The Get More Smarter Podcast - A Weekly Show About Colorado Politics

Send us a message! Really!This week on the Get More Smarter Podcast, you know him as the former political reporter for Fox 31 Denver...or from...the Wall Street Journal...or the Los Angeles Times...POLITICO's White House Correspondent Eli Stokols is back on the Get More Smarter Podcast. Stokols talks about the difference in covering the Trump and Biden administrations, and why 2024 could be 2020 all over again. Later in an unusually-long episode, we talk about how the Colorado GOP's scheme to take over the El Paso County Party backfires spectacularly, and why one of Colorado’s biggest political spenders is trying to find a way to save the GOP from itself. 

Send us a message! Really!This week on the Get More Smarter Podcast, the State of our Union is….WEIRD. Ian Silverii reports back from the worst seats in the House Gallery because Jason Bane wasn't invited. The great Christy Powell joins us with a new game where we try and explain the inexplicable, for prizes (metaphorical ones). Overtly racist pro-claymore mine lobby Rocky Mountain Gun Owners flies its overtly-racist flag. There is still no bottom with Representative Scott Bottoms. And our 8th favorite member of Congress from Colorado, Lauren Boebert, has some loud thoughts about WHO TURNED OFF MY TWITTER MACHINE???

Send us a message! Really!This week on the Get More Smarter Podcast, it’s Groundhog Day! So we’re re-running last year's episode. Just kidding! With the 2023 Colorado Legislative Session in full swing we ask the question on everybody’s mind, is there no (Scott) Bottom(s) to the State House GOP? We have many more occasions to ask the podcast’s favorite question, "What the Buck!?" BUT FIRST, you know him as Colorado’s most (or least) favorite evening news anchor and a man of 1,000 thrift store sport coats: 9News anchor/reporter/producer Kyle Clark joins the podcast to talk about how to cover a jam-packed Denver Mayoral race; calling a lie a lie (and a liar a liar); and the disservice that journalists do for a community when they "both sides" a story into oblivion. 

Send us a message! Really!This week on the Get More Smarter Podcast, after yet another rash of mass shootings in Colorado and the country, State House Democrats are ready to do something big about it. Did you know almost 1/4th of Colorado Legislators were elected by a few dozen people? We break down the Vacancy Committee influence on Colorado Politics and why such an antidemocratic process is so often used to choose the state’s lawmakers. We talk about some other stuff too, but first, you know him as Colorado’s Favorite Never Trumper: Tim Miller from The Bulwark and Rolling Stone joins us to talk Turning Point USA, The Colorado GOP then and now, and his new book, "Why We Did It: A Travelogue From the Republican Road to Hell."

Send us a message! Really!This week on the Get More Smarter Podcast, your hosts Jason Bane and Ian Silverii talk with legendary Colorado politico Alan Salazar and coin a new term from his vast experience. Currently serving as Chief of Staff to Denver Mayor Michael Hancock, Salazar has been a top adviser to Congressmen, Senators, Governors, and even Presidents -- for familiar names such as Roy Romer, Mark Udall, John Hickenlooper, and Bill Clinton. We discuss the traits that these successful politicians all have in common (other than hiring Alan Salazar). Later, Jason and Ian also dive into the debt ceiling and try to understand why Colorado Republican lawmakers refused to co-sponsor a resolution honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Send us a message! Really!This week on the Get More Smarter Podcast, Republicans say they want to make government smaller, but what happens when they blast it into microscopic pieces? Republicans claim they won a slim majority in Congress because they were talking about issues like inflation, crime, and the southern border, so why are the first things they’re doing trying to ban abortion and launch meaningless partisan investigations you’ll only understand if you subscribe to Tucker Carlson’s newsletter? Meanwhile, Colorado Democrats in the State Capitol have gotten to business in the 74th General Assembly, with an agenda that is laser-focused on the issue that are top of mind for voters; state legislative Republicans, unfortunately, have the same problems as their Washington DC counterparts.

Send us a message! Really!This week on the Get More Smarter Podcast, it’s the last episode of 2022 -- you know, the year that brought the biggest Blue Wave Colorado has ever seen! Our soon-to-be-8th favorite member of Congress from Colorado nearly lost her seat; has she learned a damn thing from it? With the retirement of the worst party chair to ever lead the Colorado GOP now a sure thing, who is crazy, dumb, or unlucky enough to lead the red team into a Presidential Election cycle? The one place where Colorado Republicans HAVE seen a modicum of electoral success is a total disaster; will they find a way to lose power there too? Donald Trump is still around, but how "dead" is Trumpism on a scale of 1-8 Freddy Krugers? And finally, we revisit an old Colorado story to try and process the George Santos shitshow.

Send us a message! Really!This week on the Get More Smarter Podcast, Ian Silverii is on vacation, so the other guy (Jason Bane) found two different people who were willing to talk to him about politics. Settle in for an entertaining discussion with Jason and returning guests Christy Powell and Alan Franklin for a deep, deep, deep dive into the big electoral questions of 2022 and what Colorado's political future looks like from here.  We talk about how Republicans completely hosed themselves in 2022; whether or not the Colorado GOP is even salvageable; and what Democrats need to be careful about with their new super-duper majorities in Colorado. We also touch on some news about exporting QAnon and whether failed Georgia Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker was tanking all along. 

Send us a message! Really!This week on the Get More Smarter Podcast, Congressman Jason Crow returns to discuss Election Day jitters; his first time as a member of the minority party in Congress; and why an Assault Weapons Ban is good policy. Later, we discuss the "Infinity War" within the Colorado Republican Party and how sore losers in the GOP -- throughout the country -- keep whining about being on the opposite side of the majority of Americans when it comes to common sense ideas and governing in general.

Send us a message! Really!This week on the Get More Smarter Podcast, Congresswoman-elect Brittany Pettersen joins her husband and podcast host Ian Silverii (and Jason Bane) to talk about traveling to Washington D.C. for a whirlwind week of orientation for newly-elected members of Congress. We'll take you behind the scenes for a look at everything involved in starting a new job at the United States Capitol. Later, we discuss another mass shooting in Colorado -- this time at "Club Q" in Colorado Springs -- and how lawmakers need to do more to ensure that local elected officials aren't ignoring tools that are intended to prevent such a tragedy. We'll also talk about Rep. Lauren Boebert's narrow re-election in CO-03; leadership elections at the State Capitol; and Donald Trump's very sad announcement of another Presidential campaign. Happy Thanksgiving! We're particularly grateful for all of our listeners.