The Smugglers Getting Rich Off Trump’s Policies
Mexico has agreed to crack down on immigration in response to threats from President Trump. But that isn’t stopping the flow of migrants -- it’s pushing it further underground. Guest: Emily Green, freelance reporter. You can read her latest story on VICE News. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
21 Juni 201916min
He Got a Pardon. Now He’s Administering Them.
For a long time, Brandon Flood kept his criminal history quiet - he worked in the Pennsylvania state government, and didn’t want his former convictions to detract from his career success. But now, that history makes him uniquely suited for his new job as secretary of the state’s Board of Pardons. How did he go from submitting his own pardon application - to one year later, leading the body that helps make those clemency decisions? This episode was originally posted in April. Guest: Brandon Flood, Secretary of the Pennsylvania state Board of Pardons. Podcast production by Mary Wilson, Jayson De Leon, and Ethan Brooks Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
20 Juni 201917min
How Pelosi Holds the Line on Impeachment
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s political philosophy is an elegant one: If you want to do something bold, you must follow public sentiment, not lead it. Now why can’t House Democrats seem to shape public sentiment? And what makes them so afraid to cross their caucus leader? Guest: Rachael Bade, Congress reporter for the Washington Post. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
19 Juni 201924min
Strange Alliances on the Supreme Court
It’s June, which means it’s the season of highly anticipated Supreme Court rulings. We’re taking a look at two cases that shook up the typical partisan fault line on the bench. How did conservative and liberal justices find themselves making unusual alliances on double jeopardy and racial gerrymandering? Guest: Mark Joseph Stern, Slate’s courts correspondent. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
18 Juni 201923min
For Women’s Soccer, An Elusive Goal
At the Women’s World Cup this year, the U.S. players talk about living in a “bubble” -- thinking of nothing but the game, eschewing any distractions. What looms outside that bubble is their lawsuit against their federation for gender discrimination, and it’s already shading the reactions to their games. Guest: Nancy Armour, sports columnist for USA TODAY. Podcast production by Mary Wilson, Jayson De Leon, and Ethan Brooks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
17 Juni 201923min
What Bernie Gets Wrong About Socialism
The Bernie Sanders campaign billed his speech on Wednesday as a “major address on how democratic socialism is the only way to defeat oligarchy and authoritarianism.” Besides being a mouthful, the speech was an attempt for Bernie to explain why he calls himself a socialist. However, he gets a key element of the pitch wrong. Was it an accident or is Bernie intentionally trying to change what being a socialist in America means? Guest: Jordan Weissmann, economics and policy writer at Slate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
14 Juni 201922min
How Facebook Made an Enemy of Nancy Pelosi
Mark Zuckerberg used to avoid traveling to Washington, D.C., leaving a lot of the political outreach Facebook needed to do to COO Sheryl Sandberg. Now? He’s personally putting in phone calls to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (who won’t return his calls). What does the incident concerning the distorted video of Pelosi that went viral show us about how the social media giant’s relationship with policymakers is changing? And what does it mean for the 2020 elections? Guest: Elizabeth Dwoskin, Silicon Valley correspondent for the Washington Post Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
13 Juni 201920min
It’s Mitch McConnell’s Swamp. We Just Live in It.
If you walk to the Ohio riverfront from Owensboro’s City Hall, past the Courthouse, and the Museum of Science and History, you’ll get to McConnell Plaza. Mitch McConnell Plaza. For years, this town has been courting the Senate majority leader and, recently, its paid off. What does the relationship between his office and his wife, Elaine Chao’s, office have to do with the grants this small city is receiving? Are ethics being violated? Guest: Tanya Snyder, transportation reporter at POLITICO. Read her latest story on Mitch McConnell and Elaine Chao. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
12 Juni 201920min
