Purple Political Breakdown

What if finding your representatives, tracking their votes, and holding your government accountable was as easy as opening an app? In this episode of Purple Political Breakdown, host Radell Lewis sits down with Devin Neal, co-founder of Civic, the new civic engagement app built to make democracy accessible before the 2026 midterms.

Devin brings serious technical firepower to this mission. He is a software engineer with experience at Google, Meta, and Cash App, holds degrees in computer science and mathematics from MIT, and previously built EulerStudio, an educational animation platform. He left all of that behind to go...

Radell Lewis is back for another Saturday breakdown on the Purple Political Breakdown, the nonpartisan political analysis show built on political solutions without political bias. This week is loaded.

The U.S. Navy's seizure of the Iranian cargo ship Tosca by the USS Spruance has blown up the fragile Strait of Hormuz ceasefire, and the blockade is doing damage to oil markets, global shipping, and the Trump administration's leverage all at once. Radell breaks down why Iran may actually be gaining power from this conflict, why the new Iranian leadership is reportedly more radical than the officials...

Host Radell Lewis sits down with two Ohio libertarian write-in candidates ahead of the May 5, 2026 primary in a double feature episode of Purple Political Breakdown. First up, Jason Stoops, an auto mechanic from Wilmington running in OH-1, who shares how he was politically retaliated against by his local administration, why he believes cash-pay healthcare beats the insurance bureaucracy, and how the FirstEnergy scandal exposed the rot in Ohio's GOP machine. Then drunk uncle Mike Beloff joins from Galleon to talk about his OH-5 campaign against eighteen-year incumbent Bob Latta, his focus on bail reform and ending the prison industrial...

On this episode of Purple Political Breakdown, host Radell Lewis sits down with Dr. Bryan Hambley, Cincinnati leukemia physician and Democratic candidate for Ohio Secretary of State in the May 5, 2026 primary. Bryan grew up on a small family farm, trained as a blood cancer doctor at UC Health, and launched his outsider campaign in January 2025, well before the filing deadline, because he has watched his patients and Ohio communities suffer under a broken, gerrymandered democracy.

Radell and Bryan go deep on the three core responsibilities of the Secretary of State: drawing fair districts, writing honest ballot language...

What does the Democratic Party actually stand for, and can anyone deliver the elevator pitch? Radell Lewis sits down with Pisco, a lawyer turned political streamer from Live and Learn, to break down the identity crisis facing the Democratic coalition. They tackle whether Democrats should lean into populist rhetoric to compete with MAGA, how to handle politically toxic influencers like Hasan Piker and Nick Fuentes, and where the line falls between pragmatic alliance building and dangerous association. From Mamdani's winning campaign blueprint to the reputational math of going on hostile platforms, this episode digs into the real strategic debates...

Host Radell Lewis breaks down the week's biggest political stories with the kind of depth cable news won't give you. In this episode of Purple Political Breakdown, we dig into whether Senator Jon Ossoff can hold Georgia in the most expensive Senate race of 2026 as his home state becomes ground zero for the AI data center buildout reshaping American politics.

Inside the episode:

The collapse of U.S. and Iran peace talks in Islamabad, Trump's Strait of Hormuz blockade, and the Senate's fourth failed War Powers Act vote (47 to 52, with Rand Paul crossing over and...

Host Radell Lewis breaks down Ohio's 2026 State Auditor race between Republican Frank LaRose, Democrat Annette Blackwell, and Libertarian write-in Aidan Jeffery, then runs through a wild week of Ohio political news on Purple Political Breakdown.

This episode covers why the Auditor's office matters (hint: it's the only statewide office with the power to catch public officials misusing your tax dollars), how current Auditor Keith Faber's run for Attorney General is part of what reporters are calling a "musical chairs" pattern among term-limited Ohio Republicans, and whether LaRose's Secretary of State record (including the 2023 Issue 1 reversal, a Hatch...

Radell Lewis is joined by Elijah and returning guest Tom of the Tom Foolery Show for a Socratic breakdown covering the political chaos of the week. The panel dives into Donald Trump's AI Jesus meme and why it may be the ultimate litmus test for exposing paid MAGA influencers. Ashley St. Claire's recent revelations about the inner circle of MAGA content creators, bullet-point group chats, and off-the-books payments come under the microscope, alongside the viral Wall Street Journal quote about Trump pardoning "everyone within 200 feet of the White House."

The conversation pivots to The Boys season 5 and...

