Beyond Politics

Latest Episodes:

Is Most of the Music Industry About to Be Wiped Out? Mar 25, 2024

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There is a sneaky huge shift happening in American music right now right under our very noses (or ears). Private equity's takeover of the music business could have major consequences for what we hear and whether we hear anything new at all. Whitney Houston's catalog acquisition, Taylor Swift's battle over her masters, and the fight over Pink Floyd's music are just a handful of examples. Music industry writer Marc Hogan joins to explain his fascinating piece about this in the New York Times.

00:00 The Unseen Impact of Private Equity on Music

01:27 A Deep Dive into Music Rights and Private Equity

05:00 The Taylor Swift Case

10:50 Exploring the Financialization of Music and Its Effects

17:59 The Future of Music: Creativity vs. Commercialization

27:01 Exploring the Potential for Innovation in Music and Visual Media

30:28 The Future of Music: Opportunities and Challenges

Republicans' Spactacular, Epic, Hilarious Backfire Mar 22, 2024

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A Chaotic Republican Hearing and Trump's Legal and Financial Woes: the round table runs through a tumultuous Republican hearing meant to highlight Republicans' fantasy of wrongdoing by President Biden, which backfired spectacularly on themselves and Donald Trump. Also, Judge Aileen Cannon's ham-handed slow-walking of the Trump documents case, and the incredible shrinking Trump fundraising base.

02:29 The Republican Hearing Debacle

14:15 The Media's Role and Public Perception in Political Narratives

21:48 Judge Cannon Tries to Bury The Case in Florida

28:27 Breaking News: The Government's New Lawsuit

38:50 Trump's Legal and Financial Troubles Are Deep

45:31 The RNC Takeover and Trump's Fundraising Woes

50:40 The Bizarre World of Political Fundraising Emails

Trump is Beating Biden Right Now. Why That Probably Won't Last. Mar 20, 2024

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How on earth is Trump beating Biden right now? It's the question that has baffled and enraged Democrats for months. And it's the question that Matt Robison tackled in his new article for Washington Monthly. Matt lays out one of the biggest reasons, something that analysts tend to overlook, and adds material that didn't make it into the article.

00:05 The Puzzling Popularity of Donald Trump

02:07 The Low Information Trap: Unpacking Voter Awareness

03:45 The Stark Contrast: Trump's Failures and Crimes

10:49 High vs. Low Information Voters: Bridging the Gap

17:48 The Impact of Information on Voter Perception

22:25 Looking Ahead: What Does this Mean for 2024?

Did Trump Just Beat (some of) the Rap? Mar 15, 2024

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Three charges were just dismissed against Donald Trump in Georgia. Will this make a major, lasting difference in his legal peril? Also, Never Trump Republicans fold bigly, is a MAGA takeover bid for TikTok a good thing, and is the AI apocalypse here?

00:46 Analyzing the Legal Implications and Prosecutorial Missteps

11:16 The Political and Legal Ramifications of the Case

12:46 Trump's New Never-Trump Republican Endorsements

19:21 The RNC Takeover: Trump's Personal Agenda

27:29 The TikTok Dilemma: National Security

33:09 AI Apocalypse: The End of Humanity as We Know It?

Whatever Happened in the Biggest Trump-Russia Scandal? Mar 13, 2024

Show notes

We look back today at the biggest, and probably most forgotten scandal in the whole Trump-Russia web of corruption. When Charles McGonigal, former head of counterintelligence at the FBI, was recently convicted for money laundering and working for Russia, the media barely took notice. In this interview recorded a year ago just after McGonigal's arrest, our expert guest Craig Unger laid out just how deep the Trump-Russia-FBI ties go, and how disturbing the implications are.

