Steve Kornacki joined us this week for a deep dive into the upcoming U.S. elections. Steve broke down the battleground states for the presidency, the races that will decide the Senate and the House, and the overall demographic and issues-based trends that will ultimately impact the results in November.

We are joined this week by the Libertarian Party's candidate for President, Chase Oliver (4:02-40:38), and Vice President, Mike ter Maat (40:46-1:29:42), for wide-ranging conversations about third-parties, policies an Oliver-ter Maat administration would pursue, what success in November would look like, and much, much more.

We are joined this week by lobbyist Austin Jackson to try to examine the present and future of college athletics in the time of NIL, the transfer portal, and shifting conferences. We analyze the roles that Congress, the NLRB, and the courts will play in defining the future of college sports.

We stayed up past Ricky's bedtime to discuss our immediate reactions to and takeaways from the debate between former President Trump and Vice-President Harris.

We are joined by Dr. Rachael Navarre to discuss the findings from her most recent book, including why populism, extremism, and conspiracy theories have taken hold in so many democracies across the world over the past decade.

We welcome Jacquetta Van Zandt back to the program to get her thoughts on the last two months of Democratic politics. We discuss the abandonment of President Biden, examine how Vice President Harris has captured the imagination of the party, debate whether the country is ready for a Black/Indian/woman president, and offer some advice for the Harris campaign moving forward. Whether you're just tuning in or having been following every detail, you'll enjoy this conversation.

We are joined this week by Simpson College Professor of History Nick Proctor to examine the many parallels between 1968 and 2024. The events of 1968 culminated in the infamous Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Will the events of 2024 produce a similar Democratic Convention in Chicago this week?

While we are still in the honeymoon phase of the Harris candidacy, we take a look at what candidate Harris stands for policy-wise and how policy under a Harris administration might differ from both the Trump and Biden administrations.

We begin this week by talking about the opening week of the 2024 Summer Olympic Games, particular stories that have caught our eyes, and the general feeling of togetherness that rooting for Team USA brings and then juxtapose that positivity with the direction our political discourse has taken since the new presidential race has begun in earnest.

We recap one of the wildest weeks in modern U.S. political history, starting with the assassination attempt on President Trump, the ensuing RNC and President Trump's selection of J.D. Vance as his running mate, and ending with President Biden's decision to drop out of the race and to endorse Vice-President Harris as his successor.