Podcasts by So That Happened

Government Workers Await News Of Whether They Have Friday Off from 2018-02-08T21:11:35

The government is on the verge of another shutdown, which is lots of fun for people who like political drama but less so for people who work in government, benefit from government services and t...

Trump Truly Owns The Republican Party Now from 2018-02-01T22:03:51

Republicans are helping President Donald Trump undermine an investigation into his campaign's collusion with the Russian government, revealing that Trump is now in full control of the GOP.

Only President Trump Can Save The Dreamers from 2018-01-25T21:36:42

The government's open, but where do we go from here? Democrats want legal status for 700,000 Dreamers, and they'll ultimately need President Donald Trump to make it happen. We talked to Michael ...

The So That Happened Shutdown Special from 2018-01-23T22:11:03

In this special dispatch, So That Happened takes a look at the Schumer Shutdown. Or was it the Trump shutdown? Did Dems cave? Or was this the best they could have hoped for?

from 2018-01-04T21:51:31

This week, America gained new insight into the fraught relationship between Donald Trump and his erstwhile white house strategist, Steve Bannon. It's like a Shakespearean drama, but just the par...

Trump's Biggest Win Of The Year from 2017-12-28T22:20:17

Tax reform is a big deal, but Donald Trump's reshaping of the judicial branch of government might be his biggest achievement of 2017. 

Republicans say the estate tax hurts farms a...

Republicans Pass Sweeping Tax Plan, Still Working On Basic Governance from 2017-12-21T22:49:55

Republicans Pass Sweeping Tax Plan, Still Working On Basic Governance

This week, Republicans succeeded in passing their tax bill. So what did Arthur have for lunch?

Republica...

Paul Ryan Is So Tired from 2017-12-14T21:22:27

There are whispers that Paul Ryan might resign -- we asked Matt Fuller why and when this could happen and who could be the next speaker. 

Accused child molester Roy Moore lost the...

Politician Accused Of Creepy Behavior Does Highly Unusual Right Thing from 2017-12-07T22:17:44

Al Franken is resigning, which we boldly predicted would happen! But what does it mean for partisan politics? 

The Supreme Court took up the Masterpiece Cake Shop case. Sam Baker ...

Tax Cuts Might Pass And The Government Might Shut Down from 2017-11-30T22:09:44

This week, the U.S. Senate stumbled forward on tax reform with a government shutdown looming around the corner. 

North Korea launched a missile that could theoretically reach Wash...

Donald Trump Is Thankful For Plausible Deniability from 2017-11-23T14:00

This week, Donald Trump pardoned some turkeys and endorsed Roy Moore. Then: long ago, legendary British economist John Maynard Keynes predicted that in the future, we would only work 15 hours a wee...

Political Men Continue To Be Disgusting from 2017-11-16T20:04:07

Republicans are really moving their tax reform legislation -- does it have a chance of becoming law? We'll hear from Huffpost reporters Elise Foley, Arthur Delaney and SV Date.<...

Looks Like A Democratic Wave Is Coming from 2017-11-09T21:15:44

Democrats crushed Republicans in off-year elections on Tuesday, delivering a resounding rebuke to President Donald Trump. Daniel Marans and Elise Foley join the show to talk about whether ...

Tax Reform Is Not For The Poor from 2017-11-02T20:44:31

Republicans say their tax reform plan will massively benefit the middle class, but the most direct beneficiaries of their plan are corporations and wealthy individuals. The plan includes an...

Republicans Are Not Joining #TheResistance from 2017-10-26T21:14:05

Two Senate Republicans denounced their party's leader this week, accusing President Donald Trump of "debasing" the United States and betraying its values. 

That doesn't mean the R...

Trump Acts Like He Owns The Military from 2017-10-19T21:04:02

During the campaign Donald Trump ridiculed Sen. John McCain for having been a prisoner of war in Vietnam and said he knew more than the generals about fighting terrorists. This week, he told a s...

The President Seems Really Sad from 2017-10-12T18:29:24

President Donald Trump has been unhappy lately, according to his own tweets and reports that he "hates everyone in the White House" and is often "consumed by dark moods." HuffPost reporters S.V. Da...

The Toddler President Demands Praise from 2017-10-05T19:05:49

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called a press conference this week to insist that he believes President Donald Trump is "smart," because it had come out that Tillerson once called Trump a "moron....

Sorry NFL Fans, Protests Don't Work If They Aren't Annoying from 2017-09-28T21:07:01

Earlier this year Donté Stallworth and three other former and current NFL football players spent three days lobbying Congress in favor of criminal justice reform. In other words, they did politics ...

Zombie GOP Health Bill Temporarily Exits Grave from 2017-09-21T19:30:19

Republicans in the U.S. Senate have been unable to garner enough support within their own conference for their latest bill to repeal Obamacare. One way they could do it, though, is by adding specia...

Single Payer Is Alive And Obamacare Repeal Is Dead from 2017-09-14T20:17:57

President Donald Trump dined with Democrats repeatedly this week and on Wednesday night struck some sort of agreement with Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Nancy Pelosi to avoid the deportation of D...

Oh Donald Trump, What Is You Doing from 2017-09-07T20:20:39

This week President Trump struck a surprising deal with congressional Democrats to fund the government for only three months. The move was a slap in the face to Republicans but Trump reportedly rav...

After Harvey from 2017-08-31T22:09:14

In the wake of one of the worst storms in US history, Huffpost national reporter Roque Planas talks to Zach Young about what it was like to report from Houston during Hurricane Harvey and witness t...

