Polilogue

On Saturday, August 25, 2018 four days before his 82nd birthday: Senator John McCain passed away. McCain was diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer a year ago— but he had shared his fighting spirit with all Americans long before then. He was nicknamed The Maverick, because he bucked norms and expectations throughout his public service. As a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War, he refused to be released before other POWs were released; in his bid for the presidency in 2000 and 2008, he ran blunt and straightforward campaigns; and for 20+ years, he was an Arizona senator who demanded compromise and civil discourse, even when his party didn't. 

John McCain wasn’t a perfect man. He made mistakes. He had a temper. But he would apologize and he would collaborate with the the most unlikely colleagues. On this episode of Polilogue, we look at McCain's long life of public service — and say thank you. 

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

• Introduction
• John McCain in his own words 
• Stories and reflections of McCain
• McCain’s legacy lives on
• Trump’s legal woes worsen 
• Not show rankings 
• Closing

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

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There is always some kind of drama coming from the White House. This week the attention centered on two interviews on Meet the Press. Chuck Todd interviewed former CIA Director John Brennan, who recently had his security clearance revoked and Rudy Giuliani, who struggles with the very basic concept of truth. 

Then in the second segment, we ask a heavy question: can we trust spiritual leaders? Ever?

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

• Introduction
• Highlight/Lowlight
• Trump Revokes a Security Clearance
• Martha Raddatz Grills John Bolton
• Giuliani Says Truth is Not Truth 
• Widespread abuse in the Catholic Church 
• Show rankings
• Closing

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

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On the one year anniversary of the Charlottesville attack, all shows focused significantly on racial division in America. Face the Nation, in particular, devoted the full length of the show to reflect on Charlottesville. Additionally, two powerful interviews demand answers from women who have a special relationship with President Trump. On This Week, Jonathan Karl interviews Special Assistant to the President Kellyanne Conway; on Meet the Press, Chuck Todd has an exclusive interview with White House former advisor Omarosa Manigault-Newman.

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

• Introduction
• Highlight/Lowlight
• Charlottesville and Race
• Kellyanne Faces Karl
• Omarosa Faces Todd
• Show rankings
• Closing

If you haven’t yet seen Nanette, what are you waiting for?!

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 
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We get a break from Rudy Guiliani’s nonsensical responses and hear instead from President Trump’s other attorney: Jay Sekulow. In the Sekulow interview on This Week, we see George Stephanopoulos summarize and frame the numerous White House explanatory pivots about Russia’s 2016 election meddling. But most importantly, Stephanopoulos interrogates Sekulow in a way that is firm and fair, so that the veracity of what Sekelow says is left up to the audience to decipher. 

We also hear from governors across the country on their igniting their respective bases for the upcoming midterm elections-- which is fewer than 100 days away.

As always, our show chapters:

• Introduction
• Highlight/Lowlight
• Trump’s legal quagmire 
• Midterm momentum
• Closing

Today, we have a special edition of Polilogue for an anniversary reflection episode. We look back at a year’s worth of Sunday morning shows. Twelve months of interviews, guests, questions, panel discussions on the most pressing issues in American politics. We examine what worked, what lagged, and where we’re hoping the Sunday shows go next.

What started as a little idea has turned into hundreds of hours of preparation, research, and dialogue. We want to thank Polilogue listeners and fans for sticking with us. We can’t wait to share this journey with you all moving forward. 

As always, our show chapters:

• Introduction
• Highlight/Lowlight
• The Sunday Shows
• The Polilogue Podcast
• Closing

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

Some people said last week was the worst or one of the worst weeks of the Trump administration. After meeting President Putin for a one on one summit, President Trump chose to go easy on the Russian dictator. President Trump didn’t accuse Russia for meddling in the 2016 election. Nor did President Trump tell Putin to leave the 2018 American election intact. Moreover, we learned that Trump’s attorney, Michael Cohen has taped recordings of President Trump discussing payments to a Playboy model. 

However, despite these damning moments for President Trump, we see analysts and politicians alike come out in support for the president. We see, however, the criticism against the administration is getting sharper, smarter, and more strategic. Journalists too are demanding more answers, more context, and more explanation. 