Radell Lewis sits down with Zee, Founder of Sole Strategies and Executive Director of National Ground Game, the force behind the Unfuck America Tour. This conversation cuts straight to the heart of what Democrats are getting wrong and what it takes to actually win. Zee breaks down how her team has generated over 100 million organic views, raised $700,000 from small dollar donors, and flipped Escambia County blue for the first time since 1960. They tackle why TPUSA dominated college campuses for years, how Charlie Kirk built a media to ground game pipeline that Democrats still haven't replicated, and why the answer...

Purple Political Breakdown with Radell Lewis breaks down the biggest political stories of the week with zero partisan spin and maximum accountability. This episode covers the U.S.-Iran ceasefire that collapsed almost immediately after Israel struck Beirut, killing over 254 people, while 230 oil tankers remain stuck in the Persian Gulf and Iran charges over $1 million per ship for passage through the Strait of Hormuz. Trump's threat that "a whole civilization will die tonight" triggered more than 70 House Democrats to call for impeachment or invoking the 25th Amendment, and Radell breaks down exactly how the impeachment process works, Trump's impeachment...

Can eight Democrats really unseat Trump-backed Congressman Max Miller in Ohio's 7th Congressional District? On this episode of Purple Political Breakdown, host Radell Lewis dives deep into one of the most crowded and competitive congressional primaries in the 2026 midterms. From former FBI agent Ed FitzGerald's political comeback to union ironworker Brian Poindexter's surge of labor endorsements, Radell breaks down every candidate, follows the money, and gives his honest assessment of who actually has a shot.But that's not all. Vivek Ramaswamy's Ohio governor campaign just took another self-inflicted hit after proposing to close public universities during March Madness. The Cook...

Is the American Dream of homeownership slipping away, or is it being taken? In this episode of Purple Political Breakdown, host Radell Lewis sits down with Ashley Thomas III, National President of the National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB), the nation's oldest minority real estate trade association, founded in 1947 to fight for democracy in housing. Ashley is also the CEO and Founder of LA Top Broker, Managing Broker of First Security Investment Co., Inc. (one of the country's oldest Black-owned property management firms), and a 2026 Inman Power Player recognized for his leadership in housing equity.

With...

The Iran war just got real. An F-15E Strike Eagle has been shot down over Iran, marking the first U.S. aircraft lost to enemy fire in Operation Epic. With one crew member missing, gas prices surging past four dollars a gallon, and Defense Secretary Hegseth firing top generals during active combat, the cracks in the Trump administration's war strategy are impossible to ignore. Radell Lewis breaks it all down on this episode of Purple Political Breakdown.

On the Supreme Court front, justices heard oral arguments in Trump v. Barbara challenging the executive order to strip...

Radell Lewis breaks down one of Ohio's most important and overlooked races: the 2026 Secretary of State election. With Frank LaRose term-limited out and running for auditor, five candidates across three party primaries are competing to control how Ohioans vote, how businesses get registered, and how ballot language gets written. Radell goes candidate by candidate through Republican primary frontrunner Robert Sprague (Ohio's current treasurer who dropped out of the governor's race in under three weeks to endorse Vivek Ramaswamy), his challenger Marcell Strbich (a retired Air Force intelligence officer pushing one of the most aggressive election security platforms in the...

Purple Political Breakdown host Radell Lewis and co-hosts Elijah and Danny break down the biggest political stories of the week in this Socratic Breakdown open panel. The U.S.-Iran conflict continues to escalate as oil prices spike, peace deals collapse, and troops from the 82nd Airborne deploy toward a potential Kharg Island invasion, all while Trump questions NATO membership over European allies refusing to cooperate. The Supreme Court deliberates on birthright citizenship and the 14th Amendment as Trump pressures conservative justices, and a new executive order targets mail-in voting in what critics call a blatant move to disenfranchise voters...

xxxxxxxxxxxHost Radell Lewis breaks down the biggest stories shaping America right now on the Purple Political Breakdown. This week: the U.S. Iran war enters its fourth week with ceasefire negotiations stalled over the Strait of Hormuz, nuclear threats, and rising gas prices. The DHS partial shutdown has pushed TSA call out rates past 11% nationally, with airports in Houston, Atlanta, and Baltimore hit hardest. Is Supreme Court reform finally on the table? Radell dives deep into court packing, term limits, and ethics codes, explaining why the Constitution never set the number of justices at nine and what Democrats could actually...