Trump Reads Fake Version Of Own Speech from 2017-08-24T22:46:46

President Donald Trump read what he pretended was an excerpt of his own speech this week in order to claim he'd been wrongly criticized, except he omitted the part that caused all the criticism. Yo...

What Happens Now That The President Has Openly Embraced White Supremacists? from 2017-08-17T19:53:10

President Trump this week spoke of "very fine people" among the Nazis and Ku Klux Klanners who staged a violent protest that resulted in the deaths of three people on Saturday. Trump's comments dre...

HuffPost Hits The Road from 2017-08-10T18:40

This week, we turn the show over to the New York office and HuffPost reporters Jeff Young and Sam Levine. First, they’re joined by our editor-in-chief Lydia Polgreen to talk about the HuffPost “Lis...

LIVE From Politicon from 2017-08-03T18:47:54

This week, we take a little break from things that happened this week to head to Pasadena, California, for Politicon! Over the weekend, So That Happened producer Zach Young attended the "unconventi...

Jeff Sessions Is A Great Attorney General... For Trump To Poop On from 2017-07-27T23:07:14

Donald Trump rose to power thanks in large part to his fame from having done a TV game show in which he ceremoniously "fired" contestants. Candidate Trump vowed to shake up Washington with this har...

Happy Birthday, Dodd-Frank! from 2017-07-20T19:56:45

This week on So That Happened: Zach Carter takes a break from book leave to return and host the show! He’s joined by ProPublica reporter Jesse Eisinger and Huffpost’s Alexander Kaufman to talk abou...

Donald Trump Junior Stepped In Deep Doo Doo from 2017-07-13T19:07:11

For months, President Trump and his supporters said it was all just a political witch hunt, that his campaign had not colluded with the Russian government's interference in last year's presidential...

The Battle For The Soul Of The Anti-Anti Trump Movement from 2017-07-06T20:43:02

Did CNN screw up this week by seemingly threatening to reveal the identity of a Reddit user who made a silly gif that President Trump tweeted? The Washington Examiner's Tim Carney says the episode...

Zombie Senate Healthcare Bill Will Be Back To Eat Your Brains from 2017-06-29T21:36:16

Republicans in the U.S. Senate completely boofed their health care bill, so this week on "So That Happened" we discuss the politics of their failure as well as how the underlying policy could chang...

Republicans Could Really Pass Their Obamacare Repeal Bill from 2017-06-22T19:54:30

Senate Republicans finally released their secret Obamacare repeal bill, so this week on "So That Happened" we explore the real possibility that this thing could actually pass and become law. We als...

The Worst Week In Washington from 2017-06-15T21:19:08

So, that happened. This week, we discuss the assassination attempt on members of Congress, which has left House Majority Whip Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) grievously injured. Fallout from the shootin...

James Comey Calls Donald Trump A Liar Because Of How Much He Lies from 2017-06-08T21:35:52

So, that happened. This week, the White House celebrated Infrastructure Week. Or at least, they wanted to, but couldn't because this week was James Comey-A-Go-Go in the Senate Intelligence Committe...

The Trump Doctrine: Go %#&$ Yourself, Other Countries from 2017-06-01T20:42:55

So, that happened. This week, we're going in search of a Trump Doctrine. President Donald Trump has returned from his first lengthy trip abroad. You've heard the speeches, you saw the photos, you k...

Draconian Budget Cuts And Fake News Conspiracy Theories: Just Another Week In Trump's America from 2017-05-25T20:42:49

So, that happened. This week, while President Donald Trump was away on foreign business, the wider world got a look at the latest White House budget proposals and the experience was like staring in...

Donald Trump Is Taking His Clown Show To Europe from 2017-05-18T19:51:44

So, that happened. This week, President Donald Trump had another one of those weeks where Donald Trump is president. By which I mean, total omnidirectional omnishambles. Building off the controvers...

Donald Trump Is Lighting His Presidency On Fire from 2017-05-11T21:24:54

So, that happened. This week, Donald Trump fired James Comey. And that's been the implacable news event of the week, so much so that we are just going to surrender to it entirely. This single decis...

Republicans Initiate Brilliant Midterm Strategy Of Kicking Tens Of Millions Of People Off Health Insurance from 2017-05-04T21:17:17

So, that happened. This week, the House of Representatives voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act and replace it with a bucket of garbage, placing the lives of some 24 million people at risk. Quit...

The 100 Day Deadline Has Trump Flailing from 2017-04-27T21:24:34

So, that happened. This week, we've reached the end of Trump's first 100 days. How will it be remembered? In many ways, it's been like watching someone's body reject an organ transplant. Somehow, T...

O'Reilly Out, Pointless Executive Orders In from 2017-04-20T19:51

So, that happened. This week, President Donald Trump issued another one of his patented executive orders, this time endeavoring to bring jobs back to America through a "Buy American, Hire American"...

Donald Trump Has Small Hands But Huge Flip-Flops from 2017-04-13T20:46:07

So, THAT happened! Remember all that stuff about draining the swamp and taking down the Washington establishment? Well, President Trump talked to some guys from Goldman Sachs and has decided to be ...

A Colony In A Nation On A Podcast from 2017-04-06T19:58:19

So, that happened. This week, we are joined by the host of MSNBC's "All In With Chris Hayes," who in case you haven't figured it out is named Chris Hayes. We'll be talking about his new book "A Col...

