The Politics Guys
The Politics Guys is an independent, ideologically diverse American politics and policy podcast hosted by experts: political scientists, law professors, and practicing attorneys with government experience. Our mission is to give listeners a much-needed break from conservative and liberal echo chambers through civil, rational, and evidence-based discussion of American politics and policy from multiple perspectives.
Florida & Alaska Primaries, Iran War Strains, and AOC on “Woke 1”
Mike is joined by fellow political scientists Michael Levy and Justin Holmes to break down what the latest primaries say about the Democratic and Republican parties, whether the Iran war is exposing serious limits in U.S. military readiness, and what AOC means when she says “Woke 1 was crazy.”
They start with Florida, where Trump-backed Byron Donalds won the Republican gubernatorial nomination and former Republican David Jolly became the Democratic nominee. The guys look at Florida’s dramatic shift toward the GOP, Democrats’ struggle to build competitive state parties, and the growing number of Democratic Socialist candidates poised to enter...
The Economics of Energy, Fabrication in Academia
On this midweek supporters-exclusive episode of The Politics Guys, Trey Orndorff (subbing for Mike Baranowski) is joined once again by political scientist Michael Levy to go down a pair of deep policy and academic "rabbit holes" that they couldn't fit into the main weekend show.
The guys start by analyzing German energy giant RWE’s $1.22 billion settlement with the Department of the Interior to abandon three offshore wind projects off the coasts of California, New York, and Louisiana. Trey shares research on an economic deep dive, explaining why onshore wind is cheap and competitive with natural gas, even un...
Primary Shockwaves, Trump’s Vaccine Overhaul, and the 2029 D.C. Guard Mandate
On this week’s episode of The Politics Guys, Trey Orndorff (subbing for Mike) is joined by political scientist Michael Levy for their first show together.
They begin with Michael breaking down the August 11 primaries. This includes discussing David Crowley’s narrow victory over Democratic Socialist Francesca Hong in Wisconsin, along with races in Minnesota and South Carolina. The pair discuss why polls missed by wide margins, and Trey discusses the difficulty of modeling primary elections and new tech challenges, including automatic call-screening available on smartphones.
Next, the pair move to Executive Order 14407, or the “Gold Standar...
The Trump Realignment
Mike talks with political scientists Kirby and Spencer Goidel about their new book, The Trump Realignment, and their argument that Donald Trump didn’t simply take over the Republican Party—he fundamentally changed the American party system. They discuss how Trump exploited divisions over trade, immigration, education, and distrust of elites; why the GOP’s transformation began well before 2016; the growing political divide between college and non-college voters; Democrats’ struggle to reconnect with the working class; higher education’s collapse in Republican trust; Silicon Valley’s shifting political alliances; and why Trumpism may prove far more durable than Trump himself. They close w...
Are the Democrats in Trouble, or Building for the Future?
This bonus midweek episode begins with the Democratic National Committee’s precarious finances: the DNC is spending heavily on state parties, organizers, and long-term infrastructure while the Republican National Committee sits on a formidable cash advantage heading into the 2026 midterms. Mike and Jay debate whether DNC Chair Ken Martin is making a disciplined investment—or leaving Democrats dangerously exposed. Then they examine the Democratic Socialists of America’s increasingly prominent agenda, including abolishing the Senate, replacing the presidency and Supreme Court, open borders, dismantling ICE, sharply reducing the Pentagon, prison abolition, and public ownership of major corporations. Are these serious answer...
Anarchy vs Tyranny: Federalist Papers No. 17, 18 and 19
On this midweek supporters-exclusive episode of The Politics Guys, Trey Orndorff (Oklahoma Christian University) and Ken Katkin (NKU Chase College of Law) continue their ongoing deep-dive series through The Federalist Papers, taking on Federalist Nos. 17, 18, and 19.
In this cluster of essays, Alexander Hamilton and James Madison tackle a central Anti-Federalist anxiety pushed by writers like Brutus (Robert Yates), Cato, and Patrick Henry: the fear that the proposed Constitution would create an all-powerful, consolidated national government that absorbs state sovereignty and individual liberty. Publius flips this argument on its head, contending that the real threat to the American republic isn’t c...
