Stay ConnectedPolitical power: Who wants it? Who wields it? And why? Through compelling conversations with power players, newsmakers, and experts, The X-Ray answers these questions, providing listeners with insightful analysis of the biggest issues facing our democracy at home and abroad.
The X-Ray is brought to you by Issue One, producers of the Swamp Stories podcast.
Copyright: © 2021 Issue One 349910
Here we go again. Congress is facing a June 1 deadline to avoid a totally preventable “debt ceiling” crisis. If no one flinches in this dangerous game of chicken, the U.S. economy will be dragged into a cataclysm, destroying America’s global reputation and unleashing unfathomable pain for every American family.
An artifact from World War I, the debt ceiling comes back every few years to provide existential drama — the battlefield of partisan politics. It all sounds a bit insane, but it’s only the latest crisis to be spawned by our increasingly dysfunctional political system.
On this week’s episode, Fernando is joined by Washington uber-insider Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, to discuss her mounting fear that a “default is possible” and what we can do about it.
Also, Fernando chats with Nellie Gorbea, former Rhode Island Secretary of State, for the latest installment of the X-Ray Vision interview. In this quirky conversation, Nellie shares her dream superpower, transformative leadership vision, and why Puerto Rican rum is superior to scotch.
Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and follow the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram! For more information, check out thexray.org.
Andrew Yang is at it again. Starting with his debut on the national stage in the 2020 presidential election, the entrepreneur without government experience jumped into the political arena with a fresh message and camera-ready charisma. And though he lost his quest for the presidency, he gained a national following and reputation for deep thoughts.
Now, Yang is taking another big leap — creating a new political party that wants to inject more democracy and accountability into our sometimes shambolic political system. It’s a big, ambitious vision.
Yet, Yang has been criticized for setting in motion a third party vote-splitting process that may — inadvertently — hand the White House back to Donald Trump in 2024.
So, which is it? In an intense and surprising conversation, Fernando and Yang explore whether his latest Big Idea is a solution for political dysfunction — or a threat to American democracy.
Like a party guest that won’t leave, Donald Trump is the rare losing presidential candidate that is making another run at the White House. Twice impeached and now indicted, Trump is nevertheless the favorite candidate to win the Republican nomination, according to recent polls. But what does this mean for our political system overall? And what’s the impact on a divided Republican Party? Former Rep. Reid Ribble (R-WI) joins Fernando for a conversation about the future of the Republican Party and much more.
And on The X-Ray Vision, our offbeat interview seeking to discover the real person behind the political title, Fernando chats with former Rep. Zach Wamp (R-TN) about who’s his hero, what his Sunday morning passion is, and why “scotch or bourbon?” is totally the wrong question.
Since Donald Trump entered the presidential race in 2015, his MAGA movement has grown exponentially, attracting millions of fervent followers and directly influencing political leaders across the country. In this episode of The X-Ray, Fernando and Greg Sargent, an opinion columnist at The Washington Post who covers national politics, have a wide-ranging conversation about Trump’s movement, analyzing what Greg calls "the Fortress MAGA phenomenon." They also dig deep into recent political developments, repercussions from the Ukraine war, and the 2024 elections.
When Donald Trump is arrested and formally charged this Tuesday for alleged crimes in New York, it will be a historic spectacle. As we all know, no U.S. president or former president has ever been charged with a crime. This unprecedented event puts the nation in uncharted, and some say, dangerous territory. To understand what this all really means, and what we can expect after Donald Trump’s historic day in court, Fernando speaks with Norm Eisen, one of Washington’s most respected legal experts.
Now an analyst with CNN, Eisen was the Special Counsel for Ethics and Government Reform in the Obama White House. He also served as the U.S. Ambassador to the Czech Republic and was later appointed special counsel to the U.S. House Judiciary Committee where he drafted the first articles of impeachment against Donald Trump. He is now a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution.
No one has done more to expose social media‘s threat to democracy than Frances Haugen, globally famous as the Facebook Whistleblower. Frances exposed how Facebook’s secret algorithms generated engagement by stoking hate, division, conspiracy theories and sometimes even violence. Fernando and Frances discuss the risks social media poses to our democracy, the unique power of algorithms that shape human perception, and the ongoing risk these platforms present to a successful, democratic 2024 election.
Is the rise of authoritarianism in America real? Is democracy at risk? Just a few years ago, this would have been ridiculous. But after the rise of Donald Trump and the January 6 insurrection, fascism is no longer an old idea from history, some experts say it is a clear and present danger. Ruth Ben-Ghiat, author of the bestseller “Strongmen: From Mussolini to the Present,” joins Fernando for a fascinating exploration of authoritarianism in the U.S. – its rising menace and what we can do about it.
Fernando also chats with Former Lieutenant Governor of Maryland and political pundit Michael Steele. In the first installment of the “X-Ray Vision” interview, Steele answers an unusual battery of questions – revealing the real person behind the political title. And whether he’s a Scotch or Bourbon man.
Introducing The X-Ray with Fernando Espuelas — a new podcast with a fresh take on political power: Who wants it? Who wields it? And why?
Through compelling conversations with newsmakers, power players, and experts, The X-Ray answers these questions, providing listeners with insightful analysis of the biggest issues facing our democracy at home and abroad.
Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and follow the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram! For more information, check out thexray.org.
After two years and nearly 50 episodes, Swamp Stories host Weston Wamp started a new chapter in his life. So we’re launching an awesome new show — The X-Ray, which will feature fresh conversations with some of the biggest newsmakers about challenges facing democracy — at home and abroad.
We hope you'll join us every week on The X-Ray. Look for our first episodes dropping soon!
As season two of "Swamp Stories" comes to a close, so does Weston's time as host of the show.
After nearly 50 episodes that cover a wide range of national democracy reform topics, Weston has turned his sights back home to Tennessee. He was recently sworn in as the mayor of Hamilton County, the state's fourth largest county.
For Weston's final episode, he sat down with Issue One's Chief of Strategy and Program Ethan Rome to reflect on what led him to the political reform space, what it's been like being a Republican who works on these issues, and the moment we're living through as a country.
The search is currently underway for a new “Swamp Stories” host.
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