Polilogue

This week on Polilogue, we look at how leaders attempt to get the next phase of normalcy as COVID continues to be a threat. Governor Andy Beshear from Kentucky prioritized teacher vacinnes and getting children into schools. Meanwhile, Governor Kristi Noem of South Dakota deflects the criticisms about the death toll in her state.

We continue to wait for guidance from Dr. Fauci and other public health officials regarding the transmissibility of vaccinated people.

Chapters

• Introduction

• Quality: Kentucky Opens Schools

• Quality: Conceding that Biden Won

• Questionable: Zero Details in Cuomo Conversations

• Questionable: Missing COVID Urgency

• Journalism: Talking About Jamal Koshoggi

• Politics: Jen Psaki Interview

• Politics: The COVID Relief Bill

• Journalism: Noem Falls Apart

• Show Ratings

• Dialogue Challenge

Shows discussed 

• State of the Union on CNN

• Fox News Sunday on FOX

• This Week on ABC

• Meet the Press on NBC

• Face the Nation on CBS

Resources

• Jessica Malaty Rivera, MS, Science Communications Lead for the COVID Tracking Project

• Laurel Bristow, Infectious Disease Researcher

• Margaret Brennan profile piece

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

This week on Polilogue, we examine the questions and conversations about the crisis in Texas. Millions of people were without electricity or water for days during a winter storm. In less than a week, dozens of lives were lost, people suffered and went hungry, and billions of dollars in property and infrastructure were damaged. How did an energy-rich state like Texas drop the ball the minute the temperatures dropped?

We also continue to look at the language and recommendations by public health officials to Americans regarding COVID mitigations.

Chapters

• Introduction

• Questionable: Fauci on Safe Behaviors

• Questionable: Too Much Trump

• Quality: Fauci on the 1-Dose Vaccination

• Quality: The Direct Teacher COVID Question

• Journalism: FTN’s COVID Exit Interview

• Journalism: Tough Biden Admin Questions

• Politics: The Case for and Against Relief

• Politics: A Failure on Texas

• Show Ratings

• Dialogue Challenge

Shows discussed 

• State of the Union on CNN

• Fox News Sunday on FOX

• This Week on ABC

• Meet the Press on NBC

• Face the Nation on CBS

Resources

• How Texas’ Drive for Energy Independence Set It Up for Disaster (NYT)

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

This week on Polilogue, the Director of the CDC re-appears. It remains unclear if and how the Biden administration will stick with the science to determine if schools should reopen. Either way, the Director of the CDC leans on very little data to communicate these new public health guidances. We also discuss the importance of recognizing which questions weren’t being asked.

Chapters

• Introduction

• Power Player of the Week

• Stealing Insight

• The Maga Siege (New Details)

• Missing Questions

• CDC Reappears

• Panel Worth Watching

• The Witness Vote

• Graham’s Lucky Interview

• Show Ratings

• Dialogue Challenge

Shows discussed 

• State of the Union on CNN

• Fox News Sunday on FOX

• This Week on ABC

• Meet the Press on NBC

• 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

This week on Polilogue, we look at the conversations that took place on the Sunday shows with Republican senators about the impending impeachment trial. Very few Republicans were were willing to suggest clear accountability measures against the former president who encouraged an insurrection at the Capitol. We also spoke about President Biden’s proposed COVID relief bill. Some shows put their attention on people suffering, other shows focused on the Washington insider baseball game.

Chapters

• Introduction

• Highlights Throwback

• N Quality: Impeachment Timing Question

• B Quality: Tapper Defends AOC

• N Quality: Global Vaccination Efforts

• B Questionable: Fauci’s Non-Answer

• N Politics: Holding Trump Accountable

• B Politics: FNS and Impeachment

• N Journalism: Pandemic Impact on Women

• B Journalism: Questioning Republicans with Facts

• Show Ratings

• Dialogue Challenge

Shows discussed 

• State of the Union on CNN

• Fox News Sunday on FOX

• This Week on ABC

• Meet the Press on NBC

• Face the Nation on CBS

Links Discussed

• Kevin McCarthy McCarthy: You had at me at hello (MSNBC)

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

This week on Polilogue, we examine how journalists are interrogating Biden’s proposed COVID Relief bill. We question if and how Republican priorities should be included in the Biden package. We also examine access, equity, and changes to the COVID vaccination rollout.