The Brief Wondrous Life Of Trumpcare from 2017-03-30T19:01:17

So, that happened. This week, Washington lawmakers began crawling out from under the wreckage of the failed American Health Care Act, better known as the bill that finally emerged from the GOP's se...

Trump's Defense Splurge Won't Trickle Down To Working Soldiers from 2017-03-23T20:47:50

So, that happened. This week, Neil Gorsuch made his confirmation hearing debut as Donald Trump's prospective Supreme Court nominee. And he came to DC with a long and concerning history of putting h...

Three Trump Fails In One Week from 2017-03-16T19:57:18

So, that happened. This week, President Donald Trump moved forward on a number of policy fronts. He also moved backward on a number of policy fronts. Very typical week, to be honest. But we now hav...

The Early Reviews Of Trumpcare Are In And They're Not Great from 2017-03-09T20:50:36

So, that happened. This week, House Speaker Paul Ryan finally released the Republican alternative to Obamacare plan from the sanctum sanctorum in which he'd been keeping hidden, and as soon as it w...

Donald Trump's Not Changing; Here's How Dems Can Go Populist from 2017-03-02T21:10

So, that happened. Well, how about that pivot, folks? Tuesday night, President Donald Trump gave a speech to a joint session of Congress and somehow the media managed to extract the idea that he'd ...

Town Halls And Tocqueville Are Back In Style from 2017-02-23T21:38

So, that happened. Every week we talk about how insane it can be to simply live in America. This week, we're going to help you do something about it, by welcoming journalist and author James Poulos...

This Week Has Been Flynn-sane from 2017-02-16T21:27

So, that happened. It's been a truly FUBAR week for the Trump administration, who this week accepted the resignation of national security adviser Michael Flynn in the wake of an unfolding investiga...

The Resistance Gets A New Mantra from 2017-02-09T21:39:23

This week, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren tried to read a letter penned by Coretta Scott King and an objecting Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell decided that she should the maximum amo...

Democrats Notice They Have A Base from 2017-02-02T21:25

So, that happened. This week, something interesting started to occur. The Democrats...started listening to their base. After a weekend in which demonstrated erupted at major airports in protest of ...

Big League Lying From The Trump Administration So Far from 2017-01-26T21:59

So, that happened. This week, the wider world was introduced to Donald Trump's press secretary Sean Spicer, who christened his tenure in the White House Briefing Room with several days of big leagu...

The Trump Administration Is Already A Mess from 2017-01-19T22:50

So, that happened. This week, the parade of cabinet appointments continued in the Senate, as Trump's nominees continued to try to strut their stuff under what was often withering questioning from S...

Repeal and Replace Collides With Reality from 2017-01-12T22:40

So, that happened. So, everything happened! This was one of those weeks where the worst thing you could say is that the news wouldn't get any crazier. By mid-day on Tuesday, we were pretty convince...

The DNC Chair Race Is Lit from 2017-01-05T20:19:03

So, that happened. Happy New Year everyone. On January 18th the Huffington Post will be hosting a debate between the declared candidates for the chair of the Democratic National Committee. The way ...

Let's Talk About Moral Grandstanding from 2016-12-29T20:11:45

This week, we are bidding farewell to to an old year and welcoming in a new one, because we are slaves to artificial constructs like calendars. But since this is a time for New Years' resolutions, ...

Four Books That Should Be On Your Holiday Reading List from 2016-12-22T21:52:02

Happy holidays, friends! This week, we have a special treat for everyone -- we're welcoming back the authors of our four favorite books of 2016 to celebrate their accomplishments and hopefully conv...

What If Obama Actually Prosecuted Wall Street? from 2016-12-15T22:30:32

This week, we bring you a Democratic party autopsy, of sorts. But it's not likely to be the one sanctioned by the Democratic National Committee. And in fact, much of it was written before the elect...

The Real Reason Carrier Stayed In The U.S. from 2016-12-08T23:08:40

President-elect Donald Trump doesn't just use his phone for tweeting. Apparently, he's also taking and making frequent calls with other world leaders. And hey, it's good to get to know other people...

A New Era Of Theatrical Populism from 2016-12-02T00:13:57

Over the course of the presidential campaign, president-elect Donald Trump was quick to make elaborate promises to working class Americans, promising to do away with Washington's business as usual,...

Obama Has Pardoned More People Than Turkeys from 2016-11-23T17:13:32

It's Thanksgiving week, and by the time you hear this podcast, President Barack Obama will have already performed his ceremonial turkey pardoning duties. But here in the last few months of his pres...

A Messy Transition For President-elect Trump from 2016-11-17T22:37:43

So *that* happened, Donald Trump is now President-elect of the United States. With this somewhat unexpected victory, the So That Happened team takes a deep dive into the messy transition process f...

2016 Election Post-Mortem from 2016-11-10T23:32:34

Welcome to our official 2016 post-mortem. Emphasis on the mortem. So, let's remember my first rule of political thermodynamics: an object in fucked-up motion tends to stay in fucked-up motion until...

Then We Came To The End Of The Election from 2016-11-03T21:28:20

We have finally come to the end of this election cycle. It was too long and mostly terrible. And we're probably kidding ourselves that everything is going to be fine just because it's over. But let...

What Kind Of Voters Make Up Trump's Donor Base? from 2016-10-27T17:27:26

This week, with the election winding down, Donald Trump is running out of creative ways to spend Republican money on himself. But the wily old grifter has still got it, and now people who thought t...

