Polilogue

By Steidle-Soto

What's Polilogue about?

Polilogue dives into the conversations that dominate the Sunday morning political shows.  We look at the policymaker, the politician, and the journalist—because each is critical and each demands criticism.  With extensive audio clips from the Sunday shows, Polilogue is released in time for your Monday commute.

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LAST EPISODE

Episode 291: A Goodbye Message

12.20.2022

In this special episode, Naomi and Brendan say goodbye to Polilogue. After more than 5 years and 291 episodes, we are bidding farewell to the podcast in this bittersweet episode. Thank you to all of our supporters and listeners over ...

Polilogue episodes:

12.20.2022 Episode 291: A Goodbye Message In this special episode, Naomi and Brendan say goodbye to Polilogue. After more than 5 years and 291 episodes, we are bidding farewell to the podcast in this bittersweet episode. Thank you to all of our supporters and listeners over ...
11.23.2022 SC Ep. 8: Reform the Court and the Media In the last episode of our Supreme Court series, we discuss the prospect for reform of the Supreme Court. We review the analysis of reform released by the Presidential Commission, suggest some of our own ideas for reforming the court—and ...
10.26.2022 SC Ep. 7: The Pipeline to the High Court There’s no job criteria to be a Supreme Court justice. But then how does someone even get to serve on the highest court — for the rest of their life? In this episode of Polilogue, we look at the Supreme ...
10.18.2022 SC Ep. 6: Accountability for the Highest Court In this episode of Polilogue we wonder if a job you can almost never be fired from can have any level of accountability. Congress and the White House have elections to give people the opportunity to “re-hire” their elected officials. ...
10.11.2022 SC Ep. 5: Coverage of the Confirmation Process Confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justices have been wildly dramatic (Kavanaugh) and surprisingly calm (Jackson). What’s to account for the difference? Is it all just about the nominee—or is there something else behind it? In this episode of Polilogue’s special ...
10.03.2022 SC Ep. 4: Critiquing SCOTUS Nomination Coverage For episode 4 of our Supreme Court season, we’re focusing on the moment when most Americans learn about a potential Supreme Court justice: when the president nominates them to fill a vacancy. Too often the immediate coverage is about the ...
09.26.2022 SC Ep. 3: Judicial Reverence and the Apolitical Myth For episode 3 of our Supreme Court season, we acknowledge two unsaid realities:First, where and why do we have an extensive reverence of the Supreme Court? Is it even justified? We examine the conditions and expectations that perpetuate the reverence. ...
09.19.2022 SC Ep. 2: The New Conservative Court We’re back with the second episode of Polilogue 2.0: The New Conservative Court.SCOTUS experts are defining the latest term as the most conservative term in almost 100 years. But how did we get there? If people read and watched SCOTUS ...
09.12.2022 SC Ep. 1: How We Talk About the Supreme Court It’s time to talk about the United States Supreme Court.The Supreme Court is one of our three branches of government, but for completely confusing reasons, it is covered by national media organizations in entirely different ways than the legislative and ...
07.18.2022 Episode 282: We're Back (In Production)! We’re back!! For the first time in four months, both Brendan and Naomi are back on the mics!In today’s teaser episode, we give a sneak peak into the topic for the new season of Polilogue: The United States Supreme Court. ...
07.11.2022 Episode 281: How Hollywood Can Break Its Gun Addiction In this final episode of the Solving Guns project, we conclude our discussion of the portrayal of guns in film. This is Part 15 of a multi-part series that we are sharing first with our polilogue listeners—a project that is ...
07.04.2022 Episode 280: Reducing Guns in Hollywood In this episode we reach the final chapter of our discussion on reducing gun violence—taking a look at the portrayal of guns in film. This is Part 14 of Brendan’s Solving Guns project. This is a multi-part series that we ...
06.27.2022 Episode 279: A Case Study in Security In this episode we look at a single case—the deadliest mass shooting in US history—and try to understand how we can secure future public spaces to prevent a repeat and ensure safety. This is Part 13 of Brendan’s Solving Guns ...
06.20.2022 Episode 278: Securing Schools and Workplaces Against Mass Shootings In this episode we look at ways that we can make the places where we learn and work safer in case of a mass shooting. This is Part 12 of Brendan’s Solving Guns project. This is a multi-part series that ...
06.13.2022 Episode 277: How Tech Should Save Lives in Mass Shootings In this episode we look at how technology should be used to save lives in mass shootings. We also discuss ways that preparations can be taken to reduce the impact of impulsive mass shootings. This is Part 11 of Brendan’s ...