Chapters

• Introduction

• N Quality: Republican Voices on MTP

• B Quality: Firm Questions, Competent Answers

• N Questionable: Vague Questions on FNS

• B Questionable: Inaccurate summaries

• N Politics: Interrogating Biden’s COVID Relief Plan

• B Journalism: Racial Equity & Vaccines

• N Journalism: Incomplete Vaccine Explanations

• B Politics: COVID Gridlock in Florida

• Show Ratings

• Dialogue Challenge

Shows discussed 

• State of the Union on CNN

• Fox News Sunday on FOX

• This Week on ABC

• Meet the Press on NBC

• 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

This week on Polilogue, we discuss if and how Republicans will levy any consequences on President Trump. We also review the extensive interview with Dr. Deborah Birx on Face the Nation, which illuminates the destructive chaos of the Trump White House during a deadly pandemic.

Chapters

• Introduction

• Missing COVID Questions & Answers

• Uncertain Certainty from Jon Karl

• Responsibility in the Senate

• Birx Looks Back

• The Missing Filibuster Explainer

• Trump’s Thriving Lies

• Show Ratings

• Dialogue Challenge

Shows discussed 

• State of the Union on CNN

• Fox News Sunday on FOX

• This Week on ABC

• Meet the Press on NBC

• 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

This week on Polilogue, we discuss how the Republican Party is coming to terms with the Trump base. We also discuss which Republicans are dissenting and how they are expressing their dissent. We reflect on a powerful interview with Congressman Jamie Raskin, who is leading the impeachment charge while also surviving a painful personal loss.

Chapters

• Introduction

• GOP Reckoning

• Not a Politician

• Lackluster persuasion

• Journalistic Theft

• Impeachment & Humanity

• Republican Accountability

• New Republican Voices

• The Other Side

• Insurrection Videos

• Dialogue Challenge

Shows discussed 

• State of the Union on CNN

• Fox News Sunday on FOX

• This Week on ABC

• Meet the Press on NBC

• 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

This week on Polilogue, we discuss the horrifying attack on the US Capitol by Trump a rabid mob and white supremacist domestic terrorists. We analyze the half a dozen ways the shows explained Wednesday’s gut-wrenching attack and we share what we’re expecting next in forthcoming news coverage.

Chapters

• Introduction

• How the Attack was Characterized

• Lack of Preparation

• Trump the Instigator

• The Republican Party’s Role

• Demanding Accountability

• Looking Ahead

• Dialogue Challenge

Shows discussed 

• State of the Union on CNN

• Fox News Sunday on FOX

• This Week on ABC

• Meet the Press on NBC

• 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

The vaccination rollout is moving at a snail pace. Vulnerable nursing home residents wait in limbo for their promised vaccine. for A cohort of Republican senators are attempting a last ditch effort to prevent the certification of the electoral college votes. All eyes on Georgia this week to determine control of the Senate.

Chapters

• Introduction

• Quality: Qanon Explainer

• Quality: The Case for Voting Rights

• Questionable: New House Rules

• Questionable: Waiting Nursing Homes

• Journalism: Vaccination Rollout

• Journalism: MTP Grills Ron Johnson

• Politics: Republicans Contest Election

• Show Ratings

Shows discussed 

• State of the Union on CNN

• Fox News Sunday on FOX

• This Week on ABC

• Meet the Press on NBC

• 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

The COVID economic relief bill passes — just barely — in the nick of time. Nine months into a global pandemic, the public health messaging from administration officials still flounders. One voice on Face the Nation remains steady. Republicans seem fed up with the whiplash policy priorities of the Trump administration.

Chapters

• Introduction

• Quality: Holiday Book Club

• Quality: Biden Review

• Questionable: Expert Interview

• Questionable: COVID Messaging

• Journalism: Appreciating Gottlieb

• Journalism: Reporter Commitments

• Politics: Republicans vs Trump

• Show Ratings

Shows discussed 

• State of the Union on CNN

• Fox News Sunday on FOX

• This Week on ABC

• Meet the Press on NBC

• 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