00:00 Introduction: The Unseen Scandal of American Intelligence

03:06 The Forgotten Ties: Trump, Russia, and the FBI's Compromised Investigation

09:59 The Historical Context: Trump's Long-standing Ties with Russia

20:37 The Media's Role and the Need for Counterintelligence Investigation

28:29 Confronting the Challenges: How to Combat Disinformation and Silence

Biden Just Took His Strategy From A Hollywood Movie Mar 11, 2024

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Beyond Politics: Biden's Impact, Trump's Troubles, and Democratic Strategies

Biden's recent turn in tone, language, and strategy that he started at the State of the Union seems ripped from the pages of a Hollywood script. Political analyst Cliff Schecter thinks it comes right out of "The American President," but Matt Robison has a couple other movie moments in mind. Also, does Trump's decision to appoint Lara Trump to head the RNC a hint o how deep his financial troubles are? And when will Nikki Haley bend the knee to Trump??

01:54 The Rise of 'Dark Brandon'

11:55 The Power of Counter Attack

14:35 Movie Metaphors for Political Strategies

18:12 The Trump Crime Family and the RNC

22:02 The Financial Struggles of Donald Trump

27:32 The Future of Nikki Haley and the Republican Party

Did Biden's "Home Run" Speech Reset the 2024 Election? Mar 08, 2024

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President Joe Biden's fiery, fiesty State of the Union drew raves from analysts, with Politico writing "it’s hard to imagine how the SOTU could’ve gone much better for Biden." But what impact did it actually have with the swing voters that will decide the 2024 election? And will it reset a race that's been looking dangerous for the President? Pollsters Ian Smith and Gabi Parra of Navigator Research explain what their live dial testing with swing voters revealed, what moments really stuck out, and whether this speech accomplished what Joe Biden truly needed.

02:02 The Impact of State of the Union on Swing Voters

07:11 The Importance of Democracy and Voting Rights

09:54 The Impact of Biden's Economic Policies

10:58 The Role of Women in Politics

12:16 Immigration

19:56 The Age Issue

23:15 Women's Political Power

26:33 The Moment that Mattered

Is This Make Or Break Week for Joe Biden? Mar 06, 2024

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With major polls showing President Joe Biden continuing to trail Donald Trump, Democratic insiders believe that the State of the Union speech this week has now become a make-or-break moment for the President. But is it? And what does he need to accomplish for it to be successful? Also, the hidden significance of Super Tuesday that could be sneaky good news for Democrats, major rulings from the Supreme Court that help Trump and cast doubt on the Court, and Matt and Alicia get parodied on social media.

02:10 State of the Union: Predictions and Expectations

12:01 Super Tuesday: Significance and Predictions

17:49 Supreme Court Decisions and Their Impact

30:06 The Lighter Side of Politics: Parody Accounts

Will the Alabama IVF Ruling Continue to Shake American Politics? Mar 04, 2024

Show notes

When Alabama's Supreme Court redefined the legal status of stored embryos, equating them to children under a law from 1872, it unleashed a tidal wave of outrage, fear, and recriminations. Sabrina Talukder, Director of the Women's Initiative at the Center for American Progress, joins to talk through the continuing repercussions of the ruling, whether all the concern is warranted, and how the ruling will shape the debate and the politics of reproductive freedom and women's health in the coming year.

01:34 Alabama Supreme Court's Decision

04:02 Legal Analysis and Repercussions

09:08 Discussion on the Political Implications

19:02 The Politicization of Medicine

21:11 Future Implications

Should Trump Or Biden Be More Scared By This Week's Primaries? Mar 01, 2024

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What is the meaning of the Haley vote in South Carolina and the "uncommitted" vote in Michigan? Is Trump or Biden more vulnerable to weakness in his own party? Also, how should the Biden campaign shift strategy after the Supreme Court took up the Trump immunity case and pushed back the election subversion trial indefinitely? And what is the meaning of Mitch McConnell's stepping down and the emerging MAGA bloc search for a successor in the Senate. And, the hilarious politics story of the week: a MAGA troll gets ratio-ed on Twitter!

01:27 Supreme Court Decision on Trump's Immunity

04:25 Election Strategy

08:43 IVF Ruling and its Political Impact

13:56 Primary Results in South Carolina and Michigan

20:13 Mitch McConnell's Departure and its Implications

23:48 Fun Politics Story of the Week