The Politics Guys

Trey talks with author Sasha Issenberg about his new book The Lie Detectives: In Search of a Playbook for Winning Elections in the Disinformation Age, in which he talks about the left's campaign strategies to combat "disinformation" and "misinformation."

Topics Trey and Sasha Cover Include

- why the left is primarily interested in disinformation

- the campaign strategies of Democrats online

- the focus on engagement in political persuasion

- how overseas democracies have faced similar disinformation strategies

- Brazilian cautions for some leftwing approaches to disinformation

Mike talks about the The Jordan Harbinger Show. Hope you enjoy it too.

Mike and Jay open the preview of this supporters’ midweek episode with a discussion of the Biden administration’s move to close the ‘gun show loophole’. Mike argues that it’s a good move and, to his surprise, Jay doesn’t really disagree.

From there they move on to a more contentious regulatory issue – whether the government should require all new table saws to have a finger-sensing blade brake. Mike thinks the benefits outweigh the costs, but Jay isn’t too sure that’s the case.

Following that, they consider whether the country is as divided as many pe...

Mike and Jay open with a look at the ruling by the Arizona Supreme Court upholding a near-total ban on abortions passed in 1864. They consider the legal reasoning behind the decision, what’s likely to happen next, and how they see it playing out politically, particularly in light of Donald Trump’s recent announcement that he believed abortion rights should be left up to the states.

Next, they discuss the latest Biden administration efforts to forgive student loan debt. Mike and Jay disagree as to whether the moves are legally and constitutionally permissible, but they do agree that...

Mike talks with historical anthropologist Nicholas Dirks, Chancellor of UC Berkeley from 2013-2017, about his book City of Intellect: The Uses and Abuses of the University.

Topics Include:

- the public’s decline of faith in higher education

- if higher ed is focused on the right kind of diversity

- free speech as privileging dominant views

- what elite institutions are doing with their massive endowments

- rising education costs and administrative bloat at universities

- if public universities should take positions on political is...

Trey & Ken discuss the five major elements of the 5th Amendment:

The Politics Guys on Facebook | X 

Listener support helps make The Politics Guys possible. You can support us or change your level of support at patreon.com/politicsguys or politicsguys.com/support. On Venmo we’re @PoliticsGuys.

The Politics Guys is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what's broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.

Learn more about...

Trey & Ken start the episode with a deep dive into Israel’s airstrike on the Iranian consulate in Syria. This leads to a discussion of the differences between the northern conflict and the Gaza conflict. Next, the discussion moves to Biden’s newest demands of Israel and how Israel has responded. This also includes a discussion of shifting American attitudes on supporting Israel. After that, the duo look at the 6/15 week abortion ban in Florida. They discuss the Florida Supreme Court’s legal ruling, but also the political ramifications for both parties in terms of the November election. They close...

Mike, Jay, and Justin open the preview of this supporters’ midweek episode with a discussion of NBC’s decision to hire, and then quickly fire, former RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel. Was it a bad business decision poorly implemented, an example of anti-Trump bias, or something more than that?

Next, they consider whether Truth Social’s IPO makes any sense. Probably not from a strictly business sense, but as Mike points out, owning a share of DJT is likely to be more than a dollars and cents calculation to the MAGA faithful.

They close with a look a...

Mike, Jay, and Justin open with a look at the life and legacy of the recently deceased Joe Lieberman, agreeing that the Democrat turned independent is the sort of solutions-oriented moderate we don’t see much of in national politics anymore.

Next is a discussion of oral arguments before the Supreme Court concerning access to the abortion drug mifepristone. It seems like a stretch to argue that those challenging the FDA even have standing, but there is a case to be made that mailing any drug to end a pregnancy is a violation of the 1873 Comstock Act.

Trey talks with constitutional law professor Maxwell Stearns about his new book Parliamentary America which argues the U.S. needs to adapt the U.S. House to include proportional representation. 

Topics Trey and Max Cover Include

- how the median voter theory is inaccurate

- why American parties are tending in extreme directions

- proposals to double the size of the House of Representatives

- proposals to transform the selection of president and vice president

- proposals to change how to remove a president

- t...