We are joined this week by Mother Jones reporter and senior editor Kiera Butler to discuss some of the current major issues in education and politics (4:03-46:58). Kiera talks about her two trips to Moms4Liberty's National Conference and what she learned about the parental rights movement at those conferences. She also explores the politicization of reading instruction, the debates on how to make schools safer, school choice, and a potential future Secretary of Education.
We were joined once again this week by Pepperdine Law professor and constitutional law expert Barry McDonald to break down some of the major cases from the Supreme Court's term (12:08-1:03:03). We dive into the legal reasoning behind the affirmative action, voting rights, independent state legislature, free speech, and student loan forgiveness cases, and then Professor McDonald shares some of his overall thoughts on the current state of the Court and offers some potential reforms of it. Great episode for lawyers, law students, and anyone with an interest in the legal world.
We touch on the touchy subject of how old is too old, following the recent health episodes of two prominent and long-serving senators, Mitch McConnell and Diane Fienstein (6:58-33:14). We switch gears to another story that's made headline news recently out of North Carolina State House of Representatives. A pro-reproductive rights Democrat shocked her party and crossed the aisle, delivering Republicans super-majorities in both the State House and Senate. She cast a decisive vote, overriding the Governor's veto of a bill limiting access to abortion. We debate the savoriness of her actions and pose the question: Do voters go to the polls to elect people or the ideas those people represent?
We've got an international version of "six in sixty" this week, as we discuss the takeaways from last week's NATO summit (5:15-17:02), the fallout from the Russian coup (17:02-24:14), the Biden Administration's decision to send cluster munitions to Ukraine (24:24-35:57), Israel's military operations in the West Bank (36:03-46:34), the migrant boat that sank off the coast of Greece (46:39-56:41), and the conflicts ravaging Sudan (56:42-1:07:33).
With the Supreme Court's latest term in the books, we spent this week discussing how some of their major decisions will affect American society and politics moving forward. We began by looking at the Court's term from a high level perspective, and then dug into their decision in the Harvard and UNC affirmative action cases (5:52-32:58). We then discussed the fallout from the Court's decision on President Biden's student debt relief plan (33:03-46:54), and concluded by looking at the decisions involving Freedom of Speech and LGBTQ+ rights and voting rights (46:59-1:04:45).
We are joined this week by St. Louis Treasurer Adam Layne for a wide-ranging conversation about his path from growing up in Boston, to going to college in Washington D.C., to teaching and then working in and for the city of St. Louis. We also discuss the sometimes competing ideas of opportunity and agency, particularly in the wake of SCOTUS ending affirmative action in higher education, get Adam's thoughts on equity and equality, and hear what he is doing in his role as Treasurer to create more of both in his city.
This week we use the celebration of Juneteenth to take a hard look at our history. We discuss and debate the merits of reparations, whether the U.S. is a land of opportunity or oppression or both, and why it is so difficult for us to tell the full story of U.S. history. We conclude by highlighting two Black American figures who may have fallen through the cracks of that story.
We discussed the two big stories of the week: the stunning LIV-PGA merger and the deal to raise the debt ceiling.
We are joined this week by Dr. Bertha Madras who is a Professor of Psychobiology at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Madras is one of the founders of the new "Council on Academic Freedom" at Harvard University, which is a faculty-led organization that is devoted to free inquiry, intellectual diversity, and civil discourse. Dr. Madras discusses why she felt like this Council was necessary at Harvard, in particular, and why she thinks protecting academic freedom and freedom of expression at institutions of higher education is so critical, in general.
May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and, in that spirit, we were joined by graduate student Wendy-Myrbell Napoleon who has been researching the intersection of social media and mental health among adolescents and young adults (5:10-43:05). We used her research as a foundation to have a larger conversation about mental health issues in our society, and she provided some policy recommendations our elected officials should consider to address the growing mental health crisis in our particularly vulnerable populations.
We are joined this week by Nicaela Chinnaswamy and Maureen McInerney for a draft of sixteen potential Republican presidential candidates. We run through the true favorites, the outside contenders, the dark horses and the longshots for the nomination. Fun conversation and a great primer of the 2024 Republican presidential field.
We hit six topics (plus a bonus topic!) that have been in the news lately in (roughly) ten minute segments. We begin by talking about all of the goings-on at Fox News (8:05-22:26), the ethics of the Supreme Court (22:30-32:00), JPMorgan buying First Republic Bank (32:04-43:35), the impending debt ceiling (43:39-55:53), President Biden's re-election campaign (55:58-1:03:10), and recent incidents of gun violence (1:03:14-1:13:05), plus a bonus topic for those of you who stick with us.
We are joined this week by Jennifer Nassour, former chairperson of the Massachusetts Republican Party, founder of The Pocketbook Project, and host of the Political Contessa podcast (4:16-39:28). We talk to Jenn about her crusades to get more women into politics and to bring fiscal conservatism back to government, as well as the importance of having a legitimate opposition party for the sake of democracy, among many other topics.
On the heels of President Biden's "Democracy Summit," we discussed the state of democracy globally, specifically in India, Israel, and in the U.S.
Ricky spent the last two weeks serving on a jury for a murder trial. He had a lot of thoughts on the process, so we talked about it. A bit of a different episode, but one we think is both interesting and valuable.
We are joined this week by legendary tv reporter and radio host Dan Rea (3:00-53:10). We talked to Dan about how media has evolved over the course of his half-century in the business, his reflections on the time he spent with President Carter, his thoughts on President Trump's tenure, his current candidacy, and possible indictment, and many other stories, including an incredible story about Dan fighting for and, ultimately, helping to free a wrongly convicted man.
A fairly momentous week, as we discussed the 20 year anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq (9:59-44:09), the historic impending arrest of former President Trump (44:17-55:03), and Xi Jinping's visit to Russia (55:04-1:04:00).
This episode is all about the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank--the second largest bank collapse in U.S. history--and the federal government's response to it. We begin by talking about what we know about the collapse, and then spend much of the episode talking about what we want to know: namely, whether this is an isolated incident brought on by a specific set of circumstances or the sign of something much greater, and much worse, to come.
With Russia's invasion of Ukraine reaching the one year mark this week, we decided to take stock of where that conflict stands. We discussed the U.S. involvement thus far, the current domestic and global opinions of that involvement, and how the conflict might conclude. We are joined for that discussion by Dan Fishman, the former executive director of the Libertarian Party, the former executive director of People for Liberty, and currently of Let.Live (5:10-1:10:25).
We are back with our third annual Presidents Day Mount Rushmore-style snake draft. We are joined for the draft, once again, by our friends Dan Gonzalez and Joe Webster, and this year we are drafting the most significant dates in U.S. history. A really fun episode for any lovers of U.S. history.