This week's guest is Brennan Duckett, Director of Technology & Innovation Policy at National Restaurant Association. We looks at how we used to talk about data privacy - especially with regard to how merchants collect and handle consumer data, and how that conversation has very quickly morphed into online privacy, protecting kids from harmful elements of the internet, and the impact on how all of this is changing how consumer-facing brands now are able market and communicate to their customers

 Joe Kefauver sits down with Dan Swanson—attorney, consultant, and former general counsel of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee—to unpack the complex world of credit card swipe fees and why they’ve become one of the biggest financial pressures facing Main Street businesses. Swanson explains how Visa and Mastercard’s market dominance, interchange structures, and recent court battles are shaping the national debate over competition, transparency, and consumer costs. Together, they explore what meaningful reform could look like at both the federal and state levels—and what it will mean for merchants, consumers, and policymakers in the years ahead. 

Welcome everyone to the American Modcast brought to you by Americans for a Modern Economy, an organization committed to ensuring that local, state and federal policies reflect changing technologies that are reshaping the way consumers, businesses and communities operate in the 21st century economy.

This is the podcast where we actually don’t discuss the issues of the day but try to focus on the emerging issues of tomorrow. Those issues around the changing nature of the workforce, the impact of technology on the economy, and trendlines in commerce that will not only force changes to consumer behavior but ultimately voter attitudes. It should be a fun ride with meaty topics, good guests, and maybe a sprinkling of cynical humor along the way.