Off The Record With Paul Hodes

In the days after the violent, seditious attack on Congress on January 6, the American people were briefly aghast and outraged. But barely a week later, Republican voter identification with Trump had “rebounded to pre-election levels." Nowadays, even the most searing national events get sucked down a partisan rabbit hole…and last week, Republican leadership came out against any commission on looking into January 6. Our guest is an expert in political behavior and psychology and how we form political opinions.  We talk about how much the age of hyper-partisanship has changed our understanding of events and reality itself. Alexander G. Theodoridis is an associate professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, he helps to direct the UMass poll, and his work has been featured by the New York Times, Washington Post, Scientific American, Time, CNN, The Hindu, The Economist and many other media outlets.

The big AT&T/Discovery deal is creating a behemoth (CNN, HBO, TLC, Food Network, TNT, TBS, etc.) streaming service. But will it work?  And why don't these combinations work more often?

There's a perception that Congress is totally gridlocked, and that the parties do nothing but bicker. But our expert guest says that maybe we're all being a little too negative, because actually, Congress gets more done while you're not looking than you'd think. And despite the historic problems we've seen recently (think insurrection), the system is kind of holding together. Frances Lee is a Professor of Politics and Public Affairs, and the Associate Chair of the Department of Politics at Princeton University.  Photo by Syed F Hashemi on Unsplash

Matt was a guest on West Virginia radio legend Howard Monroe's morning show, talking about how we got into such a divided place in American politics and what some solutions would look like

Last week's news that the economy added just 266,000 jobs when many economists were expecting closer to 1 million made for a lot of head-scratching. Republicans say that excessive Covid relief benefits are creating a disincentive for people to come back to work. Democrats say that recovery is a long road and that if anything, the anemic jobs numbers show that the economy needs an additional boost. So, what’s really going on? To find out, you have to look at who has gone back to work, who hasn’t, and why they haven’t. Our guest Diane Lim is an economist who over the course of a distinguished 30 year career has worked in the federal government, nonprofit and academic sectors. She writes the EconomistMom blog and has served as an advisory board member of the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at the University of Virginia.

In 2020, one thing was clear: as goes African American voters, so goes the Democratic Party.  And as goes the Democratic Party, so goes the balance of power in America.  Understanding the evolving views and priorities of Black Americans -- and what drives their enthusiasm to vote -- will be critical if Democrats are to have any chance in the 2022 midterms (and beyond).  The authors of a new report on African American voter priorities in 2021 -- Promises Made Must Be Promises Kept -- join the show to explain their findings. 

We’ve got something a little different for you: a conversation between Beyond Politics host Matt Robison and PoliticusUSA Editor-in-Chief Sarah Jones, available as a podcast, a video, and an excerpt on PoliticusUSA. Matt and Sarah are both fascinated by the same question: how did we get to this pretty awful place in American politics and society…and how do we get out of it? In other words, what is way back from Trump’s America?

Apple's decision this week to clamp down on how apps to track your behavior and movements online has reignited a debate about privacy and the information we share, both willingly and unwittingly, in the digital age.  What is often overlooked is just how much we make decisions, sometimes without even realizing it, about how much information we share about our kids. This is a deep, fraught, and complicated topic that too many of us have not really thought about. One of the world leading experts on it is Leah Plunkett, the author of "Sharenthood: why we should think before we talk about our kids online," and an very accomplished legal scholar with positions at the University of New Hampshire School of Law and the Berkman Klein center for Internet and Society at Harvard University. She makes the case that there are many consequences to every piece of information we share--some we know about, and some that go in unknown and disturbing directions

What does Apple's big privacy release mean for Facebook's business and the broader "free" economy?  Also, the hottest investment opportunity is...house paint?

Sean Carberry, the former Kabul correspondent for NPR and the lead on Department of Defense Inspector General reports on Afghanistan, walks through what has happened in Afghanistan, whether the US could have done anything differently, and ultimately whether President Biden made the right decision to withdraw US troops once and for all. 

