Polilogue

[Reposting due to some technical difficulties! Our apologies on the delayed release!]

—

North Korea resumed missile testing. Unrest continues in Venezuela. Russia refutes election meddling. 

This week, the Trump administration struggled to maintain their composure and strong messaging on several foreign diplomacy fronts. In the latest episode of Polilogue, we explore how Secretary of State Mike Pompeo responded to valid and fair questions on Fox News Sunday and This Week. 

We also examine four interviews with 2020 Democratic presidential hopefuls.

Chapters

• Introduction 

• Lowlight - Panels All Miss the Mark

• Highlight - Melinda Gates Splits the Work

• Highlight - Congressman David Cicilline Maintains Composure

• Pompeo Remains Optimistic?

• Four 2020 Candidates Make the Case

• Rankings 

• Closing 

Helpful links

We leaned on the following two Vox articles to understand Venezuela:

• How Venezuela went from a rich democracy to a dictatorship on the brink of collapse

• The Trump administration’s Venezuela policy is failing

And to break down the 1982 decree, this article on Politico was helpful.

Shows discussed

• State of the Union on CNN

• Meet the Press on NBC

• Fox News Sunday on FOX

• This Week on ABC

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

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

Want to stalk us some more? Check out some of our other work: 

Brendan’s website: www.armisticedesigns.com  

 Naomi's website: www.startwithaquestion.org

North Korea resumed missile testing. Unrest continues in Venezuela. Russia refutes election meddling. 

This week, the Trump administration struggled to maintain their composure and strong messaging on several foreign diplomacy fronts. In the latest episode of Polilogue, we explore how Secretary of State Mike Pompeo responded to valid and fair questions on Fox News Sunday and This Week. 

We also examine four interviews with 2020 Democratic presidential hopefuls.

Chapters

• Introduction 

• Lowlight - Panels All Miss the Mark

• Highlight - Melinda Gates Splits the Work

• Highlight - Congressman David Cicilline Maintains Composure

• Pompeo Remains Optimistic?

• Four 2020 Candidates Make the Case

• Rankings 

• Closing 

Helpful links

We leaned on the following two Vox articles to understand Venezuela:

• How Venezuela went from a rich democracy to a dictatorship on the brink of collapse

• The Trump administration’s Venezuela policy is failing

And to break down the 1982 decree, this article on Politico was helpful.

Shows discussed

• State of the Union on CNN

• Meet the Press on NBC

• Fox News Sunday on FOX

• This Week on ABC

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

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

Want to stalk us some more? Check out some of our other work: 

Brendan’s website: www.armisticedesigns.com  

 Naomi's website: www.startwithaquestion.org

In this Special Edition to mark our 100th episode, we ask: what is the responsibility of the news consumer?  How can we increase our understanding of important topics and cut through the noise to get a sense of what the news really means?  We organize our thinking around six general themes (and a 7th that we list here and discuss later in the episode):  

1. Context

2. Comparisons

3. Primary Sources

4. History

5. Mechanisms

6. Questions 

7. Voices

Then, we examine where hosts Naomi and Brendan get their news.  We share tips and recommendations on everything from newsletters to podcasts.  Oh—and we fail to say that of course you should support at least one newspaper if you can!  We’ve subscribed to four in the last few years (now cut to two)—but we find it incredibly important to pay for the great work of hard-working journalists who depend on subscribers as well as eyeballs.  

Next week, we’ll be back with our regularly-scheduled look at the Sunday Morning political shows.  Thanks for listening! 

By the way, when it comes to context, this video by The Washington Post on Rep. Ilhan Omar’s comments was incredibly helpful in sourcing audio: https://youtu.be/zWFnkNX9m2E 

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

Want to stalk us some more? Check out some of our other work: 

Brendan’s website: www.armisticedesigns.com  

Naomi's website: www.startwithaquestion.org

Last Thursday after months of fighting, negotiations, and evasions, Robert Mueller’s almost 500-page redacted report was released to the public. 

There were two main conclusions: 1.) No criminal conspiracy between the president’s campaign and Moscow; 2.) Mueller did not recommend charges against Trump. Mueller did, however, find several instances where the president tried to influence or shut down the investigation.

Rudy Giuiliani and Kellyanne Conway were in long interviews on the Sunday morning shows. Today on Polilogue we explore the White House’s objectives in those interviews— and ask ourselves if the hosts facilitated or impeded those objectives. 

We found this Mueller summary on Vox extremely helpful.  

• Introduction

• Highlight/Lowlight

• Giuliani and Conway Defend Trump 

• White House Strategies

• Democrats’ Next Steps

• Sundays’ Missed Moment

• Show Rankings

• Closing

The shows we focus on include:

• State of the Union on CNN

• Meet the Press on NBC

• Fox News Sunday on FOX

• This Week on ABC

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

Want to stalk us some more? Check out some of our other work: 

Brendan’s website: www.armisticedesigns.com  

 Naomi's website: www.startwithaquestion.org

This week Sarah Huckabee Sanders went on Fox News Sunday and This Week on ABC. Kellyanne Conway was interviewed by Chuck Todd on Meet the Press. In each instance we find two women defending policies that bush the boundary of the law. 

• Intro 

• Highlight /Lowlight

• Explosive Kellyanne Interview on MTP

• Fox News Sunday Enters Polilogue

• George Sets the Stage

• Jerry Nadler on SOTU

• Jake’s Sassy Tone

• Closing

The shows we focused on today include:

• State of the Union on CNN

• Meet the Press on NBC

• Fox News Sunday on FOX

• This Week on ABC

We found this explainer about the Federal Reserve is helpful.  

