The Ron Show

Ron caught up with Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mike Thurmond for a conversation encompassing the state of the seven-candidate race, what led him to decide to come back into the political arena after term-limiting out as Dekalb CEO, how his role in the "Cop City" squabble might relate to his governing Georgia in Trump's last two years and more. In hour two, Democratic congressi...

PLUS: How'd an innocuous Social Circle warehouse somehow improve in value by $100 million in just two years for DHS to have paid that much more for it? Prior to his visit to Rome, GA, today, Donald Trump thought it fitting to take swipes at Atlanta over his perception of the city's crime woes (his Mar A Lago hometown with a higher crime rate per capita, mind you ...) but the day actually i...

PLUS: more on the deadly ICE chase in Chatham & how one conspiracy theorist & his debunked claims seem central to the Fulton / FBI raid Ron caught up with Wendy Davis, former Rome city commissioner, Congressional candidate and co-host of Kudzu Vine , for a straightforward look at polling throughout the country in red districts, why Democrats feel more confident about Sen. Jon Ossoff’s 2026...

Lo and behold, bipartisan voices are urging Trump-led conspiracy theorists to "move on." Both former Governor Roy Barnes (D) and former Senator Saxby Chambliss (R) took to the AJC's Politically Georgia podcast to rail against relitigating the 2020 election, especially after the FBI’s seizure of Fulton County ballots. Ron followed that up, conversing with election data consultant Mich...

Hey it's Ron; earlier in the week I'd highlighted some sound legislative offerings from Republican women in the Georgia general assembly that I hoped Democrats would join in on and push across the finish line. There's another, giving pharmacists the ability to prescribe HIV prevention medication, again, penned by a Republican. This is encouraging to see. What's discouraging, of cou...

PLUS: a SE Georgia community wants nowhere near a nickel refinery, McBath brilliantly plays Pam Bondi & GA Repub infighting ratchets up In Northwest Georgia, Republican Rep. Kasey Carpenter is reviving legislation that would shield carpet manufacturers from PFAS “forever chemical” lawsuits , even though investigations have found contamination in local water and communities. Democratic Congress...

PLUS: GA GOP can't handle 'affordability,' so it resorts back to 'anti-trans' measures & the fuss over PFAS in NW Georgia The unsealing of an affidavit that was the basis for the FBI raid of Fulton County's 2020 ballots is raising fresh questions , along with derision from legal experts. . Ron spoke with State Rep. Saira Draper (HD 90) to allow for a Democratic party re...

Comedian - "liberal redneck" - Trae Crowder is coming to Atlanta later this month for four nights of side-splitting laughs, so he spent some time jawing with Ron about the current state of politics, of course, but also provide a little background on his rise to fame, how he and his wife have managed to raise their sons to be less "redneck," and most importantly, the proper pronunciation of Trae's...

Our scheduled conversation with former Dekalb CEO Mike Thurmond got postponed at the last minute, so it was a mad scramble for show fodder today, but ... not too shabby:  Ron caught up with with his "amigo," radio consultant Jose Flores to discuss the Bad Bunny-centered Super Bowl halftime show to hear why the performance resonated with Latin Americans near and far. Not enough "cult...

A Truth Social post shared by Donald Trump ignites a rare wave of Republican backlash. From Eric Erickson to Senator Tim Scott , the fallout raises new questions about accountability inside the White House. It's Friday, so of course, Ron caught up with close friend, comedian and political satirist Sterling Thrill to lighten up this mood a bit. They cover the racist Truth post, Nancy Mace's...

How does the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro tie in with Tulsi Gabbard being in Fulton County last week to oversee the FBI raiding 700 boxes of 2020 ballots? Is this about concocting a narrative that Maduro - who couldn't keep himself safe from extrication in his own country - altered the outcome of the 2020 election swing states like Georgia? Sounds far-fetched, right? Then, the...

As Atlanta prepares for the World Cup, fears are growing over a larger ICE presence and what it could mean for residents, visitors, and voter confidence. Ron digs into the data behind ICE arrests in Georgia, sharp words from federal officials, and pushback from local leaders, including Rep. Nikema Williams and Mayor Andre Dickens. Donnell Suggs, editor-in-chief of The Atlanta Voice , joins the sho...

Atlanta journalist George Chidi of The Atlanta Objective joined the show to analyze the arrest of Don Lemon during a protest at a Minneapolis church, raising serious questions about press freedom, selective enforcement, and the growing risks journalists face while doing their jobs. Chidi also explained why he and many journalists are taking new steps to protect their sources amid federal raids and...

