Polilogue

Today on Polilogue, we examine the focus of two interviews with DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Jake Tapper had (another) conversation about morality. Whereas Chris Wallace questioned the number of Haitian migrants that are entering the United States and asked why the Biden Administration is not using a border wall. We also look at the political messaging of Democrats during what finally seems to be Infrastructure Week (maybe).

Shows discussed 

• State of the Union on CNN

• Fox News Sunday on FOX

• This Week on ABC

• Face the Nation on CBS

• Meet the Press on NBC

Contact us

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

Support the show: We produce Polilogue out of our own pocket. If you’d like to support the show with a one-time or recurring donation, please visit our donate page here. Or leave a review on iTunes, Apple Music, or the Apple Podcast library. Thank you!

Check out some of our other work: 

Brendan’s website: www.armisticedesigns.com  

Naomi's website: www.startwithaquestion.org

Today on Polilogue, we look at the strong performance by Dr. Francis Collins of the National Institutes of Health in dispelling booster myths and headline buzz. We also look at the vague and unfocused questions by Margaret Brennan about Afghanistan and recent news that an American drone attack accidentally killed Afghan civilians.

Shows discussed 

• State of the Union on CNN

• Fox News Sunday on FOX

• This Week on ABC

• Face the Nation on CBS

• Meet the Press on NBC

Contact us

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

Support the show: We produce Polilogue out of our own pocket. If you’d like to support the show with a one-time or recurring donation, please visit our donate page here. Or leave a review on iTunes, Apple Music, or the Apple Podcast library. Thank you!

Check out some of our other work: 

Brendan’s website: www.armisticedesigns.com  

Naomi's website: www.startwithaquestion.org

Today on Polilogue, we go back to our old show roots and identify themes across shows for guests that were on multiple programs on the same day. US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy and Democratic Senator Joe Manchin from West Virginia were both on State of the Union and Meet the Press. And the two guests gave similarly vague, defensive answers after being grilled by excellent questions from Dana Bash and Chuck Todd.

Shows discussed 

• State of the Union on CNN

• Fox News Sunday on FOX

• This Week on ABC

• Face the Nation on CBS

• Meet the Press on NBC

Links and Resources:

• Study finds more active-duty police officers died of COVID-19 in 2020 than all other causes combined

• Coronavirus-sniffing dogs unleashed at Miami airport to detect virus in employees

Contact us

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

Support the show: We produce Polilogue out of our own pocket. If you’d like to support the show with a one-time or recurring donation, please visit our donate page here. Or leave a review on iTunes, Apple Music, or the Apple Podcast library. Thank you!

Check out some of our other work: 

Brendan’s website: www.armisticedesigns.com  

Naomi's website: www.startwithaquestion.org

Today on Polilogue, two very different segments with very feisty takes. Naomi looks at the lack of substantive dialogue about the Texas abortion ban. Brendan examines climate change conversations and wonders who should be answering which questions.

Shows discussed 

• State of the Union on CNN

• Fox News Sunday on FOX

• This Week on ABC

• Face the Nation on CBS

• Meet the Press on NBC

Resources

• NYTimes article on NYC flash flood preparedness

• More discussion on NYC government failures during Ida

• Climate scientist Daniel Swain’s thread on a new study of the climate change effects on flooding.

• Article about the danger of water vs. wind in an hurricane

• A Q&A about extreme weather and global warming

• A full report on FEMA and funding issues

Contact us

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

Support the show: We produce Polilogue out of our own pocket. If you’d like to support the show with a one-time or recurring donation, please visit our donate page here. Or leave a review on iTunes, Apple Music, or the Apple Podcast library. Thank you!

Check out some of our other work: 

Brendan’s website: www.armisticedesigns.com  

Naomi's website: www.startwithaquestion.org

Today on Polilogue, Naomi and Brendan take on new roles as we discuss Afghanistan. Naomi is Good Cop as she acknowledges and praises good, noteworthy questions. Whereas Brendan finger wags and admonishes the bad questions on the Sunday morning shows.

Shows discussed 

• State of the Union on CNN

• Fox News Sunday on FOX

• This Week on ABC

• Face the Nation on CBS

• Meet the Press on NBC

Resources

• “What Americans Think About The End Of The Afghanistan War And Biden’s Handling Of It So Far” by Nathaniel Rakich in FiveThirtyEight

• The ABC News take on their poll with Ipsos: “Overwhelming bipartisan support for keeping troops in Afghanistan until all Americans, Afghans who aided US out: POLL”

• The Ipsos take on their poll with ABC News: “Most Americans think the end of the U.S. presence in Afghanistan makes no difference on our safety from terrorism”

Contact us

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

Support the show: We produce Polilogue out of our own pocket. If you’d like to support the show with a one-time or recurring donation, please visit our donate page here. Or leave a review on iTunes, Apple Music, or the Apple Podcast library. Thank you!

