Beyond The Bubble

By McClatchy Audio Lab

What's Beyond The Bubble about?

From McClatchy's Washington bureau, Kristin Roberts and Alex Roarty host a weekly look at what's happening inside the D.C. political bubble—and what that means for the battleground states beyond.

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Beyond The Bubble episodes:

11.19.2020
A holiday siesta
With the election (mostly) behind us, Beyond the Bubble is taking a holiday break. We’ll return with new episodes in the new year. In the meantime, thank you to all who have listened in throughout this past year—and we’ll talk...
11.12.2020
Trump's dubious and dangerous refusal to concede
Join McClatchy's Alex Roarty, David Catanese, and Michael Wilner as they discuss the merits, or lack thereof, of the president's legal challenge to overturn the apparent results of the 2020 election. Plus, we assess why Democrats suffered an across-the-board decline...
11.09.2020
President-elect Joe Biden
Join McClatchy’s Alex Roarty, Adam Wollner, David Catanese, and Francesca Chambers for a special episode of Beyond the Bubble, as they discuss the Democratic presidential nominee’s victory—and why Democrats have lots to ponder nonetheless. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit...
11.05.2020
Ugh, the polls
Join McClatchy's Alex Roarty and Kristin Roberts, the Miami Herald's Bianca Padró Ocasio and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram's Bud Kennedy as they discuss why there was yet another polling miss in this year's presidential election, and why Hispanic voters in Florida...
10.28.2020
The election is here!
Join McClatchy's Kristin Roberts, Alex Roarty, David Catanese, and Adam Wollner for a special pre-election episode of Beyond the Bubble. They'll talk about the state of play less than a week before the big day, have one last debate over...
10.22.2020
How Trump and Biden each think they can get to 270
Join McClachy's Kristin Roberts, Francesca Chambers, and Alex Roarty as they size up how each party's presidential nominee can most easily reach 270 electoral votes and why the upper Midwest is so important for both. Learn more about your ad choices....
10.15.2020
The state of play in Arizona
Join McClatchy's Kristin Roberts, Dave Catanese, and Alex Roarty as they discuss the battleground state of Arizona and why Joe Biden is holding a lead there over Donald Trump. Does Cindy McCain's endorsement of Biden make a big difference? Learn more...
10.08.2020
The state of play in Georgia
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Tia Mitchell joins McClatchy’s Kristin Roberts and Adam Wollner to break down the presidential race in Georgia, a newly emerging battleground where Joe Biden is attempting to become the first Democratic presidential nominee to win since 1992. Learn...
10.01.2020
The state of play in Michigan (and the whole Upper Midwest)
McClatchy's Kristin Roberts and Alex Roarty are joined this week by Tim Alberta, Politico Magazine's chief political correspondent, to debate the battleground state of Michigan, whether the public should believe the polls that show Donald Trump struggling there, and why...
09.24.2020
The state of play in North Carolina
Join McClatchy's Kristin Roberts and Alex Roarty and the Charlotte Observer's Jim Morrill as they discuss the all-important battleground of North Carolina, why Democrats are nervous about the absence of an on-the-ground presence in the state (and elsewhere), and what African-American...
09.17.2020
The state of play in Florida
The Miami Herald’s Bianca Padró Ocasio joins McClatchy’s Kristin Roberts and Adam Wollner to break down how the 2020 presidential race between Donald Trump and Joe Biden is shaping up in the critical swing state of Florida. They discuss what...
09.10.2020
Why Woodward's revelations might matter
Join McClatchy's Kristin Roberts, Francesca Chambers, and Alex Roarty as they debate whether Bob Woodward's new book will hurt Donald Trump's chances this November and why White House officials thought it wise for the president to speak with the author...
09.03.2020
Biden and Trump go head to head on law and order
Join McClatchy’s Alex Roarty, Adam Wollner and Brian Murphy as they break down Joe Biden’s speech responding to President Donald Trump’s law and order attacks and the civil unrest that has gripped some American cities. Plus, they discuss how the...
08.28.2020
RNC aftermath: The GOP (finally) settles on an anti-Biden message
Join McClatchy's Alex Roarty, Michael Wilner, and Francesca Chambers as they discuss the GOP convention that was and whether or not Donald Trump' s campaign had the kind of positive week it desperately needed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit...
08.21.2020
DNC aftermath: Did Joe Biden do enough?
Join McClatchy's Alex Roarty, David Catanese, and Adam Wollner as they discuss Biden's big acceptance speech, why the convention seemed intent on elevating Republican voices, and what they expect from next week's GOP convention. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
08.13.2020
Does Harris' selection change the presidential race?
Join McClatchy's Kristin Roberts, David Catanese, and Alex Roarty as they discuss the politics of Kamala Harris as Joe Biden's running mate. What does she bring to the ticket? Plus, Roarty interviews Sacramento Bee editorial editor Gil Duran about Harris'...
08.06.2020
Why Biden is expanding the battleground map