The Presidential Debates Are Over, Now The Voters Have To Decide from 2016-10-21T16:12:07

This week, the season of debates has finally ended, with Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and her Republican counterpart Donald Trump doing battle in Las Vegas, Nevada. And the emerg...

What We Learned From Clinton's Wall Street Speeches from 2016-10-13T21:41:24

This week, with the help of WikiLeaks, we've finally gotten some real insight into Hillary Clinton's famous speeches to Wall Street elites, and you'll probably be shocked to learn that many of the ...

Trump And Clinton: Ready For Round Two from 2016-10-07T00:19:56

This week, it's all about hot vice-president on vice-president action, as largely forgotten white guys Mike Pence and Tim Kaine laced them up in Farmville, Virginia. Who won? Who lost? Will it matt...

Let's Talk Trade: Is There An Alternative To TPP? from 2016-09-29T21:32:04

If there's been one issue that has animated the presidential race this year, it's got to be the future of trade. The Obama administration's efforts to get the Trans-Pacific Partnership in place hav...

The Final Stretch: What To Expect In The First Presidential Debate from 2016-09-23T01:57:30

I don't know if you've noticed this, but when people talk about how it came to pass that Donald Trump is the presidential nominee of a major political party and looking more and more like he could ...

Big Banks Are Still Behaving Badly from 2016-09-14T21:41:08

This week, we have a bank dork treat for everyone as we are joined by author and historian Eric Rauchway, to talk about his most recent book, "The Moneymakers" and how FDR getting our currency off ...

Journalists Have Become Comfortably Numb To Trump from 2016-09-08T20:29:21

Summer vacation is over, school's back in session. and the long hard march to Election Day is the only thing filling our days. Fortunately, we are sharing this journey with one of our favorite gues...

The Crisis Facing America's Public Higher Education from 2016-09-01T21:06:59

This week, joining us in the studio we have documentary filmmaker Steve Mims, whose latest movie, "Starving The Beast," details an ongoing crisis in public higher education. After decades of fundin...

Lets Talk About The Clinton Foundation from 2016-08-26T01:25:27

This week, we have got the latest storm and stress from the 2016 presidential race. The Associated Press rocked the Clinton campaign's world after they released a report detailing new concerns abou...

Does The Aetna Merger Have Obamacare On Its Deathbed? from 2016-08-18T21:24:23

This week, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump opted to shake-up his campaign for what seems like the twenty-third time. Paul Manafort, who was the campaign's manager -- and who was though...

The Long Intertwined History Of Politics And Protests from 2016-08-11T03:44:50

This week, we are going long on the politics of protest and the short term legacies of movements that have become an essential part of the public discourse. First up, we welcome journalist and auth...

This Week In Trump from 2016-08-04T22:44:35

This week, we are happy to have one of our old Huffington Post colleagues on the show for the first time: author and journalist Marc Lamont Hill. Marc has new book out called "Nobody," in which he ...

Bernie Sanders Supporters Express Their Fears At DNC from 2016-07-29T02:19:17

We are coming to you this week from both Washington, DC and from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the host city of the Democratic National Convention. The big issue of the week has been about unifying t...

So That Happened Crashes The Republican National Convention from 2016-07-22T01:15:56

We are coming to you this week from both the nation's capital and from Cleveland, Ohio, the host city of the Republican National Convention, where amid the chaos, there has been one consistent refr...

Brace Yourself, The Conventions Are Coming from 2016-07-14T21:37

It was just over a year ago that a Texas woman named Sandra Bland died, under mysterious circumstances, while being held in jail after being arrested at a routine traffic stop. Among the many unans...

Where's The Accountability? from 2016-07-07T21:55:40

This week's podcast seems to have a common theme: accountability. In the biggest political news story of the week, the FBI has concluded their investigation into the matter of former Secretary of S...

Sorry, But Alexander Hamilton Is So Overrated... from 2016-06-30T23:29:01

This week, an awful terrorist attack in Istanbul seemed to trigger less than the usual amount of Facebook sympathy, but the same amount of enthusiasm for torture from Donald Trump. Democratic congr...

Congress Says 'Hello Summer', Ignores Democrats Sit-In from 2016-06-23T23:36:54

This week, Democratic members of the House Of Representatives staged a sit-in in the chamber to try to force House leadership to allow a vote on a pair of gun safety measures. But one proposal -- t...

America, Where Do We Go From Here? from 2016-06-17T01:28:45

This week on the podcast, we reflect on the Pulse nightclub terrorist attack that left 49 dead and dozens more wounded. We talk about the LGBT community, gun reform, and what if anything can be do...

So You Survived The Primaries, Brace Yourself For The Next 5 Months Of The Presidential Race from 2016-06-09T20:45:17

This week, the primary season finally came to a merciful, and historic end, with Hillary Clinton reeling off series of decisive primary victories one day after the AP reported that she'd earn the b...

So Much For That Trump University Degree... from 2016-06-02T20:22:47

This week, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has published new rules that would govern the super-scammy payday lending industry, in the hopes that new oversight will lead to fewer people fal...

Twitter Wars: Elizabeth Warren Takes Down Donald Trump from 2016-05-26T20:58:09

This week, as Donald Trump celebrated winning the GOP nomination, he also earned himself a new antagonist -- Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren. After spending the bulk of the primary season ca...

