Polilogue

In this special episode, we analyze the sixth democratic primary debate. Last night, PBS and Politico hosted a debate with seven candidates in Los Angeles. We learned about wine caves and a very clear winner emerged in the form of Senator Amy Klobuchar.

As always with our debate special episodes, we provide an analysis of the host performances and then rank the candidates in three distinct categories: candidates who have improved their standing; candidates that are in the same place they were  yesterday; and candidates who are in a worse place than they were yesterday. 

Email us at [email protected] or you can send us your feedback @PolilogueCast. You can also follow us at @sotonaomi_ and @bsteidle.

Love our show and want to support us directly? You can support us on our Patreon. 

Brendan’s website: www.armisticedesigns.com  

 Naomi's website: www.startwithaquestion.org

This week the US House of Representatives will pass the impeachment charges and soon the Senate will need to determine if and how thorough they want to conduct this trial against President Trump.

In today’s episode of Polilogue, we examine how the moderators of the Sunday morning political shows shaped these conversations. We ask ourselves which interviews had effective use of video clips and gave context? Which hosts asked effective, simple questions? Which interviews were theatrical?

Chapters

• Introduction

• Highlight/Lowlight

• Chuck Todd

• George Stephanopoulos

• Chris Wallace

• Jake Tapper

• Margaret Brennan

• Why It Matters: Partisanship

• Show Rankings

• Closing

Shows discussed 

• Face the Nation on CBS

• State of the Union on CNN

• Fox News Sunday on FOX

• This Week on ABC

• Meet the Press on NBC

Why are there only two parties in American politics? (WaPo): https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/04/27/why-are-there-only-two-parties-in-american-politics

Political Polarization in the American Public (Pew): www.people-press.org/2014/06/12/political-polarization-in-the-american-public

Email us at [email protected] or you can send us your feedback @PolilogueCast. You can also follow us at @sotonaomi_ and @bsteidle.

Check out some of our other work: 

Brendan’s website: www.armisticedesigns.com  

 Naomi's website: www.startwithaquestion.org

This week we look at the CNN townhall with Nancy Pelosi. We examine the format of the downhill and Pelosi’s comments that stood out to us. We also discuss what was missing or unsaid in the downhill as well.

Chapters

• Introduction

• The Townhall Format

• What Stood Out

• What was Missing

• Closing

Coverage and videos of the events are available here.

This week we look at 10 standout moments from this Sunday’s five Sunday morning political shows. Impeachment wasn’t the only topic of conversation. We also saw important commentary on issues ranging from climate change to the military. At the end of the episode in our “Why It Matters” segment we try to see climate change issues through a different lens.

Chapters

• Introduction

• 1: Face the Nation’s Value

• 2: Climate Discussion

• 3: Impeachment Funding

• 4: Impeachment Process

• 5: Substance Issues

• 6: Does Impeachment Matter?

• 7: Russian Propaganda

• 8: Republicans Defending Trump

• 9: Military Pardons

• 10: Pete Buttigieg

• Why It Matters

• Show Rankings

• Closing

Shows discussed 

• Face the Nation on CBS

• State of the Union on CNN

• Fox News Sunday on FOX

• This Week on ABC

• Meet the Press on NBC

Info on the UN climate change conference: https://unfccc.int/cop25

Renewable energy and the economy: https://www.edf.org/energy/clean-energy-jobs

Email us at [email protected] or you can send us your feedback @PolilogueCast. You can also follow us at @sotonaomi_ and @bsteidle.

Love our show and want to support us directly? You can support us on our Patreon.

Check out some of our other work: 

Brendan’s website: www.armisticedesigns.com  

 Naomi's website: www.startwithaquestion.org

This week marked the end of the public impeachment inquiry hearings. Now, things move to the House Judiciary Committee and then, potentially, formal Articles of Impeachment. But the debate on the Sunday morning political shows was still very much bifurcated: there was the argument between the substance of the case, which Democrats wanted to focus on—and the process, which the Republicans leaned on. This week, we explore each in turn. And, we introduce a new segment called: Why It Matters—where we try to fill in the gap and suggest some reasons why the week’s topics of discussion matter outside of Washington.

Chapters

• Introduction

• Highlight/Lowlight

• The Substance Argument

• The Process Argument

• Why It Matters

• Show Rankings

• Closing

Shows discussed 

• Face the Nation on CBS

• State of the Union on CNN

• Fox News Sunday on FOX

• This Week on ABC

• Meet the Press on NBC

At least 13 Ukrainian soldiers were killed while President Donald Trump's administration was withholding military aid from the country from mid-July to mid-September.  https://www.newsweek.com/thriteen-ukrainian-soldiers-killed-trump-aid-withheld-1463128 

The Comey letter cost Hillary the election—according to an extensive analysis by FiveThirtyEight’s Nate Silver.  https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-comey-letter-probably-cost-clinton-the-election/ 

Email us at [email protected] or you can send us your feedback @PolilogueCast. You can also follow us at @sotonaomi_ and @bsteidle.

Love our show and want to support us directly? You can support us on our Patreon.

Check out some of our other work: 

Brendan’s website: www.armisticedesigns.com  

 Naomi's website: www.startwithaquestion.org

In this special episode, we analyze the fifth democratic primary debate. Last night, MSNBC and the Washington Post hosted a debate with ten candidates! We saw a debate first with FOUR women moderating the debate.

