Quick life update first — my wife’s surgery is this week, so episodes might be a little lighter while I focus on taking care of her. Thanks for all the support.

Today I wanted to zoom back out and talk about something that’s been bothering me after listening to the NPR Politics Podcast: talk of “nationalizing” elections, revisiting 2020 yet again, and what happens when one party tries to control how voting works.

That stuff should make all of us nervous — not Republican or Democrat nervous, but American nervous.

I’m thinking out loud about free and fair elections, peaceful transfers of power, and a few common-sense reforms like independent redistricting, vote-by-mail, and getting big money out of politics.

Nothing fancy. Just a regular guy in a truck wondering what happens if we stop protecting the basics of democracy.