The Politics Guys

This week, The Politics Guys talk about how John Boehner was hounded out of office by the radical Republicans in his caucus and why it matters, using football *and* baseball analogies. The second big Republican quitter of the week was Scott Walker, an early favorite for the GOP presidential nomination whose campaign ran out of … Continue reading "PG22: Republican Quitters, China Talks, VW Cheating, Popeamania in D.C., and Monkey Selfies"

The Politics Guys return from their summer vacation tanned, rested, and ready to dive into the free-for-all that is the 2016 GOP Presidential Contest. Mike and Jay agree that modern debates are ridiculous, which may be why the ridiculous Donald Trump seems to be doing so well. Turning to something that’s not actually ridiculous, they … Continue reading "PG21: Ridiculous Presidential Debates, What the Fed Didn’t Do, Planned Parenthood, Nobel Peace Prize Second Thoughts … and Bigfoot."

The Politics Guys are taking the rest of the summer off – just like the Supreme Court. But, unlike Justices Roberts, Scalia, Thomas, Alito, Kennedy, Breyer, Sotomayor, and Ginsburg, we hope to be back with new episodes before the first Monday in October. (Maybe even as early as mid-August, depending on how Michael’s new book … Continue reading "Summer Vacation"

This week, The Politics Guys talk about the latest entrants into the presidential free-for-all: New Jersey governor Chris Christie and former Virginia senator Jim Webb. Neither of them has a chance at winning the nomination, though Mike is pulling for Webb so that he can see his ‘Moderates Dream’ presidential contest: Webb vs Ohio governor … Continue reading "PG20: Chris Christie, Jim Webb, Supreme Court Leftovers, and The Dukes of Hazzard"

This week on The Politics Guys, it’s wall-to-wall Supreme Court. We start with the biggest decision of the Court’s term, and probably the biggest civil rights decision of the last half century: Obergefell v. Hodges, in which the Court ruled 5-4 that same-sex marriage is a Constitutionally-protected right. Next, we turn to the other huge … Continue reading "PG19: Justice Scalia’s Really Bad Week"

This week, the Politics Guys begin by looking at Pope Francis’ papal encyclical on the environment. It turns out that Jay and Mike agree on everything about this issue  except the fundamental premises underlying the pope’s reasoning. Next, they discuss the tragic events in Charleston, SC. Jay argues that the left has exploited the event … Continue reading "PG18: Papal Encyclicals, Right-Wing Terrorism, The Confederate Flag, and Alexander Hamilton"

This week, the Politics Guys lead off by discussing troop increases in Iraq. Jay’s take is that the U.S. should ‘go big or go home’ while Mike feels that we should just go home. Next, they look at the strange world of trade policy, where President Obama’s best friends are John Boehner and Mitch McConnell. … Continue reading "PG17: Iraq, Trade Policy Bizarro World, Israel, Abortion, and Marco Rubio’s Boat"

In this episode, the Politics Guys talk about security vs. privacy in the wake of the USA Freedom Act’s passage. Mike and Jay are split on the issue, but not nearly as much as Kentucky’s Senators are. They also check in on the massive 2016 presidential field, separating the contenders – Bush, Walker, Rubio, and … Continue reading "PG16: Privacy, Security, a Presidential Cast of Thousands, and Lying Graduate Students"

This week, Michael talks with Alex Jones about his book Losing The News: The Future of the News that Feeds Democracy. Mr. Jones is Director of Harvard’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy and Laurence M. Lombard Lecturer in the Press and Public Policy. He covered the press for The New York Times … Continue reading "PG15: Harvard’s Alex Jones on Losing The News"

In this episode, Michael interviews Professor Tim Groseclose, author of Left Turn: How Liberal Media Bias Distorts The American Mind. In the book (which was based on an article by Groseclose and Jeffery Milyo) Groseclose argues that there is significant liberal bias in the media and that this bias has a very real effect on American … Continue reading "PG14: Left Turn: How Liberal Media Bias Distorts The American Mind"

In this episode, Jay interviews Mike about his book Navigating the News: A Political Media User’s Guide. After nearly two decades of teaching college students about politics and the media, Mike decided that he wanted to write a book on the topic – something short and engaging that brought together the best of what he’d … Continue reading "PG13: Navigating the News: A Political Media User’s Guide"

This week, I interview Dr. Kirby Goidel, political scientist and author of the book America’s Failing Experiment: How We The People Have Become the Problem. Dr. Goidel is a Professor and Fellow in the Department of Communication and the Public Policy Research Institute at Texas A&M. Prior to that, he was Scripps Howard Professor, Director … Continue reading "PG12: America’s Failing Experiment: How We The People Have Become The Problem"

This week, the Politics Guys look at the situation in Baltimore: the riots, the causes, and what can be done to reform the police and restore the community. We also discuss Obergefell v. Hodges – the same-sex marriage case heard by the Supreme Court this week. Finally, we talk about Vermont’s Bernie Sanders, the first … Continue reading "PG11: Police Brutality, Riots, and Same-Sex Marriage"

In honor of the 45th anniversary of Earth Day, the Politics Guys focus on the environment. Our air and water are much cleaner than they were in 1970, and there’s no longer a gaping hole in the ozone layer. Today, the big concern is the threat of global warming. The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate … Continue reading "PG10: Can Politics Save The Planet?"

This Week’s Stories: – Why Hillary will win the nomination, but maybe not the presidency. – Marco Rubio: everyone’s second choice. – Obama compromises on Iran, but will there even be a deal? – Start planning that Havana vacation: Obama opens relations with Cuba.