As always with our debate special episodes, we provide an analysis of the host performances and then rank the candidates in three distinct categories: candidates who have improved their standing; candidates that are in the same place they were  yesterday; and candidates who are in a worse place than they were yesterday. 

Email us at [email protected] or you can send us your feedback @PolilogueCast. You can also follow us at @sotonaomi_ and @bsteidle.

Love our show and want to support us directly? You can support us on our Patreon. 

Brendan’s website: www.armisticedesigns.com  

 Naomi's website: www.startwithaquestion.org

This week, we look at how the Sunday shows covered the first public impeachment hearings in decades—and the 2020 election.  Over the past week, three witnesses testified in public hearings to the house intelligence committee. The interviews were with career civil servants—people who had served in multiple presidential administrations. And yet, Republicans continued to the focus on the process of the hearings rather than the substance.  In an interview on Face the Nation conducted by Margaret Brennan, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi remained steadfast in the face of Republican talking points. 

At the same time, the Democratic presidential field continues to expand. In our second segment, we explore if and how journalists explain the election to everyday Americans.

Chapters

• Introduction

• Highlight/Lowlight

• Holding steady during impeachment

• The Democratic field expands

• Show Rankings

• Closing

Shows discussed 

• Face the Nation on CBS

• State of the Union on CNN

• Fox News Sunday on FOX

• This Week on ABC

• Meet the Press on NBC

Email us at [email protected] or you can send us your feedback @PolilogueCast. You can also follow us at @sotonaomi_ and @bsteidle.

Love our show and want to support us directly? You can support us on our Patreon.

Check out some of our other work: 

Brendan’s website: www.armisticedesigns.com  

 Naomi's website: www.startwithaquestion.org

The impeachment inquiry continues to split the Democrats and Republicans into their respective camps. Democrats focus on the behavior and decisions of the Trump White House. Whereas Republicans focus on the supposed rigged process  of the Democrats. 

But beyond the noisy partisan bickering, what are we to take from these squabbles? Today on Polilogue we examine if and how the shows are explaining the impeachment inquiry. Are the process complaints by Republicans valid? Are hosts doing any fact checking during an interview? When a story like the impeachment inquiry feels never-ending, what can the shows do to center the viewer and tell this is where we are and this is why it matters.

Also in our second segment, we discuss the likely candidacy of Michael Bloomberg in an already packed Democratic primary.

Chapters

• Introduction

• Highlight/Lowlight

• Impeachment is going public

• Bloomberg emerges

• Show Rankings

• Closing

Shows discussed 

• Face the Nation on CBS

• State of the Union on CNN

• Fox News Sunday on FOX

• This Week on ABC

• Meet the Press on NBC

Email us at [email protected] or you can send us your feedback @PolilogueCast. You can also follow us at @sotonaomi_ and @bsteidle.

Love our show and want to support us directly? You can support us on our Patreon.

Check out some of our other work: 

Brendan’s website: www.armisticedesigns.com  

 Naomi's website: www.startwithaquestion.org

President Trump is not an easy man to work for or defend. White House Administration officials don’t always come on the Sunday morning political shows. There are some explosive weeks when there is not a single administration official on the shows. So if you were a show host and you were able to book someone from the White House — what would you do with that interview? How would you approach it? How would you prepare for it?

This week we saw Kellyanne Conway interviewed on State of the Union and Fox News Sunday. Dana Bash and Chris Wallace both had follow up questions and were insistent with their questions, but we noticed that each interview had different objectives. Moreover, the preparation of each host framed different kinds of questions to Kellyanne.

We also discuss the winnowing 2020 field and how their messaging is landing in Iowa and across the country.

Chapters

• Introduction

• Highlight/Lowlight

• Kellyanne in the Hot Seat

• The 2020 Field Shrinks

• Show Rankings

• Closing

Shows discussed 

• Face the Nation on CBS

• State of the Union on CNN

• Fox News Sunday on FOX

• This Week on ABC

• Meet the Press on NBC

Email us at [email protected] or you can send us your feedback @PolilogueCast. You can also follow us at @sotonaomi_ and @bsteidle.

Love our show and want to support us directly? You can support us on our Patreon.

Check out some of our other work: 

Brendan’s website: www.armisticedesigns.com  

 Naomi's website: www.startwithaquestion.org

We are out of town this week knocking on doors for a friend running for city council in the Pacific Northwest (don’t forget to vote your for your local elections in off-year elections!!).

So this week, we returned to our special series looking at the top-polling candidates via their signature campaign speeches. Complete with audio clips and analysis, it’s everything you’ve come to expect from an episode of Polilogue!

Today, we’re talking about Elizabeth Warren’s candidacy. Elizabeth Warren has been surging. She has been focused and slowly climbing. However, similarly to Joe Biden, she has avoided the Sunday morning political shows. In this close look, we look at Elizabeth Warren’s Brooklyn speech on September 16. Here are the topics we discuss:

• Introduction

• General Impressions

• The Goals of the Speech

• The Rhetoric

• The Policies

• The Final Grade

• Closing

Click here for Warren’s Brooklyn speech

Let us know what you think! We will be back next week with our regularly-scheduled look at the Sunday morning political shows.

Email us at [email protected] or you can send us your feedback @PolilogueCast. You can also follow us at @sotonaomi_ and @bsteidle.

If you’re interested, you can check out some of our other work: 

Brendan’s website: www.armisticedesigns.com  

 Naomi's website: www.startwithaquestion.org