Polilogue

Last month, President Trump imposed unpopular steel and aluminum tariff threats. At 24 and 7.7 percent respectively, the steel and aluminum tariffs left Americans nervous and global markets holding their breath.

However, economic anxiety over a possible trade war between the US and China significantly increased in the last week. China announced $53 billion in tariffs, with a special focus on American agriculture like soybeans and pork. President Trump announced $150 in tariffs as well.  This tit for tat shook American stock markets.

On Sunday morning, the White House sent several representatives to do damage control: including the new Director of the National Economic Council, Larry Kudlow; Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin; and Director of Trade and Industrial Policy, Peter Navarro.  

But the full bench of White House representatives did not get the same game plan: they spoke about trade tariffs as if they had different intentions, different frustrations. The same could also be true for several Republican Senators and their thoughts about the tariffs and EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt’s precarious position. 

• Introduction
• Highlight/Lowlight
• The trade war begins
• Scott Pruitt hangs by a thread 
• DC demands Facebook explanations 
• Syria aside 
• 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 

Other helpful articles: 

• CNN tariff explainer
• Facebook’s Apology Tour

On most weeks, the Sunday talk shows struggle to fully cover the deluge of political news stories. However, this weekend of Easter and Passover: there was only one big story: the firing of Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin with Dr. Ronny Jackson.

The Sunday shows chose to fill the remaining time in very different ways: meandering panel conversations, shallow book reviews, foreign affairs deep dives, and many other ways. This week on Polilogue, we explore how the hosts chose evergreen topics to fill up their hour. We see that you don’t always need a frantic news week to have an important discussion.    

• Introduction
• New Polilogue website!
• Highlight/lowlight
• Who pushed the VA Secretary out? 
• Evergreen segments on Sunday
• Rankings
• Closing

Don't forget to check out our new website! You can email us at [email protected] or send us your feedback @PolilogueCast on Twitter.

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 

This week on the Sunday talk shows, there was dichotomy of conversations with domestic and foreign implications. On the domestic side, after weeks of buildup, we saw hundreds of thousands students, parents, educators, and other activists march the streets of Washington DC. They were motivated and passionate and united on one cause: to address American gun violence. There were also almost 900 marches around the world. It was extremely moving to see— and frustrating to see the effort undervalued on some of the talk shows.  

On the foreign side, HR McMaster is being removed from his post as National Security Advisor and is being replaced by John Bolton. Bolton was an UN Ambassador from 2005 to 2006. He is staunch war hawk— he was supporter for the Iraq War and is supportive of regime change in both North Korea and Iran. And given that both of those nation states are in delicate diplomatic negotiations… his appointment has lots of people feeling uneasy.

• Introduction
• Highlight/lowlight
• Young people take command
• Bolton in the White House   
• Rankings
• Closing

Email us at [email protected] or you can send us your feedback on Twitter: @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 

Fifteen months into his presidency, Donald J. Trump has made it clear that he prefers perpetual chaos—when it is his own doing. After months of speculation, he fired Rex Tillerson via tweet and appointed two Iraq War hawks to lead the State Department and the CIA. Some in Congress, including Republican Senator Rand Paul, are determined to halt the confirmations, even if it means filibustering. Trump also fired the Deputy Director of the FBI two days before Andrew McCabe would have been eligible for his full retirement.

The President, however, seems less inclined to appreciate the political chaos that lingers from his 2016 presidential campaign. In the last few days, both Trump and his personal lawyer demanded for the Mueller investigation to end. And lastly, The Guardian and the New York Times released explosive reports about Cambridge Analytica. Cambridge Analytica was the digital arm of the Trump campaign and was reported to have used hacked Facebook data from more than 50 million users to define Trump’s winning digital strategy. Cambridge Analytica was funded by one of Trump’s biggest supporters: the Mercers, and led by campaign strategist: Stephen Bannon. 

• Introduction
• Highlight/lowlight
• Firing Spree 
• Cambridge Analytica   
• The blue wave builds
• Rankings
• Closing

Email us at [email protected] or you can send us your feedback on Twitter: @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

A few resources that helped us understand North Korea. 

• The Guardian exposes Cambridge Analytica system 
• New York Times on Trump consultants & Cambridge Analytica
• Rand Paul editorial about Gina Haspel

The Sunday political shows discussed this week:  

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

More often than not,  ABC’s This Week, takes the #1 slot in Polilogue’s show rankings. That's still true, but this time for a different reason. On the latest episode of This Week, Jonathan Karl hosted. Karl is a the Chief White House Correspondent for ABC. He doesn’t normally fill in, because if George Stephanopoulos can’t host, usually Martha Raddatz can.  But this time, Karl hosted— and he was great! Karl brought the richness of his career and a new tone to each interview. 

