The PoliticsGirl Podcast

The amount of criminal activity, criminally adjacent behavior, unconstitutional oversteps, and just piss poor leadership that happened over the weekend is astonishing. We’re 14 days into this presidency and taking in information is drinking from a firehose - overwhelming and it hurts - but that’s the point. The Trump Administration is using a deliberate tactic to overwhelm the public with chaos an...

Well, the Dictator has arrived and it’s self reliance time. We need to grow partner groups, our own media ecosystems, and thicker skin. As guest Andrea Chalupa, expert on dictatorships and authoritarian leaders says, we can grieve what happened to our country and that our institutions didn’t save us, but we can’t cling to the status quo or disconnect from society alone and depressed. There is a fu...

Well. It happened. He’s been inaugurated. He’s pardoned the insurrectionists. He’s starting his round ups and Elon gave, not one but two, stiff arm salutes. Now what? The mainstream media is a joke. They’re already telling us we didn’t see Elon do what he did. Now, more than ever, we need to support those doing independent work and bringing the truth when it’s harder and harder to find. Help peopl...

America is about to change and we need to counter what’s coming with philosophy not politics. We have to lead with our values, not our party. We can’t give into fear or lose hope, but must reengage in the shared principles of freedom, justice and independence. Opinions are not facts. Information is not knowledge. MAGA has created their own reality dictated from the top down. The opposition needs t...

We’re at the start of a new year, a new quarter century, and a new administration and a lot is up in the air, so I thought I’d take this opportunity to chat with one of the smartest people I know, about where she thinks America stands in the course of history and what to expect next. The mainstream media has let us down, so now more than ever we need to support those doing independent work. The ex...

Our country is about to go into a crisis. The question is what are we going to do about it? Will we change with the pain, or will we hold firm to what we know of ourselves and find a stronger, better version of our country in the process? The future we’re going into will not be normal so I’m not going to wish you a Happy New Year. I’m going to wish you strength and courage and community, because t...

“In the days when darkness seems to be winning, don’t lose your spark." The future might be filled with bad news, but as guest John Pavlovitz says, it will be less traumatizing if we stay connected to our source - whether that’s our faith, our family, our friends, or our morality. We can’t, as John says, “sacrifice ourselves on the altar of our empathy.” The reasons we’re feeling disheartened are...

Instead of having a meltdown and getting mired in every potential crisis coming from the next administration, we have to see the big picture while taking action at the local level. Ask yourself: What is real right now, and what can we do about it? That while Trump and his henchmen can do vast amounts of damage to our institutions, our way of life, and our rule of law - damage we must be on guard f...

The Trump administration’s goal is going to be to divide and conquer. To isolate us from each other and break our resolve and spirit, but Indivisible believes, that if we stand together, we can protect our families, our neighbors, and our democracy. That our shared future depends on every day Americans choosing to fight back. To treat an attack on one of us as an attack on all of us, and they’ve w...

Expert in Soviet and Ukrainian history, and author of Dictatorship: It’s Easier Than You Think, Andrea Chalupa joins us to discuss what’s next for America. I’ll warn you, this episode is a lot, but if knowledge is power, stick with it and I believe you’ll find Andrea’s perspective not only powerful but very inspiring. It’s time to inoculate ourselves from despair and fear. That fear is contagious,...

This holiday season I’m going to tell you a story. A personal story of a dark time where it appeared all was lost, and the lessons learned from living through it. In these trying times, I offer a perspective that, I hope, might make you feel just a little bit better. The mainstream media has let us down, so we need to support those doing independent work. The extremists have been able to shape the...

As today’s guest, Robert Reich reminds us, wishful thinking won’t save us from what’s coming, but neither should we bury ourselves in cynicism. The truth is, the bottom 90% of the country have been ignored for 50 years and while Trump might have spoken to them and swayed them, he will not help them. So this is not the time to give up. This is the time to use every lever of power to stop the worst...

I still can’t exactly explain what happened with the 2024 election, but it does appear as if Trump and his dangerous, extremist allies have won. I’m a big believer in our institutions, but I also spent the past week trying to figure out how they could have all failed us so badly. I understand the sentiment to want to disengage. To find someone to blame. To point fingers and to close the door on wo...

