Historian Kathryn Cramer Brownell joins guest host John McCaa to discuss the rise of cable news, which she argues decentralized traditional media and led to today’s fractured political landscape.
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The lasting impact of Pres. Garfield
Historian C.W. Goodyear joins guest host John McCaa to discuss the tumultuous political landscape that catapulted Garfield, why he was considered a progressive by the public, and how today’s schisms are not unlike the discord of late-1800s America.
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Meet the D.C. power brokers who aren’t politicians
Ben Terris of The Washington Post joins guest host John McCaa to discuss the names we don’t know who are shaping politics today, and the wild stories that make up life on The Hill.
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The enduring legacy of Timothy McVeigh
Author and journalist Jeffrey Toobin joins guest host John McCaa to discuss McVeigh’s right-wing extremism and how it connects to the January 6 insurrection.
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When science silences debate
Political scientist Jason Blakely joins host Krys Boyd to discuss what he calls “scientism,” when scientific authority silences political debate, and why relying on data might not always be the best approach to problem solving in a crisis.
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How to fight the war on facts
Lee McIntyre, research fellow at the Center for Philosophy and History of Science at Boston University, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the origins of disinformation and the playbook it uses, and to offer tips for how ordinary citizens can fight back.
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For old-school conspiracy theorists, QAnon crossed a line
Conspiracy theory researcher Annie Kelly discusses how old-school skeptics raised on late-night call-in radio fear modern day conspiracy theorists are giving their passion a bad name.
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We’re doing the wrong things to fix poverty
Sociologist Matthew Desmond won a Pulitzer Prize in 2017 for his book “Evicted,” and he joins us to discuss his follow-up investigation, which centers on the idea that affluent Americans keep poor people poor.
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Elon Musk basically owns space
New York Times reporter Cade Metz discusses Starlink, the satellite internet company Musk runs that accounts for more than 50 percent of all active satellites, and the issues it’s raising for global security.
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China and Russia are spying in ways you didn’t imagine
Harvard intelligence expert Calder Walton discusses spy networks post-Cold War and the new methods, like disinformation and cyberwarfare, that are being deployed.
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How the Supreme Court grabbed power from the president
Vox reporter Ian Millhiser discusses the “major questions doctrine,” which allows the court to veto actions by a federal agency for economic or political reasons, and how its use picked up when President Biden took office.
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Ground for a new school was broken, an ugly past was dug up
“Sugar Land” hosts Brittney Martin and Naomi Reed discuss the discovery of 95 unmarked graves in Sugar Land, Texas, and their ties to the brutal practice of convict labor.
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