Join Bill Curtis and Jane Albrecht as they speak with Former White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci about 2022 elections, Republican tactics, and some of the most divisive political topics in the United States. What if Trump decides to run again? How will The Mooch plan to stop him? They cover politics, voting rights, bit coin, abortion, Biden, and vaccines…all as we close out year two of the pandemic with the death toll still rising.

Episode Timestamps:

03:26- Were you always a Republican?

03:50 - Is Trump the same you knew?

04:31 -  Republican Party Tactics are working

08:28 -  Is the Republican party healable?

10:21 - The Mooch’s Assessment of Trump

12:23 - What if Trump runs again?

16:19 - 2022 and The House

20:00 - How do Trump supporters think?

21:13 - It’s too early to know who can replace Trump

22:51 - Vaccines

23:19 - The U.S. and China

24:52 - Abortion

27:19 – Brief explanation of how Crypto works

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Hosted by: Bill Curtis and Jane Albrecht

Edited and Sound Engineering by: Joey Salvia

Theme Music by: Celleste and Eric Dick

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What will it take for Dems to connect with black & brown voters? How can Democrats keep Republicans from branding them, radicals? What can Democrats do better to keep the house? All this and more is discussed on the season finale of Politics: Meet Me in the Middle. Bill and Jane are joined by Lanae Erickson (Senior Vice President for the Social Policy Program at The Third Way) and Quentin James (founder and president of The Collective) to explore their six month study and report that was praised by The NY Times.

Episode Timestamps:

5:52 Defining The Third Way, The Collective, and The Latino Victory Fund

7:54 The Origins of coming together

8:51 The Democratic Coalition

11:05 Black Voters

15:51 The Failure of “Defund the Police” messaging

17:26 The Trump Effect

19:14 Learning from the report

22:44 The Democratic Brand

26:45 Dems -The Less Racist Party?

29:36 What do Democrats stand for?

31:17 Full disclosure

33:30 Advice for the moderates

34:27 Closing statements to the Democratic party 

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Hosted by: Bill Curtis and Jane Albrecht

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There are ways to improve the relationship between Russia and the United States, but it's going to be a long road. This week Timothy Frye continues his look at the possibilities of joint gains and the mutual benefits of better political relations between the two countries.

Timothy Frye is the Marshall D. Shulman Professor in Political Science at Columbia University and Co-Director of a research laboratory at the Higher School of Economics in Moscow. He worked for the US Information Agency in the Soviet Union in the late 1980s, advised the Russian Securities and Exchange Commission in the 1990s, and directed the Harriman Institute at Columbia from 2009 to 2015. Born in Utica, New York, he earned a BA in Russian Language and Literature from Middlebury College and a Ph.D. in Political Science from Columbia University. He is the editor of Post-Soviet Affairs and the author of 4 books. He lives in New York City.

Episode Timestamps:

:30 Next steps to a better US/Russia relationship

2:31 Putin in Power until 2036?

7:12 Putin and Hillary Clinton

9:33 Trump’s Idol: Putin

11:34 What did Putin have on Trump?

13:08 Trump’s a Putin Wannabe

16:55 Putin – Biden Relationship

23:15 Should the US appease or help Putin?

28:00 The Path Forward for a Better US/Russia relationship

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Timothy Frye kicks off our series on US-Russia relations.

Timothy Frye is the Marshall D. Shulman Professor in Political Science at Columbia University and Co-Director of a research laboratory at the Higher School of Economics in Moscow. He worked for the US Information Agency in the Soviet Union in the late 1980s, advised the Russian Securities and Exchange Commission in the 1990s, and directed the Harriman Institute at Columbia from 2009 to 2015. Born in Utica, New York, he earned a B.A. in Russian Language and Literature from Middlebury College and a Ph.D. in Political Science from Columbia University. He is the editor of Post-Soviet Affairs and the author of four books. He lives in New York City.

Episode Timestamps:

2:55 The U.S. view of Russia and Russia's view of the US

8:51 Russian Backgrounds and Diversity

11:14 Power distribution in Russia

14:10 Experiencing 911 from Russia

21:20 Putin’s Rise to Power 

Additional Links:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08KWP9X92/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_taft_p1_i0 

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Bill Curtis, Jane Albrecht, and Ted Lieu continue their discussion with Congressman Ted Lieu about cybersecurity and the potential threats to America’s infrastructure. According to Lieu, the Trump Administration did not take cybersecurity as seriously as it should have, even eliminating government cybersecurity positions. The new administration seems to be taking the issue of cybersecurity with more gravity. He wants more people to realize that the severity of an attack could go well beyond individual businesses and affect the quality of the lives of many Americans. Then, he speaks about cryptocurrency and the potential dangers of not being able to monitor it and control it. He also speaks about the spam and scams people receive and how to protect yourself.

This term, Ted was elected Co-Chair of the House Democratic Policy and Communications Committee. Ted was also appointed as an Assistant Democratic Whip. He serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the House Judiciary Committee. Ted has taken a leadership role in Congress on a number of vital policy issues.

Episode Timestamps:

3:51 Cryptocurrency and Bitcoin Abuse

7:51 Is this problem of cyber-attacks accelerating?

9:02 Nuclear Power Plants

9:37 Break 1

10:10 Personal Cyber security Advice from Ted Lieu

16:43 Break 2

17:06 Spam and Scams

21:06 Email and Wire Instructions

23:17 Closing Thoughts 

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Bill Curtis, Jane Albrecht, and Congressman Ted Lieu discuss computer hackers, cyber warfare, America's infrastructure, and how we can keep our country safe from these attacks. This is part one of our two-part series on cyber security with Representative Ted Lieu.

