Fly on the Wall

We're excited to welcome Josh Pitcock onto the pod for the first episode of Season 4! He's been with Vice President Mike Pence since 2005, serving as a close confidante and most recently, his White House Chief of Staff. Get ready for an amazing season!

Katie Walsh Shields joins us in our last pod of the semester (cue tears). But never fear — the former RNC Chief of Staff delivers great insight into the role of data and what it's like to work for a party during a presidential election. We'll be releasing a few episodes over the summer, so be on the lookout!

Former Chief of Staff to Nancy Pelosi, Nadeam Elshami, joins us on the pod this week! Christian and Kendall talked to him about his long career on the Hill, all the way back to his start in the mailroom. You won't want to miss — Nadeam's story is fascinating.

Two former White House Social Secretaries joined us on the pod this week — Lea Berman of the Bush 43 White House and Jeremy Bernard of the Obama White House. They both shared fascinating insight on the politics of event planning and the excitement of programming on the biggest stage in the world.

Long-time Republican communications strategist, Kevin Madden, joins us on the pod this week. Justin and Alec talk to him about his time working for John Boehner on the Hill, and for both of Mitt Romney's presidential campaigns. He had a lot to say about how the work of messaging in politics has changed over the years with the increasingly rapid news cycle.

Our interview this week featured former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder. Alec and Justin talked to him about some of the biggest national cases he handled in his time in the Administration, plus what he's doing now as Chair of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee working to fight against gerrymandering.

Former Obama White House staffer, Kyle Lierman, joins us on the pod this week to take us through his journey in politics, beginning as a Field Director in '08 all the way to the White House and beyond. We talked to Kyle about some of the big initiatives he worked on during his time at the White House including "It's On Us" and the Obama team's celebrity outreach programs - plus, how he's keeping that important work moving with his new firm, Civic Advisors.

This week, we chatted with Jason Kander — former Missouri Senate candidate, Let America Vote founder and host of Crooked Media's Majority 54 podcast! We discussed his early experiences in public service, as well as his more recent work leading the fight for voting rights with LAV. Plus, we asked him about his own podcast and what he hopes to accomplish through the conversations he hosts there.

We sat down with Spring '18 GU Politics Fellow and former First Lady of Virginia, Dorothy McAuliffe, to talk about her lifelong dedication to public service. From meeting presidential candidate Jimmy Carter at her home in Florida, to serving Virginia as First Lady, Dorothy has some incredible perspective and stories about what it means to jump into a career of public service.

Happy International Women's Day! Hear from Marie Harf and Rebecca Turkington — two trailblazing women who share their takes on the importance of gender equity in politics.

Clint Smith, a teacher, writer and activist, joins Christian and Justin on the pod this week to discuss his career and how he raises his voice on issues he cares about. Happy Spring Break, Hoyas!

RNC spokeswoman and former CNN contributor, Kayleigh McEnany, joins us on the pod this week. A fellow Hoya, she talks to Alec and Justin about her experiences from interning in the White House to CNN panels during the 2016 election. Plus, check out her new book, "The New American Revolution: The Making of a Populist Movement."

Two Democratic stars — Jen O'Malley Dillon and Patrick Dillon — share their story of how they fell in love with both politics and each other.

Our guest this week is Gail Wilson of the International Republican Institute, an organization that works to train and support women candidates all across the world. Gail had some really fun stories about her time doing field work for Gov. Greg Abbott in Texas and working in small communities in every corner of the world.

Our very first Fly on the Wall live recording! We had GU Politics Executive Director, Mo Elleithee, guest host at the Institute's State of the Union event this past Tuesday. Listen in to hear Spring '18 Fellows Nadeam Elshami and Steven Law give their insider perspective on how the Hill prepares for a Presidential address.