So That Happened

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 debate that finally begins the winnowing? Meanwhile, Congress has actually agreed to a budget deal. At least in principle. Will there be no crises? Will Paul Ryan's sweet Speaker deal get a LOT sweeter? Or will Rand Paul unleash the power of the filibuster to defeat comity? Finally, Elizabeth Warren just embarrassed Wall Street AGAIN, this time with a new report detailing the extent to which bad financial advisors get lavish vacations as a reward for steering clients into terrible investments. At the rate she's going, America may not have a grifter-sector of the economy left for anyone to make money.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

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 balance of power away from Main Street. Meanwhile, imagine a place where a liberal party could declare forthrightly that they were going to run temporary deficits to facilitate infrastructure upgrades, and have the entire country reward this radical honesty with a landslide vote. That nation is Canada, they've just had an election, and it took less than three months to boot! Finally, it's been a week of upheaval in American politics as Joe Biden opts to not run for President, and Paul Ryan offers to serve as the Speaker of the House, provided he gets some free stuff from the Federal Government first.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

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 we do at hitting those targets. Also, the Democratic candidates for president have had their first primary debate of the season. Now that we've had time to reflect on it, we're going to confront our own conventional wisdom and see if what we said that night still stands up. Who won the debate? It may have been someone that never appeared on the stage—it’s not Joe Biden. Finally, the manufacturers of Miller and the makers of Budweiser have agreed to a merger that would create the biggest beer company in the world. But is bigger best, or even better? Rep. Pete DeFazio (D-OR) joins us to roll out the barrel on behalf of America's small brewers.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

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 the first place? Meanwhile, you've heard of the Benghazi Committee, you might know about the Planned Parenthood Committee, but what if we had a Congressional committee focused on reducing gun violence in America? Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA) joins us and explains. Finally, if you've watched any televised sports or televised anything -- you may be aware of the existence of Draft Kings and Fan Duel. Is the sudden ubiquity of big money fantasy sports making you question reality as well?  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

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 some people when it really benefits others. Meanwhile, this week, the House Oversight Committee erupted into furor over Planned Parenthood, staging an all-day marathon of angry blather. Are we headed for a government shutdown over this? We'll talk to Rep. Reed Ribble (R- Wisc.) who wants to defund the organization but doesn't want to shut down the government over it. Also, Elizabeth Warren is not running for president, but she's still putting fools on blast on your behalf and her latest takedown really illuminates how this entire town is basically built on a foundation of cheap, chummy corruption.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

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 thought leadering. Much of the focus in the lead up to his DC visit concerned what he's had to say on the environment and immigration. We'll talk about what he said to lawmakers, and the extent to which he might change people's minds on those issues. Meanwhile, politicians just want to rock! But what happens when the artists that write and perform their favorite songs find out that their work is being played at political rallies? In the case of some Republican presidential hopefuls, it has not been ending well. Joining us to offer his perspective is musician and songwriter Ted Leo. Finally, one person who won't have to worry about the songs being played at his political rallies anymore is Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) who this week announced that he was quitting the presidential race after 70 days. We ask what... &

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 Cox joins us for some debate post-game analysis. Meanwhile, Washington DC is bracing for a visit from Pope Francis, coming to America at a time in which his message about income inequality is resonating -- especially among liberals. The Washington Examiner's Tim Carney helps us get jesuitical. Finally, speaking of odd intersections of politics and religion, presidential aspirant Sen. Bernie Sanders (I - Vt) brought his very liberal campaign the evangelical college Liberty University. Was Sanders preaching to the unconvertible, or was there an real opportunity for connection? Fusion's news director Kevin Roose helps explain the significance of this event.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

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 explain the next coming chapter of political dysfunction. Meanwhile, it's starting to look more and more as if the Iran deal is here to stay. But just because the deal is nearly done, that doesn't mean opponents have any plan to retreat. We discuss the shape of Iran hawkery to come. Finally, if you listen to some of the public pronouncements of several Democratic presidential candidates, you'll hear many talk a good game about criminal justice reform. What you won't hear is any reckoning of the ghosts of votes pasts and the actions that have spurred the need for reform in the first place. We say: Not so fast you guys.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

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 means the government is probably going to shut down. We also talk to Sec. Tom Vilsack about problems facing the national school lunch program. Meanwhile, in 2016 land, Donald Trump is still running for president and Hillary Clinton has an incredibly stupid e-mail scandal on her hands.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

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. Chris Murphy joins us to see whether Congress has finally reached the point of attempting to solve this problem. Meanwhile, Donald Trump is doing everything he can to alienate every last Latino voter. Will his flamboyant hostility accrue to the eventual GOP nominee? Joining us is NPR's Latino USA digital media director Julio Ricardo Varela to answer just that. Finally, as Joe Biden mulls getting into the 2016 race, he's taking meetings with Sen. Elizabeth Warren. We’ll take a trip down memory lane to 2005 when Biden and Warren sat on opposite sides of a bankruptcy bill that would change the game for Main Street. Plus we about stock market swings and the battle to defend ancient culture from ISIS!  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

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 calls the entire"elite" thing into question. Meanwhile, a group Northwestern University football players snapped the ball to the National Labor Relations Board, hoping that the NLRB would run a play that would get student athletes closer to real labor rights. Unfortunately, the NLRB chose to punted. And that's not all, folks. We've got news you can use about the pet food industry and how hard it is to find safe food for Fido. Plus, we take a dip into the 2016 race, ponder Marco Rubio's passing ability, and well, talk about Donald Trump.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

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 Lives Matter protest. Can Sanders' new racial justice platform win them over? Also, we talked to Wesley Lowery of the Washington Post and HuffPost's own Ryan Reilly about the absurd criminal charges filed against them for being journalists covering Ferguson. And Lawrence Lessig just joined the 2016 Democratic field! But he doesn't actually want to be president, also just call him Larry.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

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 else landed somewhere between meh and oops-I-lost-my-donors. Much like Clarissa, we explain it all. Also, someone give Sen. Lindsey Graham a hug. Please.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

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 bill, and note the irony of Phil Gramm returning to DC to testify against Dodd-Frank.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

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 chief is talking to a bunch of fruit growers.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

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 is wrecking the RNC's hopes for an orderly primary season.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

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 food. Plus, the Daily Caller's Tucker Carlson is a huge Grateful Dead fan, who knew? He joins us to talk about it.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

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 rehabilitated. Plus: we discuss last week's marriage equality ruling, this week's new overtime regulation, and we talk to Laura Bassett about England's heartbreaking loss in the Women's World Cup.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

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, debrief on the Supreme Court's ruling on Obamacare subsidies and find out why the state of Florida actually banished one of its residents.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

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), chat with Rep. Keith Ellison about the fast track trade bill's life after death and finally, we get the details on a bill preventing U.S. ground troops in the fight against the Islamic State.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.