Beyond Politics

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Rethinking What We Do Online In Post-Dobbs America: The Very Real Threat Jul 07, 2022

Show notes

Privacy experts and pro-choice advocates are trying to get a handle on a new threat in post-Dobbs America: that our online behavior in apps, searches, or even just keeping our phones in in our pocket at the wrong time could send women or doctors to jail. Its a wild west of data collection and sale out there, and the new patchwork of abortion laws across states could mean that our digital footprints create very real legal perils. What if you need an abortion and you're in a state like Texas that puts a bounty on you? What if there's a new law that allows prosecutors to go after doctors if they provide care to women crossing state lines from states where abortion is restricted? How much information are we putting out, who might get it, and how might it be used against us? Rob Shavell, CEO of digital privacy provider Abine, joins to explain this emerging issue.

Photo by Rahul Chakraborty on Unsplash

Do 25 year olds run the country, and is Mitt Romney right that America is in denial? Jul 05, 2022

Show notes

From time to time, Paul and Matt take a step back to look more deeply at a few topics, and in this episode, we examine the narrative about January 6 Committee star witness Cassidy Hutchinson's age, and what role young professionals really play in Washington. Are they bystanders, or the power behind the thrones? [hint: it depends]. Also, Mitt Romney's widely-discussed piece in the Atlantic claims that "America is in Denial." Is it actually Mitt who is in denial? Or does he have an important point?

Your Break from Politics: Black Holes, Skygazing, and Going to Mars Jun 30, 2022

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From time to time, we all need a break from the news, current events, and politics.On this show, the way we do that is to go way, way beyond politics every few months and hear about what's going on at the frontier of human discovery in space. Today we talk about the amazing views of all the planets in our solar system available in the sky right now, the first image of the black hole at the center of our galaxy, the plan to return to the moon and send humans to Mars, and a postcard from interstellar space and decades ago from the Voyager spacecraft. Our guest is "The SKYGUY," John S. Gianforte, an Astronomer and Director of the University of New Hampshire (UNH) Observatory.

What Are Black Voters Thinking Right Now? And Will They Turn Out This Fall? Jun 27, 2022

Show notes

We welcome back two friends of the show, Mario Broussard and Alex Ivey who are senior vice president and vice president of research respectively at Global Strategy Group, one of the premier polling, research, and public affairs companies in America. Mario and Alex have just released the latest edition of their fascinating research project The Melting Pot: An Ongoing Look at Racial Politics in America, which is intended to take the temperature of Black America on political issues, social attitudes, and voting behavior.

Sunday Re-release: The Real History of the Religious Right's Crusade Against Abortion Jun 26, 2022

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In the wake of the Dobbs decision overturning a constitutional right to abortion, we wanted to re-release a discussion we had two months ago with Dr. Randall Balmer of Dartmouth College about the real history of the religious right's crusade against abortion. Because this moment is the direct result of a tactical decision that religious conservatives almost stumbled into 44 years ago. In fact, Dr. Balmer says that under closer examination, the real driver of the story at the time was not really abortion at all. It was segregation. Dr. Balmer joins us to explain what actually happened, and why it matters so much today.

Roe is Overturned Jun 24, 2022

Show notes

As we were recording another show, news broke about the Dobbs decision that overturns the right to abortion in America. Our panel -- featuring former Democratic Congressman Paul Hodes, conservative commentator Alicia Preston, and political analyst Matt Robison -- immediately switched in real time to discussing the decision. Alicia provides a pro-life view, but with an empathetic response from those who will be enraged by the decision. Paul weighs in to ask what rights are next? And Matt raises the question of just how radical the strict originalist cult on the Supreme Court is.

Election Workers Are Under Attack: Here's How YOU Can Protect American Elections Jun 23, 2022

Show notes

Ruby Freeman is the new face of the attack on American democracy. She is one of the critical people who helps make elections work. Donald Trump falsely accused Ruby and her daughter, both former election workers in Georgia, of election fraud. This week, she testified that “There was nowhere I feel safe. Nowhere. Do you know how it feels to have the president of the United States to target you? The president of the United States is supposed to represent every American, not to target one. But he targeted me.”

If we want to preserve our system of elections, we need to have the people in place -- unbiased, patriotic, fair-minded people -- to run them. Two months ago I wrote an article arguing that people who really cared about protecting American democracy needed to start paying a lot more attention to people like Ruby who make our elections work. I pointed out that there are not-for-profit organizations that will help you get involved, say if you are interested in being a poll worker, or helping to keep our elections working free of partisan interference. One of the organizations I spotlighted is the Fair Election Center, established 16 years ago by a prominent public interest attorney named Bob Brandon, which also helped to launch an effort called Power the Polls that helps people to volunteer to help run elections. Bob joins us to talk about what the true threats to elections are and how each of us can protect American democracy.

Bonus pod: It's Not About the Insurrection, It's About Everything That Came Before It Jun 21, 2022

Show notes

Right before recording our show yesterday with NBC legal analyst Barbara McQuade, Matt joined legendary West Virginia radio broadcaster Howard Monroe for a quick conversation about the January 6 hearings, in which he previewed the emerging argument that January 6 was a big deal, but from a legal standpoint may now take a back seat to everything that preceded it. Because as rofessor McQuade argued, there are two ways to prosecute Donald Trump and his co-conspirators that have almost nothing to do with the attack on January 6, and they both have a growing stack of proof to support them. Howard and Matt get into what that case is and why we may be entering a new phase of thinking about the investigation in this quick bonus pod.

NBC News Legal Analyst Barbara McQuade: The Increasingly "Devastating" Case Against Trump, and Why the January 6 Attack May Not Even Matter to the Prosecution Jun 20, 2022

Show notes

Last week's Congressional hearings were as riveting and disturbing as any testimony that has ever occurred in the US Congress. The picture has now become much sharper and much uglier about the true danger on January 6, the wild scheme to overturn the election that built for months, the fact that the plot was occurring at the highest levels of government, and most of all that President Donald Trump was told repeatedly, in the words of the former Attorney General of the United States William Barr, that his false election claims and the illegal scheme to keep him in power was all "bullshit." And yet, he tried to stage a coup anyway. In fact, perhaps most surprising, the January 6 attack may not even matter when comes down to the question of whether Donald Trump will be prosecuted.

We unpack all of this with Barbara McQuade, a law professor at the University of Michigan and the former U.S attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan - the first woman to serve in her position. She’s also a legal analyst for NBC News and MSNBC. Her work has appeared in The Washington Post, Foreign Policy, Lawfare, Just Security, Slate, and NPR.

Deplorables, Insufferables, and Persuadables: Why Dems Need to Understand the Difference Jun 17, 2022

Show notes

Matt joins Old Dominion University sociologist and Editorial Board writer Rod Graham on his live video show to break down how Democrats could do a better job peeling off voters they may have written off too soon, why Democrats need to stop chasing shiny objects, and whether Joe Biden still deserves some strong grades for his presidency.

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