving states more authority and halting what he sees as unsustainable Medicaid cost growth. Then it's a look at the Georgia special election, where Democrat Jon Ossoff...

Mike talks to Kurt Schlichter, an attorney, retired Army infantry colonel, and Senior Columnist for Townhall.com. His commentary on political, military, and legal issues has been featured in numerous national outlets, such as Fox News, CNN, and the Hugh Hewitt Show. They discuss why Hillary Clinton has less respect for democratic norms than Donald Trump, scuzzy bureaucrats in the intelligence comm...

Mike and Trey start this week with the tragic shooting of Scalise and the unfortunate political communications uproar in it’s aftermath by James Hodgkinson. Both Mike and Trey worry that democracy may be losing a pillar when demonization is the new normal. After that they talk about the rollback of Obama’s Cuba opening. Trump is returning to an older policy of restrictions, although his rhetoric i...

Mike talks to Sasha Issenberg, a political journalist whose work has appeared in Slate, Washington Monthly, The Atlantic, and lots of other places. He's a contributor to Bloomberg Politics and the author of multiple books, including the widely praised "The Victory Lab: The Secret Science of Winning Campaigns" which Politico called 'Moneyball for Politics'.Support this podcast at — https://redcircl...