06.06.2022 Episode 276: How the Media Could Reduce Mass Shootings In this episode we look at how media coverage can inspire mass shootings—and how we could change that coverage to reduce mass shootings. This is Part 10 of Brendan’s Solving Guns project. This is a multi-part series that we are ...
05.30.2022 Episode 275: Solving Guns by Fixing Police Response In this episode we bring you Part 9 of Brendan’s Solving Guns project. After the horrific events in Texas, we shift the focus to ways that we can improve the police response to mass public shootings. This is a multi-part ...
05.23.2022 Episode 274: Solving Guns in Workplace Shootings In this special episode we are excited to bring you Part 8 of Brendan’s Solving Guns project. This is the third part of our discussion on reducing mass shootings. The discussion focuses on ways to reduce the causes of active ...
05.16.2022 Episode 273: Solving Guns in Active Shooter Incidents (Part 2) In this special episode we are excited to bring you Part 7 of Brendan’s Solving Guns project. This is the second part of our discussion on reducing mass shootings. The discussion includes some analysis of active shooter incidents and the ...
05.09.2022 Episode 272: Solving Guns in Mass Shootings (Part 1) In this special episode we are excited to bring you Part 6 of Brendan’s Solving Guns project. This is the first part of our discussion on reducing mass shootings. We discuss the three types of mass shootings and ideas for ...
05.02.2022 Episode 271: Solving Guns in Crime (Part 2) In this special episode we are excited to bring you Part 5 of Brendan’s Solving Guns project. This is the second part of our discussion on guns used in crime. Last week we talked about how guns are used to ...
04.25.2022 Episode 270: Solving Guns in Crime and Disputes In this special episode we are excited to bring you Part 4 of Brendan’s Solving Guns project. This is Part 4. This part introduces the issue of guns used in crime and one of the top reasons guns are used ...
04.18.2022 Episode 269: Solving Guns for Sport (Part 2) In this special episode we are excited to bring you Part 3 of Brendan’s Solving Guns project. This is Part 3. This part explores another dimension of another top reason why people own guns—sport. Last week we talked about the ...
04.11.2022 Episode 268: Solving Guns for Sport In this special episode we are excited to bring you Part 2 of Brendan’s Solving Guns project. This part explores the other top reason why people own guns—sports and hunting. This is a multi-part series that we are sharing first ...
04.04.2022 Episode 267: Solving Guns for Protection In this special episode—which is six years in the making—Brendan finally shares with the world the first chapter of his Solving Guns project. Solving Guns is a project that started with one question: How do you solve gun violence in ...
03.21.2022 Episode 266: The Silent Cohost In this special episode, we introduce the audience to a new member of the Polilogue team. We’re excited to be back with a new episode with new content next week! Contact usEmail us at [email protected] or you can send us ...
03.14.2022 Episode 265: Centering the Ukraine Story There’s much much (justifiable and needed) coverage about the risks and courage of Ukrainians standing up to President Putin. That said, the Sunday morning political shows have a mission beyond informing the public about the latest events—their mission seeks to ...
03.07.2022 Episode 264: The 101 on No-Fly Zones Today on Polilogue, we look at how the shows explain and talk about a no-fly zone over Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is essentially begging western allies to impose a no-fly zone and provide concrete defense of Russia’s aggression. The US ...
02.28.2022 Episode 263: Missing Context in a Complicated Story Today on Polilogue, we note how American news organizations can miss the mark of foreign affairs stories. Usually these stories are not as giant as the Ukraine-Russia escalation, so we read a headline or two about a tanker stuck in ...
02.21.2022 Episode 262: A Practically Perfect Ukraine Show Today on Polilogue, we note the excellent show design of Face the Nation, which had a near-perfect episode. They nailed the bookings, story angles and story perspectives to explain a compelling and complicated situation in Ukraine. We also look at ...
02.14.2022 Episode 261: The Comeback of Political Panels Today on Polilogue, we examine the use of political panels. Are they worth it? Should they come back in their original form after the long COVID hiatus on some shows? This could be an opportunity for the shows to breathe ...
02.07.2022 Episode 260: The Right Russia Questions Today on Polilogue, we treat the escalating crisis along the border of Ukraine with the seriousness it deserves. Even if the hosts are a little questionable in some of their questions. We also consider how focus groups and the issue ...
01.31.2022 Episode 259: Fresh Takes and SCOTUS Fails Today on Polilogue, we take a spin throughout several interviews on Face the Nation and then dissect the story of the Supreme Court. First, we reflect on the fact that Margaret Brennan often books more compelling guests and asks more ...