What is going on in Ohio? In this episode of Purple Political Breakdown, host Radell Lewis breaks down the biggest stories coming out of the Ohio Statehouse heading into the 2026 midterm elections. President Trump is calling for an end to no-excuse mail-in voting nationwide, and Ohio officials from both parties are responding. The Ohio House is advancing new abortion restrictions under House Bill 347, testing the limits of the 2023 constitutional amendment that 57 percent of voters approved. Ohio's hemp and THC ban under Senate Bill 56 is now in effect after the referendum effort by Ohioans for Cannabis Choice fell short on signatures...

Should Democrats punish MAGA when they regain power, or should they focus on fixing what's broken? On this Socratic Breakdown, Radell Lewis and Elijah dive into one of the most heated debates in progressive politics right now: accountability versus retaliation. With Democrats winning surprise special elections in Florida and the 2026 midterms on the horizon, the question of how to handle the Trump era looms large. Radell breaks down the difference between government overreach (like the Stephen Colbert situation) and social media cancel culture, why the "both sides" framing falls apart under scrutiny, and what history teaches us about the cost...

Are Americans too cynical to recognize when government actually works? Radell Lewis sits down with David Martin, host and producer of The Good Government Show, to explore the stories of public servants and local leaders making real differences across the country. From a recidivism program in Berks County, Pennsylvania that dropped reoffending rates from 60% to just 5%, to micro loans helping small business owners grow, to rural hospitals reopening in communities that desperately need them, David shares nearly 190 episodes worth of proof that good government exists at every level.

The conversation dives into why so many people have...

Radell Lewis breaks down the biggest stories in American politics right now on this week's Purple Political Breakdown live show. The U.S. and Israeli war on Iran has entered its third week with 13 American service members dead, 200 troops wounded across seven countries, and oil prices surging toward $180 per barrel. Joe Kent, Trump's own counterterrorism director, resigned over the war, calling it unjustified, and then appeared on Tucker Carlson's podcast to insinuate Israel may have been involved in Charlie Kirk's assassination. Tucker Carlson himself claims the CIA is building a criminal case against him under the Foreign Agents Registration...

Radell Lewis sits down with Jerrad Christian, Democratic candidate for Ohio's 12th Congressional District, for a conversation about the issues hitting Ohioans hardest right now. From the gerrymandering compromise that reshaped Ohio's congressional map to the property tax crisis squeezing homeowners and retirees, no topic is off limits.
Jerrad grew up in rural Appalachian Ohio in a working poor family where government programs were not abstract policy debates but the difference between eating and going hungry. He served in the U.S. Navy as a flight deck fueler during Operation Iraqi Freedom and later worked as a meteorologist and...

Radell Lewis breaks down the resignation of Joe Kent, former director of the National Counterterrorism Center, who publicly stated that Iran posed no imminent threat and that the US was pressured into war by Israel and its powerful American lobby. Radell and Danny explore the responses from AIPAC, J Street, and the ADL, along with Mitch McConnell's controversial statement lumping isolationists and anti-Semites together (despite isolationism being a core MAGA pillar). The conversation dives into the strategic significance of Karg Island, where 2,500 Marines are being deployed to secure 90% of Iran's oil exports, and why this conflict mirrors the mistakes...

What if there were 10 issues that the overwhelming majority of Americans already agree on, but Congress refuses to act on? That is exactly what Seven Ten (seventen.org) was built to address. In this episode of Purple Political Breakdown, host Radell Lewis sits down with Joe Patterson, the director of Seven Ten, a nonpartisan, nonprofit pro-democracy organization designed to unclog Congress by focusing exclusively on issues with 70% or more supermajority support.

Joe breaks down the full list of 10 consensus issues, including congressional term limits (polling at 87% to 90% support for decades), Medicare drug price negotiation, universal background checks...

The Iran war just got real. Radell Lewis breaks down the mounting U.S. casualties, the cruise missile strike on a girls' elementary school that the administration lied about, and why 2,500 Marines are now headed to the Arabian Sea. Oil just surged past $120 a barrel, the Strait of Hormuz is effectively closed, and analysts are warning this conflict could trigger a full recession. Meanwhile, Anthropic refused to let the Pentagon use its AI for autonomous weapons and mass surveillance, so the administration blacklisted them and OpenAI rushed in to fill the gap, prompting a top executive resignation and a...

Who will represent Cincinnati in Congress? In this episode of Purple Political Breakdown, host Radell Lewis breaks down every candidate running in Ohio's 1st Congressional District, one of the most closely watched toss-up House races in the country heading into the May 5, 2026 primary.