Congressman Ted W. Lieu represents California’s 33rd Congressional District. Serving his fourth term in Congress, Ted has already made a significant impact in Washington. He was elected President of the Democratic Freshman Class by his colleagues during his first term. Last term, after being elected Vice Chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Ted led efforts to take back the House, helping Democrats win 9 Republican-held house seats in his region. This term, Ted was elected Co-Chair of the House Democratic Policy and Communications Committee. Ted was also appointed as an Assistant Democratic Whip. He serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the House Judiciary Committee. Ted has taken a leadership role in Congress on a number of vital policy issues.

Episode Timestamps:

3:22 Ted’s Cybersecurity Background

4:20 Biggest Cybersecurity Threats to the USA

7:12 Types of Hackers

11:13 Russia Aggression

15:08 Microsoft and Hacking

20:21 The Space Infrastructure Act

26:06 Digital Gorilla War

30:07 Final Words: Is there universal Goodwill?

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Nowadays there's not much that enflames passions more than a conversation about gun safety, the NRA, and the "right to bear arms." In this episode, Constitutional law professor Eugene Volokh goes toe-to-toe with Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Ed Larson and host Bill Curtis as they argue what the framers meant when they crafted the second amendment on this encore edition of Politics: Meet Me in the Middle.

Episode Timestamps:

2:10 2nd Amendment Lesson
4:06 Deeper Dive into the 2nd Amendment
5:39 What is the militia?
6:25 Individual Rights
7:40 The right to bear arms

8:07 break 1

8:32 The Changing View of the 2nd Amendment
10:05 Types of Arms Allowed
13:00 Cars as Weapons vs Guns and background checks

16:10 break 2

16:54 The NRA Influence and reasonable purpose
18:20 Defining Assault weapons
21:20 Protecting rights strategy
22:36 Do we need protection from our government
24:00 Is it really a 2nd Amendment issue?
27:32 Closing Remarks

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Bill Curtis and Jane Albrecht continue their discussion on cybersecurity with author and tech-wiz, David Holtzman. What’s a Zombie Bot? Has a Trojan attacked your computer? How can we protect ourselves from Hackers?

This episode will both scare and enlighten you to all matters of personal and business cybersecurity. David Holtzman is a world-class information technologist, currently working with global block chain companies, with deep expertise in privacy, encryption, ethics, cybersecurity, digital registries and intellectual property.

Episode Timestamps:

00:52 Hacking, Phishing, and Personal Attacks

1:52 How Hackers Attack YOU

4:07 Antivirus Software

5:34 No Real Protection Against Hacking

6:55 Real Life Hacking Examples

7:43 Things you can check before being Hacked

10:37 Hacking Cases during Covid

11:48 What not to do to stay safe from Hackers and VPN

13:07 Passwords

15:07 Password Lockers and Hacks

15:52 Positive Takeaways and Hacking

19:42 Insider Threats and Business

21:48 Individual Responsibility and Old-World Business Tactics

24:06 Final Words 

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Hosted by: Bill Curtis and Jane Albrecht

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Bill Curtis and Jane Albrecht discuss cybersecurity with author and tech-wiz, David Holtzman. They dive deep into the Colonial Pipeline Hack, ransomware, and Solar Winds. You’ll learn about the capabilities of Russia, China, and other nations in the cyber-wars. Do you want to know what Zero Day means, who’s DarkSide, Fancy Bear and Cozy Bear?... which software is the safest, Apple or Microsoft? And how wars will be fought in the future? This two-part series on cyber-intelligence will certainly deliver.

Episode Timestamps:

3:16 Why do countries get hacked? David Holtzman is a world-class information technologist, currently working with global block chain companies, with deep expertise in privacy, encryption, ethics, cybersecurity, digital registries and intellectual property.

5:05 The Colonial Pipeline Hack

6:16 Panic Buying and Hacks (DarkSide)

9:19 Two Types of Hackers

10:30 Negotiating with Hackers

11:08 The Solar Winds Hack and Russia

12:54 Deduction and knowing who’s the Hacker

14:34 Tracking what information was hacked

16:16 How to handle the backdoor second hack attack

17:45 Lessons Learned from Hackers and USA Cyber intelligence

20:36 Trump and classified intelligence

21:36 Do we have proof that Trump passed info onto the Russians?

23:36 What is Zero Day?

24:54 Apple vs Microsoft and Hacking

28:02 Mutual assured annihilation

29:50 Ramifications of Hacking

32:44 Cold War References and destruction

34:00 Defending against Russian Aggression 

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This episode is going to be a little different. We're going to focus on trending topics in the news and social media, mostly political Twitter, and then ask our host, who'll be playing a guest this episode, about his thoughts, feelings and opinions on some of these topics. Plus, later, we'll do a get to know Bill a bit more with the producers Lightning Round.

Episode Timestamps:

1:13 Social Media Platform

2:19 The Recent Biden Poll
3:29 The Covid unemployment benefits effect
7:52 Biden Putin vs Trump Putin Dynamic
9:29 Mass Shootings and Gun Laws

14:44 Break one
15:14 The GOP is A Cult
16:53 Governance VS Politics
18:59 What went wrong with the Republican Party?
22:38 Biden’s Tax Mistake

26:24 Break Two
27:20 Get to know more about our host, Bill Curtis with a lightning Round
31:34 Bringing it back to Social Media Good or Bad?

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Hosted by: Bill Curtis and Jane Albrecht

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