Decodedc

When Donald Trump is sworn in as President of the United States on January 20, 2017, the clock starts ticking on his political agenda. Trump's goals for his first 100 days in office include repealing and replacing Obamacare, deporting criminal undocumented immigrants and banning people from terror-prone countries from entering the U.S. Can he really do all these things? On the latest DecodeDC podcast we try to answer that question, and figure out what President Trump can do on his own and what he'll need help with. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Donald J. Trump will be the 45th President of the United States. Let that sink in for a minute. On the latest episode of DecodeDC, we're checking back in with some of our favorite experts who've helped us 'decode' American politics to ask the question, now what? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

While millions of Americans cast their votes on Election Day, one segment of the population will be left out. More than 6 million people have lost their voting rights because they committed a felony, and millions more can’t vote from prison. In fact, 1 out of every 13 African Americans has lost their voting rights due to felony disenfranchisement. But some states, like Virginia and California, are trying to change that. On this bonus episode of DecodeDC, Jimmy speaks with Terry Garrett, a former inmate who finally got her right to vote back after a rollercoaster legal fight between the Virginia governor and state supreme court. Jimmy also speaks with our Scripps colleague Angela Hill about efforts in California to restore voting rights for some who are still incarcerated--and the pushback the state is facing. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's crunch time. Doomsday--er, Election Day--is almost here, so we're checking back in with our undecided voters. For the past few weeks DecodeDC reporter Miranda Green has been profiling four voters on the fence. She fills Jimmy in on their feelings of disgust toward the election, and the sense of unease after the news about the FBI's investigation into Clinton's emails. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Donald Trump is on pace to lose the African American vote, and lose it bigly. So it’s useful to remember a time when black Americans were reliable Republicans. We talk with Leah Wright Rigueur, author of “The Loneliness of the Black Republican,” about what changed. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you’re worried about voter fraud, there’s a good chance you’re worried about the wrong thing. We speak with Victoria Bassetti of the Brennan Center about the myth of widespread voter fraud, and a vulnerability that election officials do acknowledge: Absentee balloting. This episode is produced in conjunction with the Brennan Center and its new election podcast. Search for it on iTunes under the Brennan Center. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Donald Trump hasn’t given any money to the foundation that bears his name since 2008, and that’s just the beginning of the oddities surrounding Trump’s charitable giving. Washington Post reporter David Fahrenthold has been digging into it, and you might by shocked by what he’s found. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How can a voter possibly be undecided? In an episode co-reported with Buzzfeed’s Meg Cramer of the No One Knows Anything podcast, we look at why so many voters are undecided this presidential election and what it’s like to be one of them. Jimmy also reveals that he likes 7-Eleven cheese dogs. Gross. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How do you run a business when Congress keeps getting in the way? That’s what farmers in Washington State are grappling with as Congress keeps punting on immigration reform. They are faced with a big labor shortage. That means crops—and profits—are left sitting in the fields. On the latest podcast, reporter Miranda Green explains to host Jimmy Williams how livelihoods are being affected on a daily basis by congressional inaction. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In his new book “Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis”, author J.D. Vance recounts his experience of growing up poor in the white working class communities of Appalachia. It’s not just a personal story but an examination of the culture from where he comes from, as Vance tries to understand why so today feel disillusioned and disconnected with American politics. This week on the podcast, Jimmy sits down with J.D. for a personal conversation about his family, community, and the state of American politics. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A recent Scripps investigation found that the New York Attorney General has the power to force the Clinton Foundation and the Clinton Health Access Initiative to publicly disclose the names of foreign governments and the millions they donate each year to the charities, but he’s not doing it. In this episode we speak with investigative reporter Mark Greenblatt, who pored through IRS tax returns and required NY charity filings and found that year after year the Clinton charities have ignored New York law. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Corporate America has found a new way to exert its influence: think tanks, the non-profits dedicated to independent, scholarly research. That’s according to a recent investigation by the New England Center for Investigative Reporting and The New York Times. This week on the podcast, reporter Brooke Williams explains how this new type of backdoor deal-making is blurring the lines between scholars and lobbyists. Williams details how a $15 million donation by JPMorgan Chase to the Brookings Institution resulted in the think tank essentially doing marketing for the bank. (Brookings has issued a rebuttal, disputing the reporting done by Williams’ and her colleague Eric Lipton) Increasingly, the role of researcher and lobbyist are merging, with little to no transparency for the public. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When the two U.S. Senate candidates went to bed on election night 2002 in South Dakota, it looked like the Republican would be the winner. But then late results came in from two Native American reservations, and Democrat Tim Johnson won re-election. It’s this potential power of the Native American vote to swing local and state elections that voting rights activists in South Dakota are trying to unlock. And they argue the state has spent decades trying to block that power. In part two of our investigation into voting rights for Native Americans, we go to South Dakota, where access to the ballot box is crucial for solving issues of poverty and suicides on reservations. We take you to the second oldest powwow in the nation, where deep racial and cultural tensions between Native Americans and non-natives create a different type of barrier to voting. This report is part of a project on voting rights in America produced by the Carnegie-Knight News21 program. Make sure to check out News21’s full story here. See omn

Salt is a magical substance. An essential nutrient, it was once even used as currency. So what’s behind the push to get food makers to reduce sodium — one of salt’s components — in Americans’ diets? In partnership with the Gastropod podcast, we look at the science and history of salt, and explain how and why the government is trying to lower sodium intake. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When San Juan County, Utah made the move to all mail-in voting in 2014, it seemed like a great idea. The county is almost 8,000 square miles with about 15,000 residents and voting by mail meant you no longer had to travel to a polling place. But for residents of the Navajo reservation, about half the county’s population, that change actually made voting more difficult. Gone were the six in-person polling places on the reservation and gone were the translators to help the many Navajo-only speakers vote. The mail-in ballot was English only, and Navajo is a predominantly spoken language. “My first reaction was what about those people that don't speak English? What happens to those people?” said Terry Whitehat, who lives in a part of the reservation called Navajo Mountain.  The one place left to vote in person was located off the reservation, which for Whitehat meant up to a 10-hour return trip drive. How were these voters going to be able to vote wondered Whitehat. “Basically, it’s impossible,” he said. This we

How does Donald Trump figure his net worth? It depends on his mood. So says Pulitzer Prize winning investigative journalist, David Cay Johnston. In his new book, "The Making of Donald Trump," Johnston combs through his findings after 28 years of reporting on Trump. On the latest DecodeDC podcast, Johnston tells Jimmy Williams about Trump’s business dealings with the mob and his ruthless mentality toward others. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You may think the founders gave us the right to bear arms as a way to defend against government tyranny. But in this episode, Carl Bogus, a professor at Roger Williams University School of Law, tells Jimmy that that's not entirely true. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Throughout his campaign for the Democratic nomination, the "small donor revolution" became a rallying cry for Bernie Sanders and his supporters. While counteracting big money with the little guy sounds like an appealing idea, it ain't that easy. And it doesn't always produce the best candidates. On the latest podcast, host Jimmy Williams chats with Victoria Bassetti of the Brennan Center for Justice about her study into why small donations aren't the solution to money in politics. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

So what's it like to run an event with tens of thousands of people for four straight days? That's what host Jimmy Williams asks Matt Butler, the number two guy in charge of this year's Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. We take you behind the scenes (we literally did this interview behind the stage) of all the bells and whistles that go into running a convention. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you've been tuning into the political conventions, you've been watching a staged performance. But behind the scenes there's a different show going on, one that you can only access through money or power. On this episode, host Jimmy Williams explains how the money game being played in Cleveland is different than past years. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.