And as always, our show chapters:

• Introduction
• Highlight/Lowlight
• Trump Drops the Ball on Russia
• The Investigations Pick up Speed
• Rankings
• Closing

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 
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Last week President Trump met with NATO leaders, UK Prime Minister Theresa May, and the Queen of England. Soon he will be meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin. During this time abroad we’ve seen that the typical clouds of chaos that usually hover in DC, follow President Trump to Europe.  

This week we look at two instances of chaos. First, we discuss Trump’s unfocused diplomatic efforts with our NATO allies. Second, we examine President’s Trump’s disinterest to stand up to Putin for meddling in the 2016 presidential election— as was clearly outlined in the recent Mueller indictments to 12 Russian spies. 

You are always more than welcome to jump to a specific part in the show by jumping to its respective chapter:

• Introduction
• Highlight/Lowlight
• A Presidential Interview
• Chaos Abroad
• Mueller Indicts Russians
• Rankings
• Closing

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

Tim Russert used to say that to make tough decisions, you have to be able to answer tough questions. We noticed, however, that several interviews were inconsistent in their rigor when talking about the Supreme Court vacancy. Certain senators experienced intense follow up questions, whereas other senators sailed on by with barely an inquiry.

Show hosts did voice their frustration and impatience with Rudy Giuliani, President Trump’s personal attorney. Giuliani has been on the shows frequently the last few months, however, it seems as if the hosts are over his lies, misconception, and shifting "recollection."

And as always, our show chapters:

• Introduction
• Highlight/Lowlight
• Supreme Court expectations
• Giuliani lies
• Rankings
• Closing

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

The Sunday morning shows focused on the upcoming changes of a different branch of government: the Supreme Court. After three 5-4 conservative SCOTUS decisions this week, swing justice Anthony Kennedy announced his retirement. In just a few days, Trump will nominate a second justice to the Supreme Court. Senator Mitch McConnell will ignore his own Senate rules to confirm another justice. And Democrats, with very limited control, will struggle to find any meaningful way to resist Trump’ second SCOTUS pick.

We also discuss the missing perspectives in all immigrant debate. Most notable, we reflect on journalists’ responsibility to explain the the #AbolishICE movement and to report the stories of immigrant communities that are currently impacted and devastated by ICE actions under President Trump.

If you would like to learn more about why people are talking about #AbolishICE

• Moria Whelan explains ICE’s origin story 
• #AbolishICE explained (Vox)
• The new immigration rallying cry (NY magazine)

And as always, our show chapters:

• Introduction
• Highlight/Lowlight
• The SCOTUS decision  
• The lost immigrant perspective
• A new left 
• Rankings
• Closing

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 
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On today’s episode, we focus heavily on the single topic that has been rightfully dominating the news cycle: the separation of  migrant families at the border due to President Trump’s Zero Tolerance policy.

In the first segment, we look at the fractions within the Republican Party that make compromise impossible for any legislative achievement. In the second segment, we compare George Stephanopoulos and Chuck Todd’s language when talking about a sensitive issue like the migrant crisis. 

There’s a lot to say about this topic. Unfortunately, we can’t talk about it all. If you would like to catch up on this story and understand the impact of Trump’s Zero Tolerance policy, we encourage spending some time on the following news articles. Or you can do a basic Google search of the issue and see how you can best support organizations working on this issue. But definitely do something:

• Trump Calls for Depriving Immigrants Who Illegally Cross Border of Due Process Rights (NYT)
• Trump doesn’t need to put families in detention centers to enforce his immigration policy. There are better options. (Vox)
• 500 migrant kids have been reunited with their parents. More than a thousand are still caught in the system. (Vox)
• We Owe Central American Migrants Much More Than This (NY Magazine)

And as always, our show chapters:

• Introduction
• Highlight/Lowlight
• Divided Republicans 
• The language of the hosts
• Rankings
• Closing

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

The Sunday political shows discussed this week:  

• This Week
• Face the Nation
• Meet the Press
• State of the Union