The Common Good Podcast

Join us as legal scholar and former Principal Deputy Solicitor General Neal Katyal discusses all the new legal challenges facing the 2020 election.  Moderated by  business legend and co-founder of Springboard Enterprises Kay Koplovitz, the two will lead a fascinating conversation, headlined by pressing issues such as mail-in ballot and combating the spreading of misinformation.   

General Neal Katyal  served as Acting Solicitor General of the United States, where he argued several major Supreme Court cases involving a variety of issues, such as his successful defense of the constitutionality of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, his victorious defense of former Attorney General John Ashcroft for alleged abuses in the war on terror, his unanimous victory against eight states who sued the nation's leading power plants for contributing to global warming, and a variety of other matters. As Acting Solicitor General, Neal was responsible for representing the federal government of the United States in all appellate matters before the U.S. Supreme Court and the Courts of Appeals throughout the nation. He served as Counsel of Record hundreds of times in the U.S. Supreme Court. He was also the only head of the Solicitor General's office to argue a case in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, on the important question of whether certain aspects of the human genome were patentable.  Ms. Kay Koplovitz is the founder and former Chairman & CEO of USA Networks, the SyFy Channel (formerly Sci-Fi Channel), and USA Networks International, today a multi-billion-dollar cable television network. 

Ms. Koplovitz ran the network for 21 years before stepping down in 1998. As founder of USA Networks, Kay is the visionary who created the business model for cable networks by introducing the concept of two revenue streams: licensing and advertising.  

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Governor Larry Hogan joined The Common Good for a conversation to discuss the pandemic.  Moderated by former Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson, the two discussed the state and federal response; unrest, racism and police brutality.  Join us for expert insights into the 2020 political landscape and the direction of our country as well as many other issues of national interest.  

Governor Larry Hogan is a lifelong Marylander who is the son of Congressman Lawrence Hogan (MD-5). As a young man, Governor Hogan worked on his father’s campaigns, at first stuffing envelopes and knocking on doors, and eventually helping to manage them. Hogan continued to work for his father when he was County Executive of Prince George's County.  

He later went to create a real estate firm which quickly became the leading land development firm in the state of Maryland, focusing on economic development and bringing hundreds of businesses and thousands of jobs to the state. In 2011, Hogan founded the grassroots organization Change Maryland. What began as an idea between a few friends quickly grew into the largest grassroots organization in State history and the leading voice of support for tax relief, responsible budgeting, and economic growth.  

Governor Hogan was elected in 2014 and became the first Republican Governor to be re-elected for a second term in half a century. He has received mass praise for his work towards bipartisanship, being efficient, and always putting the needs of Maryland families and businesses first. Its main focus is to get the State’s budget under control, eliminate waste and abuse in State government, provide tax relief to struggling Marylanders, and bring jobs and businesses back to the State.  

Secretary Jeh Johnson was appointed by President Obama on December 23, 2013, following confirmation by the U.S. Senate by a vote of 78-16.  Between 2013 and 2017 he served as Secretary of Homeland Security. Previously, Secretary Johnson was appointed by President Obama to be General Counsel of the Department of Defense from 2009 through 2012. In that position, Johnson was one of the legal architects for the U.S. military’s counter terrorism mission during President Obama’s first term.   

In 2010, Johnson co-authored a 250-page report that paved the way for the repeal by Congress of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell law that prohibited gays from serving openly in the U.S. military. From October 1998 to January 2001, Johnson served in the Clinton Administration as General Counsel of the Department of the Air Force. From 1989 through 1991, Secretary Johnson was an Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of New York, where he prosecuted public corruption cases.  

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Renowned political strategists, Douglas Schoen, (Democrat) and Rick Tyler (Republican) discuss the 2020 election and what their candidates must do to get the 270 electoral college votes needed to win. We are thrilled that Tom Rogers, founder of CNBC and MSNBC, former President of NBC Cable  and TCG Honorary Advisory Board member joins us to moderate the conversations.  

Douglas E. Schoen has been one of the most influential Democratic campaign consultants for over thirty years. A founding partner and principal strategist for Penn, Schoen & Berland, he is widely recognized as one of the co-inventors of overnight polling.  

Rick Tyler is Co-Founder of Foundry Strategies, a political, strategic, and communications consulting firm specializing in helping their political and corporate clients reach their leadership potential by honing their communications skills. He is currently a Political Analyst for the MSNBC Cable News Network.  

Tom Rogers is founder of CNBC and a CNBC contributor, as well as founder of MSNBC, when he served as the first President of NBC cable. He is the former CEO of TiVo and is currently Chairman of Engine Media, a broad based sports, esports, and news content & distribution company. He is the former Senior Counsel to the House Telecommunications Committee where he oversaw the FCC and media industry. He is also an Editor-at-Large for Newsweek.   

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Former White House Communications Director, Anthony Scaramucci joined The Common Good for a vital conversation on the future of our economy based on the impact of the Coronavirus. Moderated by former Export- Import Bank President Fred Hochberg, the two provided TCG members with insight into the prospects of our businesses and the economy over the next 6 to 18 months.    

Mr. Anthony Scaramucci is the Founder and Co-Managing Partner of SkyBridge Capital. Prior to founding SkyBridge in 2005, Scaramucci co-founded investment partnership Oscar Capital Management, which was sold to Neuberger Berman, LLC in 2001. Earlier, he was a vice president in Private Wealth Management at Goldman Sachs & Co.   

In November 2016, he was named to President-Elect Trump’s 16-person Presidential Transition Team, Executive Committee. In June 2017, he was named the Chief Strategy Officer of the EX-IM Bank. He served as the White House Communications Director for a period in July 2017.  