Join McClatchy's Adam Wollner, Francesca Chambers and David Catanese as they break down President Donald Trump and Joe Biden's diverging ad spending strategies in the battleground states less than three months out from the election. They also take one final...
07.30.2020
Pandemic politicking and veepstakes drama
Join McClatchy's Alex Roarty, Francesca Chambers, and Adam Wollner as they talk about how the pandemic has changed the way campaigns are run ... at least for one party. Plus, we dive into the latest rumors and speculation over who...
07.23.2020
Why Biden is underperforming with Hispanic voters (plus, Kristin's triumphant return)
Join McClatchy's Alex Roarty, David Catanese, and Kristin Roberts (making her long-awaited return to the program) as they discuss whether or not Trump's disadvantage in the polls is really as dire for the GOP as it seems. Also, the trio...
07.16.2020
Is 2020 just 2016 all over again? (No)
Join McClatchy's Adam Wollner, Alex Roarty, and Brian Murphy as they debate whether Joe Biden's polling lead on Donald Trump is as solid as it appears, or if reporters are making the same mistake as some of them did in...
07.09.2020
#NeverTrumpers turn on their own
Join McClatchy's Alex Roarty, Francesca Chambers, and David Catanese as they discuss why some anti-Trump Republican operatives are working against not only the president, but also some GOP senators. Plus, we examine why even Frank Luntz is baffled by Trump's...
06.25.2020
What a Trump comeback would look like
Join McClatchy's Alex Roarty, Francesca Chambers, and MIchael Willner as they discuss how President Donald Trump, whose poll numbers have plummeted over the spring, can possibly mount a comeback this election. Plus, should Democrats consider spending big money in states...
06.18.2020
The Bolton bombshell — does it matter?
Join McClatchy's Alex Roarty, Francesca Chambers, and Dave Catanese as they discuss whether or not the stunning allegations made in John Bolton's book — coming on the heels of other former senior Trump officials' criticism of the president — will...
06.11.2020
Can Trump bounce back?
Join McClatchy's Adam Wollner, David Catanese and Michael Wilner as they discuss whether President Donald Trump can rebound from a dip in the polls or if the 2020 race has fundamentally changed. They examine why Trump's attacks against Joe Biden haven't stuck,...
06.04.2020
Hear from the journalists covering the protests
Join McClatchy's Alex Roarty, The State's Joe Bustos, and The Miami Herald's Carl Juste as they discuss the protests that have erupted across the country after George Floyd's death in Minnesota. Hear what both men saw on the ground, whether...
05.28.2020
But is it different this time?
Join McClatchy's Alex Roarty, Francesca Chambers, and Adam Wollner as they debate whether Donald Trump's much-criticized campaign against Joe Scarborough will affect his political standing (even if his promotion of conspiracy theories hasn't damaged him in the past) before examining...
05.21.2020
Trump's puzzling vote-by-mail jeremiad
Join McClatchy's Alex Roarty, David Catanese, and Francesca Chambers as they discuss the recent controversy surrounding President Trump's denunciation of voting by mail. Then, the trio discusses why a down-ballot race in Arizona might hurt the president's chances in that pre-eminent...
05.14.2020
Democrats love to criticize Biden's campaign. Do they have a point?
Join McClatchy's Alex Roarty, Adam Wollner, and David Catanese as they discuss the reasons why many Democratic strategists have been eager to give (unsolicited) advice to the Biden campaign. Are they just needlessly anxious after 2016, or do they have...
05.07.2020
Gone to Carolina in my mind
Join McClatchy political correspondent Alex Roarty, McClatchy White House correspondent Francesca Chambers, and McClatchy North Carolina correspondent Brian Murphy as they discuss all things Tar Heel State. Is it a true presidential battleground? How concerned is the president's re-election campaign about...
04.30.2020
Where the battleground map stands six months out
Join McClatchy's Adam Wollner, David Catanese and Michael Wilner as they break down the prospects of President Donald Trump and Joe Biden in key swing states like Florida, North Carolina and Wisconsin with Election Day now six months away. They also...
04.23.2020
Trump, the pandemic, and the African-American vote
Join McClatlchy's Alex Roarty, Francesca Chambers, and Adam Wollner as they discuss how President Donald Trump's pandemic response has angered even some conservative black leaders, why Democrats might have a burgeoning problem with male voters of color, and how it's...
04.16.2020
The veepstakes cometh
Join McClatchy's Alex Roarty, David Catanese, and Francesca Chambers as they discuss the burgeoning speculation over who Joe Biden will pick to be his running mate this year, and whether he can afford to pass up choosing a woman of...
04.09.2020
The primary's (officially) over. Let's get to the general election
Join McClatchy's Alex Roarty, Adam Wollner, and David Catanese as they mark the official end of the Democratic presidential primary — and the beginning of the general election. We'll discuss why progressives say they are still optimistic about the future...
04.02.2020
Which governors are thriving, and which are struggling amid the pandemic?
Join McClatchy's Kristin Roberts, Adam Wollner, and Alex Roarty as they discuss the always complicated, often fraught relationship between the nation's governors and President Donald Trump as both try to respond to the coronavirus crisis. And then, they'll discuss whether...
