The Politics Lab

This week, Bill and Phil break down the political fallout from the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, recent allegations that the Trump campaign is discussing contingency plans for bypassing election results, and President Trump’s call for ‘Patriotic Education.’

We break down recent developments in international politics, including: the U.N. turning 75; Trump calling for the assassination of the Syrian president; protests in Belarus & more Putin poisonings; the agreements between Israel, the U.A.E and Bahrain; and why the United States has put sanctions on the top prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.

Bill and Phil reflect on on the fallout from Trump’s comments on the military, discuss the impact of COVID on international politics, and contemplate what we might see on the ground if the presidential election is decided by just a couple votes in the electoral college.

Bill and Phil devote the entire episode to dissecting Trump’s efforts this week to escalate tensions and even violence across America; focusing on how Trump’s behavior fits within the scholarly research on authoritarianism, the role of trust and social capital in a democracy, the politicization of the police and Trump’s attack on truth and objectivity.

Bill and Phil take a deep dive into this week’s Republican National Convention, the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and the arrest of Steve Bannon on a 35 million dollar yacht.

Bill and Phil are joined by Jake Lahut, a politics reporter for Business Insider, to break down all aspects of the Democratic National Convention, the release of the Senate Intelligence Committee’s report on Russian interference in the 2016 election, and President Trump’s inevitable embrace of the QAnon conspiracy theory.

Bill and Phil are joined by Dr Suzanne Chod to discuss the selection of Kamala Harris as Joe Biden’s VP, how Trump has successfully bent US governmental institutions to his will, and our thoughts on adding Donald Trump to Mount Rushmore.

Bill and Phil discuss America’s seemingly unique inability to address COVID, President Trump’s threat to delay the election over concerns with voting by mail, and which is likely to be more damaging to Trump’s re-election chances—alienating suburban women by calling them “housewives” or upsetting young people by threatening to ban TikTok?

Bill and Phil discuss Bill Barr and the tactics deployed by the Federal Government in Portland, the deteriorating relationship between the United States and China, and why the president retweeted a video of a doctor who has previously claimed that fibroid and cysts are caused by having sex with demons in dreams and that alien DNA is being used in medical treatment.

Legal expert Professor Tom Cavenagh joins Bill and Phil to discuss some recent developments from the Supreme Court, including the Trump tax return cases, the issue of “faithless electors” in the Electoral College, and why the Court sided with a group of goats and their right to hang out on the roof of a Wisconsin restaurant.

Bill and Phil are joined by Dr. Suzanne Chod to discuss a potential Democratic tsunami this November, if Democrats should think big and look to flip states like Texas, what we should make of President Trump’s commutation of Roger Stone, and how impressed we were with Trump’s claim that he “aced” his cognitive test.

Will Trump's culture war strategy work? Is there such a thing as "far-left fascism"? Are Republicans better at making ads than Democrats? Is D.C. going to be our 51st state? And is it possible that Trump didn't ace the SAT? Bill and Phil wrestle with all of this in episode 3.

Bill and Phil discuss the strangeness of the political week we've just lived through, new allegations about Russian bounties on American troops, and the implications of some really bad poll numbers for Donald Trump.

Bill and Phil discuss the state of democracy in America and some of the more concerning warning signs that political scientists see around us. In the second half, they investigate why some people are willing to abandon their principles to remain close to power, analyze the logic behind the Supreme Court’s recent LGBTQ decision, and debate whether John Bolton is a villain, a hero, or something else...

Welcome to the Politics Lab. Bill and Phil lay out their vision for the new podcast and then spend some time talking about presidential greatness and what it tells us about Trump and his legacy.