
The Get More Smarter Podcast - A Weekly Show About Colorado Politics
The Get More Smarter Podcast is a weekly overview of Colorado politics. The podcast is hosted by seasoned Colorado politicos Jason Bane of ColoradoPols.com and Ian Silverii, former 9News talking head, former Denver Post Columnist, former Executive Director of ProgressNow Colorado, and current has-been. Each week they dive into the local and national news, and for some reason, have had Governors, US Senators, Members of Congress, and countless local elected officials as guests over the years. The guys are also frighteningly good at predicting the future. No, really. Are you ready to Get More Smarter?
Latest episodes

Nov 16, 2024 • 59min
In Which We Discuss Quadfectas and Underwater Alien Bases
Send us a message! Really!This week on the Get More Smarter Podcast, The Big Orange Guy is assembling a rogue’s gallery of cabinet members to most likely destroy the entire federal government from the inside out, making people like us breathe a sigh of relief when comparative normies like Marco Rubio get appointed as Secretary of State. Next, two leading Colorado Democrats have a pretty bad week based on things they said in public and not-so public. Then, we break down the final-ish results of the elections in the Blue-ish rectangle that is the Centennial State; we check in with our 8th favorite member of Congress from Colorado in her new district; and we find out that the whole "Bread Sandwich" thing may have been cover after all, because the new congressman-elect (Jeff Hurd) from Lauren Boebert's former district is…getting pretty weird already.

Nov 9, 2024 • 1h 19min
Election Results Inside the Blue Rectangle (feat. Seth Masket)
Send us a message! Really!This week on the Get More Smarter Podcast, we regret to inform you that we were wrong. Donald Trump is heading back to the White House, potentially with a Republican Trifecta and a large-scale admission that Project 2025 was the agenda all along. We unpack the results with the one and only SMOTUS: Seth Masket, Professor of the Pod, Director of the Center on American Politics at the University of Denver and host of the excellent Politics and Baking podcast, "Power and Flour." Together, let's try to figure out what in the hell just happened.

Nov 5, 2024 • 25min
Election Day Warm Fuzzies
Send us a message! Really!On a special Election Day edition of the Get More Smarter Podcast, we've got nothing but nice, warm fuzzies for 25 minutes. We know you're probably freaking out a little bit about Colorado races and the big battle for President of the United States, so we're here to bring some calm(ala) energy and tell you why we both think things are looking good. NOTE: If you are rooting for Donald Trump, then this episode will likely not improve your mood.

Nov 2, 2024 • 1h 41min
Qualified Hopium (feat. Andrew Baumann)
Send us a message! Really!This week on the Get More Smarter Podcast, it’s everything you need to know before election day! We make our final calls for 2024 and bring in the big prognosticator himself: Pollster of the pod Andrew Baumann, Partner at Global Strategy Group, predicts the future and lays down a marker for what he thinks is going to happen in the 8th Congressional District and throughout Colorado; for the Presidential election; and whether or not you're going to get that bonus at the end of the year.

Oct 28, 2024 • 1h 21min
The Election That Is and Was Not (feat. Nadine Bridges, Susy Bates, and Sen. Jessie Danielson)
Send us a message! Really!This week on the Get More Smarter Podcast, has the Trump Wall (no, not the one that never got built) finally started to crack, and is it too late to make a difference in this election? Then, we’re back with another edition of Game of Groans, and this time, it’s the RINOs versus the RATs! And we do one more round of super-future prognostication in which we absolutely nail a prediction as far away as 2026! We've also got an interview double header! Nadine Bridges, Executive Director of One Colorado, and Susy Bates, campaign manager for Freedom to Marry, join us to talk about Amendment J on your ballot right now. State Senator Jessie Danielson also stops by to tell the tale of a ballot initiative you didn’t get to vote on this November...and the disgusting story behind it all.