Narrowing Birthright Citizenship, Judicial Elections Defeated, and Todd Blanche’s Path to Attorney General
On this week’s episode, Trey Orndorff (Oklahoma Christian University) and law professor Ken Katkin (NNKU Chase College of Law) tackle as many major stories as possible for the first week of August, breaking down a pair of controversial new executive orders on citizenship, high-stakes primary results out of Kansas and Michigan, and the Senate Judiciary Committee’s vote to advance Todd Blanche for U.S. Attorney General.
Trey and Ken begin with the two executive orders signed on August 6, attempting to narrow birthright citizenship following earlier Supreme Court pushback. The first order directs the State Depa...
Trump’s Wars, Voting Rules, and Fauci Takes the Fifth
Mike and Jay debate whether Donald Trump has a coherent strategy for the wars in Ukraine and Iran—or is improvising while weapons stockpiles, alliances, and political pressures narrow his options. They examine a major Russia sanctions bill targeting China and India, Ukraine’s possible license to manufacture Patriot interceptors, and whether the United States can bomb Iran into submission. Then they turn to the courts, where Trump’s executive order tightening mail-voting rules faces serious constitutional obstacles, before asking what Anthony Fauci’s private COVID diaries actually prove—and whether Rand Paul’s investigation is legitimate oversight, political theater, or a perjury...
Can Open Primaries Break the Two-Party Cartel?
Open Primaries founder John Opdycke joins Mike to argue that America’s primary system gives political parties too much control while shutting out millions of independent voters. They discuss taxpayer-funded closed primaries, top-two elections, whether open systems actually reduce polarization, the threat of strategic “raiding,” and why third parties so rarely gain traction. Opdycke also explains the 2024 defeats of several election-reform measures, the risks of bundling open primaries with ranked-choice voting, opposition from both major parties, and why changing election rules matters only if reformers also build new political coalitions and persuade voters to participate.
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Religion as a political ideology
On this midweek supporters-exclusive episode of The Politics Guys, Trey Orndorff (Oklahoma Christian University) and Justin Holmes (University of Northern Iowa) continue their deep dive into political ideologies by tackling a unique case: religion. Topics covered include:
How religion shapes political behaviorJohn Rawls and exorcising faith, and can it be, from the public sphereAn overview of the substantive and functional definitions of religion Is religion just an add-on to other ideologies?What, if anything, makes the values of religion different from other values?Are there true values and how do we exist in a pluralist society if we accept t...
The $37 Billion War, Britain’s Leadership Pivot, Forced-Labor Tariffs, and Arizona’s Primary
On this week’s episode, political scientist Trey Orndorff (Oklahoma Christian University) is joined by political scientist Justin Holmes (University of Northern Iowa) to break down a packed late-July news cycle spanning a massive war supplemental request on Capitol Hill, a rapid-fire prime ministerial transition across the Atlantic, executive tariff gymnastics, and an electoral shockwave in a premier battleground state.
The pair begins by diving into Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's combative appearance before the Senate Appropriations Committee. Hegseth revealed that the U.S. military conflict with Iran has burned through $37.5 billion so far, defending a massive $87.6 billion emergency su...
Who Controls AI—and Who Pays When It Goes Wrong?
AI is advancing faster than Congress can regulate it—but leaving the industry to police itself carries enormous risks. Mike talks with former congressman and Pentagon official Brad Carson about mandatory safety testing, federal efforts to override state AI laws, liability when AI causes harm, Anthropic’s clash with the government, autonomous weapons, mass surveillance, and why artificial intelligence could upend higher education. They also confront the deeper question: will citizens have any meaningful say over a technology being built by a handful of extraordinarily powerful companies?
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Can Trump Settle With Himself? Rubio’s ICC War, Hegseth’s Purge, and the DSA Left
This supporters’ exclusive midweek episode begins with a remarkable question: can a president sue his own government, negotiate with his own Justice Department, and call the result a legitimate settlement? Mike and Michael Levy unpack the judge’s ruling in Trump v. IRS, then turn to Marco Rubio’s campaign to dismantle the International Criminal Court, Pete Hegseth’s removal of senior military leaders and push for testosterone screening, and the Democratic Socialists’ recent primary victories. Are Democrats facing their own Tea Party insurgency—or a movement whose appeal collapses outside deep-blue districts?
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Trump’s Election Fraud Claims, Iran War Redux, and Lindsey Graham’s Legacy
Donald Trump says America’s elections are dangerously vulnerable—but did his primetime speech offer evidence, or lay the groundwork to contest a Republican midterm defeat? Mike and Michael Levy dissect Trump’s election-security claims, the SAVE Act, and the gap between genuine cybersecurity risks and unsupported allegations of noncitizen voting. They also examine the renewed U.S.-Iran war, the collapse of the Strait of Hormuz agreement, and whether Trump’s pressure campaign has any plausible endgame. Then they debate Lindsey Graham’s legacy: pragmatic dealmaker preserving his influence, or cautionary tale of a senator who recognized Trump’s danger and e...
Can Maine Kill the Super PAC? Larry Lessig’s Supreme Court Strategy
Could a voter-approved law in Maine bring down the legal foundation of Super PACs without overturning Citizens United? Harvard Law professor Lawrence Lessig joins Mike to explain why he believes the lower-court ruling in SpeechNow v. FEC—not Citizens United—created today’s unlimited-contribution system, and why Maine’s overwhelmingly approved Super PAC contribution limits could give the Supreme Court a chance to correct that mistake. They discuss corruption, originalism, campaign coordination, democracy vouchers, public financing, and whether meaningful campaign finance reform remains politically possible.
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Extended Republics and Expired War Bonds: Dissecting Federalist Papers 14, 15, and 16
Political scientist Trey Orndorff and law professor Ken Katkin continue their ongoing Federalst Papers series. In this episode, Trey and Ken move past lofty philosophies of Federalist No. 10 to examine the raw mathematical, logistical, and financial realities that the Madison and Hamilton confronted as their argued for a more powerful national government. Topics covered include:
Trey and Ken explore Madison at his most pragmatic. Facing fierce Anti-Federalist critiques that the American landmass was simply too large for a unified republic to function, Madison busts out the calculations to prove that no state representative is too far from the capital...
Trump's Imperial Presidency in Overdrive and Grahm Platner's Collapse
Trey Orndorff and Ken Katkin tackle the ongoing volatilty of the U.S. / Iran conflict and its month-old Memorandum of Understanding falling apart. Ken argues there is no hope for peace until the next presidential elections. Trey is not sure even that event will end the violence fully. The pair also discuss the Friday morning mystery of the unclaimed bombs and who might be responsible.
Next they discuss NATO and the discordent tone between Trump's demands to halt all U.S. trade with Spain and for Greenland to be purchased from Denmark. Trey and Ken look under the...
Scott Wiener on Housing, AI, and Democrats’ Build-or-Fail Moment
Michael Levy talks with California State Senator Scott Wiener of San Francisco, one of the country’s leading Democratic voices on housing policy, artificial intelligence, the abundance movement, LGBTQ rights, and sexual health policy. Wiener discusses how California’s housing crisis became a governance failure, why simply blaming Airbnb or corporate investors misses the larger supply problem, and what Democrats need to confront if they want to make blue-state government work. Michael and Scott also dig into San Francisco’s AI boom, the risks of frontier AI, job displacement, public transit, homelessness, California’s slow ballot counting, Jewish and LGBTQ politics...
The Supreme Court on Mail Ballots, Trans Sports Bans, and Campaign Spending Limits
This supporters’ exclusive midweek episode digs into three major Supreme Court rulings with big implications for elections, transgender athletes, and campaign finance. Mike and Jay start with Watson v. Republican National Committee, where the Court upheld Mississippi’s post-election mail ballot receipt window and debated whether “Election Day” means ballots must be received — or merely cast — by then. They then turn to the Court’s ruling allowing West Virginia and Idaho to restrict girls’ and women’s sports to biological females, with Mike and Jay unpacking Title IX, equal protection, intermediate scrutiny, and the hard factual questions around transgender athletes who never underwen...
