The Politics Lab

On this week’s episode, Bill and Phil reflect on CNN’s decision to host Donald Trump for a town hall, explore nuclear strategy in dealing with Russia in Ukraine, discuss the significance of efforts by Ukraine to erase Russian culture, and close with a look at Republican Presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and ponder whether he is the future of Trumpism.

Bill and Phil offer reactions to the verdict in the E Jean Carroll case and the coronation of King Charles, then move to a speed round with the theme of “Will domestic politics lead to the end of America?”, including a discussion of the debt ceiling debate, Florida’s rejection of textbooks, and the new bipartisan consensus on economic nationalism.

On this week’s episode, Bill and Phil discuss the question of ethics reform at the Supreme Court, reflect on how China’s expansion of nuclear weapons changes global nuclear strategy, examine the case for why Trump could win the presidency, and close by pondering what to make of Trump’s curious pronunciation of Vladimir Lenin.

Bill and Phil take a deep dive into Joe Biden’s announcement that he is running for re-election, then we move to speed round where all the topics connect to poor or bad decision making, including Tucker Carlson getting fired, Russia’s recruitment effort calling for “real men,” China’s recent diplomatic blunder, Samuel Alito’s dissent in the abortion pill case, and why the My Pillow Guy is out $5 m...

On this week’s episode, Bill and Phil discuss whether the United States has quietly slipped into a proxy war with Russia, reflect on the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Accords in Northern Ireland, discuss why U.S. politicians love Ireland so much, and offer our condolences for what the Politics Lab is calling the official death of Twitter.

Bill and Phil discuss newly released documents about the Cuban Missile Crisis and what they can teach us about that historic incident as well as the current war in Ukraine, then we shift to look at the “Wacky Week of Politics” and try to figure out why Clarence Thomas is hanging out with a billionaire in Indonesia, why the Manhattan District Attorney is suing Jim Jordan, why the Tennessee legislat...

Bill and Phil reflect on the indictment of former president, Donald Trump, discuss why constitutional crises and political violence could soon be the norm in the U.S., and close with a look at the way in which the Supreme Court is increasingly shaping the nature of U.S. foreign policy.

Bill and Phil ponder arrest warrants for Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, reflect on the 20th anniversary of the Iraq war, examine Trump’s embrace of white nationalist rhetoric in his campaign videos and close with a look at our favorite food fails by politicians. 

On this week’s episode, Bill and Phil reflect on some optimistic new data about the future of democracy, discuss developments in Ukraine, and close by exploring the implication of China playing peacemaker with Iran and Saudi Arabia.

On this week’s episode, Bill and Phil explore the dark language in Trump’s CPAC speech, discuss the changing nature of war, ponder whether US politicians have fallen prey to groupthink in becoming dangerously hawkish on China, and close by rating Trump’s nicknames for Ron DeSantis.

Bill and Phil reflect on the one-year anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, discuss recent revelations that Fox News hosts and executives privately expressed disbelief about Trump’s stolen elections claims yet continued to promote those lies on the air, and close with a look at a recent Supreme Court case that could literally break the internet. 

This week, Bill and Phil debate whether UFOs really exist and why the US government keeps shooting them down, discuss a new angry and disruptive ethos within the Republican Party, and ponder some new data suggesting that all Americans, Republicans and Democrats, want a strong, anti-democratic leader. 

On this week’s episode, Bill and Phil reflect on the relevance of the State of the Union speech, discuss the politics of the spy balloon, assess the dire state of the British economy, and close with a game of “What’s More Stupid…Truth Social Edition”.

Bill and Phil reflect on the US approach to military aid to Ukraine, review some optimistic data on the global state of democracy, discuss what to make of a U.S. general predicting war between the U.S. and China in the next two years, and close by asking whether the Republicans are using “magical thinking” to assume Donald Trump will simply disappear from politics. 

Bill and Phil offer a guide to the possible forthcoming indictments of Donald Trump, evaluate Joe Biden’s foreign policy two years in, examine the ironclad bond that has developed between Keven McCarthy and Marjorie Taylor Greene, and ponder whether the Supreme Court is capable of investigating itself in the wake of the leaked opinion report.

On this week’s episode, Bill and Phil reflect on the Republicans’ new oversight committee, the prevalence of conspiracy theories on the right, Japan’s military expansion, and whether it matters that members of the Supreme Court like each other. 

On this week’s episode, Bill and Phil reflect on Kevin McCarthy’s chaotic path to House Speaker, examine last week’s attack on the Brazilian democracy, and ponder the rise and potential decline of globalization. 

This week, Bill and Phil discuss the chaos of House Republican leadership elections, arguments for the end of humanity, and this year’s banished words list.

On this week’s episode, Bill and Phil look back at the biggest stories of 2022 to see what lessons we’ve learned this year.

On this week’s episode, Bill and Phil break down the criminal referrals from the January 6th Committee, reflect on the role technology is playing in the Ukraine war as well as Zelensky’s visit to Washington, and close with an assessment of the situation in China and whether war is on the horizon.

Bill and Phil discuss Trump’s call for terminating the constitution, grapple with the idea of originalism as a method of constitutional interpretation, examine the two cases argued before the Supreme Court this week and finish with a look at the Democrat’s new primary calendar.

This week, Bill and Phil discuss the grave threat artificial intelligence may pose to human existence, examine the Covid protests in China, and hand out their world-famous “Turkey of the Year” Awards. So grab some Thanksgiving leftovers and join us in the lab!

On this week’s episode, Bill and Phil discuss the missile strikes in Poland, step back to assess the state of global democracy in light of the midterm results, and assess the future of Donald Trump and his standing within Republican Party.

Bill and Phil are joined by Dr. Suzanne Chod, Professor of Political Science at North Central College, to break down the midterm results and their implications

On this week’s episode, Bill and Phil preview the upcoming midterms, discuss political violence in the context of the attack on Paul Pelosi, break down the election results in Brazil and close with a look at Elon Musk and what his takeover of Twitter means for free speech.