Category: Interviews

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Mike talks with Scott Klug, an Emmy award-winning journalist, former member of Congress, and currently co-chair of the Federal Public Affairs Practice at the national law firm of Foley & Lardner. He’s also a podcaster – the founder and host of Lost in the Middle: America’s Political Orphans – and writes the Lost in the Middle Substack.

Topics Mike and Scott Discuss Include:
– Scott’s move from journalism to Congress to lobbyist
– changes in the GOP from Reagan to Trump
– corruption in Congress
– the importance of local investigative journalism
– why neither party seems to focus much on the middle
– institutional factors driving partisanship
– if things are likely to get worse before they get better

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Check out the Sustainable Planet podcast, as well as the free Sustainable Planet Substack.

Listener support helps make The Politics Guys possible. You can support us or change your level of support at patreon.com/politicsguys or politicsguys.com/support. On Venmo we’re @PoliticsGuys.

The Politics Guys is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what’s broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.

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Travis talks with political science professor (and mom!), Dr. Lindsey Cormack about her new book, How to Raise a Citizen (And Why It’s Up to You to Do It), in which she encourages parents to learn more about politics, civics, and government, and to take on a more active role in providing that education to their children.

Topics Travis and Lindsey cover include:

• Key features and functions of American civics that parents need to know and to teach their children
• How to talk to kids about controversial or hot-topic issues in an age-appropriate way
• Why schools have failed to provide this instruction to students and what they could do to improve

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Check out the Sustainable Planet podcast, as well as the free Sustainable Planet Substack.

Listener support helps make The Politics Guys possible. You can support us or change your level of support at patreon.com/politicsguys or politicsguys.com/support. On Venmo we’re @PoliticsGuys.

The Politics Guys is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what’s broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.

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Mike talks with historian Anthony Gregory, author of multiple publications on national security, constitutionalism, and legal theory. His latest book is New Deal Law and Order: How The War on Crime Built The Modern Liberal State.

Topics Mike & Anthony Discuss Include:
– the origin of the “war on crime”
– how the war on crime paved the way for the modern liberal state
– FDR’s “creative constitutionalism”
– J. Edgar Hoover and the creation of the modern FBI
– the war on crime and the Civil Rights Movement
– consequences of New Deal law & order

Anthony Gregory on X

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Check out the Sustainable Planet podcast, as well as the free Sustainable Planet Substack.

Listener support helps make The Politics Guys possible. You can support us or change your level of support at patreon.com/politicsguys or politicsguys.com/support. On Venmo we’re @PoliticsGuys.

The Politics Guys is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what’s broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Castbox | PocketCasts | Overcast

Mike talks with Zee Cohen-Sanchez, Founder and Executive Director of Sole Strategies,  a political organization building grassroots campaigns across the US for candidates who are passionate about change. After Bernie Sanders’ 2016 campaign, Zee committed to helping Democratic candidates win seats across the country. Since founding Sole Strategies in 2020, Zee and her team have worked on hundreds of nationwide campaigns.

Topics Mike and Zee Cover Include:
– the weirdness of politicians
– flipping seats
– the Democrats GOTV advantage
– Republican grass-roots success
– if Mike could run a positive campaign – and win

Sole Strategies on X

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Check out the Sustainable Planet podcast, as well as the free Sustainable Planet Substack.

Listener support helps make The Politics Guys possible. You can support us or change your level of support at patreon.com/politicsguys or politicsguys.com/support. On Venmo we’re @PoliticsGuys.

The Politics Guys is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what’s broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Castbox | PocketCasts | Overcast

Mike talks with Berkeley political scientist Steven Fish, author of the recently released book, Comeback: Routing Trumpism, Reclaiming the Nation, and Restoring Democracy’s Edge.

Topics Mike & Steve Discuss Include:
– if Democrats are spoiled whiners
– low-dominance liberals vs high-dominance Trump
– why ignoring polls is a good thing (at times)
– pathologically risk-averse liberals
– high-dominance politics in a global perspective
– how Kamala Harris can project strength against Trump
– why Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear might be a good VP choice
– structural problems facing high-dominance Democrats
– Mike’s misgivings about high-dominance messaging

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Listener support helps make The Politics Guys possible. You can support us or change your level of support at patreon.com/politicsguys or politicsguys.com/support. On Venmo we’re @PoliticsGuys.

The Politics Guys is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what’s broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Castbox | PocketCasts | Overcast

Mike talks with educator, researcher, and writer Sarah Towle about her latest book, Crossing the Line: Finding America in the Borderlands.

