Episodes

From The Aid to Dependent Children to the current Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, our welfare system has come in many different versions and forms. What does the history of welfare tells us about its purpose and whether or not we are currently fulfilling it?

After briefly reviewing the weeks' major economic policy speeches from Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, we dive into a discussion of whether and to what extent ethics in politics still matter. Should politicians be judged by voters on the ways they use power, or should we, as Sarah likes to say, stop hating the players and hate the game? We talk about ethical judgments of Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, and third parties. In The Heels, we talk about our newfound interests in bullet journaling.

We tackle feedback that Beth is leaving the GOP unrepresented in our discussions and we're both no experts on Olympic coverage if we're not watching the Olympics. We also discuss the new Anti-Trump conservative Evan McMullin and his entry into the 2016 presidential race.

White males without a college degree are Donald Trump's strongest demographic. With ugly media portrayals of unfiltered racism and misogyny at Trump rallies, we ask if there is any nuance to be found amongst this white male resentment. We also discuss the Olympics in The Pearls and Beth's vacation and back-to-school in The Heels.

We're all growing weary of the Presidential campaign. Inspired by our listener, Andrew, we spend most of today's episode on hopeful stories. From moderate victories in Kansas to bipartisan legislation in Congress and in Massachusetts, there are reasons for optimism. We also discuss a question from Amanda on how effective it would be to volunteer with the Clinton campaign and share more about Dante Lima, the talent behind our new music.

In our first episode of Season 2, we answer your questions about polls, third parties, debates, and talking about the elections in schools. We also share our experience "floating" in Philadelphia.

We share our thoughts on the week live from the final night of the Democratic National Convention. ckyqbmqg

Happy birthday to Sarah! We share our thoughts about Wednesday at the DNC during breakfast!

Live from Philadelphia, we bring you our thoughts and observations on the first two days of the DNC.

In part II, we share some of our post-convention discussion from our late-night drive home as well as a few reflections on Peter Theil, Ivanka Trump, and the state of the GOP.

We spent 23 hours together checking out the Republican National Convention. In Part I of II, we share the story of that very long day.

We try to bring this perspective from Salman Rushdie forward during a very difficult news week.

In this episode of The Briefcase, we discuss the gap between Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton supporters; the gap between public and private perceptions of Hillary Clinton; the gap between Donald Trump and some potential Republican voters; and the gap between the judiciary and the public.

We continue the fascinating with discussion with Fred Davis. In this episode, he talks about working with politicians who aren't natural "rockstars," how he started in and why he loves political advertising, and where the 2016 election could take us.

Fred Davis, legendary Republican media strategist, joins us for an honest conversation about political advertising. Fred discusses working with the Kasich Super PAC, the 2016 primary, and some of his greatest ads.