Tim Talks Politics

This past semester, I had the opportunity to explore the Arab-Israeli conflict, its history and politics, with a class of undergraduate students. During that class, I brought in my good friend, and former TTP podcast guest, Judith Rood to discuss her personal background and its connection to the Arab-Israeli conflict and to explore some of the more complex elements that animate Israeli-Palestinian...

October 7, 2023 marked a fresh round of warfare between Israel and Hamas, the terrorist organization governing the Gaza Strip. I had the opportunity to explore the broader Arab-Israeli conflict, its history and politics, with a class of undergraduate students this last semester. During that class, I brought in my good friend, and former TTP podcast guest, Judith Rood to discuss her personal backgr...

One of the major demographic trends pollsters and politicos have been watching for the past few decades is the growing electoral clout of Hispanic voters in America. Traditionally, this trend line has been read as translating into an almost one for one electoral advantage for Democrats. Then Donald Trump happened... and a pandemic... and a President-Biden induced inflationary period... and an incr...

In this episode, I’m going evaluate several questions related to the Dobbs ruling and abortion more broadly. There is a LOT of misinformation/misinterpretation on this ruling out in the media ecosystem, so I think a little Q&A clarification may be in order. Don't forget to subscribe to my newsletter the Weekly Brief on Substack for a weekly summary of the major events shaping our world (30% fo...

In this episode, I sketch a rough outline of America's complicated relations with Iran prior to 1979, then provide an overview of the confrontational period of US-Iran relations in the revolutionary period post-1979. Unlike China, Iran is a smaller country that is very careful about how it chooses to confront a world superpower. The nagging presence of Iran in the Middle East forces America to con...

We’re almost a month past America’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, and it is shocking to see how quickly the conflict and the debacle of the withdrawal has faded already in the public square. Today on the podcast, I unpack the history of the Afghanistan war, the withdrawal and its effects with two veterans of the Afghanistan conflict, Joseph Lake and Matt Said. Besides being personal friends and all...

We conclude our read through of the UN Charter by evaluating the International Trusteeship System (yeah, I hadn’t heard of it either), the International Court of Justice, and the Secretariat. Don't forget to subscribe to my newsletter the Weekly Brief on Substack for a weekly summary of the major events shaping our world (30% for podcast listeners)! Get the show notes at www.timtalkspolitics.com .

In Part 2 or our read-through of the UN Charter, we cover Chapters VII-XII, which explore the roles envisioned for the Security Council and other UN organs in facilitating conflict resolution, economic development and social exchange. How best to interpret these articles? Are they goals? A strategy? Or, a strategy made up of more goals? Don't forget to subscribe to my newsletter the Weekly Brief o...

Historically, the UN has not been popular in the United States with a more vocal segment of the population critiquing its checkered history of peace missions gone wrong, institutional corruption, and the undermining of its stated democratic and liberal ideals. However, before one can grasp what the UN is and is not capable of, and whether America should or should not leverage the UN in its diploma...

In this episode, I walk you through the NATO charter and the background of America's oldest standing political alliance. In his inaugural address, Biden argued that his administration would bring diplomacy, alliance commitments and democracy back and send them to new heights. His European trip earlier this summer was a key element of that recommitment to multilateral diplomacy. The trip also finis...

You've probably heard the saying "all politics is local," but what does that actually say about local politics? In the negative sense, it may refer to some cynical calculus about what issues ought to be discussed to win an election. However, in the positive sense, the saying can help us ground our understanding of politics and government in the more immediate concerns of our local communities, whi...

There are few conflicts more contentious and polarizing in the American public square than the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. That conflict flamed anew in recent weeks over property disputes in East Jerusalem neighborhoods. What started as demonstrations quickly morphed into rioting, then military conflict as Islamist militants led by Hamas in the Gaza Strip volleyed thousands of rockets at Israeli...

