Red, White, and Confused

How can Democrats turn around politics in rural America? Today on the show, I chat with Chloe Maxmin, who is the youngest woman ever to serve in the Maine State Senate at 28 years old. She was elected in 2020 after unseating a two-term Republican incumbent and (former) Senate minority leader. In 2018, she served in the Maine House of Representatives after becoming the first Democrat to win a rural conservative district. Join me as we talk about Senator Maxmin's new co-authored book, “Dirt Road Revival: How to Rebuild Rural Politics and Why our Future Depends on It."

Now that abortion has been returned to the states – some states, like Kansas, are having amendments show up on their ballots about abortion.  Join me as I chat with Nathaniel Birkhead (associate professor and department chair of political science, Kansas State University) about what happened in the Kansas primary on August 2nd, and whether the results are good news for the Democrats.

If you have been paying attention to politics on television or online, you might be thinking that we have a huge civics knowledge gap in America. From politicians saying things that are just not true about our government, to your friends and family repeating those claims on social media – the question we will discuss on today's show is whether we have a civics education crisis in America. If we do – what can we do about it? 

Join me as I discuss this topic with four guests: Lauren Bell (Randolph-Macon College), John Forren (Miami University), Katherine Robiadek (Hood College) and Carah Ong Whaley (University of Virginia).

Over the past few weeks, we have discussed different aspects about the Supreme Court – and today that thread continues with a larger discussion regarding privacy rights.  What exactly is a "right to privacy," and how can we get involved if we care a lot about privacy rights? I’m joined on this episode by John Domino.  John received his PhD from Miami University and is a professor at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville Texas.  He teaches and conducts research in the areas of civil rights and liberties, constitutional law, judicial politics, and legal history, and he has published books and articles on civil rights and liberties, federal and state judicial politics, judicial recusal, the right to privacy, and a biography of a well-known Texas judge.

Last week there was devastating flooding in Whitewood, Virginia, with over 100 homes and hundreds of people affected. In this episode, I interview Arnold Vance, Bob Blevins, Carnus King, and Jim Edwards, who were spending their day on July 20th digging out the Baptist Bible Church.

With recent Supreme Court decisions in cases like Whole Women's Health v. Jackson to Kennedy v. Bremerton School District and Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, various political scientists and policymakers have been sounding an alarm about our democracy. To make sense out of what is going on with the Supreme Court and how their opinions relate to democracy and the rule of law, I chat with Michael Romano, Associate Professor of political science at Shenandoah University in Winchester, Virginia.  His research focuses on how politicians communicate with the public - including how judges write decisions and influence public debate around policy issues.  He is the co-author of the book "Creating the Law; State Supreme Court Opinions and the Effect of Audience," and is currently studying how state governments impact the strength of democracy and adherence to democratic norms in the United States nationally.

In today's bonus episode, I chat with Brandon Moore about the state of local politics and how the parties are doing in attracting moderates and independents to their side of the political aisle. We discuss attending a local rally for women's rights, the conversation that happened there, and how the parties are working on (and ignoring) issues that are affecting people in Southwest Virginia.

The debate over abortion rights has been looming in this country for years – and last week, the U.S. Supreme Court officially reversed Roe v. Wade, declaring that the right to abortion no longer exists. To make sense of the ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization and what this decision means for the states, the legitimacy of the court, women everywhere, and the upcoming 2022 elections, join me this week as I chat with Todd Curry (University of Texas at El Paso) and Michael Fix (Georgia State University).

Today on "Red, White & Confused"- join me as I chat with Scott Basinger, Associate Professor of Political Science and Director of Graduate Studies at the University of Houston, about his work on the electoral consequences of political scandals, and Brandon Moore about current local scandals involving candidates & officials in Eastern TN and Southwestern VA.

With the recent school shooting at Robb Elementary School in Texas, there has been a wave of protests across the country surrounding the issue of gun control.  This week, I'm joined by two scholars who do research on public opinion surrounding gun policies. Alexandra Middlewood, Assistant Professor of Political Science at Wichita State University, and Abigail Vegter, Assistant Professor of Political Science at Berry College, chat with me about how young people, gun owners, those in rural communities, women, and evangelicals differ in their political engagement and attitudes on gun control.

Abigail Vegter is an

assistant professor of political science at Berry College in Rome, GA. Her

scholarship broadly focuses on religion and politics, gun politics, and public

opinion. Currently, she's investigating the relationship between guns and

religion in the United States.