The Smerconish Podcast

Philip Bump is a columnist for The Washington Post based in New York. He writes the weekly newsletter How To Read This Chart, to which you should subscribe. He's also the author of The Aftermath: The Last Days of the Baby Boom and the Future of Power in America.

Michael is an owner of the Tesla Model Y. 

The FBI is warning that sexual extorsion schemes, or "sextortion", targeting underage boys are leading to an alarming increase in suicides of teenage boys. This happens when a scammer threatens and coerces a minor into sending sending sexually explicit photographs through social media. Today, Michael speaks with South Carolina State Representative Brandon Guffey, who's 17-year-old son Gavin died by suicide in 2022, after being a victim of 'sextortion.' This is a heartbreaking story to hear, but it brings forward an important conversation one must have with their kids to protect them. Original air date 10 March 2023.

Today's Poll Question at Smerconish.com: Pick the person best suited to be the face of opposition to Donald Trump right now, of the following choices: Pete Buttigieg, George Clooney, Mark Cuban, John Favreau, John Fetterman, Kamala Harris, Hakeem Jeffries, Ro Khanna, Rachel Maddow, Gavin Newsom, AOC, Jared Polis, Josh Shapiro, Elissa Slotkin, Elizabeth Warren. Listen here to Michael's take, then vote at Smerconish.com, and please leave a rating and review of this podcast! The Daily Poll Question is a thought-provoking query each day at Smerconish.com on a political, social, or other human interest issue. Entirely non-scientific, it always begins a great conversation. Michael talks about it in this podcast each weekday.

Michael welcomes legendary sportscaster Bob Costas back for a conversation on the late baseball player Pete Rose's legacy and chances of getting into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame following President Trump saying he would pardon Rose. But for what exactly, no one knows. And, a presidential pardon has no effect on MLB's hall of fame, as Costas explains here. Costas retired from full time baseball play-by-play at the end of last season. Pete Rose passed away from heart disease in November at age 83. Original air date 7 March 2025.

Today's Poll Question at Smerconish.com: Do you agree with Gavin Newsom that the participation of trans athletes in women’s sports is “deeply unfair”? Listen here to Michael's take, then vote at Smerconish.com, and please leave a rating and review of this podcast! The Daily Poll Question is a thought-provoking query each day at Smerconish.com on a political, social, or other human interest issue. Entirely non-scientific, it always begins a great conversation. Michael talks about it in this podcast each weekday.

As the news of President Trump's plan to fire 70,000 employees from the Department of Veterans Affairs lands, Michael talks to Robert Pape, political science professor at the University of Chicago, about a recent academic, peer-reviewed study that raises powerful warnings about the consequences for violent extremism. Original air date 6 March 2025.

Today's Poll Question at Smerconish.com: Are we witnessing the final days of NATO? Listen here to Michael's take, then vote at Smerconish.com, and please leave a rating and review of this podcast! The Daily Poll Question is a thought-provoking query each day at Smerconish.com on a political, social, or other human interest issue. Entirely non-scientific, it always begins a great conversation. Michael talks about it in this podcast each weekday.

Mark Halperin says "the sources of strength and power of the 'Maven of Mar-a-Lago', for all he is discussed, have been insufficiently examined or understood. The similarities with Bill Clinton are striking and instructive." Michael was thinking about former President Clinton as he watched President Trump deliver his address to a joint session of Congress last night. This sets up for a great conversation analyzing both the speech, and Trump's presidency so far overall. Original air date 5 March 2025.

Michael offers an in-depth analysis of President Trump's address to a joint session of Congress last night. He also touches on today's Daily Poll Question at Smerconish.com, the topic of which also came up in last night's speech, on Ukraine and Russia. Listen to his thoughts here