After Ohio's October 2025 redistricting pushed the district further into conservative territory, incumbent Democrat Greg Landsman now faces a tougher path to reelection. Radell covers Landsman's bipartisan record, his $1.83 million war chest, and what makes him competitive in a district Trump won in 2024. On the progressive side, challenger Damon Lynch is running a people-powered campaign...

Radell Lewis and the PPB panel break down the escalating US conflict with Iran, including American casualties, Tomahawk missile strikes, oil tanker attacks in the Strait of Hormuz, France deploying a frigate, and Iran's new leadership. The panel examines what Lindsey Graham and Netanyahu's warnings about the "next two weeks" could mean, from the MOAB to US-trained Kurdish ground forces entering western Iran.

The conversation shifts to AI in warfare after the Trump administration sought autonomous military drones and mass surveillance tools from Anthropic, who refused and was then labeled a security risk and cut from government...

Your morning coffee may come with a side of modern slavery, child labor, and mass deforestation and it only costs 2-3 cents more per cup to fix it. In this episode of Purple Political Breakdown, host Radell Lewis sits down with Etelle Higonnet, founder and director of Coffee Watch, Yale Law School graduate, and internationally recognized human rights attorney who has been knighted by the French government for her pioneering work to curb deforestation in high-risk commodity industries. With experience at Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Greenpeace, and two war crimes tribunals plus fieldwork in over 30 countries Etelle brings...

On this episode of Purple Political Breakdown, host Radell Lewis delivers a comprehensive, nonpartisan deep dive into the coordinated campaign to reshape American elections before the 2026 midterms. Radell breaks down the SAVE America Act the Republican-backed voter ID and proof-of-citizenship bill that passed the House 218-213 and explains how its requirements could block more than 21 million eligible American citizens from registering to vote, disproportionately impacting married women, young voters, rural Americans, voters of color, and trans Americans. This episode connects the dots between the SAVE Act's voter suppression mechanisms, the DOGE-Social Security Administration voter data scandal where unvetted political...

Radell Lewis breaks down the biggest stories shaping America this week on Purple Political Breakdown Political Solutions Without Political Bias. Operation Epic Fury enters its sixth day as U.S. and Israeli forces continue airstrikes on Iran following the killing of Supreme Leader Khamenei, with over 2,000 targets struck, Iranian retaliation across the Middle East, and more than 1,000 civilian casualties reported. Oil prices are surging toward $90 a barrel as the Strait of Hormuz becomes a flashpoint, threatening American wallets at the pump. Meanwhile, the U.S. economy lost 92,000 jobs in February the third month of losses in five as the labor...

Radell Lewis sits down with Anthony Campbell, Republican candidate for Ohio's 9th Congressional District, to break down his ABC plan for affordable healthcare, energy independence, and community-first representation. Campbell, a Sandusky native with over a decade in the healthcare industry, makes his case for why he can unseat longtime incumbent Marcy Kaptur where previous challengers have failed. They dig into healthcare reform and reducing administrative costs, renewable energy and grid modernization in Ohio, immigration policy and ICE enforcement, term limits and congressional corruption, the SAVE Act, and what it actually means to govern from the center as a Republican in 2026...

Welcome to another Socratic Breakdown on the Purple Political Breakdown, hosted by Radell Lewis political solutions without political bias.This week, Radell is joined by panelists Danny and Elijah to unpack the escalating U.S.-Iran war and the collapse of Trump's "no new wars" promise. The panel breaks down Operation Epic Fury, the killing of Ayatollah Khamenei, and why the Trump administration can't get its own messaging straight with Rubio contradicting Hegseth, and Trump contradicting both.Topics covered include Israel's influence on the Iran strikes, Jared Kushner's Gaza development plans, the Strait of Hormuz oil blockade driving gas prices...

Netflix just walked away from an $82.7 billion deal for Warner Bros and that's not the story. The real story is who's about to control your news. On this Research on a Dime segment of Purple Political Breakdown, host Radell Lewis exposes how the Paramount-Skydance acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery is shaping up to be one of the most dangerous media consolidations in American history and why Trump's fingerprints are all over it.David Ellison, son of Oracle billionaire and Trump megadonor Larry Ellison, is now positioned to control CNN, CBS, HBO, HBO Max, two major film studios, and a massive...

In this episode of Purple Political Breakdown, host Radell Lewis sits down with Dr. Bernd Reiter, political scientist and Professor of LusoLatin American Studies at Texas Tech University, for a wide-ranging conversation about the crisis of representative democracy, extreme wealth inequality, and what it would actually take to fix America's political system.

