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Amanda and Faiz speak with Astead Herndon, a national politics reporter for the New York Times, political analyst for CNN, and guest host of "The Daily."

The trio talk about two voting rights bills – the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act – and discuss why some members of the Congressional Black Caucus have expressed hesitation at some of the more transformational elements of the For the People Act. Then, they get into the Democrats' disastrous down-ballot performances in the past 10+ years, what the Republican base really wants, and whether or not winning elections is enough to save American from itself. It's a raw, incisive conversation and one where Amanda, Faiz, and Astead don't pull any of their punches.

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What is the role of political journalism? Years from now, what will people take away from this period in the Democratic party's evolution? What role did former President Obama play in the 2020 primary election?

For the answers to these questions, and many more, Amanda and Faiz turn to to Edward-Isaac Dovere, lead political correspondent for "The Atlantic" and author of the new book, "Battle for the Soul: Inside the Democrats' Campaigns to Defeat Trump." The trio have a boisterous conversation that includes everything from Faiz and Isaac's Bernie Sanders impersonations, to Jill Biden's cursing, and an anecdote about a wistful Mike Bloomberg.

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Elise Stefanik, a moderate Republican who zealously supports former President Trump and his lies about the election, has replaced hardcore conservative Liz Cheney as the G.O.P. Conference Chair.

Amanda and Faiz talk to Charlotte Alter, a senior correspondent for TIME and author of "The Ones We've Been Waiting For." Charlotte profiled Stefanik in her book, and since then she has reported on the Congresswoman's transformation from Trump-skeptic to Trump-enabler. The trio discuss Stefanik, and what her rise says about the current G.O.P, Cheney's next steps, and "cancel culture."

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According to The Center for Responsive Politics, the 2020 elections cost a combined $14.4 billion. That money has to come from somewhere, and while the last cycle saw an unprecedented number of small donors, a lot of those dollars came from billionaires.

Amanda and Faiz talk with Teddy Schleifer, a senior reporter covering money and influence (or billionaires) for Recode. They discuss how tech billionaires with relatively little political experience, like Reid Hoffman and Dustin Moskovitz, spent gobs of money trying to get Democrats get elected; whether it actually helped; and whether Democrats should partner with billionaires in the first place.

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Virginia is for lovers – and, for a long time, it was also for Confederate nostalgia and Republican politics. Richmond, Virginia's capital, was one of the capitals of the Confederacy. Virginia still has over 150 public locations, like streets and parks, that bear Confederate names – for example, Lee Jackson Memorial Highway, which is named after Gen. Robert E. Lee and Gen. Stonewall Jackson. So, given the state's Confederate pride, it should come as no surprise that, from 1968-2004, the state voted exclusively for Republican presidential candidates. But starting in 2008, things began to change. That year, and every four years since, Virginia's electors have gone to the Democratic presidential candidate. Now, Virginia is Democratic trifecta – the party control both legislatures and the governor's office – and the state is renaming its streets and parks to get rid of any associations to the Confederacy.

Tram Nguyen played a huge role in flipping Virginia blue. She is the co-founder and Co-Executive Director of New Virginia Majority, an organization that has registered nearly 300,000 new voters and knocked on 3.1 million doors to get out the vote. They've also played a vital role in restoring formerly incarcerated Virginians' right to vote, expanding Medicaid, and getting undocumented immigrants the right to drivers' licenses. Amanda and Faiz speak with her to learn how she did it and to find out what advice she has for activists and politically engaged citizens, in purple and red states, with similar aspirations.

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Frank Luntz is one of the most famous pollsters in politics. Called "the Nostradamus of pollsters," by Sir David Frost, Luntz is perhaps best known for two things: the focus groups he conducts on TV and his work shaping political language on behalf of Republican politicians. For example, he somewhat notoriously counseled them to say "climate change" instead of "global warming" and "electronic intercepts" instead of "eavesdropping."

In recent years, Luntz shifted from an avowedly partisan Republican into a more a heterodox thinker, and he has expressed remorse for some of his past work. Luntz butted heads Donald Trump before and after the 2016 election, but nonetheless, he also reportedly helped shape the administration's language on immigration.

Amanda and Faiz planned to speak with Frank about voters' appetites for progressive policies, the state of the Republican party, and COVID-hesitancy, and they did – to an extent. The conversation quickly took a combative turn. Listen in to find out why ...

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Ninety percent of the news out there tells you nothing about where the world is going — ten percent of it tells you everything. On the News Items Podcast with John Ellis, John and Rebecca Darst dissect news items that help you understand where the world is going. Tune in every Monday through Thursday afternoon to hear decades of journalistic experience packed into 20 minutes of insight, plus guest interviews on finance, U.S. politics, foreign affairs, science and technology.

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