Politics Brief

Politics Brief

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Politics Brief episodes

  • How Our Elections Work

    Joining The Takeaway to break down how voting varies across the country is David Becker, the executive director and founder of the Center for Election Innovation & Research.

    13 min
  • Saudi Arabia's Royal "Reformers"

    Last year, when Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman became Saudi Arabia's Deputy Prime Minister, the press fawned over his reforms in the arena of women's rights and business.  The Western media has devoted less coverage to his regime's human rights violations and destruction in Yemen. Georgetown University in Qatar professor Abdullah Al-Arian speaks to On The Media's Brooke Gladstone about the trope of the Saudi royal "reformers," where it comes from and why it persists.

    13 min
  • Trump's Curious Relationship With Saudi Arabia

    Trump has been doing business with Saudis for years, even bragging during his presidential campaign about the large amount of money Saudi buyers paid for his apartments.

    In this Trump, Inc. podcast extra, WNYC’s Charlie Herman talks with The Washington Post’s David Fahrenthold and Joe Nocera from Bloomberg Opinion about all the ways Saudi Arabia is intertwined with U.S. business interests, including those of the president himself.

    15 min
  • The Booming Jobs Market

    New Labor Department numbers this week point to a record number of job openings, and a booming labor market like this means it’s a great time for employees to ask for more money in their current role, or to find new, better work. Harry Holzer, a professor of Public Policy at Georgetown and former Chief Economist for the U.S. Department of Labor, joins The Takeaway to discuss why the economy looks the way it does, how workers can benefit, and who is left out of this prosperous moment. 

    10 min
  • Senator Ben Sasse On Political Polarization

    Ben Sasse, Republican U.S. Senator from Nebraska and author of Them: Why We Hate Each Other--and How to Heal, argues that loneliness is the underlying cause of America's extreme polarization and that the solution lies in finding deepening "rootedness." That's on The Brian Lehrer Show.

    16 min
  • Are Our Elections Secure?

    Russian intelligence has been probing for weaknesses in our election systems. And there are plenty. Can states secure themselves from attack in time for the midterms? Sue Halpern, who reports on election security, joined The New Yorker Radio Hour to discuss.

    13 min

About Politics Brief

From the publisher's feed

Politics Brief is the go-to source for 2018 election news, selected from the best WNYC has to offer. Daily segments include original reporting on the New York metro region, along with interviews and analysis focused on the national scene from groundbreaking shows like On the Media, The Takeaway and The New Yorker Radio Hour. Produced by WNYC Studios, home of other great podcasts including Radiolab, Snap Judgment, Nancy and Here’s the Thing with Alec Baldwin.