Sorry, Party Unity Is Clinton's Job from 2016-05-19T21:56:08

This week, a fracas at the Nevada state Democratic convention in Las Vegas has rent divisions between the Hillary and Bernie camps newly asunder, leading the media to speculate about whether Sander...

Donald Trump and Paul Ryan: A Flailing Bromance from 2016-05-12T21:34:19

This week, GOP nominee Donald Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan sat down for a meeting that the media has been hyping as something on the level of the Yalta Conference, if the Yalta Conference was ...

What Does The Future Hold For The GOP? from 2016-05-05T21:32:30

This week, New York Magazine's Andrew Sullivan penned an alarming missive to America, contending that our presumed-to-be stable democracy is ripe for an authoritarian takeover. Wondering is he had ...

Why Politicians Lie from 2016-04-29T00:12:38

This week, someone in the 2016 campaign did something crazy and unprecedented. And for once, it's not something that reality-television star Donald Trump did. I mean, okay, he offered up his fair s...

What's Next For Bernie? from 2016-04-22T00:56:26

This week, we are taking a look at the possibility -- THE POSSIBILITY! -- that maybe -- MAYBE -- Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders is not going to win the Democratic primary. We know how difficult thi...

Gloves Off For Hillary And Bernie from 2016-04-15T04:44:59

This week, Democratic candidates Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton took to the debate stage in Brooklyn, in what might be the final debate of the Democratic primary. The setting is key: New York S...

What Are The Panama Papers? from 2016-04-07T21:44:47

One week after a sheaf of leaked documents fingered Unaoil as a hothouse of global corruption, we get the Panama Papers -- a massive document dump that reveals the extent to which Panama has been u...

The Problem With Donald Trump's Current Stance On Abortion from 2016-03-31T20:39:51

This week, documents obtained by Fairfax Media, have exposed energy contractor Unaoil as an almost comical practitioner of corporate graft, bribing their way across the developing world on behalf o...

Is Donald Trump A Fascist? from 2016-03-24T21:28:41

This week we witnessed an awful terrorist attack in Brussels, so we'll ask what that means for America's foreign policy. Is Donald Trump a fascist? Kind of, but we asked a history professor and it ...

Are Democrats Still The Party Of The Working Class? from 2016-03-17T22:11:17

This week, President Barack Obama picked Judge Merrick Garland to fill Antonin Scalia's vacant seat on the Supreme Court. But who is Merrick Garland, and why? Answers are coming.Meanwhile, is the D...

America's Lead Pipe Problem, A SCOTUS Reproductive Rights Battle, And All The 2016 You Can Handle from 2016-03-11T05:06:52

This week, the intensity of the 2016 campaign season ratched up another hundred notches or so. On the Democratic side, a surprise win in Michigan from Bernie Sanders flummoxed the pollsters, booste...

War On Terror Worries, Super Tuesday Woes, And An Interview With Comedian Anthony Atamaniuk from 2016-03-04T05:21:54

This week, we had a Tuesday that some would say was far more super than most other Tuesdays, as voters in eleven states took to the polls to weigh in on who should be the presidential nominees. But...

Michigan Lawmaker Speaks Out On Flint, Another GITMO Closure Plan, And Marco Rubio's Last Stand from 2016-02-26T04:59:35

This week, one of President Barack Obama's oldest campaign promises -- his pledge to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility -- is back in the news after the Pentagon put forth the latest versi...

Supreme Court Battle, 2016 Madness, And The Black Vote Is Up For Grabs from 2016-02-18T23:54:13

This week, the passing of Supreme Court Justice has created yet another opportunity for a gigantic political meltdown between President Barack Obama and his opponents in the Senate, as well as a ne...

Flint Fights For Accountability, Mississippi Fights Payday Lenders, Bernie and Hillary Fight Too from 2016-02-12T06:28:03

This week, the 2016 campaign went to New Hampshire for the Granite State's first in the nation primaries, and after all the hoopla, we ended up with the blowout wins for Donald Trump and Bernie San...

Interviews with Zephyr Teachout, Chris Murphy, and Reid Ribble, Plus A Super Sweet 2016 Recap from 2016-02-05T05:49:20

This week, Zephyr Teachout wants in! The Fordham law professor has set her sights on New York's 19th District's House seat.Meanwhile, Reid Ribble wants out! The reform-minded Wisconsin Republican a...

Interviews Galore Episode With Adam McKay, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and Tim Canova -- Plus The GOP Debate from 2016-01-29T05:52:28

So, that happened. This week, we have interviews galore. First up, Hollywood Director Adam McKay. Next up, award-winning author and Atlantic reporter-slash-essayist Ta-Nehisi Coates is on hand to ...

An Inside Look At The Flint Water Crisis, And The Latest On The 2016 Trail from 2016-01-22T03:24:52

So, that happened. The water crisis in Flint, Michigan has reached a fever pitch, as 2016 candidates weigh in and various emergency declarations get made. We're going to step away from the sideshow...

Another GOP Debate, One Last State Of The Union, A Glass-Steagall Redux, And A Hillary-Bernie Brawl from 2016-01-15T06:14:35

So, that happened. Another GOP debate is in the books, as the remnants of the Establishment do battle to preserve their bid against the firebrands currently dominating the race. And what of those t...

Chris Murphy On Gun Control (Again), Hillary vs. Bernie, SOTU Preview, And Food Stamped Out! from 2016-01-07T23:19:07

This week, President Barack Obama has kicked off 2016 by issuing a new set of executive actions intended to reduce the number of people who end up as casualties to America's gun culture. But it's a...

