Drew Ballard is a classically trained pianist with a 6,500-song repertoire who spent over a decade performing in piano bars and has recently turned that same instinct for what makes a crowd sing along toward political parody.

Known online as Druby.tunes, Drew produces biting takes on well-known songs aimed at corporate exploitation and government malfeasance in Utah.

We talk about the leap from concert competitions to bar requests, the data center fight that pushed him into activism, his songwriting process, and what it's like being a leftist vegan atheist from a Mormon farm family in central Utah.

Follow Drew on social media: @drewbie.tunes

On this episode:

One year after Charlie Kirk was shot and killed at Utah Valley University, host Bryan Schott sits down with journalist Jared Holt to unpack the battle over Kirk's legacy — and how it's been playing out very differently depending on who's telling the story. On one side: a sanitized, martyr-like version of Kirk pushed by Turning Point USA and Fox News. On the other: a mocking, AI-generated "Kirkification" meme culture that has spread across the internet, and a conspiracy-fueled counter-narrative led by Candace Owens that has put Turning Point on the defensive for most of the past year.

Holt traces Kirk's evolution from a "watered-down," establishment-friendly college-campus conservative in the 2016 era to the harder-edged, immigration-focused figure—and MAGA "kingmaker"—he'd become by the time of his death, arguing that turning his assassination into a political weapon against the left was, in a sense, the most faithful tribute to what Kirk actually stood for. The two also discuss whether anyone (Jack Posobiec? Nick Fuentes?) can fill the vacuum Kirk left in a MAGA movement Holt describes as increasingly disjointed and without a clear center of gravity; how right-wing and conspiracy-minded audiences are approaching the Tyler Robinson murder trial differently; and what to watch for at this week's UVU memorial event, emceed by Glenn Beck.

Jared Holt on Bluesky

Posting Through It Podcast

Open Measures

On this episode of "Special Session":

On this episode of Special Session:

(This is a recording of a livestream that aired on 9/25/2026)

In this episode:

(This is a recording of a livestream that aired on 8/19/2026)

Bryan Schott sits down with G. Elliott Morris—former lead data editor at 538, now running the election-data newsletter Strength in Numbers and the forecasting site 50 Plus One—to dig into a trend reshaping red-state politics: Democrats stepping aside so an independent can take on the GOP one-on-one.

They start with Morris's recent analysis of Montana's three-way Senate race, where independent Seth Bodnar is outpolling Democrat Alani Bankhead against Republican Kurt Alme—and only pulls ahead of the Republican once the Democrat exits the equation. Bryan draws the direct line to Utah's 2022 Senate race, when Democrats cleared the field for independent Evan McMullin against Mike Lee, and the two trace the same dynamic playing out in Nebraska with independent Dan Osborne.

From there, the conversation widens into the numbers driving the 2026 midterms: Trump's state-by-state approval collapse (including in Utah), the "affordability problem" dragging down his presidency, and why Morris's forecast gives Democrats an 85% chance of retaking the House and a 55% chance of flipping the Senate—plus how mid-decade redistricting has already cost Democrats roughly six House seats.

It's Utah Political Watch's 2nd birthday! To celebrate, get 20% off a full-year subscription through the end of August at https://utahpolitics.news/2ndbirthday

On this week's episode:

Utah Political Watch just turned two, powered entirely by readers and listeners.

To celebrate, get 20% off a year-long subscription through the end of August: $44 instead of $55. Use code 2NDBIRTHDAY at utahpolitics.news.

On this episode:

BYU sociology professor Dr. Jacob Rugh joins Bryan Schott to dig into the numbers behind Utah's political shift.

Rugh says Utah has swung further left since 2004 than almost any other state. He explains why MAGA has never fully taken over Utah's Republican Party the way it has nationally and what that means heading into the 2026 midterms.

The conversation covers the collapse of Phil Lyman's campaign, Stuart Adams' primary loss over data centers, shifting voter registration trends, the ongoing Prop 4 redistricting fight, and what declining LDS self-identification means for the state's political future.

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