Testing Trump’s Power on Birthright Citizenship, the Fed, and Iran
Mike and Jay kick off the Fourth of July weekend with a quick reflection on America at 250 before turning to a packed week of constitutional conflict: renewed U.S.-Iran tensions near the Strait of Hormuz, Trump’s failed attempt to limit birthright citizenship, and two major Supreme Court fights over presidential power. They dig into whether birthright citizenship is now truly settled, why the Court let Trump fire FTC commissioners, and why the Federal Reserve may be different — or at least too important for the Court to treat like every other agency.
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Can AI Make Campaign Texts Less Awful?
Mike talks with Tom Carroll, co-founder and CEO of Convos, a controlled AI-powered texting platform designed to turn campaign texting from one-way blasts into two-way voter conversations. They discuss why campaign texts feel so spammy, how AI could help campaigns answer voter questions at scale, and whether conversational campaign texting is a useful democratic tool or just a more sophisticated form of political manipulation. Mike and Tom also dig into AI disclosure, hallucination risks, voter privacy, campaign data, banned topics, regulation, and why emerging AI campaign tools may be adopted differently by progressive, conservative, grassroots, and major-party campaigns.
Political Ideologies: Multiculturalism
In this supporter-exclusive midweek episode, Trey is joined by Justin, and they cover multiculturalism as an ideology.
On this week’s show, Trey and Justin discuss:Core principles of multiculturalismWhat differentiates multiculturalism the ideology from the empirical reality of cultures living side by side inside one stateThe attacks on multiculturalism from liberalism, feminism, and marxismThe conflicted nature of thinking of culture and ethnicity as only belonging to "the other"The difficulty of crafting laws that account for all potential cultural exceptionsTrey’s Substack on the Federalist Papers
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The Unitary Executive Unleashed: Shouting Matches, Veto Threats, and Trump’s SCOTUS Sweep
Political scientists Trey Orndorff (Oklahoma Christian University) and Justin Holmes (University of Northern Iowa) break down a wildly volatile week in American governance, focusing heavily on the expanding boundaries and realities of modern presidential power. From a shocking last-minute executive shutdown of a bipartisan housing bill to the unprecedented face-to-face shouting match on Capitol Hill and two major immigration overhauls at the Supreme Court, Trey and Justin get into the details of the relationship of the the branches of government. Topics covered include:
The 90-Minute Housing Act U-Turn: Trey and Justin...
Outrage Overload: Why Politics Keeps Us Mad—and Who Benefits
Mike talks with David Beckemeyer, fellow Democracy Group podcaster and host of Outrage Overload, about why American politics so often feels like a permanent rage machine. They dig into why people badly misread their political opponents, how outrage media works on both the left and right, why more information doesn’t necessarily make us more reasonable, and how social media creates false consensus and rewards the most extreme voices. Mike and David also discuss the deeper civic problem: Americans often misunderstand not only the “other side,” but the political system itself—checks and balances, coalition-building, compromise, and the messy realities of gover...
When “National Security” Becomes a Blank Check
This supporters’ exclusive midweek episode takes on three fights over executive power, national security, and the rule of law. Mike and Jay dig into the Trump administration’s export-control crackdown on Anthropic’s newest AI models, asking whether this is a real national-security intervention or political retaliation dressed up as safety policy. They then turn to the U.S. strike that killed Tren de Aragua leader Niño Guerrero in Venezuela, and whether treating cartel members as wartime enemies blows past constitutional limits, due process, and congressional authorization. Finally, they look at a federal judge’s order forcing the Interior Departmen...
Did Trump Capitulate to Iran?
