Gloves Off

Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford has spent years taking the Trump administration to court, and now he’s running for governor. COURIER founder and publisher Tara McGowan sits down with Ford to talk tariffs, Nevada’s affordability crisis, his record as attorney general, and what he’s hearing from voters across the state. Ford also opens up about his own experience relying on public assistance and what leadership means to him.

Subscribe to @COURIERHQ for more conversations like this

Follow Tara McGowan on Instagram: @taramcgowanri

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

COURIER founder and publisher Tara McGowan sits down with South Carolina Democratic Senate candidate Dr. Annie Andrews to discuss her campaign, the Republican voters giving her a second look, and her fight to make healthcare more affordable. Andrews also opens up about taking on Washington's political establishment, challenging her own party, and why she's ready to fight for South Carolina families.

Subscribe to @COURIERHQ for more conversations like this

Follow Tara McGowan on Instagram: @taramcgowanri

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

COURIER Founder and Publisher Tara McGowan sits down with Florida State Rep. Angie Nixon, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Florida, to talk about her upset primary win, why she believes Florida is still worth fighting for, and how Democrats can reach voters they’ve too often overlooked. Nixon also discusses campaigning in red and rural counties, taking on the political establishment, and what she says it will take to build a winning coalition statewide.

Subscribe to @COURIERHQ for more conversations like this

Follow Tara McGowan on Instagram: @taramcgowanri

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

COURIER founder Tara McGowan sits down with national political correspondent Cam Stevenson to break down new polling showing the Epstein files could have a major impact on the 2026 midterms. They discuss why the issue is resonating across party lines, what it reveals about voter anger over corruption and accountability, and how it could shape the political landscape beyond November.

Subscribe to @COURIERHQ for more conversations like this

Follow Tara McGowan on Instagram: @taramcgowanri

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

COURIER founder and publisher Tara McGowan sits down with Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed to talk about his upset primary win, taking on corporate money, and why he believes Democrats need to rethink how they win voters. Plus, El-Sayed reflects on his viral Fox News showdown with Jesse Watters and what it will take to win Michigan in November.

Subscribe to @COURIERHQ for more conversations like this

Follow Tara McGowan on Instagram: @taramcgowanri

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tara McGowan sits down with Tiffany Muller, President of End Citizens United & Let America Vote, to talk about the corruption voters can no longer ignore. From Trump’s pay-to-play presidency to the “Epstein class” and the flood of big money in politics, they break down why Americans increasingly believe the system is rigged against them.

Subscribe to @COURIERHQ for more conversations like this

Follow Tara McGowan on Instagram: @taramcgowanri

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Across America, the free press is capitulating to the most corrupt administration this nation has ever seen. The irony? The man CNN pushed out for speaking truth to power is now more free — and powerful — than ever. And he won’t stop no matter how hard Trump tries to silence him. 

That’s why COURIER CEO and founder Tara McGowan wanted to sit down with Don Lemon, former CNN anchor and current host of The Don Lemon Show, for an honest conversation on the state of media right now. What does it really mean to be an independent journalist in 2026? Why is legacy media giving into Trump? Why should everyone be concerned for the First Amendment? Tara and Don get into all of it. 

They talk about the Elon Musk deal that fell apart just because Don sat him down for an interview and actually challenged him. They get into Don’s arrest by federal agents while covering the ICE protests in Minnesota and why he no longer trusts Trump’s DOJ. They get into how the Ellisons buying CBS and destroying everything the network has worked for is the same playbook coming for CNN. Once they tell you what to report, how to report and what to leave out, freedom of the press is over. 

The silver lining is how Don leaving CNN and going fully independent was the best thing that could have happened to him. He can report on important stories at length, like the Nolan Wells case, without anyone telling him it’s time to move on. He’s actually encouraging every journalist out there whose newsrooms are being bought up to go independent. Build something of your own. Because the state of media as we’ve known it is over. 

If you care about media, politics, free speech and the 2026 midterms, this episode is for you.

Follow and rate our show if you're enjoying what you hear!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why do Democrats keep losing? Heading into the 2026 midterms, the left is wondering how we can march, protest, go viral but still watch our wins get rolled back faster than we can win them. That's why Tara McGowan sat down with longtime movement strategist and activist Rashad Robinson, former head of Color of Change and author of the brand-new book From Presence to Power: How to Take On the Fights That Matter and Win.

Rashad's answer? Democrats have confused presence with power. Presence is the visibility, the retweets, the awareness. Power is being able to force people who don't want to do something to do it anyway. And until the left understands the difference, Democrats will keep getting played by Trump and the Republican Party. 

Take Chuck Schumer. Right after Trump won in 2016, Schumer told Rashad and other civil rights leaders not to worry about the Supreme Court filibuster because Orrin Hatch was an "institutionalist." He wasn't worried about Attorney General Jeff Sessions either because he and Sessions "worked out together in the gym." We all know how that turned out. It's a perfect case study in what Rashad calls "magical thinking" — the Democratic fantasy that Republicans will do the right and moral thing when all the evidence says they won't.

So Tara and Rashad get into all of it, including why Democrats celebrate wins the right would never celebrate, why moral clarity alone is a losing strategy, why AIPAC and big tech money still control Congress, how everyday people can build real power and win elections heading into the 2026 midterms and so much more. 

Follow Tara McGowan on Instagram: @taramcgowanri

And rate our show if you're enjoying what you hear!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Epstein files are revealing a decades-long failure to hold powerful people accountable. Tara McGowan talks with New Mexico State Representative Andrea Romero, who helped launch the country’s first state-level truth commission focused on Epstein, about what happened at Zorro Ranch, why authorities failed to investigate, and what it will take to finally uncover the truth and deliver justice for survivors.

Follow and rate our show if you're enjoying what you hear!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Voting Rights Act turns 61 this week — except it’s been gutted by a Supreme Court that gave red states a pass to redraw their maps and push Black voters out of political power. So Tara McGowan sat down with the one person who’s been organizing people to fight back. LaTosha Brown, co-founder of Black Voters Matter is the co-founder of Black Voters Matter, organizer, singer and one of the most inspiring voices right now. 

They get into the Supreme Court’s attack on voting rights, the wave of aggressive redistricting tearing through the South and what it’s really going to take to protect Black voters ahead of the 2026 midterms. While it’s a heavy conversation about authoritarianism, voter suppression, the capture of both the Republican and Democratic party and how can build what the next 250 years of American democracy looks like, it’s also full of hope, faith and a real call to action.

Timestamps:

7:37: What is Black Voters Matter? 

10:33: Where does Black Voters Matter work?

12:44: How does gutting the VRA reshape the entire country?

24:01: How do we become the architects of what comes next? 

33:33: What fighting tactics actually work? 

43:27: Where is the hope right now? 

51:34: Where do you source your courage?

Follow and rate our show if you enjoy what you're hearing!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices