Beyond Politics

No...not that Michael Cohen.  This Michael Cohen is one of the most thoughtful, analytic, and interesting minds in the Republican Party. Mike has worked in politics for 25 years, primarily in polling, and he also teaches at Johns Hopkins University’s graduate communications program and has appeared on numerous media outlets.  He had the number one opinion piece in The Hill this weekend, making the case that Mike Pence should run for President.  He is "out" on the Republican Party right now.  So I asked him, what would it take to get him back in?  We also cover both parties' prospects for the midterms, his book "Modern Political Campaigns" and whether America is simply depressed. 

Dr. Roderick Graham is Associate Professor in Sociology & Criminal Justice at Old Dominion University who writes social critique through a sociological lens.  We tackle affirmative action, immigration, harm reduction centers, "hate launderers" and why America has become so culturally unhealthy. Make sure to check Rod out on YouTube, Twitter, Substack, and at The Editorial Board.

Moundsville, directed by David Bernabo and John W. Miller and currently playing on PBS, is the biography of a classic American town: Moundsville, WV (pop. 8,400), on the Ohio River, where Appalachia hits the Midwest. Told through the voices of residents, the film diverts from the well-trod paths – opioids, coal, Trump – to trace the many forces that have buffeted this proud town, diminishing it but also offering new promise and opportunities. In this crossover episode with the Great Ideas Podcast -- which we hope you'll subscribe to -- director and former Wall Street Journal reporter John Miller joins the show to tell us what he learned after a year talking to the people of Moundsville, and what they can teach all of us about the future of America.

Chris Hill, the host of Motley Fool Money, the number one stock investing radio show in America, explains what the heck is going on with successful big tech companies that continue to grow steadily while Facebook hits the skids.  Also, we dive into the future of Peloton, and are all those expensive Super Bowl ads actually worth it?

Four months ago, our co-host Matt Robison wrote an article in Newsweek arguing that it was time for America to panic. He quoted from the government scholar Robert Kagan: "the United States is heading into its greatest political and constitutional crisis since the Civil War, with a reasonable chance over the next three to four years of incidents of mass violence, a breakdown of federal authority, and the division of the country into warring red and blue enclaves." Last week, a powerful and respected Washington voice published a comprehensive and detailed breakdown of how all of this is unfolding right before our eyes, and what we must start doing right now to stop it. He's Matt Bennett, the Executive Vice President at Third Way, a leading Washington, DC think tank that aims to develop fresh thinking and moderate ideas. Matt joins the podcast (also available on video) to share the stunning details. 

Today, we wanted to bring you portions of a conversation that Matt Robison had on the Healthier Tech Podcast with host R Blank. Some of you may recognize that name from my previous conversation with him in which we talked about the science behind electromagnetic radiation and some of the effects that that type of radiation -- which comes from everything in the world around us that runs on electricity -- has on our bodies, our brains, and our health. There is some pretty compelling science that suggests it's a problem. There are direct effects that are measurable in the cells inside our body, and there's a lot more research that's needed on the association with various diseases.  So what can we do to get government to take this on? The show is also about other intersections between our health and technology.  That includes mental health and social health, the kinds of issues that have been raised by the Facebook whistleblower Francis Haugen, and some of the documents that she's brought to light about research that Facebook has done about the impact of social media, particularly on teenagers, and most particularly on young women.  We also consider some of the other social effects that we've seen in terms of misinformation. The question is the same: how can we get government to address technology that is harming us?

Justice Stephen Breyer’s retirement raises a number of significant questions about the future of the Supreme Court. To understand what has been happening on the Court, the implications of losing Justice Breyer, and what’s coming next as President Biden decides on a nominee, we’re very pleased to have one of the country’s top legal analysts, Joyce White Vance. She’s a frequent legal commentator on MSNBC and other media outlets, a Distinguished Professor of the Practice of Law at the University of Alabama School of Law and served eight years as the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama.

Americans are sad, angry, and fed up these days...and with the lingering pandemic, high prices, and continued partisan bitterness, it's understandable.  So what is that doing to elected officeholders, voter perceptions of the two parties, and re-election prospects for everyone on the ballot in 2022? Neil Levesque of the New Hampshire Institute of Politics who oversees the top-rated St. Anselm's poll walks through their latest findings, and what they mean for the direction of public opinion and politics as we head toward the mid-term elections. 

With the eyes of the world on Ukraine, we look today at why Russia has pushed the world to the brink of war.  Max Bergmann is a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, where he focuses on Europe, Russia, and U.S. security cooperation. From 2011 to 2017, he served in the U.S. Department of State in a number of different positions, including as a member of the secretary of state’s policy planning staff, where he focused on political-military affairs and nonproliferation; special assistant to the undersecretary for arms control and international security; speechwriter to then-Secretary of State John Kerry; and senior adviser to the assistant secretary of state for political-military affairs.  He helps us understand why there is a brewing conflict, what the options are, and what the path ahead should be. Photo by Snowscat on Unsplash

Today, I published an article in the Editorial Board that is getting a ton of attention online, arguing that the answer to the question “what grade do you give Biden’s first year in office?” is “A+” and that anything else is insane.  Here's why.