Well, it’s here: Election Day. After this incredibly trying 10 years, and completely bananas election season, we made it. This is a BIG day and people are busy, so this is an abridged episode to tell you what to look for and expect today, and in the days and weeks to come. The most important thing you can do right now is get people to the polls, not spread misinformation, and trust the system is r...

After that insane rally at MSG we know we have to pull out every stop to make sure Donald Trump loses on November 5th. Talk to your friends, talk to your family. Despite the fact the country is drowning in negativity and lies, the truth is, the Democrats are winning. The majority of voters don’t want what MAGA, Trump and the Project 2025 Mandate for Leadership are offering but we have to make sure...

Donald Trump is nothing if not lucky. Today we’re joined by the authors of the New York Times Bestselling Book Lucky Loser: How Donald Trump Squandered his Father’s Fortune and Created the Illusion of Success, who took four decades of financial reporting and a century’s worth of research and interviews to paint a picture of a life of the world’s luckiest, but dare I say it, con artist. The questio...

As today’s guest, Timothy Snyder argues, “Freedom is the great American commitment” but we’ve lost sight of what it means. In his new book, ‘On Freedom’, the New York Times best selling author and Yale historian, digs into the concept of freedom, what it is, how it’s been misunderstood, and why upholding it our only chance for survival. “We’ll see how it goes” is not a plan. We have to DO somethin...

Leigh guest reads in episode 4: part 2 of a fantastic and informative, limited series "Trump's Project 2025: Up Close and Personal". Be sure to check out all episodes wherever you get your pods! xo- PG ---- This episode tells the fictional story of a middle school that opens its doors to unvaccinated students after a possible second -term President Trump eliminates Federal funding for schools with...

Our nation sits at crossroad. We either address our problems within our democracy and rule of law, or fail to address them by abandoning the very things that make us special in pursuit of something new. The 2024 presidential ticket offers us two very different versions of America - what it is and who it’s for - and on November 5th we choose one. Join me and the brilliant author Thom Hartman as we...

Today we’re talking with the CEO of Vet VoiceJanessa Goldbeck about the film War Game a documentary based on a real life wargame set on January 6, 2025 that imagines a nationwide insurrection, in whichmembers of the US military choose to defect in order to support the losing presidential candidate and what the current president and his team, would do. I’m talking about this film because the scenar...

According to the brilliant Marc Elias, founder of Democracy Docket and now senior member of the Harris/Walz legal team, what the Republicans are planning for the 2024 election is not just unprecedented, but outrageous. There is a reason they’re not campaigning or trying to get out the vote. There’s a reason Trump is telling people he “doesn’t need votes”. It’s because their plan isn’t to win the e...

My first book ‘A Return to Common Sense: How to Fix America Before We Really Blow’ It drops today, so I’ve invited my friend, and beloved American actor and director, Jason Alexander to join us to guest host the episode. We talk, not only about getting us out of this mess we’re in, but how we can build the nation we tell the world we are. At the end of the day you can’t fix something you don’t und...

The women of this nation hold the spending AND voting power so why are we so constantly marginalized? Tired of being overlooked, used as pawns, and ready to be taken seriously, we talk to Erin Erenberg, co-founder and CEO of the Chamber of Mothers, about the growing collective movement to advance maternal rights in America. The truth of the matter is: we’re hardly a country that should be forcing...

Happy Labor Day!!! Department of Labor’s Acting Secretary Julie Su reminds us that the Biden Administration has been focused on building what they call the “high road to the American dream”. That looking out for the American worker is not just about having enough work, it’s about those workers being paid properly, treated with respect, and at the end of the day, giving our citizens what President...

Coming right off the Democratic Convention, brilliant historian and writer Heather Cox Richardson gives her insights on where we are with the two parties and the upcoming election. She reminds us that democracy is not a given, and though we have to fight for it, we should find joy in that fight. That the Republicans are used to controlling the narrative, and holding the mantle of patriotic America...