Beyond Politics

Desantis going hard after Trump, other Republicans going to the mat to defend him, and Democrats trying to play it cool. Could Trump come out of this stronger, or are Republicans tying themselves in knots as the world waits for Trump to make his perp walk? Also, a monumental ruling on abortion could come any day...what would a ban on the top medical abortion pill mean?

Will the increasingly likely indictment of Donald Trump somehow help him and the Republicans, or set them up for political misery? Matt Robison joins legendary radio broadcaster Howard Monroe to figure out the answer.  Also, what about Trump's call for protests--how dangerous is that? What about the other pending legal cases?

Today, an abusive Democratic politician, and an inside view as Joe Biden gears up for the re-election campaign. A bombshell story in Politico on Marianne Williamson and her abuse of staff and the people around her features a sole on-the-record quote from our own Paul Hodes. We wanted to understand more about what it's like to put a story together like that, and we also wanted to take the chance to bring our viewers and listeners one of the top White House reporters around as President Biden prepares to run again.  We ask her: is Biden...triangulating?!? Lauren Egan was previously a White House reporter for NBC News, and is now a lead reporter for the West Wing Playbook team for Politico.

No one likes to talk about banking...that is, until a couple of banks go down and everyone starts worrying that spreading panic might bring about another "Great Recession" style financial crisis. Paul Hodes was a member of Congress during that crisis and he takes us inside the differences between now and then.  Also, Republicans have put themselves in a box on cutting the budget, and now they've trapped all of us and the entire US economy inside with them. And, Trump...Stormy Daniels...indictments...sex...money...it's all about to happen, but is it politically going to finally undo the former President?

Disinformation, misinformation, and lies: how do we deal with a fire-hose of mind-warping bullshit in the age of social media? There's been a perfect storm on this topic in the past month: the Dominion lawsuit cast a bright light on Fox News' determination to lie; the House oversight committee’s Festivus airing of invented grievances about the persecution of the right wing by social media; and of course our own experience being mistakenly targeted by YouTube as we talked about exposing election misinformation. Two years ago, Paul Barret wrote a perhaps the definitive analysis on this question of whether there is anti-Republican bias on social media, and how to fix social media platforms. Paul M. Barrett is Deputy Director of the NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights.

Our own experience getting pulled down by the YouTube algorithm highlights some of the deep problems with social media, Fox News, disinformation, and the myth of right-wing persecution. A panel conversation featuring guest conservative analyst Michael Graham, former CBS NEws analyst and currently of the NH Journal and the Boston Herald.  Also, do you want to live in Trumpville?

So...we kinda got censored over at YouTube...

Today, the baffling rise and spectacular fall of one of the right wing's biggest stars. When the news broke that James O'Keefe had been forced out of Project Veritas,  the group he founded that conducted stunts, undercover stings, another deceptive tactics to inflict embarrassment on Democrats and media targets, there was one person I wanted to talk to more than anyone else.  She's Lauren Windsor, the executive director of American Family Voices and the executive producer of the grassroots political web Show, the Undercurrent. She's a contributor to HuffPost the Nation, LA Progressive prolific author, and a much quoted voice in media. And she has the wild inside story of being thye most high profile target of O'Keefe's, and how she's personally fought back against the right and won.

New documents in the defamation suit against Fox News for deliberately spreading Donald Trump's "Big Lie" about the election have opened a window on what it looks like when a media company sets out to deliberately mislead the American people, knowing they are lying. What does it mean for the first Amendment, for media coverage, and for the struggle against conspiracy theories?  Also, another monumental Supreme Court case, ands Idaho takes up Marjorie Taylor Greene's call for a national divorce.

How can we make Democrats kick ass again? We have better ideas, a stronger record of getting great stuff done, and we're not insane semi-fascists like some people we could mention. But we still barely eke out wins against a Republican Party led by nuts. This conversation is taken from a live YouTube show on the Blue Amp channel, where our expert guests explained exactly how Democrats can get more aggressive and stronger with their messaging and win more.  Our guests are former Biden ad writer and democratic communications guru Cliff Schecter, and celebrated political scientist, modeling expert, and messaging maven Dr. Rachel Bitecofer.