775 Alive

With the America 250 Anniversary approaching, Crystal and Scott sit down to talk about the Declaration of Independence, both the history and its continuing resonance. After Crystal stumps Scott with some 1776 trivia, we discuss celebrations of the the holiday, how independence not only marked a new stage in the world but united the fractious colonies, the role of the militia and what became the Second Amendment, and the higher values embodied in the Declaration of Independence--and how those values are finding renewed interest in, among other things, attendance at the FIFA 2026 World Cup.

Nevada's 2026 Primary Election Day was June 9th, 2026--a week after California's. Crystal and Scott discuss the results of Nevada's primaries, particularly the bitterly contested Congressional District 2 (CD-2) race. We also look at the impact of AI marketing, the low voter turnout--particularly from Non-Partisans--and some predictions for the upcoming General Election in November.

For a list of the statewide primary results and information on voter turnout, visit the Nevada Secretary of State's Silver State Elections website: https://silverstateelection.nv.gov/

The concept of "cashless bail" has been a centerpiece of many of the legal reform movements for the past 6-8 years. Crystal and Scott sit down with Attorney Ken W. Good of the Professional Bondmen of Texas and the Bail Post Podcast to discuss the concept. Topics include the origin of the "cashless bail" idea, how it compares to traditional surety bail systems, and whether it is actually addressing many of the issues that legal reformers claim it will. We also briefly discuss Nevada's modified cash bail system that requires an in-person hearing and a rigorous financial assessment before a judge can set bail.

Professional Bondsmen of Texas: https://pbtx.com/
The Bail Post Podcast: https://www.thebailpost.com/

Metin Pekin's recent "Breaking Democracy's Chains" makes an argument that political parties, especially those in the United Kingdom and the United States, have perverted the democratic process in both countries. Crystal and Scott sit down with him to discuss the American Founding Fathers' views of political parties, some of the problems the current party systems are creating, and the outline of his No-Party Democracy program to restructure governments to allow legislative representatives more autonomy and make executive offices more representative of the people.

https://www.metinpekin.com/
Order from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Breaking-Democracys-Chains-Fortifying-Democracy/dp/1778490867/

Homeless population growth has been a problem in both Las Vegas and rural areas such as Pahrump and Elko. Crystal and Scott sit down with David Marlon of Vegas Stronger, a Las Vegas non-profit dedicated to breaking the cycle of addiction, mental illness, and homelessness by providing compassionate, trauma-informed, evidence-based behavioral healthcare. They discuss the role that that drug addiction and mental illness plays in the homeless issue, why many strategies to address homelessness do not work, and some possible solutions. 
David Marlon is also running for Las Vegas City Council, Ward 6.
Vegas Stronger: https://vegasstronger.org/

Mid-decade redistricting and charges of gerrymandering continue to roil national political discussions, leading 775 Alive to revisit the issue. Dr. Sondra Cosgrove of the College of Southern Nevada and Vote Nevada joins Crystal and Scott to break apart some of the national and Nevada concerns. After looking at the history of gerrymandering, we delve into what should be the basis of “communities of interest” in redistricting: political parties? Race? Socio-economic status? Shared life-style? Local governmental units? And who decides—legislatures or independent commissions?

Vote Nevada: https://vote-nevada.org/
Vote Nevada blog: https://vote-nevada-blog.org/
[email protected]

With the 2026 Primary Elections getting ready to start in Nevada, Crystal and Scott dig into some of the pressing issues for the 775 Alive. Two key ones emerge: data centers and water rights. Both of these are dominating a heavily-contested Congressional District 2 (CD-2) race in northern Nevada and are central to an emerging rural-urban election divide across the country.

With the rapid increase in the number of nonpartisan voters in Nevada, Crystal and Scott sat down to discuss some of the reasons for switching to a nonpartisan "open primary" with Chad Peace of the Independent Voter Project. Chad developed the voter outreach strategy for the initiative that created California’s current nonpartisan primary system. The conversations range over the motivations for a nonpartisan primary system, the rights of political parties compared to those of individual voters, examples of various non-closed primaries and ranked-choice systems, and lots about the current situations in California and Nevada.

The Independent Voter Project: 
YouTube: www.youtube.com/@Independent-Voter
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1VnqtqjZh9EbmDtVxvHF3R?si=d0ecbf0fae384b14
Applepodcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/independent-voter-podcast/id1680559155
To find more about the Independent Voter Project, visit IVN.US

Crystal and Scott sat down with our good friends from Talk With A Conservative, Patricia and Garland Brinkley, to discuss the biggest buzzword of the 2026 Election: Affordability. What does affordability mean? Is it a measurable economic factor or a political narrative? Garland Brinkley's background as a PhD Economist guides us through topics such as housing costs, inflation, energy costs, the impact of tariffs, and generational wealth transfer, as well as looking at historical parallels. We conclude with a discussion of whether affordability will be the dominant issue in the 2026 Midterm Elections.

NOTE: There are some audio issues as we were experimenting with some new equipment. We apologize for that.

Talk With A Conservative is a weekly radio show on KSHP (1400 am/107.1 fm) in Las Vegas each Monday from 7-8 pm  PT. It can be streamed live from the KSHP app (https://www.kshp.com/) and is available next day on most major podcast platforms.

Crystal and Scott sat down to do a radio interview with Talk With A Conservative, a Las Vegas radio show hosted by Patricia and Garland Brinkley. We were also joined by guest host David Flippo. The wide-ranging conversation looks at differences between the rural and urban environments and what this means for Nevada's politics.
Talk With A Conservative airs weekly on Mondays at 7pm PT on KSHP (1400 am and 107.1 fm) and on the KSHP app. The recordings are available a few days later. 
This episode is audio only and contains the advertisements from the original broadcast.