01.24.2022 Episode 258: Biden Year One Review Finally! Polilogue is talking POLITICS. After weeks of resisting the narrative that everything in politics has to be viewed through the lens of the presidency, we accept the premise and dive deep on Biden’s first year. Analyzing the insights from ...
01.17.2022 Episode 257: The Voting Rights Debate The Biden administration has tabled their Build Back Better efforts and is onto another legislative priority: voting rights. Today on Polilogue, we discuss whether the Sunday shows succeed in explaining where the bill is in the legislative process and/or if ...
01.10.2022 Episode 256: A Surge of Critical Questions On our first post-COVID (but not post-pandemic) episode, we discuss…you guessed it…COVID! But today’s Sunday shows provided a series of fascinating examples of new issues in journalism. First, we dissect two interviews with new NYC Mayor Eric Adams and ask ...
01.03.2022 Episode 255: New Year Old News Happy New Year! And welcome to 2022! It’s a new year—but we are faced with a lot of old news, particularly on the COVID front. In this short episode, we discuss COVID from a more personal perspective. Resources and LinksExcellent ...
12.27.2021 Episode 254: The Last Shows of the Year For their last episode of 2021, the Sunday political shows used an array of journalistic styles to explore often under-told stories. Today on Polilogue, we go through each show and discuss the noteworthy — and problematic— attempts. Shows discussed State ...
12.20.2021 Episode 253: Manchin blows up BBB Manchin is a “no.” We know this because he told us so—on the first episode of Fox News Sunday without the venerated Chris Wallace. On today’s Polilogue, we dissect the Manchin interview and the reactions to it from progressives like ...
12.13.2021 Episode 252: One Story, Two Editorial Decisions Today on Polilogue, we go back to some of our show roots: comparisons of shows and editorial decisions! Both This Week and Meet the Press examined the escalating tensions of US-Russia relations. This Week took the approach of utilizing foreign ...
12.06.2021 Episode 251: Missing Rigor in Abortion Coverage Today on Polilogue, we examine the coverage and interviews that focused on the Supreme Court abortion case. This Week stands out as a show that brought in the relevant experts and facts to have a robust conversation. Other shows like ...
11.29.2021 Episode 250: Omicron on the Chyron Today we look at the new story of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus. Is the sense of panic in the headlines warranted? How can we have responsible coverage on the Sunday shows of this and other issues? We also ...
11.29.2021 Episode 248: Inflation Concerns Plague Biden Administration On today’s episode, we focus in on one Sunday show—Meet the Press—and try to understand how the coverage of the economic situation serves the dual roles of informing the public and holding the Biden Administration accountable for taking action. We ...
11.22.2021 Episode 249: Inflation and Gun Violence Today on the Sunday shows we look at the Fox News Sunday interview with Brian Deese and the continued dialogue on inflation. We also do a side by side comparison with This Week and Meet the Press on how they ...
11.08.2021 Episode 247: What Does Being Woke Actually Mean? Today on Polilogue, we look at the shows’ decision to analyze the Virginia gubernatorial race. A few questions popped up multiple times:Why did they only look at Virginia? Where is the analysis on New Jersey? Where is the DATA?What do ...
11.01.2021 Episode 246: Undeveloped Narratives Today on Polilogue, we look at the choices that journalists and show hosts make to define a story narrative. There are dozens of small and large decisions hosts and show producers make every week to define a story narrative. It ...
10.25.2021 Episode 245: Bad Agendas, Bad Conversations Today on Polilogue, we put a magnifying glass to bad agendas. On Meet the Press, shallow conversations about the new billionaire tax to potentially pay for the Build Back Better plan. On This Week, an insistence that the Virginia gubernatorial ...
10.18.2021 Episode 244: Explaining the State of the Economy Today on Polilogue, we have two very different segments.In the first segment, we look at how This Week and Fox News Sunday explained the various economic factors that are raising costs, slowing down deliveries, and impacting the labor force across ...
10.11.2021 Episode 243: Missing the Larger Narrative Today on Polilogue, we applaud Face the Nation for framing a larger trend rather than covering a single moment. In this instance, Margaret Brennan didn’t just talk about a single Trump rally, but framed the rally and Senator Chuck Grassley’s ...
10.04.2021 Episode 242: Infrastructure Numbers and Messaging Today on Polilogue, we zero in on the Democratic messaging of the reconciliation bill, or the human infrastructure bill that is currently being negotiated. In particular, we examine the costs, the motivations, and what messaging are persuasive and what kind ...