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

Want to stalk us some more? Check out some of our other work: 

Brendan’s website: www.armisticedesigns.com  

 Naomi's website: www.startwithaquestion.org

We are 19 months away from the 2020 presidential election. Approximately about a year away from the primaries and almost two months away from the first Democratic primary debate. 

But with 20+ Democratic candidates, news organizations are making conscious choices about which candidates to introduce to the American public and how rigorous to make those those introductions.

Today on Polilogue we look at four different candidate introductions and ask ourselves, what is the journalist trying to do— and do we, as potential voters, learn anything new?

• Introduction

• Highlight/Lowlight

• Andrew Yang pushes UBI

• Mayor Pete Buttigieg 

• Mike Bennet pushes Medicare X 

• Tim Ryan 

• Biden drops the ball

• Changes in Polilogue

• Show Rankings

• Closing

The shows we focused on today include:

• State of the Union on CNN

• Meet the Press on NBC

• Face the Nation on CBS

• This Week on ABC

We found this explainer about the Federal Reserve is helpful.  

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

Want to stalk us some more? Check out some of our other work: 

Brendan’s website: www.armisticedesigns.com  

 Naomi's website: www.startwithaquestion.org

After Robert Mueller concluded his investigation with no direct evidence of collusion, President Trump could have taken a victory lap. He could have claimed the moment and directed the coverage to any Republican priority. He could have demanded that Congress move on and take action on a bipartisan priority like infrastructure.

Instead President Trump took on the last issue that Republicans want to work on: healthcare.

Today on Polilogue, we look at the latest Republican effort to overturn Obamacare. We also discuss the allegation against Joe Biden by Nevada Democrat Lucy Flores.

• Introduction

• Highlight/Lowlight

• The Missing Republican Healthcare Plan

• Allegation Against Biden

• Show Rankings

• Closing

The shows we focus on include:

• State of the Union on CNN

• Meet the Press on NBC

• Face the Nation on CBS

• This Week on ABC

A couple of resources that helped inform today’s episode

• In defense of the electoral college

• What would actually happen if Trump closed the border?

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

Want to stalk us some more? Check out some of our other work: 

Brendan’s website: www.armisticedesigns.com  

 Naomi's website: www.startwithaquestion.org

After almost two years, Robert Mueller concluded his investigation. With the support of 19 attorneys and 40 FBI agents, Mueller issued more than 2,800 subpoenas, executed nearly 500 search warrants, obtained 230 orders for communication records, and interviewed 500 witnesses. 

The country has waited for months for proof and assurance that the President is legitimate or a liar.  

Today on Polilogue, we look at the the unique predicament of the Sunday morning political shows: the Mueller investigation over, the findings still unknown, and somehow they had to create an hour-long show that was informative about unknown news. 

• Introduction

• Highlight/Lowlight

• Barr Summarizes Findings 

• Show Objectives

• Release the Report

• “No Collusion!” 

• What’s Next

• Being a Savvy Media Consumer

• Show Rankings

• Closing

The shows we focus on include:

• State of the Union on CNN

• Meet the Press on NBC

• Face the Nation on CBS

• This Week on ABC

For more reading on the Barr summary:

• The Many Problems with the Barr Letter (NYT)

• Look at All the Weasel Words Bill Barr Used to Protect Trump (Slate)

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

Want to stalk us some more? Check out some of our other work: 

Brendan’s website: www.armisticedesigns.com  

 Naomi's website: www.startwithaquestion.org

Good political journalism is more than just one good story. Or a breaking tweet. It’s an ongoing conversation about the policy and politics that impacts every piece of our lives.

In today’s episode of Polilogue we discuss our motivations for creating the show. We explore all facets of the Sunday morning talk shows: the hosts, guests, topics, interviews, questions, asides, panels — just to name a few!

Which show gets it right? Which show is learning and evolving? And how can we, as media consumers, notice and expect good political journalism.

• Introduction

• The Podcast

• The Story

• The Guests

• The Questions

• The Panels

• The Election

• Closing

The shows we focus on include:

• State of the Union on CNN

• Meet the Press on NBC

• Face the Nation on CBS

• This Week on ABC

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

Want to stalk us some more? Check out some of our other work: 

Brendan’s website: www.armisticedesigns.com 
Naomi's website: www.startwithaquestion.org

Without a single story dominating the news this week, the Sunday talk shows each had unique takes to summarize and explain the news.  

First, we notice obvious deflection by National Security Advisor John Bolton when asked by Martha Raddatz about new reports that North Korea is building up one of their nuclear power plants. We also discuss how Congress and the media is reacting to Congresswoman Ilhan Omar’s comments about Israel. 

Lastly, new 2020 candidates emerge. Governor Jay Inslee and Former Governor John Hickenlooper go on the shows to introduce themselves to America. Plus, Senator Elizabeth Warren introduces bold platform ideas that leave some people (and industries) scratching their heads. 

As always, you can jump to a section of the show by using our available chapters:

• Introduction

• Highlight / Lowlight 

• John Bolton on North Korea

• Congress Reacts to Omar Comments

• Three 2020 Candidates, Three Approaches 

• Show Rankings

• Show Closing

The shows we discuss today include:

• State of the Union on CNN

• Meet the Press on NBC

• Face the Nation on CBS

• This Week on ABC

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

Want to stalk us some more? Check out some of our other work: 

Brendan’s website: www.armisticedesigns.com 
Naomi's website: www.startwithaquestion.org