Dr. Reiter brings a unique international lens to American politics. Born and raised in Germany, he's lived and researched across Colombia, Brazil, and the United States, and has held positions at the University of South Florida, Harvard University's Afro-Latin American Research Institute, and the Barcelona...

On this Nuance News edition of Purple Political Breakdown, host Radell Lewis covers the stories flying under the radar that you absolutely need to know about. The Supreme Court struck down Trump's tariffs as illegal and now states are demanding refunds worth billions. The Epstein saga just got darker: a DOJ internal email referred to Epstein's death as a murder, not a suicide, while the Department of Justice was caught tracking which members of Congress searched specific names in unredacted files. Both Bill and Hillary Clinton testified, Lauren Boebert violated deposition rules, and over three hundred high-profile names surfaced yet...

The United States and Israel just launched a coordinated military assault on Iran and everything changed overnight. On this episode of Purple Political Breakdown, host Radell Lewis breaks down Operation Epic Fury and Operation Roaring Lion, the reported killing of Ayatollah Khamenei, Iran's retaliatory strikes on US bases and Gulf states, and what regime change rhetoric from Trump and Netanyahu actually means. Radell gives his honest, nonpartisan analysis on whether this was justified or another case of unchecked executive power.

Then, Radell dives into Trump's record-breaking 108-minute State of the Union address, fact-checking claims on inflation, gas...

Host Radell Lewis breaks down everything you need to know about Ohio's 9th Congressional District heading into the 2026 midterms. After the Ohio Redistricting Commission redrew the map to lean Republican by over 10 points, longtime incumbent Marcy Kaptur the longest-serving woman in congressional history faces her toughest reelection yet. Radell goes candidate by candidate through the crowded GOP primary field: Derek Merrin (Trump-endorsed, 2024 rematch candidate), Madison Sheehan (former ICE deputy director), Anthony Campbell (healthcare executive with the most detailed policy platform), Aaliyah Nadeem (Air Force veteran), and Josh Williams (MAGA-aligned state rep). Who has the best shot at winning the...

Host Radell Lewis and panelist Elijah break down the biggest stories shaping American politics right now. Is Gavin Newsom positioning himself as the 2028 Democratic frontrunner and are MAGA's racism accusations against him just manufactured outrage? We dig into Newsom's shifting stance on trans rights and sports, why Hasan Piker saying he'd vote third party over JD Vance is dangerously misguided, and what JD Vance's connections to Curtis Yarvin and Peter Thiel reveal about the real power behind Trump's agenda.

The conversation goes deep on Trump's tariff policy and whether bringing back manufacturing is a fantasy that ignores...

Purple Political Breakdown host Radell Lewis sits down with Adam Swart, founder and CEO of Crowds on Demand the country's largest protest and advocacy firm for an eye-opening conversation about the state of protesting in America. With ICE protests dominating headlines and tensions escalating between civilians and law enforcement, this episode delivers the insight you need right now.

Adam brings over a decade of experience organizing high-profile protests and advocacy campaigns across the political spectrum. Featured on Fox News, Fox Business, NewsNation, OAN, and Newsmax, his takes on modern activism have drawn millions of views and sparked...

In this week's Purple Political Breakdown, host Radell Lewis breaks down the Supreme Court's landmark 6-3 ruling striking down Trump's IEEPA tariffs, what it means for $175 billion in refunds, and how the administration is scrambling with Section 122 workarounds. Radell dives into the ongoing DHS government shutdown, the Democrats' 10-point ICE reform demands, and why ICE agents shooting U.S. citizens including a newly revealed Texas cover-up is reshaping the entire debate.

In the Research on a Dime segment, Radell investigates Jared Kushner's rise from real estate heir to unofficial peace envoy, his $4.6 billion Affinity Partners fund backed...

On this Socratic Breakdown, host Radell Lewis and panelists dive into the latest Epstein files controversy why are co-conspirator names still redacted while victims' names were exposed? Hillary Clinton calls out Trump for pushing closed-door testimony, and Pam Bondi's hearing before Congress raises serious questions about a potential cover-up at the DOJ. The panel examines Trump's connections to Epstein, the Mossad and Israel allegations, and why the Attorney General can't answer basic questions about Ghislaine Maxwell's prison deal.Then the conversation shifts to Trump's attack on free speech after Stephen Colbert's interview with Texas gubernatorial candidate James Talarico was pulled...