2015 Year In Review: #GOP Cringe Politics, Sad Bank Lobbyists, And Paul Ryan's Hipster Beard! from 2015-12-31T19:21:08

This week, it's time to bid farewell to an old year and move on to a new one. And in a few short months, at last, we'll have the Iowa Caucus -- you know, when the story we spent all of 2015 talking...

So Christmas Happened: We Watch Movies, Celebrate The CFPB, And Unwrap A Gift From Janet Yellen! from 2015-12-24T22:47:21

This week, it's Christmas, and we're celebrating the holidays by talking about our favorite Christmas movies, and adding a lot of silly economic and political wonkery. What do our Christmas enterta...

Flint's Water Emergency, A Trump Fan Explains Trump Fandom, Omnibus, And #GOPDebate! from 2015-12-17T23:13:27

This week, the Mayor of Flint, Michigan declared a state of emergency over the amount of lead that's been in the city's drinking water. But why did it take so long? Joining us to talk about it is t...

GOP Cowers As Trump Towers, More Hillary Skepticism, And Congress Gets Omni-Busted! from 2015-12-10T22:57:27

This week, Donald Trump said some crazy stuff -- but what does it matter? How to solve a problem like Donald Trump? We've got guests who'll do their best to answer just that including Wisconsin Re...

Agony in California, Banks Bask In Congress' Cash, And A Diaper Fix For Working Families! from 2015-12-03T22:42:02

This week, we live through the horrors of two mass shootings -- one in Colorado Springs, one in San Bernadino. We'll fight this battle of broken records with our August 28 interview with Senator Ch...

Surviving The Politics of Thanksgiving, Playing The Trump Card, And Reclaiming Black Friday! from 2015-11-27T00:45:39

This week, it's Thanksgiving, and we've got a diverse array of guests around our table. Here to join us to talk about his biennial budgeting reform proposal, Wisconsin Representative Reed Ribble. A...

#ApresParis, Congress Debates AUMF & Syrian Refugees, And Racist Auto Loan Lenders Get A Break! from 2015-11-20T00:15

It's been a week since a cell of European ISIS-supporting death cultists launched a horrific attack on the city of Paris. None of us would be here were it not for France, we are going to try to do ...

#Mizzou Students Prevail, Jeb’s Debatable Performance, The Fight For $15, And Gitmo Problems! from 2015-11-12T21:51:18

This week, students at the University of Missouri, angry about the school's indifference to racist incidents on campus, forced the resignation of the anthropomorphic shrug emoticon that had managed...

Obama 'Bans The Box', Latinos Get No (GOP) Respect, And Ben Carson’s Pyramid Scheme! from 2015-11-05T23:03:56

This week, the GOP candidates, furious at the rough treatment they received at the hands of CNBC, rebelled against the debate process. The first casualty of all this nonsense was a debate scheduled...

#GOP vs. CNBC, Ted Cruz-es To Win, Ryan Gets To Eat His Cake, And Warren Schools Wall St. AGAIN! from 2015-10-29T21:21:13

This week, the GOP met in Colorado for their third debate, and once again we were struck by how many of them there are! So many candidates, plus Jim Gilmore, the human asterisk. Will this be the de...

Ryan's In, Biden's Out, The SEC Is Up To No Good, And Come Get It Trudeau! from 2015-10-23T00:27:35

This week, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced that they were going to reanimate a zombie deregulation plan from the pre-financial crisis Bush administration, that could tip the balanc...

#DemDebate Takes, The Future Of Cold Beer, And Dude Where’s My Drone! from 2015-10-15T22:02:11

This week, the Intercept published new information on our drone assassination program, gleaned from a trove of secret documents, which include new details on how targets are selected, and how well ...

McCarthy Can’t Speak, Rep. Thompson: Focus On Guns, And Draft Fiends! from 2015-10-08T22:03:17

This week, we bombed some folks. Specifically, a Doctors Without Border hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan. President Barack Obama finally came out with an apology, but why the hell did this happen in...

Elizabeth Warren vs. #ThisTown, Trump Has A Tax Plan, And Congress Vents Near Cecile Richards! from 2015-10-01T22:32:55

This week, Donald Trump provided us with some evidence that he might really be a serious candidate by doing something that a serious candidate would do -- release a tax plan claiming to benefit som...

#PapalChase2015, Walker Drops Out, and Rocker Ted Leo Has 2016 Advice! from 2015-09-24T22:57:29

This week, Pope Francis comes to the United States, driving around in his Fiat, paying President Obama a visit, and taking his act to a joint session of Congress for a round of grand-master level t...

#GOPDebate Pt. Deux, Pope-splaining, And Bernie Visits The Land Of Liberty! from 2015-09-18T00:10:27

This week, the 278 candidates vying for the Republican nomination gathered in the seamiest of valleys to debate one another. Or, sorry, deal with Donald Trump. New York Times magazine's Ana Marie C...

#WTFCongress?! Jeb Files A Colbert Report, And #TBT Hillary: Bring Child "Superpredators" To Heel from 2015-09-11T02:23:40

This week Congress is set to return from Labor Day weekend, and once again we find ourselves staring down the prospect of government shutdown. Connecticut Representative Rosa DeLauro joins us to ex...

