DecodeDC

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131: Is the Supreme Court too supreme? Mar 17, 2016

Show notes

The status of the Supreme Court in American government has ebbed and flowed since the Constitution was ratified. But starting in the 1950s, the Court has had a long and unchallenged reign of extraordinary power and authority as the final guardian of the Constitution. In the sweep of history, this is a great aberration, not the norm.
This week on the podcast, Larry Kramer, former Dean of the Stanford Law School and now head of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation says we have largely and regrettably forgotten or disregarded that history. Kramer thinks the Supreme Court is too supreme, that it has too much power.
Confirmation fights, such as Merrick Garland now faces, have become so vicious and partisan because the court has so much power and because it is no longer considered legitimate for the other branches to challenge the Supreme Court’s authority and rulings. That, says Kramer, is not what the framers intended and it undermines the system’s democracy – the voice of the people.

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130: The long view with Madeleine Albright Mar 10, 2016

Show notes

Madeleine Albright describes herself as a late bloomer but boy, has she made something of that late push. After starting her political career as a Senate staffer at the age of 39, Albright went on to the National Security Council, before serving as UN ambassador and the country’s first female secretary of state.
On the latest DecodeDC podcast, host Jimmy Williams sits down with the storied stateswoman as she describes her journey and how the she came to find her voice. As someone who’s been through wars overseas and on Capitol Hill, Madeleine Albright offers up her long-view on politics and the world, and what to make of it all.

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129: Superdelegates, WTF Mar 03, 2016

Show notes

Superdelegates. Maybe you’ve heard something about them, but might not know how they came to be, how they work, who they are and why they matter. But if you want to make sense of the delegate math in this year’s Democratic contest, you need to understand what a superdelegate is.
Bob Shrum was there when superdelegates were created. The long time Democratic operative says if you trace the origins of this uniquely Democratic Party invention, you’ll see a battle between the people and their party where the power to select the nominee for president has swung back and forth and sort of back again.
The idea behind the superdelegates is that "they would provide a balancing force in case the voters went off the rails in Democratic primaries and chose somebody the party establishment didn’t like,” Shrum says.
On the latest DecodeDC podcast, host Jimmy Williams talks to Shrum about the secret world of super delegates and their potential to cause a train wreck in the Democratic Party.

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128: South Carolina's unholy alliance Feb 25, 2016

Show notes

Long ago in South Carolina, an unholy alliance was made to keep the races separate. In the second episode of our two-part series on the politics of race in the Palmetto State, we introduce you to two of the people who keep that pact going. And they hate it.
So while all the talking heads and politicians turn their attention to this Saturday’s Democratic primary in South Carolina, listen to our latest episode on the real problem down in Dixie: Race.

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Revisiting: The Price of Privacy Feb 23, 2016

Show notes

Right now, a battle is being waged between Apple and the government over encryption. A federal court has ordered the tech giant to unlock an iPhone used by one of the attackers in the San Bernardino shooting that left 14 people dead.
Apple is fighting the order, and a huge public debate is going on about privacy and protection.
A few months ago, right after the Paris terrorist attacks, we did a podcast about a Scripps News investigation into encryption. We've decided to repost that episode and take you inside the battle between law enforcement and encryption advocates.

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127: The black and white state of South Carolina Feb 18, 2016

Show notes

From 2010-2014, more than 200,000 people moved to South Carolina. The South is the fastest growing region of the county but unlike its neighbors, the Palmetto state seems to be stuck in time.
South Carolina’s schools rank 43rd in the nation. The median income in South Carolina is $44,000 dollars a year. That's nearly $10,000 dollars less than the national average.
Democrats have been hoping that the influx of Latinos and African Americans, combined with the movement of retirees might turn the traditionally red state blue. But the old order has held firm – South Carolina is as Republican as ever.
So, for the next two episodes, host Jimmy Williams is taking you to his birth state, where all the political attention is being focused right now because of the presidential primaries, to take a hard look at what’s happening and how race is still playing a predominant role in the politics of the state.

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126: How Anne Boleyn gave us our right to privacy Feb 11, 2016

Show notes

Today Americans view privacy as a fundamental civil liberty, a right that puts a boundary on what the government can do. Our ‘right to privacy’ has become part of the essential contract Americans make with their government, a system that protects individuals from the government’s ability to intrude into the private sphere.
But it wasn’t so long ago that the very idea of a right to privacy, even of a right to one’s own thoughts, wasn’t such a foregone conclusion.
This week on the podcast, we take you through a history of the right to privacy, where we got our ideas about privacy - specifically personal privacy - and then how that right to privacy has been applied in famous Supreme Court Cases like Griswold v. Connecticut and Roe v. Wade.

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125: Political Dynasties Feb 04, 2016

Show notes

Adams, Bush, Clinton, Kennedy. Somehow the same family names keep popping up in American politics. And that raises the question: Why, in a proudly democratic country, do we wind up with something that doesn’t feel very democratic?
This week on the podcast, guest host Michelle Cottle speaks with historian Stephen Hess about our obsession with political dynasties.
Hess, whose best seller “America’s Political Dynasties” was recently updated, says we will always have dynasties—but they won’t always be the same. Dynasty might be a dirty word in America but it turns out our politics have been a family business from the start.

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124: Broad Politics Jan 28, 2016

Show notes

Beyoncé had it right. Who runs the world? Girls.
Just ask Jay Newtown-Small, a Time magazine correspondent and author of the new book, “Broad Influence: How Women Are Changing the Way America Works.”
This week on the podcast, Newton-Small speaks with host Jimmy Williams about her experience reporting her book and it’s key takeaway: once women make up between 20 and 30 percent of an institution, they begin to impact and change the way that institution works.

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123: The new kid on the block Jan 21, 2016

Show notes

From the outside looking in, Brian Sims seems to have it all. He’s young, energetic, well liked, and his political career’s on the rise. After becoming one of the first openly gay college football players in NCAA history, Sims went on to law school and embarked on a career as an LGBT activist before becoming the first openly gay candidate elected to Pennsylvania’s state legislature. Now he’s ready to take the next step: the US. House of Representatives.
Is Sims crazy? No one seems to have a kind word or thought about Congress. It’s approval rating hovers around 13 percent and those running for president are actively running against Washington.
This week on the podcast, why would someone like Brian Sims - who’s got a good job, good home, community, and reputation - run for Congress?

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