Topics Mike and Sarah Discuss Include:
– the historical roots of our current immigration issues
– the connection between trade policy and immigration
– why prevention through deterrence hasn’t worked
– if “remain in Mexico” is a viable approach to asylum seekers
– immigrants, crime, and American jobs
– helping border communities cope with the flow of migrants
– what a more efficient, effective, and humane border policy might look like

Sarah Towle on X

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Check out Mike’s other podcast –  Sustainable Planet, and the Sustainable Planet Substack.

Listener support helps make The Politics Guys possible. You can support us or change your level of support at patreon.com/politicsguys or politicsguys.com/support. On Venmo we’re @PoliticsGuys.

The Politics Guys is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what’s broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Castbox | PocketCasts | Overcast

Mike talks with attorney, author, and historian Talmage Boston. His books include Cross-Examining History, Raising the Bar: The Crucial Role of Lawyers in History, and most recently, How The Best Did It: Leadership Lessons From Our Top Presidents, which is the focus of their discussion.

Topics Mike and Talmage cover include:
– the “Great 8” Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, TR, FDR, Ike, JFK, & Reagan
– key leadership strengths of those 8 presidents
– the main weakness of each of the 8 presidents
– most important presidential leadership skills
– if it’s harder to be a great political leader in today’s world
– strengths and weaknesses of Joe Biden and Donald Trump

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Check out TDG,  Mike’s other podcast –  Sustainable Planet, and the Sustainable Planet Substack.

Listener support helps make The Politics Guys possible. You can support us or change your level of support at patreon.com/politicsguys or politicsguys.com/support. On Venmo we’re @PoliticsGuys.

The Politics Guys is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what’s broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Castbox | PocketCasts | Overcast

Mike talks with Liam deClive-Lowe, co-founder and co-president of American Policy Ventures. APV is a group that works with people and organizations across the ideological spectrum to make it easier for policymakers to effectively solve critical policy problems. They sponsored the Georgetown Battleground Civility Poll that came out not too long ago, which is the focus of their conversation

Topics Mike & Liam Discuss Include:
– the mission of AVP
– the value of Democrat and Republican pollsters working together
– why most Republicans and Democrats believe democracy is threatened
– fighting for values vs working for the best possible solution
– getting to a point of ‘slightly less loathing’
– how close we are to civil war
– why Congress is more bipartisan than you might think
– opportunities for bipartisanship

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Check out Mike’s other podcast –  Sustainable Planet.

Listener support helps make The Politics Guys possible. You can support us or change your level of support at patreon.com/politicsguys or politicsguys.com/support. On Venmo we’re @PoliticsGuys.

The Politics Guys is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what’s broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Castbox | PocketCasts | Overcast

Political scientist Travis Taylor talks with law professor Joshua Douglas about his new book The Court v. The Voters: The Troubling Story of How the Supreme Court Has Undermined Voting Rights, in which he writes about the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent history of prioritizing the power of states to regulate elections over the rights of voters.

Topics Travis and Josh Cover Include:

• how the Court has changed the standard by which it reviews voting rights cases
• combating election fraud and maintaining voter access
• the direction the Court is going in light of more recent decisions in “extreme” cases
• potential solutions to correct the Court’s current course
• conservative criticisms of the book and why conservatives should read it

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Check out Mike’s other podcast –  Sustainable Planet.

Listener support helps make The Politics Guys possible. You can support us or change your level of support at patreon.com/politicsguys or politicsguys.com/support. On Venmo we’re @PoliticsGuys.

The Politics Guys is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what’s broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Castbox | PocketCasts | Overcast

Mike talks with Les Leopold, co-founder and executive director of the Labor Institute, a nonprofit organization that develops and conducts education and policy programs for unions, environmental organizations, community groups, and immigrant worker centers on workplace health and safety, the environment, economics, and movement building. He’s also the author of multiple books. His latest is Wall Street’s War on Workers: How Mass Layoffs and Greed are Destroying the Working Class and What to Do About It, which they talk about in this episode.

Topics Mike & Les Discuss Include:
– if Wall Street is really at war with workers
– how to understand ultra-low unemployment rates
– technology, globalization, and US workers
– the economic and psychological toll of mass layoffs
– the decline of public sector unions in the US
– how government policy can make things better for workers

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Check out Mike’s other podcast –  Sustainable Planet.

Listener support helps make The Politics Guys possible. You can support us or change your level of support at patreon.com/politicsguys or politicsguys.com/support. On Venmo we’re @PoliticsGuys.

The Politics Guys is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what’s broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.