Kids Lunch w. Sec. Tom Vilsack, Congress Plays Chicken, Iran Away, And Brady Is The New Trump! from 2015-09-03T23:03:16

This week we examine the legacy of President Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran, which has just secured its political survival in the Senate. Also Congress is coming back after August recess which mea...

Trump's Alienation Act, Sen. Chris Murphy On Gun Violence, And A Warren-Biden Showdown! from 2015-08-28T04:32:04

This week, the shocking murder of two television journalists in Virginia forced us to confront the fact that America only seems to be good at producing mass shooting tragedies. Connecticut Sen. Chr...

Spies Get Scrutinized, Northwestern Labor Pains, Rubio Blows A Pass, And Forest Trump! from 2015-08-21T04:26:38

This week, we learned about the High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group, an interagency outfit set up to bring the nation's most elite interrogators to fight terror. But what we've learned kind of ...

Bernie and Hillary Meet #BLM, And White Men Can't Trump! from 2015-08-14T02:09:38

This week, Bernie Sanders had what might have been a dream week as a presidential candidate, drawing bigger crowds than anyone in the presidential race. But Sanders was also subjected to a Black Li...

#GOPdebate, Fiorina's Finest Hour, And Student Loan Debt Threats! from 2015-08-07T07:22:46

This week, we cover the wild wonders of the first Republican Presidential debates. We hate to say it, but Donald Trump won. Carly Fiorina also won, because there were actually two debates. Everyone...

GOP Debate ’n’ Switch, High(Way) Drama, And Leave That CEO Alone! from 2015-07-30T23:26:49

On this week's podcast, we game out the survival strategy for the seventeen GOP candidates who hope to succeed in August's debate, check in on the progress Congress has made on the highway funding ...

Warren PWNs Wall Street Again, Highway Funding And The NSA Goes Bananas! from 2015-07-23T21:28:25

On this week's podcast, we look back on Elizabeth Warren ripping apart a rip-off artist from Primerica, break down the latest effort to pass a highway funding bill, and explain why a former NSA chi...

Senator Sherrod Brown, Money In The GOP Primary And Planned Parenthood Under Siege from 2015-07-16T21:44:15

This week we talk to Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) about austerity in Greece and banking regulations at home, break down the latest attack on Planned Parenthood, and examine the way unlimited money i...

Greece’s Debt, Iran’s Deal, A Food Stamp Testimonial And Tucker Carlson On The Grateful Dead from 2015-07-09T22:19:57

This week we examine the austerity battles in Greece, break down the latest stage of the Iran nuclear talks, and we get a real world account of what happens when Congress cuts off your access to fo...

Laura Bassett's Own Goal, Grexits And Criminal Justice Horrors from 2015-07-02T21:02:16

On this week's podcast, Dana Liebelson joins us to discuss her recent exposé of the prison system in Michigan, where children -- commingled with adult criminals -- are being broken, not rehabilitat...

Rep. Hank Johnson, Confederate Flags And The Charleston Shooting’s Aftermath from 2015-06-25T23:51:27

This week we hear from Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) about his bill to pursue police demilitarization, discuss the confederate flag and the aftermath of the Emanuel AME church shooting in Charleston, d...

Senator Bernie Sanders, Rep. Keith Ellison And Some Magic from 2015-06-18T21:35:06

On this week's podcast, we talk to Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) about how he would get things done as president, discover the joys of hearing a magic trick delivered by Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI), cha...

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Strategic Defaulting and Rep. Mark Pocan on TPP from 2015-06-11T22:24:19

This week we asked Senator Eilzabeth Warren (D-Mass.) if Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan Should be fired (she didn't say no), discuss strategic defaulting on student loan debt, and ge...

Rand Paul Fails To Stymie More Bulk Data Collection from 2015-06-05T18:30:35

On this week's podcast, we get excited about some sporting updates, get the lowdown on newly passed USA Freedom Act and discuss why Senator Elizabeth Warren isn't happy with SEC Chairwoman Mary Jo ...

FIFA Corruption, The GOP 2016 Field, Trade Bill Woes from 2015-05-29T20:50:31

This week we discuss how and why FIFA officials were arrested over a wide array of corruption charges, how crowded the 2016 GOP presidential field is getting and finally how the House is hoping to ...

The Trouble With This Texas Abortion Bill from 2015-05-21T19:29:22

This week we look into legislation passed in Texas restricting access to abortions for minors, compare and contrast federal legislation aimed at curbing what food stamps can buy with the fact that ...

How A Trade Deal Is Tearing Democrats Apart from 2015-05-16T06:13:30

This week we'll take a look at a trade deal that's so contentious, President Barack Obama is finding himself at odds with congressional leaders in his own party. We'll reflect on the tragic Amtrak ...

The Economic Context For Baltimore's Unrest from 2015-05-01T19:06:20

This week we take a look into some of the backstory explaining Baltimore's issues with inequality in the wake of protests after Freddie Gray's death, get the scoop on arguments heard this week in t...

Obama's Trade Deal Battle Heats Up from 2015-04-24T00:07:04

This week we look at one Washington State community in which the battle for a $15 dollar minimum wage has been won, discuss the latest developments in the political battle over the Trans Pacific Pa...

Hillary's Running, So Are The Reporters Covering Her from 2015-04-17T21:28:26

This week, Hillary Clinton launched her campaign, but didn't order sofritas at Chipotle, the House of Representatives voted to offer upwards of 250 billion dollars in handouts to needy, filthy rich...

