Pantsuit Politics

Latest Episodes:

It Doesn't Have to Be Like This Oct 20, 2026

Show notes

With the midterms close, Sarah and Beth step back to ask how a profit-first mindset came to shape so much of public life and what might replace it. Inspired by Chris Marquis's New York Times guest essay on closing business schools, they discuss:

the pervasive influence of MBA thinking on leadership and society
the need for philosophy, art, and new vocabularies about values and priorities
rethinking measurement and growth
Outside of politics (not really!): The Social Reckoning

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"If you can imagine it, we're ready for it" Oct 16, 2026

Show notes

California Attorney General Rob Bonta joins Beth to talk about how state attorneys general are preparing for this election and pushing back on federal overreach. They discuss:

the security of mail-in ballots
the fight over "citizenship lists"
preparations to safeguard against intimidation at the polls
the Supreme Court's emergency docket and strain on the court system
immigration enforcement
AI and the tools needed to protect citizens
outside of politics: soccer brings people together

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A Failed Execution in Tennessee and a Livestream Firing Squad Oct 13, 2026

Show notes

We did not expect to be discussing the death penalty less than a month before midterm elections, but here we are. Today, Sarah and Beth discuss:

Our individual perspectives on the death penalty
Tennessee's failed attempt to execute Christa Pike
Pete Hegseth's plan to livestream the execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan
Outside of politics: seeing leaves last week in New England and Quebec

Mentioned in the episode:

Still Listening, our free pop-up book club for the midterms

Pew Research polling on the death penalty

Shirley Jackson's short story "The Lottery"

Common Ground Pilgrimages

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Why this Federal Prosecutor Resigned and is Running for Congress in Kentucky Oct 09, 2026

Show notes

Beth talks with Zach Dembo, the Democratic candidate for Kentucky's 6th Congressional District, running against Republican Ralph Alvarado in one of the closest House races in the country:

Zach's path to running: Teach for America, active-duty Navy, policy advisor to Gov. Andy Beshear, and most recently a federal prosecutor
Why he resigned from the DOJ, and how that decision affected his marriage (his wife is also a prosecutor)
His anti-corruption platform: no stock trading for members of Congress, 12-year term limits, a ban on lobbying, a ban on dark money and corporate PAC contributions
Why the corruption message is landing with voters across party lines in central Kentucky right now
His "team Kentucky, not team party" case for independence in a polarized Congress
The "nightmare scenario": what Congress can actually do if the executive ignores its own laws
His committee priorities — armed services and agriculture — and why farm economics are personal to both hosts
The contrast with his opponent, Ralph Alvarado
Running a true toss-up race, and how listeners can help
A closing conversation about UK football under Will Stein and UK basketball

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Live, Laugh, Love was never just a sign Oct 06, 2026

Show notes

Sarah and Beth talk with Kristin Kobes Du Mez about her new book Live, Laugh, Love, exploring the history and influence of white Christian women's culture in America:

how Live, Laugh, Love traces the roots of white Christian women's culture beyond evangelicalism, including Mormon and positive thinking influences
the intertwining of religion, capitalism, and multi-level marketing, and how corporate power shaped Christian subcultures
the impact of Christian fiction, media, and influencers from Little House on the Prairie to modern blogs and Instagram
the challenges of writing recent history and representing living figures in the Christian women's influencer space

Outside of politics, some easy organizing has improved our lives.

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Cornell and the Culture that Let it Happen Oct 01, 2026

Show notes

Sarah and Beth discuss the horror described in Jane Doe's complaint, the campus culture at Cornell, and the challenges of addressing sexual assault in college environments. They cover:

The reporting and investigation into the Cornell 7 case and the role of student journalism
How campus culture, Greek life, and university responses shape outcomes
The complexities of Title IX, criminal investigations, and legal standards in sexual assault cases
Broader questions about prevention, parenting, and the ongoing struggle to change campus safety

Outside of Politics: Sarah and Beth talk about Derek Thompson's essay on the decline of hosting and why fewer people are having others over.

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Viral stories tell us more than headlines do (+ Taylor Swift's Encore) Sep 29, 2026

Show notes

Sarah and Beth discuss the viral stories that took over the weekend, and what they reveal about conflict, context, and civic life heading into the midterms: - The New York Times report on Alaska Senate candidate Mary Peltola's treatment of staff - The Boston Globe story on Last Ditch, a COVID-cautious lesbian bar in Greenfield, Massachusetts - The Giants game "mom of the year" couple and iced coffee at job interviews - Taylor Swift's four-song encore to The Life of a Showgirl

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What Eight Years as a University President Taught Robbyn Wacker about Values Sep 25, 2026

Show notes

Beth talks with Dr. Robbyn Wacker, a former university president (most recently at St. Cloud State University) with a background in gerontology, about the book she's writing on leadership and values in higher education. They cover:

Robbyn's path from gerontology and legal aid for older adults into higher-ed leadership, and eight years as a university president
The current state of higher education: flipped funding models, the enrollment cliff, cuts to research funding and student loans, restrictions on international students, and a growing public skepticism about the value of a degree
Why Robbyn's book centers on values rather than tactics, and how to choose two or three core values as an actual decision-making tool rather than a platitude
"Values drift" — how leaders rationalize small departures from their stated values until those values stop driving behavior at all
A detour through Lindsey Graham's admission that his real value is "relevance," and what that reveals about naming one value in service of another
Whether organizations — and an entire sector like higher education — can meaningfully hold values, and how to navigate different constituencies without seeming inconsistent
Beth's own reflection on the three values guiding her work this year: honesty, distinctiveness, and joy
A closing story about the real budget dilemmas university presidents face, and how a "North Star" value holds up under pressure

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The AI Conversation, Continued: Kill Switches, Frontier AI, and What to Do About it All Sep 22, 2026

Show notes

We're picking back up on artificial intelligence — Mustafa Suleyman's warning about conscious AI, the difference between chatbots and frontier models, recursive self-improvement, kill switches, and what policy response should actually look like at every level of government. Outside of Politics: the foods from our childhoods that still hold up.

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Caitlin Clark, Sydney Sweeney, and the Sports Culture War Sep 18, 2026

Show notes

Sports, race, gender, religion, cancel culture, and Donald Trump — this week they're all the same conversation. We cover Caitlin Clark's fouls and the House Republicans weighing in, Sophie Cunningham and the trans-athletes-in-sports debate, the Sydney Sweeney ad everyone's arguing about, SF Giants pitchers under DOJ scrutiny for Bible verses on Pride caps, the golf ad that ended a sponsorship, and LIV Golf's bankruptcy. Outside of Politics: which area of law would we actually want to practice?

Sports and the culture war, generally