

The Conversation with Dasha Burns
POLITICO
The Conversation will return September 14! Thanks for listening.The Conversation with POLITICO’s Dasha Burns is a fresh take on the traditional Sunday show format, going beyond conventional wisdom and short sound bites to broaden the political conversation. Each week, Dasha will sit down with one of the most compelling – and sometimes unexpected – power players in Washington and beyond for a real discussion about how they are shaping the current moment.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Sep 2, 2019 • 29min
Nerdcast bonus: The presidential race enters a new phase
On this episode of the Nerdcast with guest host John Harris: The presidential campaign may feel like it’s been going on forever, but it’s about to enter a new phase. POLITICO founding editor John Harris joined reporters Holly Otterbein, Natasha Korecki and David Siders to talk about why authenticity is so elusive, whether the left is ascendant in the Democratic party, and why candidate selfies are all the rage.
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Aug 30, 2019 • 23min
Dem campaigns get desperate after debate shutout
This week on the Nerdcast with Scott Bland: More than half of the Democratic presidential field got bounced from the party’s debate circuit Wednesday night, but they’re not meekly exiting stage left. POLITICO campaign reporter Elena Schneider explains what actions they might take against the DNC’s debate rules. Also, voters across the country — from California to Pennsylvania to Massachusetts — grilled House Democrats on the potential impeachment of President Donald Trump at a series of events this month. POLITICO reporter Sarah Ferris describes what she observed on the ground at town halls.
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Aug 23, 2019 • 22min
Trump team braces donors for potential recession
This week on the Nerdcast with Scott Bland: White House reporter Nancy Cook explains how the Trump administration may be putting on a happy face in public, but in private, they’re worrying about a global economic slowdown triggering a U.S. recession. Also, White House reporter Daniel Lippman looks inside the president's feud with Tom Barrack, on of his closest friends.
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Aug 16, 2019 • 25min
Trump finally tries the patience of Evangelicals
This week on the Nerdcast with host Scott Bland: Evangelicals chafe at Trump’s blasphemy— POLITICO White House reporter Gabby Orr explains why. Also, POLITICO's senior politics editor Charlie Mahtesian joins national politics reporters Chris Cadelago and Natasha Korecki to break down what's happening on the ground in Iowa.
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Aug 9, 2019 • 28min
Is Joe Biden’s brother the next Billy Carter?
This week on the Nerdcast with guest-host Blake Hounshell: Over his decades in office, ‘Middle-Class Joe’s’ family fortunes have closely tracked his political career. We have POLITICO's Ben Schreckinger on to discuss his investigation on former Vice President Joe Biden's family finances.
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Aug 2, 2019 • 19min
The post-debate state of the race
This week on the Nerdcast with host Scott Bland: POLITICO national political reporter Elena Schneider and senior politics editor Charlie Mahtesian break down who came out on top in this week's democratic debates. Also: A divided Federal Reserve is cutting interest rates for the first time in more than a decade. What’s that mean and why does it matter? POLITICO financial services reporter Victoria Guida explains.
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Aug 1, 2019 • 9min
Dissecting a moment: Booker piles on Biden
Cory Booker, in search of his first bona fide “moment” as he tries to work his way up in the presidential race, came ready to lunge into his critique of Joe Biden’s new criminal justice proposal as too little, too late to fix the problem of mass incarceration, after Biden’s authorship of punitive crime legislation in the ‘90s. POLITICO national political reporter Chris Cadelago joins host Scott Bland to analyze an important moment from round two of the second Democratic debate on Tuesday night.
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Jul 31, 2019 • 9min
'You're wrong' vs. 'I'm right': Sanders and Warren spar with moderates
"You're wrong" for criticizing “Medicare for All,” Sen. Bernie Sanders told former Rep. John Delaney in the first answer of the night — setting up an evening of conflict between the left and the center. POLITICO health care reporter Dan Diamond joins host Scott Bland to analyze an important moment from round one of the second Democratic debate on Tuesday night.
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Jul 29, 2019 • 13min
2020 Dems prepare to come out swinging in this week's debates
On this special episode of the Nerdcast with host Scott Bland, POLITICO White House reporter Chris Cadelago on the things he'll be watching for during this week's debates.
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Jul 26, 2019 • 23min
Democrats plot a post-Mueller strategy
This week's Congressional appearance by Robert S. Mueller III landed with a thud, so what's next for Democrats itching to impeach the president? Sarah Ferris from POLITICO's Congressional team joins the show to explain why Nancy Pelosi's team is maintaining a united front in public, even if they're arguing behind closed doors.Plus, POLITICO's Chief Economic Correspondent Ben White breaks down how the president's advisers are trying to safeguard the long-running economic boom, even if it means walking away from their opposition to deficit spending. We take a look inside the "do no harm" caucus.
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