Oct 19, 2024 • 1h 21min
Get in Losers: We're Going Losing! (feat. Kate Barr)
Send us a message! Really!This week on the Get More Smarter Podcast, Gabe-ish Evans is running one of the most confusing campaigns for Congress we’ve ever seen; will it matter in the closest contest in Colorado? Then, check your mailboxes because it’s time to vote! Ballots are either in the mail (or if you already voted, on the way back); instead of filling them out, we’re just going to predict what’s going to happen in our first 2024 edition of of "Prognostication." Donald Trump is a confused old man sweatin’ to the oldies as Kamala Harris waltzes into the Lion’s Den and shows Fox News why she’s ready to be the 47th president of the United States. But first...get in losers, we’re going losing. She can’t win a State Senate Seat in North Carolina, but it absolutely won’t be from lack of effort. Kate Barr joins us on the podcast today to discuss her losing campaign, gerrymandering, democracy, and why she’s going through all the effort just to lose.

Oct 12, 2024 • 1h 13min
The Pro-Normal Party Coalition (feat. Adam Frisch)
Send us a message! Really!This week on the Get More Smarter Podcast, keep your kids away from Gabe-ish Evans because he might want to hit them...or at least have that option. Then, we continue to examine the mystery of why the Arizona GOP is doing the job of the Colorado GOP, because don’t they have enough of their own problems with Kari friggin' Lake as their US Senate candidate? Donald Trump came to that part of Aurora that…really isn’t in Aurora. And the Big Lie is back in a big way for 2024, forcing us to ask the uncomfortable question: Will ANY Republican actually concede an election they lose this year? But first, you know him as the guy who nearly beat our 8th favorite member of Congress from Colorado in the wildest near-upset of the 2022 election: Adam Frisch joins us to talk about his campaign for the third congressional district and what it’s been like running against our favorite bread sandwich.

Oct 11, 2024 • 57sec
PSA: Here's How to Vote in the 2024 Election in Colorado
Send us a message! Really!Alright everyone, warm up those brains, sharpen up those pencils, ink up those pens, and google up those ballot initiatives, it’s time once again to VOTE IN COLORADO! That’s right, your ballots are IN THE MAIL TODAY so be on the lookout for those sweet sweet envelopes of democracy coming to you literally any minute now! Colorado really does have the best voting system in the ENTIRE COUNTRY so if you haven’t gotten a text or an email letting you know your ballot is on the way yet, go ahead and visit justvotecolorado.org where you can check your registration or register to vote, sign up for BALLOT TRAX to get a text or an email when your ballot is received and your vote is counted, or find the location of a Voter Service Polling Center or one of THOUSANDS of convenient drop boxes. From my house I can walk to no fewer than TWO of them without even breaking a sweat.This is the most important election of our lives people, so make sure you’re registered to vote, fill out that ballot all the way from the top to the bottom, and turn it in before 7pm on Tuesday, November 5th. Thank you so much for VOTING, and we’ll see you next time.

Oct 7, 2024 • 45min
Election Denial is Not Just a Mangled Joke About a River in Egypt
Send us a message! Really!This week on the Get More Smarter Podcast, Former Mesa County Clerk and Recorder Tina Peters was finally sentenced for breaking into her own county’s election equipment to try and prove the big lie; was justice served? The Vice Presidential debate was the veep of debates; we ask, “Will it matter”? Maybe one of the answers is “only if the president ends up looking pretty old!” Then, SURPRISE! it’s October! With only 30-ish days left in the most important election of our lives, what effect will a new, damning indictment of Donald Trump have on the election? And, we dig into the most competitive congressional race in Colorado just a few weeks before voters get their ballots in the mail.

Oct 1, 2024 • 46min
The Great Quick Hits Experiment
Send us a message! Really!This week on the Get More Smarter Podcast, it’s a quick hits only episode! We’re trying something new this week: Can we get through 15 topics in 30 minutes? Probably not! But you'll have to listen to find out.