03.26.2020
Joe Biden in a time of coronavirus
Join McClatchy's Alex Roarty, David Catanese, and Adam Wollner as they debate the challenge facing Joe Biden as he tries to communicate to the public even as President Donald Trump dominates attention. Afterward, the trio discusses who the former vice...
03.19.2020
Even coronavirus can't stop this primary
Join McClatchy's Kristin Roberts, Adam Wollner, and Alex Roarty as they participate in a special social-distancing episode of Beyond the Bubble. But even as the pandemic disrupts daily life, the politically minded troika is nonetheless determined to keep talking about...
03.13.2020
Biden is on the cusp of winning the primary — and somehow that's not the biggest story in politics
Join McClatchy's David Catanese, Alex Roarty, and Kristin Roberts (calling in from Miami) as they try to make sense of how Joe Biden effectively clinched the Democratic nomination for president this week, while also assessing Bernie Sanders' lasting impact on the...
03.06.2020
Part 2: No really, what just happened?
On Part 2 of a special breakdown of one of the wildest weeks in recent American political history, McClatchy political correspondents Alex Roarty and David Catanese, and politics editor Adam Wollner look at the now-former presidential campaigns of Elizabeth Warren,...
03.05.2020
Part 1: No really, what just happened?
Join McClatchy political correspondents Alex Roarty, Emily Cadei, and David Catanese as they process one of the wildest weeks in recent American political history with a special two-part episode. Today, Part 1: How did Joe Biden manage to improbably reclaim...
02.27.2020
Biden's firewall and Bernie's challenge: The state of play in South Carolina
Political correspondent Alex Roarty takes Beyond the Bubble on the road to Columbia, S.C., to talk about the primary there with The State newspaper's Mayaan Schechter and Jamie Self. They discuss whether Joe Biden is still the frontrunner in South Carolina,...
02.25.2020
BONUS: “Sometimes a chip on your shoulder in a race like this means a hell of a lot.”
On this special episode, McClatchy national political correspondent Alex Roarty and McClatchy national political editor Adam Wollner break down the surprising results out of Nevada. Then, Roarty and Maayan Schechter, politics and government reporter for The State newspaper, talk with...
02.20.2020
Michael Bloomberg’s very bad night
Join McClatchy political correspondents Emily Cadei, David Catanese, and Alex Roarty as they analyze last night’s chaotic debate, whether anyone can stop Bernie Sanders, and preview Nevada’s caucuses on Saturday. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
02.13.2020
Is Sanders 2020 the new Trump 2016?
McClatchy political correspondents Dave Catanese and Emily Cadei join politics editor Adam Wollner to discuss whether or not Bernie Sanders is the true frontrunner in the Democratic primary, what's next for Pete Buttigieg's and Amy Klobuchar's surprise campaigns, and if Joe...
02.06.2020
What the heck happened in Iowa? We try to make sense of the chaos
Join McClatchy political correspondents Alex Roarty and Emily Cadei, and McClatchy political editor Adam Wollner as they break down what's next for the two candidates who apparently had the most success in Iowa, Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg, while wondering...
01.30.2020
The caucuses are here! We break down the top five candidates
Join national political correspondents Alex Roarty and Emily Cadei and national politics editor Adam Wollner as they give their analysis of the leading candidates in Iowa — and ask what each of them will need to have a chance at...
01.23.2020
How an underdog like Elizabeth Warren might still win Iowa
Join McClatchy political correspondents Alex Roarty, David Catanese, and Emily Cadei as they discuss Warren's secret weapon in next month's caucuses, what David learned during his recent trip to Iowa, and the Sanders surge (well, sort of) in the polls. Learn...
01.16.2020
Fallout from the Warren-Sanders feud and the puzzling case of Cory Booker
Join McClatchy national political reporters Alex Roarty and Emily Cadei and McClatchy politics editor Adam Wollner as they debate whether Elizabeth Warren can harness momentum from Tuesday night's debate (even if the non-aggression pact with Bernie Sanders might be over),...
01.09.2020
Joe Biden cements his frontrunner status, and foreign policy takes center stage
Join national political correspondents Alex Roarty, David Catanese, and Emily Cadei as they explain why the former vice president suddenly looks like a firm (if still flawed) frontrunner, how the conflict with Iran will shape the Democratic presidential primary, and...
12.26.2019
Reviewing the tumultuous year that was — and predicting what's to come in 2020
Join McClatchy Vice President of News Kristin Roberts, political editor Adam Wollner, and politics reporter Alex Roarty as they explain what they learned in the year 2019, from the inability of anyone (well, almost anyone) to understand the ever-changing Democratic...
12.20.2019
Klobuchar's potential surge, Biden's performance, and the Buttigieg pile-on
Political correspondents Emily Cadei, David Catanese and Alex Roarty break down what Thursday's debate means for the Democratic primary. With the Iowa caucuses in little over a month, the race is entering its home stretch. Learn more about your ad choices....