The Senate is a mess.  All legislative roads lead there, and usually it’s a dead end. When Presidents take executive action, it’s usually to work around the Senate. It’s the site of national catharsis over judges. And when something actually does get passed, it’s major news. But now, things might...just might... be changing. Democrats have used special senate "reconciliation" rules to pass the massive American Rescue Plan. More bills like that may be on the way. And there's a possibility of striking deals with a group of 10 Republican senators to pass actual bipartisan bills on important issues in American society. Its never been been more valuable to understand the dynamics of the Senate, the people, the rules, and the politics. Ryan McConaghy is one of the country’s absolute top notch experts on the Senate, and he joins the show to break down the prospects for legislation, progress, and making things work in Congress. Photo by Matthew Bornhorst on Unsplash

As more signs emerge of an impending surge in the economy, Chris and Matt explore how we can think about what those signs are telling us about investing and business in the near term, and also how to think beyond them to what the longer term future looks like.  Photo by Tomasz Frankowski on Unsplash

The big news on Covid last week was the decision by the CDC and FDA to call for a nationwide halt to delivering the Johnson & Johnson vaccine while they investigate a rare blood-clotting disorder. Our guest, Dr. Angela Rasmussen, is a virologist and one of the most well-known and oft-quoted scientists on Covid vaccines.  She has written for Forbes, Foreign Affairs, Slate, the Guardian, and Leapsmag, and appeared many times in media outlets including the New York Times (including an op-ed last week), the Washington Post, National Public Radio, ABC, NBC, CNN, CBC, and BBC.  And last week, she appeared in a really good explanatory article on the Johnson and Johnson vaccine by Katherine Wu in The Atlantic. So we invited her to walk us all through what we need to know about the J&J pause and the fight against Covid in general. 

Matt joins legendary West Virginia radio host Howard Monroe on his morning show to discuss the arguments around statehood for Washington D.C., why the arguments against should remind you of "My Cousin Vinny," and what the real holdup is. Also, what the government should actually do to keep people from migrating out of rural states. 

And other tantalizing bread crumbs for investors from Chris Hill of Motley Fool Money. Photo by Georgia Vagim on Unsplash

Pia Carusone is the managing director at SKDKnickerbocker (SKDK), a top national communications and political consulting firm. She was Chief of Staff for Congresswoman Gabby Giffords during 2011 shooting that left six dead and injured Congresswoman Giffords and 12 others. Carusone helped to start Giffords’ organization that advocates for solutions to prevent gun violence, and later served as the Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs at the Department of Homeland Security. She talks about how Americans views on gun safety and gun violence have changed in the last two decades, how gun safety advocates are making slow progress, and what the future of the issue might look like. We also touch on Democratic messaging and whiskey, and Pia's role in creating both... Photo by Roman Poberezhnik on Unsplash

Today, we've got a wild story for you. It’s definitely Beyond Politics...but trust us on this one, it'll make you think. Our guest Dr. Brandy Schillace is the Editor-in-Chief for BMJ’s Medical Humanities Journal and the author of MR. HUMBLE AND DR. BUTCHER: A Monkey’s Head, the Pope’s Neuroscientist, and the Quest to Transplant the Soul, which the New York Times called “delightfully macabre.” A fascinating look at what makes us...us...and whether we could ever move ourselves to another body.  Photo by Syed Ahmad on Unsplash

Matt joins legendary West Virginia radio host Howard Monroe on his morning show to discuss the Georgia voting law jockeying, why the Dems' legislative strategy shifted this week, why Joe Manchin is even more in the catbird seat, and what Mary Poppins has to do with passing laws in Congress.

Chris Hill, the host of Motley Fool Money, the #1 stock investing radio show in America, discusses the Atlantic article arguing that the growth of index funds could be changing everything: the way companies behave, people invest, and the whole market operates.  Also, why is good economic news in the Great Reopening a mix bag for many companies?  And what can Godzilla teach us about the entertainment industry right now?

2020 was not a great year for pollsters, at least the ones who release their work to the public: in the final three weeks of the election, national surveys of the presidential race were wrong by an average of more than six points, the same as 2016. Is something fundamentally wrong here? And what do we do if there’s problem with one of the major tools we use to understand public opinion and guide election campaigns in our democracy? Recently, the think tank Third Way convened a panel of top experts to address this question. That panel was presented mostly to political insiders…but one of those top experts joins us to bring the discussion to our listeners. Angie Kuefler is Senior Vice President of Research at the Global Strategy Group. She has done extensive political research for local, state, and federal candidates, including many members of congress, governors, and issue advocacy campaigns.