David Frum Interview

Mike interviews political journalist, policy expert, and former George W. Bush speechwriter David Frum.

Mr. Frum has had a long and distinguished career in political journalism and policy analysis. Organizations he’s worked with include The Wall Street Journal, The Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, The Weekly Standard, and National Public Radio. He served as a speechwriter for President George W. Bush from 2001 – 2002, and is currently a senior editor at The Atlantic and chairman of the UK think-tank Policy Exchange. He’s also the author of eight books, most recently the political novel Patriots.

PG61: Peak Trump?, Jobs, Planes Full of Money, Commutations, Starship Captains

This week’s show starts with Mike replying to listeners who feel he’s been too soft on Donald Trump. After that, it’s a look at Trump’s truly bad week, some high-profile endorsements for Hillary Clinton, what Jay says is a massive U.S. ransom payment to Iran, President Obama’s commutation-mania, and Mike’s cranky middle-aged guy thoughts on the appropriate age for Starship captains and the decadence of modern movie theater seating.

PG60: Dem Convention, Russian Hacking, Voter ID Laws Overturned

Mike and Jay start off by talking about the Democratic National Convention and whether it helped Hillary Clinton in her quest to be the first female president. Next, the Guys look at the Russian state-sponsored hacking of Democratic computer systems. (Why *only* Democratic systems, Mike wonders.) That leads to a discussion of the resignation of Debbie Wasserman-Schultz as head of the Democratic National Committee, thanks to leaked evidence that demonstrated the DNC wasn’t exactly being fair to Bernie Sanders. After that, it’s a discussion of two more voter ID laws that were overturned. Mike argues that there’s compelling evidence that Republicans use these laws to suppress Democratic voters, but Jay doesn’t quite buy it. The show closes with a new feature: the Politics Guys non-political thoughts of the week. Mike plugs the novels of Anthony Trollope, while Jay talks about the importance of a dynamic economy (so Jay’s thought is really a political one, but he promises to come up with something non-political in the future).

John Sides Interview

Mike interviews political scientist John Sides, founder of the Monkey Cage blog and author of multiple books – most recently The Gamble: Choice and Chance in the 2012 Presidential Election (co-authored with Lynn Vavreck). If you’re not already following The Monkey Cage, you should definitely add it to your ‘must read’ politics sites. You might also want to follow The Monkey Cage on twitter and Facebook.

PG59: GOP Convention, Clinton’s VP, Voter ID Laws, Ailes Ousted, NBA & Charlotte

This week’s show starts with a look at the Republican National Convention. Things were calmer than expected on the streets but there was some controversy in the Quicken Loans Arena, thanks in large part to Ted Cruz’s non-endorsement speech. After discussing the convention, Mike and Jay talk about Hillary Clinton’s VP pick – Virginia Senator Tim Kaine – followed by an important appeals court ruling on Texas’ strict voter ID law, Roger Ailes’ removal as CEO of Fox News, and the NBA’s decision to not hold the 2018 All-Star Game in Charlotte, NC because of a recently state law widely seen as anti-LGBTQ.

PG58: Dallas Shooting, Trump’s VP, Cleveland in the Spotlight, The Notorious RBG

The first post-summer vacation episode of The Politics Guys starts with a discussion of President Obama’s remarks at the memorial service for the five police officers murdered at a Black Lives Matter rally. Then it’s a look at the wisdom of Mike Pence as Donald Trump’s running mate, a look ahead to what we might see at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, and some ill-considered remarks by Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

PG57: Obama Endorses, Trump’s Anti-Campaign, SCOTUS on Recusal, Voting and Pot in Ohio

Note: After this episode, The Politics Guys will be taking their summer vacation. Mike and Jay will be back with new episodes starting on July 17 – the day before the Republican National Convention.

This week, the Guys start off by looking at the last big round of primaries, where Hillary Clinton won big, essentially dooming Bernie Sanders chances (failing a Clinton indictment). Then it’s on to Donald Trump’s unorthodox (to say the least) campaign – will it be the disaster all the experts are predicting, or will Trump prove the so-called experts wrong again? After that, Mike and Jay talk about a Supreme Court ruling on judicial recusal, followed by discussion of some big news coming out of Ohio on voting and marijuana.