What's Beyond The Bubble about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Beyond The Bubble episodes:

A holiday siesta

Trump's dubious and dangerous refusal to concede

President-elect Joe Biden

Ugh, the polls

The election is here!

How Trump and Biden each think they can get to 270

The state of play in Arizona

The state of play in Georgia

The state of play in Michigan (and the whole Upper Midwest)

The state of play in North Carolina

The state of play in Florida

Why Woodward's revelations might matter

Biden and Trump go head to head on law and order

RNC aftermath: The GOP (finally) settles on an anti-Biden message

DNC aftermath: Did Joe Biden do enough?

Does Harris' selection change the presidential race?

Why Biden is expanding the battleground map

Pandemic politicking and veepstakes drama

Why Biden is underperforming with Hispanic voters (plus, Kristin's triumphant return)

Is 2020 just 2016 all over again? (No)

#NeverTrumpers turn on their own

What a Trump comeback would look like

The Bolton bombshell — does it matter?

Can Trump bounce back?

Hear from the journalists covering the protests

But is it different this time?

Trump's puzzling vote-by-mail jeremiad

Democrats love to criticize Biden's campaign. Do they have a point?

Gone to Carolina in my mind

Where the battleground map stands six months out

Trump, the pandemic, and the African-American vote

The veepstakes cometh

The primary's (officially) over. Let's get to the general election

Which governors are thriving, and which are struggling amid the pandemic?

Joe Biden in a time of coronavirus

Even coronavirus can't stop this primary

Biden is on the cusp of winning the primary — and somehow that's not the biggest story in politics

Part 2: No really, what just happened?

Part 1: No really, what just happened?

Biden's firewall and Bernie's challenge: The state of play in South Carolina

BONUS: “Sometimes a chip on your shoulder in a race like this means a hell of a lot.”

Michael Bloomberg’s very bad night

Is Sanders 2020 the new Trump 2016?

What the heck happened in Iowa? We try to make sense of the chaos

The caucuses are here! We break down the top five candidates

How an underdog like Elizabeth Warren might still win Iowa

Fallout from the Warren-Sanders feud and the puzzling case of Cory Booker

Joe Biden cements his frontrunner status, and foreign policy takes center stage

Reviewing the tumultuous year that was — and predicting what's to come in 2020

Klobuchar's potential surge, Biden's performance, and the Buttigieg pile-on