Finding Common Battle Grounds

In this episode of Finding Common Battle Grounds, we started with two topics but then led us off on two tangents. First, we discussed the Fox News settlement with Dominion Voting machines and Fox News's firing of Tucker Carlson. Tom wasn't as familiar with all of the revelations that resulted from the discovery part of the lawsuit that illustrated that the Fox News administration, personalities, and staff knew that they were lying about Dominion but did it anyway in order to maintain high ratings. Even so, Tom thinks that the dishonesty of Fox News is the same with all news outlets and that none of them can be fully trusted whereas Ryan is convinced that Fox News doesn't care about truth but only about profits. Ryan's position on the media is that many mainstream news outlets can generally be trusted to report the news and most are close to neutral. This leads pretty far down the rabbit hole as they end up discussing where and how they get their news. We then turn to the recent confidential document leak that led to the arrest of Jack Teixeira, an Air National Guard airman, who leaked hundreds of classified documents via a Discord server. We mostly sidestep the issue of whether such information should be made available (both of us think we have been slightly misled about the state of the war in Ukraine) and instead focus on what the US should be doing in Ukraine and whether we should be as involved as we are in fighting this proxy war with Russia. Ryan is actually more hawkish here, arguing that the US really does need to intervene in defense wars defending democracies while Tom is more circumspect and thinks that weaponizing the dollar may end up hurting the US in the end and replacing the dollar as the world's reserve currency.

In this episode of Finding Common Battle Grounds, Tom and Ryan tackle two topics. First is the impending arraignment of Donald Trump in New York City. We both agree that Trump likely broke the law. But we also agree that this kind of media attention really only helps Trump as he works to destroy trust in American institutions in the US, like the media and the legal system. We also agree that Trump is unlikely to serve time in prison because different rules apply to wealthy individuals. We then turn to the recently passed legislation in Utah - the Social Media Regulation Act - that prohibits social media accounts for anyone under 18 without parental permission, requires social media companies to put in curfews, make their products less addictive, and allows parents complete access to their children's social media. We both agree that social media is harmful, particularly for young people, and aren't opposed to regulation. We also both agree that it would be better for parents to manage this than to have the government manage it, but it is probably an important restraint on social media companies. We finally, agree that one aspect of the law - complete access to the social media of their children - is likely to have some very negative consequences for some kids as they will have no expectation of privacy, which can easily be abused.

In this episode of Finding Common Battle Grounds, Tom and Ryan tackle four topics. First up is a case of alleged blasphemy in a high school in England where four students were accused of desecrating a copy of the Quran. We both agree that blasphemy laws are outdated and shouldn't exist. We then turn to a discussion of ESG and the recent federal legislation on this. ESG is Environment, Social, and Corporate Governance and became an issue when Republicans passed legislation prohibiting Wall Street fund managers from considering ESG factors when making investment decisions. Both of us agree this is partisan pandering with no real benefit for anyone. We then turned to the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank. This led us to a discussion of the power of the Fed and what is effectively a bailout of the bank and the depositors. Tom argued that this is a bad precedent and Ryan suggested he would have been fine with the depositors not getting all of their money back. Finally, we discussed recent and current actions by the Florida legislature and governor to regulate higher education in the state by cracking down on DEI and transgender initiatives at colleges and universities and their attempts to restrict faculty members' abilities to teach about critical theory. Tom agreed with Ryan that this is a massive over-reach by the legislature, it violates free speech and academic freedom, and it reflects the fact that conservatives realize they cannot win in an open market of ideas, so they are trying to restrict what people can think and what faculty can teach. We did end on a point of disagreement when we considered a related but tangential topic about restricting what teachers in primary and secondary education can say or teach to kids, particularly as relates to sexuality.

In this episode of Finding Common Battle Grounds, Ryan and Tom chat about several topics. First, we examine the initiative to raise the age at which young people can marry to 18 and a push against this by Republicans in the state of Wyoming. We then turn to the 2024 Presidential election and Joe Biden's continued insinuation that he plans to run for office. We consider whether Biden's approach is helping to keep a media frenzy at bay. Finally, we discuss various developments in migration policy - the transportation of migrants from one state to another and of migrants inside the US to the Canadian border, as well as Biden's move toward a stricter immigration policy at the southern border.

In this episode of Finding Common Battle Grounds, we tackle two topics. First up is "How is it acceptable for a pathological liar like Republican George Santos to retain his House seat?" Both Tom and Nate agree that politicians aren't known for their honesty. George Santos differs in degree, not in kind, from other politicians. They also agree that this boils down to entrenched political power; Republicans cannot afford to remove him from office as he is key to helping them hold their slim majority. The second topic is, "How is it problematic for the Biden administration to agree to send modern tanks to Ukraine?" Nate and Tom agree that the military-industrial complex in the US, in some ways, drives our foreign policy. The US is basically the world's police force and that is tied to our military spending and military superiority. Both agree that isn't a great look for the US and would like to see the US less involved in wars.