Harvard's Dr. Tom Patterson returns to the TTP podcast to talk about the future of the Republican Party in the "post-Trump" political landscape. I put "post-Trump" in quotations because, as we discuss in this episode, the influence of Trump on the Republican Party is very much a present force in the current GOP. Dr. Patterson and I revisit some of the major themes we discussed in our last conversa...

April 15 is Tax Day in America! Not exactly a national holiday, but a day of civic significance as the IRS starts raking in the revenue that will be used to fund your government and its multitude of functions. But how exactly are we taxed? Where does all the money go? Who even decided that taxing Americans for working was such a good idea that it should be written into the Constitution? Americans...

This podcast has kind of fallen into series on evaluating some of the initial components of the Biden administration, using them as a jumping off point to discuss larger themes in American government with respect to the Presidency. In this episode, I’m going to provide an overview of the Interim National Security Strategy Guidance document as being the first major articulation of the Biden foreign...

Joe Biden is barely a month in office and he’s already setting a fairly blistering pace of signing executive orders. Why so much activity so early? Is it just about undoing the Trump legacy? Is it about signaling a “energetic executive”? Is it signaling a larger legislative effort? Well, it’s a little of “all of the above”. Compared to his immediate predecessors, Joe Biden moved quickly to sign a...

Typically, I'd be posting a new episode this week, but I'm in the midst of preparing for my qualifying exams in my doctoral program, so there won't be the usual podcast episode this week.  BUT, I look forward to talking with you again in a couple weeks when I'm (hopefully) safely on the other side of qualifying exams. Until next time, then! Subscribe to the Weekly Brief on Substack (30% for p...

I recorded this episode on Inauguration Day and took the opportunity to do a rhetorical analysis of President Biden's inaugural address. It was a solid speech that hit all the right notes of pathos in keeping with the best traditions of inaugural addresses, and it also made a couple of surprising innovations. That's the rhetorical analysis. From a political standpoint, though, it's a speech that w...

As we start the new year with a runoff Senate election in Georgia and ongoing drama surrounding the presidential election of 2020, I've noticed a deepening divide or polarization in the information space. So, I thought to start this next round of podcasts, I'd rebroadcast one of my earliest podcasts on the "information cycle."  Information is critical to understanding our political system, wh...

In this last episode of 2020, I hit pause to consider lessons learned over the course of a tumultuous year, and share a few things that I'm concerned about and excited about in 2021. 2020 was a tumultuous year to say the least, but we made it through! We're here and it's as good a time as any to consider what was learned. I'm a big proponent of life long learning and some of the best learning come...

December 14 is the date that the Electoral College will cast its ballots for the United States President and it will likely be a victory for Joe Biden. President Trump continues with his slate of lawsuits alleging election fraud in numerous states, but said last week that he will concede only after he is officially defeated in the Electoral College. Is Trump’s refusal to concede sour grapes, or a...

We are two weeks past Election Day 2020, but the final result, while projected, is still being finalized. Joe Biden is the projected president-elect, but the Trump administration is challenging the final results in several states in court. Both sides are adamant they won and that the other side is "stealing" the election from them. This is incredibly damaging rhetoric, but going through the courts...

It's election time! Or, rather, it was election time. I recorded this episode the day after Election Day, and you're getting this the next day after that, so there may still be some changes coming. However, I take the time in this episode to offer some quick thoughts on what I see as a largely positive outcome to this election. Close elections are always tense, but I think there's a lot that Ameri...

Continuing my fall series of interviews on different aspects of the 2020 Election, and in this interview I talk with Steve Miller on the Democratic Party's platform and pitch to voters, is it more than "Trump bad"? Well, "Trump bad" is a big part of the pitch and appeal, according to my guest today, Steve Miller. In addition to being my brother-in-law and all around awesome guy, Steve is a market...

Continuing my fall series of interviews on different aspects of the 2020 Election, and in this interview I talk with Matthew Anderson on the platform (or lack thereof) of the Republican Party. It's an enjoyable conversation on whether or not people read platforms anymore; why the Republicans chose to retain their 2016 platform while President Trump laid out his own "platform" in the form of a seco...