Ron starts his Friday with a full first hour (45 minutes for you) with his pal, comedian and satirist Sterling Thrill to off-ramp from a grueling weekend of headlines. Did they find some "funny" from it all? Second half of the show is loaded, though. CBS News' Washington correspondent Wendy Gillette hopped on a call to offer the latest on a handful of headlines, from the Epstein File...

Plus, a former police instructore & Marine takes aim at Congress & MARTA looks to show off in 2026 A day after an FBI raid on Fulton County's elections office, Ron spoke with State Sen. Josh McLaurin, who explained the legal implications of federal agents seizing 2020 election records and why the move raises alarms for Georgia voters. Fulton County leaders Robb Pitts, Mo Ivory, and Mar...

Plus, insights into authoritarianism from Nora Borcea Pullen The Fulton County Elections office has been raided by the FBI. Marilyn Marks, executive director of the Coalition for Good Governance , joins Ron to distill the why and discuss what's to come. Then, Romanian-born American Nora Borcea Pullen , president of Fayette Democratic Women and a columnist for The Citizen , shares her childhood...

Georgia Senators Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock are moving to block funding for ICE and DHS, even if it risks a government shutdown. New polling shows public support for ICE sinking fast as the White House reshuffles leadership. Immigration attorney and Texas House candidate Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch explains what the data actually shows about migrants and crime, while CNN analyst Harry Enten lays ou...

A deadly ICE shooting in Minneapolis sets off a sobering conversation about the direction of the nation. Ron speaks with Mark Becker, Wisconsin radio host at The Rational Revolution . Becker, also a childhood friend of Alex Pretti, providing some background on who Pretti was, from childhood til death, and speaks to his transformation from conservative to moderate Democrat. Next comes Ron's sob...

PLUS: Sterling Thrill's Friday check-in & Matt Rinker pivots from an ATL campaign to a State House race Shortly before the show, a federal judge shut down the DOJ’s push for sensitive Georgia voter data , adding another chapter to the soap opera that is and has been unfolding under Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger's tenure. Meanwhile, Ron popped in to former state Sen. Jason Estev...

Georgia-based political & policy consultant Andrew Heaton joined for a thorough conversation on everything from campaign fundraising figures (and they say about campaign health), Democratic gubernatorial candidates starting to rough each other up a little and what to make of Brian Kemp throwing Democrats a bone with needs-based tuition funding. + Ron also looks ahead, discussing Senator Mark K...

PLUS: Meet coastal Georgia's Patti Hewitt and Cobb-based candidates Danielle Bell (GA-44) and Michael Garza (Cobb School Board) + Georgia’s election system is back under the microscope as Ron asks why the renewed push for hand-marked paper ballots doesn't include anyone on the left, plus examines (ho hum) the latest drama from the Georgia’s State Election Board. The Trumpists on that board...

Whew; a wide-ranging Ron Show from Tuesday: + an AJC bombshell: we knew all along the Mayor wanted to shelve Beltline rail on the east side, but no one had the authority to just halt work being done in preparation for it, and yet work was, indeed halted , without MARTA board authority. Matthew Rao with Beltline Rail Now joined Ron to figure out who's responsible (guilty) and who can be held ac...

On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Ron takes a hard but hopeful look at the state of civil rights in America with Alicia Thomas Searcy , former Georgia state representative, CEO of Morgan Enterprises, and founder of the Center for Strong Public Schools . The conversation explores how Dr. King’s vision holds up amid rising white nationalist rancor directly from The White House, attacks on diversity, eq...

Ron welcomes comedy icon Margaret Cho for a wide-ranging, candid conversation about her Choligarchy tour, the risks of political comedy, and why speaking out feels more urgent than ever. Cho opens up about confronting threats, free speech, and using humor as resistance in anxious times. She also shares her emotions in seeing fellow comedians (Roseanna Barr, Bill Maher, Dave Chappelle) either going...

Georgia Recorder columnist Jay Bookman digs into troubling signals from Trump (now and 2021) with a dystopian nightmare: the President sending the "National Guard or ICE agents to Fulton County, DeKalb County and other blue-trending areas, claiming massive fraud, seizing voting machines and voiding the election." I mean he's only openly ask/telling reporters that "we shouldn't even have an electio...