Mr. Fred Hochberg is a leading world expert on business, trade, and the economy.  Under his leadership, the Ex-Im Bank supported more than 1.4 million American jobs and financed exports with a value exceeding $240 billion, while generating $3.8 billion in surplus revenue for U.S. taxpayers and reducing internal costs by nearly 30 percent.  

Mr. Hochberg also spearheaded the Small Business Administration. Hochberg knows business: he served as an executive for the extremely successful catalog company, Lillian Vernon Corp., founded by his mother.  He recently published a book on trade entitled, "Trade is Not a Four Letter Word."  

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Democratic Pollster and former Obama campaign advisor  Joel Benenson and renowned Republican Strategist Susan Del Percio discuss competing strategies, plans and ideas for their parties as they battle to win the House, Senate and the White House.   

Joel Benenson, founder and CEO of the Benenson Strategy Group, is one of the leading political and corporate strategists in the world. Benenson led the award-winning research and polling programs for President Obama’s 2008 and 2012 campaigns and is the only Democratic pollster in history to have played a leading role in three winning presidential campaigns.   

A New York-based Republican strategist and founder of Susan Del Percio Strategies, she has advised dozens of candidates in New York and elsewhere on successfully communicating messages to an electorate. Ms. Del Percio has served as a media spokeswoman on many campaigns, both political and corporate, and frequently appears on many local and national news outlets as a political analyst. Susan is also an MSNBC contributor. She served in the Giuliani Administration and holds a Masters degree in political communications.  

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The Common Good hosted Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon, as he joined us for an inside scoop and a candid conversation on what is going on in Congress. The conversation dove into new legislation to help combat the Coronavirus, and insight into how the virus might impact the 2020 election in the Presidential, Senate and House races.   

Senator Merkley started his political career in 1999 in the Oregon State House of Representatives where he became Speaker of the House before being elected to the US Senate in 2009. Prior to that he had lead Portland's Habitat for Humanity, a non-profit that empowers low-income families through home ownership. He also went on to serve as president of the World Affairs Council.   

In the U.S. Senate, Jeff continues to stand up for working families. He fights to create living wage jobs and to push back on unfair trade policies that ship Oregon’s jobs overseas. He has worked to make college more affordable and make retirement more secure for seniors. A true reformer, he led an historic coalition to fix the broken Senate by breaking up the gridlock, making it more responsive to the concerns of working families.Jeff serves on the Senate Committees on Appropriations; Environment and Public Works; Budget; and Foreign Relations.   

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The Common Good presented a timely conference call with President of the Council on Foreign Relations Richard Haass as he spoke to us about international affairs, national security, and what the next chapter in humanities book will look like, moderated by former Chairman and CEO of UBS America Robert Wolf.   

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The Common Good presented a timely conference call with social impact investor and Father of British Venture Capital and Social Investment leader, Sir Ronald Cohen.  Hosted by venture capital investor Alan Patricof, the two provided brilliant insight on the topic of social change, investing, business, and the economy in the unprecedented time of the corona pandemic.  

For nearly two decades, Sir Ronald Cohen's pioneering initiatives in driving impact investment have catalyzed a number of global efforts, each focused on driving private capital to serve social and environmental good. These efforts are leading the global impact investment movement towards an Impact Revolution. He is credited as "the father of British Venture Capital" and "the father of social investment", along with being the head of the G-20 Social Impact Commission.   

Alan Patricof is the founder and managing director of Greycroft. A longtime innovator and advocate for venture capital, Alan entered the industry in its formative days with the creation of Patricof & Co. Ventures Inc., a predecessor to Apax Partners – today, one of the world’s leading private equity firms with $41 billion under management. He stepped back from the daily administration and operational aspects of Apax Partners, LP in 2004 to concentrate on a group of small venture deals on its behalf.  

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The Common Good presents the first in a new series of conversations with top U.S. Leaders. Former Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson heads our series, starting with Governor Ned Lamont (D-CT) on how we will be getting back to normal, or what our new normal will look like. What does the phased return to reopen the tri-state area look like?    

Ned Lamont got involved in public service shortly after college, founding a weekly newspaper in a town hit by the loss of its largest employer. Covering town meetings and the Board of Selectmen, he helped to bring voice and transparency to a community working to recover from job losses and reinvent itself. He would later go on to start his own business, taking on the large and established giants of the telecom industry. Under his vision and stewardship, the company grew to serve over 400 of America's largest college campuses and 1 million college students across the nation.  

Secretary Jeh Johnson was appointed by President Obama on December 23, 2013, following confirmation by the U.S. Senate by a vote of 78-16. Previously, Secretary Johnson was appointed by President Obama to be General Counsel of the Department of Defense from 2009 through 2012. In that position, Johnson was one of the legal architects for the U.S. military’s counterterrorism mission during President Obama’s first term. 

To RSVP for upcoming events, visit our events page at: www.thecommongoodus.org

Former Chair of the DNC and current commentator on Fox News, Donna Brazile joined The Common good to share her expertise and experience on the Coronavirus crisis.  Topics discussed include: the government response, the impact on the political landscape and the upcoming election.   

Veteran Democratic political strategist Donna Brazile is Vice Chair of Voter Registration and Participation at the Democratic National Committee, and former interim National Chair of the Democratic National Committee as well as the former chair of the DNC’s Voting Rights Institute. She is also an adjunct professor, author, syndicated columnist, and television political commentator, and was the first African-American woman to run a major-party political campaign.   

To RSVP for upcoming events, visit our events page at: www.thecommongoodus.org