Mike and Jay dig into a chaotic week in politics, starting with the Trump administration’s memorandum of understanding with Iran—a deal meant to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, end the war, waive oil sanctions, and postpone the hardest nuclear questions. They debate whether the agreement was a pragmatic off-ramp, a capitulation, or a deal already collapsing under pressure from Iran, Israel, Hezbollah, and Trump’s own political incentives. Then they turn to Trump’s strange handling of Jay Clayton’s DNI nomination, Bill Pulte’s interim role, FISA Section 702 renewal, and the SAVE Act fight over documentary proof of citizensh...
Why Young Lawmakers Are Quitting — and It’s Not Just Salary
Mike talks with Layla Zaidane, president and CEO of Future Caucus, the largest nonpartisan organization of young lawmakers in the United States, about why the next generation of political leaders may be running into a system that makes public service nearly impossible. They discuss whether younger lawmakers really govern differently, how Future Caucus tries to build bipartisan trust without sanding away ideological disagreement, and why under-resourced state legislatures often end up empowering governors, lobbyists, and interest groups instead of elected representatives. They also dig into Future Caucus’s Exit Interview report, including the biggest reasons young lawmakers leave office: political vi...
$100k Visa Tax, California's Slow Count, Do Courts Trust Trump?
In this supporters’ exclusive midweek episode, Mike and Ken work through four fights over executive power, legal process, and institutional trust: Judge Leo Sorokin’s ruling striking down Trump’s $100,000 H-1B visa fee as an unconstitutional tax, the furor over California’s slow vote count, mail ballots, and Trump’s fraud claims, the Broadview Six grand-jury scandal and what it says about DOJ misconduct and the courts’ usual “presumption of regularity,” and the messy question of who gets tariff refunds after the Supreme Court struck down Trump’s IEEPA tariffs.
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Iran War Whiplash, Maine’s Risky Bet, and Trump’s DNI Workaround
Mike and Ken discuss another volatile week in U.S. politics, starting with the escalating conflict with Iran, Trump’s claims of a looming peace deal, the inflationary fallout from energy shocks, and whether Iran or the U.S. has more leverage as the war drags on. Then they turn to Maine’s high-stakes 2026 races, including Graham Platner’s landslide Democratic Senate primary win, Susan Collins’s durability, the role of character in candidate evaluation, and why Maine’s 2nd District could be one of the most competitive House races in the country. Finally, Mike and Ken dig into Trump’s mo...
Trump’s War, Trump’s Settlement, Trump’s Shadow
Mike and Jay open with the increasingly strange U.S. war with Iran, where a still-closed Strait of Hormuz, murky ceasefire claims, stalled negotiations, and a House war powers vote have raised major questions about Trump’s strategy. Jay argues that Iran remains a serious long-term threat and that Trump may be right to exhaust negotiations before escalating, while admitting that much of the battlefield reality is impossible to judge from public reporting. Mike is far more skeptical, arguing that Trump’s shifting claims, high economic costs, and apparent lack of clear war aims suggest a war of choice that...
The Politics Guys Present: The U.S. Constitution, Article II, Section 2
This episode explores the constitutional powers of the U.S. President as outlined in Article II, Section 2, including the roles of Commander-in-Chief, treaty-making, appointments, and removal of officials. Topics covered include:
Explicit presidential powers The role of the Commander-in-Chief Treaty-making process and Senate advice and consent Appointments and the Senate confirmation process Recess appointments and the Noel Canning case Removal of federal officials and impeachmentRead Trey's Substack for a deep dive into the Federalist Papers
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Founders’ Fire: From 1776 to the Age of Trump
Mike is joined by historian Arthur Herman to discuss his new book Founders’ Fire, which argues that America’s recurring strength comes from founders: risk-takers with the vision and drive to remake institutions, industries, and politics. The conversation ranges from the Founding Fathers, Lincoln, and Martin Luther King Jr. to World War II mobilization, Silicon Valley, Donald Trump, Charlie Kirk, AI, China, and the tension between creative disruption and institutional stability.