The Rand Paul School Of Journalism from 2015-04-10T21:57:15

This week, we discuss the fall out from the Columbia Journalism Review report on Rolling Stone Magazine’s “A Rape On Campus” story, Rand Paul’s campaign strategy of talking down to reporters, and w...

RFRA Laws, Homelessness And Some April Foolery from 2015-04-03T21:58:43

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) one-upped Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (R) over the handling of controversial religious freedom legislation, there's a new hope for millions of Americans living on the r...

Ted Cruz 2016, A Foreign Policy Update And A Platinum Coin from 2015-03-27T19:56:14

This week, the 2016 race welcomed Ted Cruz to the GOP scrum after the Texas Senator made his presidential ambitions clear to a literally captive audience of Liberty University students. He's been i...

The GOP Budget, Aaron Schock Resigns And The Starbucks Race Conversation from 2015-03-20T21:13:05

This week, the GOP released their budget proposals and it's good news if you like massive cuts in discretionary spending and a bloated defense budget. We'll detail the broad strokes of a funding fa...

The Iran Letter, Hillary Clinton's Emails And A Fed Leak from 2015-03-13T21:47:44

This week, Iranian leaders got a letter, authored by Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton and signed by 46 other Republican Senators, in which a clear message was sent. That message? "No one should ever tak...

The Politics Page, Obamacare On Trial And Scott Walker’s Union Bust from 2015-03-06T23:05:23

This week, let's talk about you. What kind of stuff you like to read on this site, and how do we provide it when Congress takes off a day early to avoid a snow storm? Senior Politics Editor Paige L...

Food Stamps, Obama And Warren Team Up And The Invisible 2016 Primary from 2015-02-27T21:43:10

This week, the Republican-led House Agriculture Committee began what they termed as a "top to bottom" review of the federal food stamp program. In a surprising twist, however, the Committee's new m...

DHS Funding Fight, Jeb Bush And Elizabeth Warren’s Secret Meetings from 2015-02-20T23:37:31

This week, the fight over President Barack Obama's immigration policies returns to the halls of Congress, with opponents of the President's executive actions threatening to cease funding for the De...

AUMF, Governors Behaving Badly And Media Shake-ups from 2015-02-13T22:09:42

This week, America's ongoing battle with ISIS reached a new stage, specifically that stage where the President asks Congress if its okay with them that he started an ongoing battle with ISIS.Meanwh...

Vaccine Denialism, Obama's Budget And A Downton Abbey Scandal from 2015-02-06T21:21:29

This week, the early stages of the 2016 presidential election collided headlong with the phenomenon of vaccine denialism, with two candidates ending up in intensive care for foot-in-mouth disease. ...

Obama's Trade Deal, Koch Brothers Spending And The Super Bowl from 2015-01-30T23:57:27

This week, we learned that President Barack Obama is really upset with our coverage of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal. So he's not gonna like what we're about to do, which is talk about t...

The State Of The Union, Middle Class Economics And Congressional Fodder from 2015-01-23T22:52:51

This week, President Barack Obama delivered his sixth State Of The Union Address before a joint session of Congress now completely controlled by his opposition. In that speech, the most newsworthy ...

Mitt Romney, A Volcker Rule Delay and Paid Family Leave from 2015-01-16T20:32:43

This week, the 2016 race was roiled by the announcement that former GOP nominee and 2012 loser Mitt Romney was, against all logic, getting his band back together to mount yet another run for the Wh...

Charlie Hebdo, The New Congress And Barbara Boxer from 2015-01-10T00:09:56

This week, radical militants from a pseudo-Islamic death cult murdered twelve members of the staff of French satire magazine Charlie Hebdo in their Paris office, ending any hope we had that 2015 wo...

Cuba Relations, North Korea's Sony Hack And The 2014 Year In Review from 2014-12-19T22:43:25

This week, President Barack Obama announced that the United States would make an effort to normalize relations with Cuba, ending a decade long policy of distance that had been surprisingly effectiv...

The CIA Torture Report, The CROMNIBUS And DC Weed from 2014-12-13T00:17:51

So That Happened, Episode 13: The CIA Torture Report Was A Chronicle Of Depravity And IncompetenceThis week, the Senate's report on CIA torture was released into the wild, and while the redactions ...

Grand Jury Fallout, Ebola And The CROMNIBUS from 2014-12-05T23:41:42

This week, hard on the heels of the Ferguson grand jury decision, a grand jury in New York City returns no indictment on the police officer who choked Eric Garner to death on the streets of Staten ...

Immigration, Keystone XL And The CIA Torture Report from 2014-11-22T00:00

This week, after several months of "will-he-or-won't he" wonderings, President Barack Obama went ahead on his own and issued new executive actions to fill the space where a comprehensive immigratio...

Net Neutrality And Obamacare Challenges from 2014-11-15T00:00

So, that happened: This week, President Barack Obama announced his full-throated support for "net neutrality," a term that basically means "don't let Comcast turn the Internet into a dystopian mess...

Dems Got Waxed In The 2014 Midterms from 2014-11-05T00:00

So that happened: And we mean this literally just happened. The 2014 midterm elections are in the books, and for the Democratic party, it was one big coast-to-coast Red Wedding. "Drinking and Talki...

2014 Election Edition from 2014-11-01T00:00

So that... is about to happen: Tuesday, November 4th is Election day, and we've enlisted Huff Post Pollster's own Mark Blumenthal to set the table. We'll talk about the marquee event of Election Ni...