In this episode of Finding Common Battle Grounds, Tom and Nate tackle capitalism. The first question they address is: "How is capitalism the solution?" Tom argues that capitalism has ushered in an era of prosperity for many people and that the invisible hand of the market is a highly efficient and fair system for setting prices. Nate argues that capitalism has helped develop the means of production, which is a necessary step toward a future where people do not have to work as hard. There is general agreement between Nate and Tom on these points. The second question is: "How is capitalism the problem?" Nate argues that capitalism has resulted in massive inequality and, while worker productivity has improved, the result of that productivity increase has not been higher wages for everyone but for the owners of the means of production - the capitalists. Tom argues that capitalism does lead to exploitation and inequality, but that it is the worst economic system aside from all the others of which we are aware. Again, there is general agreement on these points and both agree that capitalism has problems and benefits but neither is precisely sure how to move forward to address the problems.

In this episode of Finding Common Battle Grounds, Nate and Tom tackle two topics: (1) Why was the Biden Administration wrong to bust the railroad workers union? (2) How are Republicans responsible for the smaller-than-expected mid-term red wave? On the first topic, Nate argues that the Biden Administration revealed that their allegiance really lies with corporate profits rather than the unions. This was particularly galling since Democrats tend to side with unions - in principle - and unions often tend to vote for Democrats as a result. Tom argued that unions have now become part of the economic marketplace and strikes are the strongest weapon workers have to push for better pay and conditions. By removing that option, Tom argued that the Biden Administration hurt workers. While taking different paths to get there, both Nate and Tom argued that the Biden Administration hurt workers with the forced agreement. On the second topic, both Nate and Tom agreed that polling appears to be problematic when it comes to predicting election outcomes, but it's not clear why. It also isn't exactly clear who or what is to blame for the much smaller red wave than was expected - Trump, the end of Roe v Wade, or something else. What they did agree on is that, while voters do tend to side with their party, voters may be slightly more sophisticated in their voting practices than we typically think.

In this new episode and format of Finding Common Battle Grounds, we introduce a new member of the podcast team, Nate Triplett, and mix up the structure and format a bit. Ryan moves to the moderator role, Tom dons the conservative hat, and Nate steps in as our resident progressive. Also, instead of coming prepared with questions to try to get the other person to agree, both the conservative and progressive critique two topics to see if we can find common battlegrounds. First, we discuss Ron DeSantis's efforts to arrest former felons in Florida who were approved to vote by the State of Florida and voted, only to find out they were not supposed to be able to vote and were arrested. What are the consequences of arresting such individuals for democracy? Both agree that such actions are intended to and will have a chilling effect on people voting. Second, we explore whether the mainstream media is being too hard on Elon Musk as the new owner of Twitter. Both participants agree that the mainstream media is leveling rather meaningless criticisms of Musk, but slightly disagree as well. Tom argues that the mainstream media are showing their liberal biases in attacking Musk, who is increasingly libertarian and conservative in his views. Nate argues that their criticisms of Musk are missing the bigger issue - that rich people are controlling media outlets, leading to monopolies and censorship of dissenting views. Some great bonus content as well.

In this final episode of Season 2 of Finding Common Battle Grounds, we have a big announcement: Josh is stepping away from the podcast for a while. We discuss what led to this. Josh doesn't feel like we've made much progress in finding common ground or understanding each other's perspectives. This came to a head in the last few episodes. Josh is also no longer enjoying making the podcast and wants to prioritize the relationship between Josh and Ryan over the podcast. We discuss what this means for the bigger political conversation in the US.

Also, a bidet giveaway!

NOTE: This isn't the end of Finding Common Battle Grounds… Yet. Tom and Ryan are considering their options for continuing the podcast. If you're interested in joining as a participant in the podcast, please reach out.

In this episode of Finding Common Battle Grounds, we think about the common survey finding that people don't think the US is headed in the right direction (as of August 2022, about 74% of Americans think it is headed in the wrong direction). We do find a fair amount of agreement. Both agree that it would be nice if the country tried to reduce poverty and hunger, if we reduced pollution, and if people were less dogmatic and more open to seeing other people's perspectives. We also agree that people continue to be worried about inflation. We also agree that there are people who feel marginalized, though precisely why they feel that way leads us down a path of disagreement. We conclude that we don't really have a good solution for getting people to feel like the country is moving in the right way, as, historically, that has required a gangbusters stock market and a common enemy.