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Pope Leo on AI, the DNC Autopsy, and Democratic Decline
This supporters’ exclusive midweek episode opens with Mike, Michael, and Russ discussing Pope Leo XIV’s first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, which uses artificial intelligence as a lens for broader questions about human dignity, labor, power, and technological change. The conversation focuses on the document’s connection to Catholic social teaching, its warning against autonomous lethal decision-making, and its broader critique of systems that reduce people to instruments of power. The guys also consider the presence of an Anthropic co-founder at the encyclical’s rollout, as well as the deeper question of whether AI is already reshaping human agency, work, and judg...
Iran Deal, Paxton’s Texas Win, and the Redistricting Arms Race
Mike, Michael, and Russ open with the tentative U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding and whether it amounts to a real end to the war or just a pause. Michael argues that the deal mostly returns the conflict to where it began while leaving the hardest nuclear questions unresolved. Russ is skeptical that either side is treating the deal with the seriousness it deserves, seeing mostly clashing egos and weak incentives. Mike argues the deal may be worse than the old Iran nuclear agreement because Iran now has stronger reasons to pursue a weapon and fewer reasons to trust...
The Politics Guys Present: The U.S. Constitution, Article II
This episode explores the intricacies of Article 2 of the U.S. Constitution, focusing on the presidency, electoral processes, and historical debates that shaped the office. Topics covered include:
Vesting clause and inherent executive powers Electoral College origins and evolution The 12th Amendment and its impact Presidential qualifications and natural-born citizen requirement Succession and the 25th AmendmentRead Trey's Substack for a deep dive into the Federalist Papers
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Originalism, Executive Power, and the Roberts Court
Mike talks with Thomas Berry, director of the Cato Institute’s Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies and editor in chief of the Cato Supreme Court Review, about how to understand the Supreme Court beyond simple liberal/conservative scorekeeping. They discuss originalism, precedent, executive power, independent agencies, and the emergency docket. Berry defends a text-and-history approach to judging, criticizes presidents of both parties for stretching old statutes to justify new policies, and argues that Congress’s weakness has pushed too much power into the executive branch.
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Political Ideologies: Environmentalism
In this supporter-exclusive midweek episode, Trey is joined by Justin, and begin their discussion of modern ideologies with a deep dive into Environmentalism.
On this week’s show, Trey and Justin discuss:
Core principles of environmentalism (ecocentrism, holism, limits to growth, multi-generation ethics) The relationship between environmentalism and American political culture The limited appeal of true ideological environmentalism The expression of environmentalism in other political ideologies Christianity and EnvironmentalismThe Politics Guys on Facebook | X
Trey’s Substack on the Federalist Papers
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Incumbent Purge, Anti-Weaponization Fund, Senate War Powers Breakthrough Vote, Raúl Castro
Trey and Justin kick off this week’s episode by examining the shifts in this week’s primary elections. Trey argues the GOP has firmly solidified into a MAGA populist party. They highlight the historic and incredibly expensive defeat of long-time incumbent Representative Thomas Massie in Kentucky to a Trump-backed challenger, alongside Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy placing a distant third in his own state's primary race. The pair also discuss the increase in party-line voting.
Next, the pair dive into a staggering one-page settlement published by the DOJ which permanently bars the government from ever auditing or pursu...
Lamar Alexander: The Education of a Senator
Mike talks with former Tennessee governor, U.S. senator, education secretary, and presidential candidate Lamar Alexander about his new book, The Education of a Senator, and what his long career reveals about how American politics actually works. Alexander argues that while Washington’s “dysfunction screen” gets most of the attention, the Senate can still produce major bipartisan accomplishments when members build trust, respect institutional roles, and accept the slow work of compromise. The conversation covers the difference between executive and legislative leadership, the decline of social relationships in Congress, the rise of social media incentives, the erosion of Article I cong...
Federalist Papers 11 - 13
In this episode Trey and Ken explore Federalist Papers No. 11, 12, and 13, focusing on Hamilton's arguments for a strong federal government, economic unity, and the importance of a unified military and trade system. Topics discussed include:
Hamilton's views on commerce and a singular American navy The advantages of economic unity The importance of unity for revenue generation The importance of unity for efficiency Hamilton's predictions about America's global influenceThe Politics Guys on Facebook | X
Trey’s Substack on the Federalist Papers
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