Check out some of our other work: 

Brendan’s website: www.armisticedesigns.com  

Naomi's website: www.startwithaquestion.org

In today’s episode of Polilogue, we examine and question the leading voices criticizing the Afghanistan withdrawal. With the exception of an excellent interview on This Week, almost all the shows relied on war hawks and other thought leaders that have preferred and advocated for an American military presence in Afghanistan.

Shows discussed 

• State of the Union on CNN

• Fox News Sunday on FOX

• This Week on ABC

• Face the Nation on CBS

• Meet the Press on NBC

Resources

• The media's systemic failure on Afghanistan by Judd Legum on Popular Information

• Where are the anti-war voices? by Judd Legum, Tesnim Zekeria, and Rebecca Crosby on Popular Information

• Michale Chrichton’s Travels (Amazon)

• America’s Afghan War: A Defeat Foretold? by Adam Nossiter (NYT)

• Intelligence Warned of Afghan Military Collapse, Despite Biden’s Assurances by By Mark Mazzetti, Julian E. Barnes and Adam Goldman (NYT)

• The Biden admin’s cold logic on boosters and Afghanistan (Politico Playbook PM)

Contact us

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

Support the show: We produce Polilogue out of our own pocket. If you’d like to support the show with a one-time or recurring donation, please visit our donate page here. Or leave a review on iTunes, Apple Music, or the Apple Podcast library. Thank you!

Check out some of our other work: 

Brendan’s website: www.armisticedesigns.com  

Naomi's website: www.startwithaquestion.org

In this special episode, we take a look at a movie that tops many lists of the best movies about journalism: 1999’s “The Insider.” Directed by Michael Mann and starring Russell Crowe and Al Pacino, the film closely follows the real-life events of a tobacco industry insider who becomes a source on 60 Minutes. Complete with audio clips and our usual critical eye, we discuss the film’s portrayal of the news business and ethical questions about sources and journalistic integrity.

Next week, Polilogue will return to examine the Sunday shows we normally discuss. Likely to include a BIG discussion about the events in Afghanistan.

Shows (usually) discussed 

• State of the Union on CNN

• Fox News Sunday on FOX

• This Week on ABC

• Face the Nation on CBS

Contact us

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

Support the show: We produce Polilogue out of our own pocket. If you’d like to support the show with a one-time or recurring donation, please visit our donate page here. Or leave a review on iTunes, Apple Music, or the Apple Podcast library. Thank you!

Check out some of our other work: 

Brendan’s website: www.armisticedesigns.com  

Naomi's website: www.startwithaquestion.org

Today on Polilogue, we look at important stories and segments that have been too easy to overlook in the last few weeks. We look at critically important issues like substance abuse, overdoses, and climate change that took a backseat to the COVID and infrastructure stories.

Next week, Polilogue will go to the movies for a special discussion on the journalism movie “The Insider.” Check it out this week if you’d like to watch before that episode—or follow along as we discuss the movies with clips and critical commentary.

Shows discussed 

• State of the Union on CNN

• Fox News Sunday on FOX

• This Week on ABC

• Face the Nation on CBS

Contact us

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

Support the show: We produce Polilogue out of our own pocket. If you’d like to support the show with a one-time or recurring donation, please visit our donate page here. Or leave a review on iTunes, Apple Music, or the Apple Podcast library. Thank you!

Check out some of our other work: 

Brendan’s website: www.armisticedesigns.com  

Naomi's website: www.startwithaquestion.org

Today on Polilogue, we discuss the takeaways and actionable information that was shared by public health officials about delta, the new Covid variant. We also discuss how Republicans are valuing (or not) the select committee to investigate the January 6 insurrection.

Shows discussed 

• State of the Union on CNN

• Fox News Sunday on FOX

• This Week on ABC

• Face the Nation on CBS

Contact us

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

Support the show: We produce Polilogue out of our own pocket. If you’d like to support the show with a one-time or recurring donation, please visit our donate page here. Or leave a review on iTunes, Apple Music, or the Apple Podcast library. Thank you!

Check out some of our other work: 

Brendan’s website: www.armisticedesigns.com  

Naomi's website: www.startwithaquestion.org

In too many ways, journalists are missing the opportunity to be rigorous in their questions. Today on Polilogue, we discuss Covid strategies and vaccine mandates. We also discuss the select committee to investigate the January 6 insurrection.

Shows discussed 

• State of the Union on CNN

• Fox News Sunday on FOX

• This Week on ABC

• Face the Nation on CBS

Recommendations

• Explainer on efforts to establish a special commission to investigate the insurrection on January 6 (Vox)

Contact us

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

Support the show: We produce Polilogue out of our own pocket. If you’d like to support the show with a one-time or recurring donation, please visit our donate page here. Or leave a review on iTunes, Apple Music, or the Apple Podcast library. Thank you!

Check out some of our other work: 

Brendan’s website: www.armisticedesigns.com  

Naomi's website: www.startwithaquestion.org