Episodes

We discuss Noah Dyer - candidate for governor in Arizona - who posted a VERY transparent statement on his sex life on his website. Is total transparency something we want? Wikileaks certainly does. We discuss the trove of documents allegedly showing the CIA's cyber hacking capacity and technologies. We also discuss Assange's belief that total transparency is the goal. We follow up on some feedback from our Book Club discussion with Brynn who shared: I have tried SO. HARD. since the election to "reach across the aisle" and talk to people like this. But now, 120 days later, I am done. Do I condone physical or verbal aggression towards these people? Of course not. But if they are not willing to see that their views are truly HATEFUL then I don't know what else I can do. At this point I say we just press on without them if they aren't willing to abandon Radical Christian Extremism, embrace public education and accept facts as truth. Because there HAS to be some kind of line in the sand. We cannot keep making excuses for them or analyzing them like we're anthropologists forever. WE (all rational people of any political leaning) have to take a collective stand and tell them NO. We also discussed our listener Chiara's argument that maybe we do want the President to fail. Chiara wrote us, " I was thinking about how, on the latest episode, you said that you aren't rooting for Trump to fail because you have respect for the office of the president. That's actually something I've been thinking about a lot too...but for me, I'm starting to think that I AM rooting for him to fail...but for the same reason: because I respect the office of the presidency. The truth is, if Trump succeeds, it will inevitably send the message that it is entirely okay for the American people to elect a president who is racist, sexist, bigoted, possibly engaged in illegal activities, and not at all knowledgeable about government or world affairs. If Trump succeeds, people will see that if such a person is elected, everything will be fine. And I don't think that's okay. So I don't want that message to be sent, lest he get re-elected (or we end up with a similar president in the future). It's the same as with President Obama, at least if we're going entirely on identity. Even though I didn't agree with all of his policies, his successful presidency demonstrated that a black, feminist community organizer/constitutional lawyer could do the job relatively well. And I believe that is a great thing, and fundamental to his legacy." We also shared Amanda's thoughts on educated v. expert. "I wonder whether, when we're talking about the value of ideas, we shouldn't put a premium on expertise rather than education alone. They very often come hand in hand, but this leaves the door open for more people, allows more of us into the conversation. It allows both the economics professor and the lifelong welfare recipient to be heard because in different ways, they're both experts. When it comes to crafting policy, things get more complicated (this way of looking at expertise won't be of much use when it come, to dealing with global warming, for example), but I think it provides an okay framework for dealing with certain types of emotional arguments. Of course, this doesn't shed much light on the discussions a lot of us are having right now, where it seems like individuals really want their feelings to have the same value as facts. Balancing knowledge and emotion is difficult for most of us as individuals, let alone as a nation." Our Tuesday show will be discussing the Republican's Obamacare Replacement Plan so don't miss it!

We start the episode with a mini-Russian primer then attempt to work our way through the connections between Russia and the Trump campaign and administration.

Sarah chats with Megan Hart, the founder of our Pantsuit Politics Book Club, to talk about the February book club pick, Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right by Arlie Russell Hochschild. They discuss Hochschild's trip deep into Tea Party country and what she learned about their "deep story".

With Republicans controlling Congress and the White House, we focus on what Democrats can and should do to move forward before the midterms.

In today's episode of the Briefcase, we talk about the appointment of H.R. McMaster before discussing the town hall meetings taking place during the Congressional recess. We discuss the Affordable Care Act and the political climate surrounding it. We also talk about the Trump administration's decision to revoke the Obama administration's guidance on transgender restrooms in schools, the role of the judiciary and the legislature, and the cultural polarization around these issues. We end with listener feedback on our last episode and a message from Autumn about Trump's creation of an "in group" and "out group." 

Today, we talk about a provocative New York Times essay, "Are Liberals Helping Trump?" But first, we continue our efforts to keep up with the chaotic pace of news. 

We bemoan the chaotic state of the news and try to tackle the highlights from the past few days' headlines. We discuss President Trump's frequent (and expensive) trips to Mar-a-Lago. Beyond the conflicts of interest, watching members of the club post pictures during what seemingly was a security crisis bother us and many others. We also discuss National Security Council Advisor Mike Flynn's resignation and President Trump's inability to take contradictory advice.

http://traffic.libsyn.com/pantsuitpolitics/Testing_President_Trump_.mp3

Listeners Aaron and Sierra join Beth for a quick overview of executive power. 

"Nevertheless, she persisted." Did Senator McConnell make a rare strategic mistake or was this all political theater? Was the raid on Yemen worth the cost? We talk about that and more on today's Briefcase, as well as sharing Sarah's talk with Jay Carson - the conservative counterpart on The Politics Guys podcast.

Is Steven Bannon really in charge? Does Congress want to pollute our streams? Does Donald Trump have it out for the judiciary branch? We check in with all three branches and talk to Jason Murray, a former law clerk for Supreme Court nominee Judge Neil Gorsuch.

Sarah talks with Dr. Tamara Tweel, Director of Strategic Development for the Hillel International Office of Innovation, about how her involuntary miscarriage brought her before the Ohio state legislator discussing voluntary abortion.

Our executive producer Nicholas Holland and friend of the pod Annie Kratzsch help us process the chaos that ensued after President Trump's Executive Order on immigration and refugees.

We call our Friday episodes "The Briefcase." In each episode of the Briefcase, we cover listener feedback and news of the week. This week, we continue to talk about your thoughtful perspectives on the Women's March and reproductive rights. We also discuss the frenzy of news made by the White House this week as President Trump signs executive orders.

We decided that our word for 2017 is “forward”. Today, we’re exploring what exactly that means for all of us in the Trump era. We'll also talk about Sean Spicer and alternative facts, the Women's March, and what we’re personally looking forward to this year.