For the first segment, we look at Jonathan Karl’s unique qualities. We also discuss Trump’s decision to meet with the North Korea dictator, Kim Jong-Un, and what is at stake for this controversial meeting. 

• Introduction
• Highlight/lowlight
• Jonathan Karl on This Week
• A North Korea meeting?
• Rankings
• Closing

Email us at [email protected] or you can send us your feedback on Twitter: @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

A few resources that helped us understand this week's important stories. 

• Dodd Frank bill
• This American Life
• The Daily with the NYT
• Reuters: North Korea meeting
• Chuck Todd on Global Politico

The Sunday political shows discussed this week:  

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

Last week President Trump announced that he was going to impose tariffs of 25 percent and 10 percent for steel and aluminum, respectively. While these tariffs are designed to address China’s steel dumping, the tariffs are broad and affect every nation that trades with the United States: thus raising the likelihood for an ill-advised trade war. 

Two economic advisors of the White House who have previously never been on the Sunday talk shows came on to defend the President’s new and unvetted decision: Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Director White House Office of Trade & Manufacturing Policy Peter Navarro. We also hear from two former Trump advisors on their impressions of the never-ending White House chaos. 

• Introduction
• Highlight/lowlight
• Tempting a trade war 
• Family Strife in the White House 
• Rankings
• Closing

Email us at [email protected] or you can send us your feedback on Twitter: @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 

A few of our research links:  

• Background on Trump’s Tariffs and Section 232
• Russ Roberts on Trade
• A Brief History of Mercantilism
• Info on the Smoot Hawley Tariff

In this extended episode of Polilogue, we dive deep into Jake Tapper’s interview with Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel. According to Twitter and other immediate media hot takes, Tapper was on fire. He demanded that Sheriff Israel explain to him and the audience how the Parkland shooter slipped through the cracks. Much of the praise online noted Tapper’s tough and hostile interview approach. But we found that Tapper’s interview was also extremely unfair and prosecutorial. We explore this disappointment and break down the missteps of Jake Tapper as a journalist and Sheriff Joe Israel as a law enforcement leader.

We also explore the gun control conversation from multiple angles— including NRA lobbyist Dana Loesch and the student activists. We find the dialogue around gun reform may lead to action as young people lead the conversation. 

• Introduction
• Highlight/lowlight
• Tapper’s big interview
• Republicans explore measures
• Democrats demand action
• Activists lead conversation 
• Short note about Mueller 
• Rankings
• Closing

Email us at [email protected] or you can send us your feedback on Twitter: @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

This week, Polilogue looks at how the political landscape is being redrawn by the brave and articulate student survivors of the latest mass shooting—this time at a high school in Parkland, Florida.  The students were on all four of the Sunday morning political shows—speaking out and demanding a reset to a conversation that has become stale and predictable.  We also spend a few minutes looking at how political leaders from both sides of the aisle are reacting to the latest indictment released from the Mueller investigation.  What does this mean for the country, our election system, and for Donald Trump?  

• Introduction
• Highlight/Lowlight
• Victims Turned Activists
• Politicians Respond to the Shooting
• New Mueller Indictments
• Show Rankings 
• Closing

Email us at [email protected] or you can send us your feedback on Twitter: @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 a few weeks of policy discussions, the Sunday talk shows were back to a familiar topic of conversation from President Trump’s first six months in office: personnel issues. This time, the situation was more egregious as it became public that the White House Staff Secretary, Rob Porter had domestic abuse allegations against him from both of his ex-wives. This was a known issue among the FBI and key leadership in the White House— so why was he allowed to stay in a such a sensitive and powerful role? Why did the White House first respond to the allegations by supporting Porter? And why did it take a public photo of his ex-wife with a black eye for the White House to finally push Porter out? These are all important questions that took up the majority of the Sunday talk shows— and that comprise the bulk of this week’s episode of Polilogue.

• Introduction
• Highlight/lowlight
• The Porter abuse scandal
• Democratic memo
• Show rankings 
• Closing

Email us at [email protected] or you can send us your feedback on Twitter: @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 week, President Trump approved the release of a Republican memo from the House Intelligence Committee. This news story may be one of the complicated stories we have seen and discussed during Polilogue’s run. The memo was both simultaneously overpromised as a President Trump’s path to vindication and undersold as  recording breaking partisan manipulation. There is no clear winner or loser— and yet— the memo matters. 

In this episode of Polilogue, we examine the role of President Trump and Congressional Republicans in developing and releasing this memo. But more importantly, we note the attack on the credibility of America’s political institutions like Congress and the FBI. We ask ourselves, what does it mean to watch the slow disintegration of national norms?

• Introduction
• The memo in a nutshell 
• Highlight/lowlight
• How the shows framed the memo
• Guests & panelists weigh in
• Show rankings 
• Closing

Email us at [email protected] or you can send us your feedback on Twitter: @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