Beyond Politics

Mark Bergman has advised some of America's best-known political leaders on effective messaging...and he's worried. We need to do better among non-college educated voters, but he says that "the Democratic Party is not giving them an option and an economic alternative. They agree with us on all these other issues, but the Democratic party needs an economic message. Can you tell me what it is? I couldn't."  Mark and Matt run through how things are shaping up not just for the midterms but beyond, and how Democrats can start to make more inroads with the voters that they desperately need.

Photo by Max LaRochelle on Unsplash

Chris Hill of Motley Fool Money explains what's going on with the Elon-Twitter deal meltdown.  Also, the economy is looking up, and expectations are super low, so could we be in for a market surge on even meh earnings reports? And a huge summer movie benchmark for Hollywood.

A spat between the White House and progressives was followed in short order by a slew of stories about whether Biden is too old to run again.  Coincidence? Also, should the nomination process become a reality show? Is there really room for a centrist party in America?  And is there a Constitutional right to eat dinner?

Paul and Kevin Landrigan cover the front page New York Times article about awakening democracy in Croydon, New Hampshire. The town rose up, shook itself off, and organized to confront Free Staters who had taken advantage of citizen complacency. They also cover the race for NH  Governor. A new poll from Democratic candidate Senator Tom Sherman gives him a shot with abortion politics as the driving issue.

Mark Putnam has helped to elect 11 governors, 10 senators and dozens of House members. He may be best known for the fact that when Barack Obama had enough money in 2008 to produce not a 30 second ad but a 30-minute film, he turned to Mark Putnam to direct it. According to the Washington Post, Mark has “a reputation in Beltway circles as the go-to guy for candidates running tough races in red states.” So as the Democrats face down an election cycle with nothing but tough races, Mark joins the show to tell some amazing stories from his decades behind the camera working with America's top leaders.  Plus, he reveals his hints for how to make an effective ad in this day and age and what Democrats need to do in 2022 and beyond.

Privacy experts and pro-choice advocates are trying to get a handle on a new threat in post-Dobbs America: that our online behavior in apps, searches, or even just keeping our phones in in our pocket at the wrong time could send women or doctors to jail. Its a wild west of data collection and sale out there, and the new patchwork of abortion laws across states could mean that our digital footprints create very real legal perils.  What if you need an abortion and you're in a state like Texas that puts a bounty on you?  What if there's a new law that allows prosecutors to go after doctors if they provide care to women crossing state lines from states where abortion is restricted? How much information are we putting out, who might get it, and how might it be used against us?  Rob Shavell, CEO of digital privacy provider Abine, joins to explain this emerging issue.

Photo by Rahul Chakraborty on Unsplash

From time to time, Paul and Matt take a step back to look more deeply at a few topics, and in this episode, we examine the narrative about January 6 Committee star witness Cassidy Hutchinson's age, and what role young professionals really play in Washington.  Are they bystanders, or the power behind the thrones? [hint: it depends].  Also, Mitt Romney's widely-discussed piece in the Atlantic claims that "America is in Denial."  Is it actually Mitt who is in denial? Or does he have an important point?

From time to time, we all need a break from the news, current events, and politics.On this show, the way we do that is to go way, way beyond politics every few months and hear about what's going on at the frontier of human discovery in space. Today we talk about the amazing views of all the planets in our solar system available in the sky right now, the first image of the black hole at the center of our galaxy, the plan to return to the moon and send humans to Mars, and a postcard from interstellar space and decades ago from the Voyager spacecraft. Our guest is "The SKYGUY," John S. Gianforte, an Astronomer and Director of the University of New Hampshire (UNH) Observatory.

We welcome back two friends of the show, Mario Broussard and Alex Ivey who are senior vice president and vice president of research respectively at Global Strategy Group, one of the premier polling, research, and public affairs companies in America. Mario and Alex have just released the latest edition of their fascinating research project The Melting Pot: An Ongoing Look at Racial Politics in America, which is intended to take the temperature of Black America on political issues, social attitudes, and voting behavior. 

In the wake of the Dobbs decision overturning a constitutional right to abortion, we wanted to re-release a discussion we had two months ago with Dr. Randall Balmer of Dartmouth College about the real history of the religious right's crusade against abortion. Because this moment is the direct result of a tactical decision that religious conservatives almost stumbled into 44 years ago. In fact, Dr. Balmer says that under closer examination, the real driver of the story at the time was not really abortion at all. It was segregation. Dr. Balmer joins us to explain what actually happened, and why it matters so much today.