Older episodes

Polilogue

What's Polilogue about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Polilogue episodes:

Episode 291: A Goodbye Message

SC Ep. 8: Reform the Court and the Media

SC Ep. 7: The Pipeline to the High Court

SC Ep. 6: Accountability for the Highest Court

SC Ep. 5: Coverage of the Confirmation Process

SC Ep. 4: Critiquing SCOTUS Nomination Coverage

SC Ep. 3: Judicial Reverence and the Apolitical Myth

SC Ep. 2: The New Conservative Court

SC Ep. 1: How We Talk About the Supreme Court

Episode 282: We're Back (In Production)!

Episode 281: How Hollywood Can Break Its Gun Addiction

Episode 280: Reducing Guns in Hollywood

Episode 279: A Case Study in Security

Episode 278: Securing Schools and Workplaces Against Mass Shootings

Episode 277: How Tech Should Save Lives in Mass Shootings

Episode 276: How the Media Could Reduce Mass Shootings

Episode 275: Solving Guns by Fixing Police Response

Episode 274: Solving Guns in Workplace Shootings

Episode 273: Solving Guns in Active Shooter Incidents (Part 2)

Episode 272: Solving Guns in Mass Shootings (Part 1)

Episode 271: Solving Guns in Crime (Part 2)

Episode 270: Solving Guns in Crime and Disputes

Episode 269: Solving Guns for Sport (Part 2)

Episode 268: Solving Guns for Sport

Episode 267: Solving Guns for Protection

Episode 266: The Silent Cohost

Episode 265: Centering the Ukraine Story

Episode 264: The 101 on No-Fly Zones

Episode 263: Missing Context in a Complicated Story

Episode 262: A Practically Perfect Ukraine Show

Episode 261: The Comeback of Political Panels

Episode 260: The Right Russia Questions

Episode 259: Fresh Takes and SCOTUS Fails

Episode 258: Biden Year One Review

Episode 257: The Voting Rights Debate

Episode 256: A Surge of Critical Questions

Episode 255: New Year Old News

Episode 254: The Last Shows of the Year

Episode 253: Manchin blows up BBB

Episode 252: One Story, Two Editorial Decisions

Episode 251: Missing Rigor in Abortion Coverage

Episode 250: Omicron on the Chyron

Episode 248: Inflation Concerns Plague Biden Administration

Episode 249: Inflation and Gun Violence

Episode 247: What Does Being Woke Actually Mean?

Episode 246: Undeveloped Narratives

Episode 245: Bad Agendas, Bad Conversations

Episode 244: Explaining the State of the Economy

Episode 243: Missing the Larger Narrative

Episode 242: Infrastructure Numbers and Messaging