Category: Podcast

This week, the Politics Guys look at the situation in Baltimore: the riots, the causes, and what can be done to reform the police and restore the community. We also discuss Obergefell v. Hodges – the same-sex marriage case heard by the Supreme Court this week. Finally, we talk about Vermont’s Bernie Sanders, the first Democratic challenger to Hillary Clinton.

In this episode, we discuss:
– Police corruption.
– If there are justifications for rioting.
– Whether Democrats are to blame for what happened in Baltimore.
– Federal aid: a way to help Baltimore, or throwing money away?
– The Wire’s David Simon on the disastrous drug war and bad policing.
– Whether there’s a constitutional right to same-sex marriage.
– Predictions on how the Supreme Court will rule.
– How a pro-same-sex marriage ruling might help Republicans.
– Bernie Sanders’ quixotic challenge to Hillary Clinton.

In honor of the 45th anniversary of Earth Day, the Politics Guys focus on the environment. Our air and water are much cleaner than they were in 1970, and there’s no longer a gaping hole in the ozone layer. Today, the big concern is the threat of global warming. The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (winners of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, which they shared with Al Gore) has concluded that climate change is real, it’s almost certainly caused by human activity, and if we keep on doing what we’re doing we’ll be in Big Trouble before long.

In this episode, we discuss:
– How much we can trust climate scientists.
– If working to minimize climate change is the best way to spend scarce resources.
– Why we’re still subsidizing coal and oil.
– Whether it would be smart to increase subsidies for renewable energy.
– What types of energy are the most cost-effective (there are some surprises here).
– Building more nuclear reactors: Smart move, or disaster waiting to happen?
– Whether technology will save us from ourselves.

This Week’s Stories:
– Why Hillary will win the nomination, but maybe not the presidency.
– Marco Rubio: everyone’s second choice.
– Obama compromises on Iran, but will there even be a deal?
– Start planning that Havana vacation: Obama opens relations with Cuba.

This Week’s Stories:
– Rand Paul: His strategy, his chances (slim), and his backup plan.
– Iran’s Supreme Leader makes life even more difficult for US negotiators
– Police Brutality: what, if anything, can we do?

This Week’s Stories
– The Iran Deal: Will ‘The Great Satan’ Get Burned by the Mullahs?
– Indiana: We’re Not Anti-Gay, Honest! We Even Changed Our Anti-Gay Law.
– Senator Menendez: A Corrupt NJ Politician (Shocking!)
– McDonalds Pretends to Care About Workers

This Week’s Stories
– Ted Cruz: Why he won’t win, but what he could accomplish.
– Indiana: Anti-gay or pro-religion? (Both, maybe?)
– Bowe Bergdahl: should he be prosecuted, or has he suffered enough already?
– The ungodly mess that is U.S. foreign policy.
– The mystery man behind California’s “Sodomite Suppression Act”

Links
– Ted Cruz’s phenomenally bad idea (Washington Post)
– Indiana’s ‘Religious Freedom Restoration Act’
– The proposed ‘Sodomite Suppression Act’

This Week’s Stories
– The stingy, shortsighted, and essentially meaningless GOP budget plan.
– President Obama on mandatory voting (he’s for it).
– Starbucks attempt to get us to talk about race with our baristas.
– Mitch McConnell to the EPA: I hate you guys so much.
– The (not so high) rise and fall of Congressman Aaron Schock.
– The Obama / Magnum P. I. Connection.

Links
– How the Budget Process Works (in theory)
– If Everyone Voted, Not Much Would Change (The Monkey Cage)
– The Aaron Schock Workout (Men’s Health)
– Obamas not buying Magnum P.I. House (we refuse to believe this)

This Week’s Stories
– The Senate GOP ‘open letter’ to Iran: secretly brilliant, or not-so-secretly moronic?
– Hillary Clinton to the media: I didn’t do anything wrong. Technically.
– Ferguson, Missouri: some positive developments, then a tragedy.
– Is climate change a belief system or scientific fact?
– “It’s never good to be drunk at work, especially if you are in the Secret Service.”

Links
– The Senate GOP’s open letter to Iran (with the Iranian Foreign Minister’s reply)
– Climate Change: It’s not a religion. It’s a scientific fact. (The New Republic)

The audio on this week’s episode is, in places, less than stellar, thanks to one of Michael’s failed recording experiments. At first, we weren’t going to post this episode, but due to popular demand, we decided to put it up, but with this ‘low audio quality’ disclaimer. Things will sound better next week.

Also, you’ll notice that we ditched the opening music and announcer. If you have any preference between this format and the music / announcer approach we used in episode 02, please let us know.

This Week’s Stories
– Will the Supreme Court send Obamacare into a Death Spiral?
– Israeli PM Netanyahu’s speech to Congress (and Jay’s urinal moment with Netanyahu)
– Justice Department to Ferguson Police: You stink! (Also –  we might sue you.)
– Hillary Clinton once again shows her love of openness and transparency (not).

Links
King v. Burwell (Obamacare case) oral argument (U.S. Supreme Court)
Justice Department Report on Ferguson Police (Washington Post)
How Ferguson Uses Cops and Courts to Prey on Residents. (The Nation)
The Left Turns on Hillary (The Hill)