Off The Record With Paul Hodes

A roundtable discussion on what's happening and what can be done next.  Also, can we fix the filibuster without breaking the congress, and is democracy reform a big federal takeover or a desperately needed fix to protect people's rights?

In 2010, Republicans rode a midterm wave to gain overwhelming control of drawing districts for state houses and Congress.  The result? Just in 2012, 1.4 million more Americans voted for Democrats for Congress, but Republicans still won a 33-seat majority.  In fact, the Center for American Progress estimates that an average of 59 politicians -- more than enough to determine the majority -- were elected to Congress each term simply because the lines were drawn in their favor. Former Attorney General of the United States Eric Holder created The National Democratic Redistricting Committee to fix that problem and support fair districts in America.  Its Executive Director John Bisognano joins us to explain what they're doing and how they hope to achieve fair representation for Americans.  Photo by Element5 Digital on Unsplash

Joe Biden and the Democrats won the war over the $1.9 trillion Covid rescue bill...but can they win the peace? In 2009, President Obama and the Democrats fumbled the rollout of their stimulus bill. So can Dems avoid making the same mistake twice?  Also...is there a filibuster tweak deal on the horizon; convincing people to get vaccines; and what should Congress tackle next?

Young Americans think politics is broken.  Now, some former aides to Senator Bernie Sanders have launched a new group aimed at getting young people excited about fixing it.  They think they can get millennials and Gen Zers of all political persuasions fired up, including people on the right. Two of these impressive young leaders - Shana Gallagher and Joseline Garcia - join us to explain why this work is so important to their generation and to all of us, and how they're going to pull it off.

There's a titanic battle brewing over the future of the Internet, social media, and tech.  It's Facebook vs. Apple: two behemoths with very different visions of privacy, who their customers are, what they're selling, and what the rules should be.  Business and investing expert Chris Hill walks us through the fight that could define the future of media, commerce, and technology.  These discussions normally appear in our Capitol Close Up podcast, so please check that out and subscribe for more fascinating discussions like this. 

Harvard Associate Robert Paarlberg takes on everything we thought we knew about organic and locally-grown food.  Think it's better for health, the climate, the environment, low-income communities, and feeding a hungry world?  Not so fast! An unbiased look at the much more nuanced truth about farming, eating, and helping the planet, based on Dr. Paarlberg's new book: “Resetting the Table: Straight Talk about the Food We Grow and Eat.” 

It's not as far-fetched as you might think.  Also, an epic failure from Ted Cruz's staff, lessons in bad crisis management from Andrew Cuomo, and how to make everyone stop hating the media so much.

At least 44 Americans are being held hostage or wrongfully detained abroad today. A few years ago, American freelance conflict journalist Jim Foley was one of them. After his public execution, his mother Diane Foley founded the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation. Diane joins us to discuss the Foundation's critical work to advocate for the safety of Americans held abroad, and especially to promote the safety of journalists.  We explore difficult questions, like how do we protect Americans from being kidnapped, what should the US government do when they are, and what can listeners do to help?

Matt Robison sits down with Sarah Jones, the Editor-in-Chief of PoliticusUSA.com, to talk about how the Great Ideas show came about, why they both feel it is so important to explore serious, positive ideas for change, how the show and website are planning to collaborate, and why it's so important to hear constructive ideas from across the ideological spectrum -- even the ones you don't agree with. Great Ideas is available on Apple, Spotify, Google, Anchor, Breaker, PocketCasts, RadioPublic, and Stitcher. Excerpts from the first show available on PoliticusUSA.

We are so excited to announce a new show, broadcast on WKXL in New Hampshire, and launched as a podcast this week. It's called "Great Ideas." We all know that America faces challenges. But we’ve also got smart people who spend every day coming up with great ideas for how to meet those challenges. That's what this show is all about. Washington's top policy experts from across the ideological spectrum – the people that our leaders listen to – explaining how an issue or a policy really works, and then sharing their newest, most innovative ideas for making it work better. No shouting. No crossfire. Just ideas. Check out this one minute trailer, and then please subscribe to hear fresh episodes wherever you get your podcasts. Great Ideas is available on Apple, Spotify, Google, Anchor, Breaker, PocketCasts, RadioPublic, and Stitcher.

The roundtable tackles whether the Lincoln Project was all a con, should we re-open schools now, if the San Francisco school board vote to remove Abraham Lincoln's name from a school is a sign of the woke Left losing its mind, if its time for a change in federal marijuana policy, and whether a "low hanging fruit" approach is right on immigration. 

With so much focus on our domestic problems, it’s easy to lose sight of the very serious challenges, conflicts, and threats that face us around the world: an Iran that could be within weeks of having the materials to make a nuclear bomb, an aggressive and nuclear-armed Russia, ongoing and tragic warfare in Yemen, and deep tensions in the strait of Taiwan involving nuclear-armed China which also wields the largest military in the world. Our guest John Tierney is the Executive Director at Council for a Livable World, a leading NGO focused on peace and security. He lays out smart approaches for how America can better navigate a hostile, dangerous world to reduce nuclear weapons, promote dialogue, and achieve greater peace and security.

Senior Congressional Democratic leader and Intelligence Committee member Peter Welch describes efforts to fight extremists in America and the forces -- foreign and domestic -- that support them.  He also describes what practical climate legislation could accomplish for the American economy.  Then, Paul and Matt break down what it would take to really reform social media and protect American democracy from bots, trolls, foreign manipulations, and misinformation.

Former Congressman Paul Hodes, columnist/radio host Alicia Preston, and former congressional staffer/political analyst Matt Robison break down the politics and policy of Covid rescue negotiations, Republican infighting, and Jewish space lasers from the left, right, and center. 

Chris Hill is the host of Motley Fool Money, the #1 stock investing radio show in America.  He joins us to walk through the deeper implications of the Gamestop saga: what does the social media age of investing really mean for the market, investors, the economy, and businesses?  Is this democracy in action, or a social media flash mob run amok? Should the government do something? And how should regular investors think about all of this?

Congressman John Sarbanes authored the For the People Act, the single most important piece of legislation in Congress. Democrats have made it their very first bill introduced in both the House and Senate for a good reason: it might just save American democracy. What it does and why it's so critical, with Congressman Sarbanes, Paul, and Matt.

A one-two punch of investing insight this week. First, Chris Hill, host of Motley Fool Money, breaks down the big stock market runup, a make or beak 6 months for Hollywood, and what Coke& Pepsi marketing strategies tell us. Then, personal financial advisor Mike Morton gives a primer on investing strategy: how to think about a portfolio, and what to put in it.

Republican political analyst Alicia Preston, two-term Democratic Congressman Paul Hodes, and center-left political analyst Matt Robison break down Biden's rescue plan, his flurry of executive orders, and how Republicans plan to move strategically away from Donald Trump (and whether they even can).

New Hampshire attorney and reproductive rights advocate Monica Ciolfi joins The Wrap with Paul Hodes

Veteran journalist Jamie Steihm was there in the House Chamber when the attack took place on January 6. She shares her first-hand account of what really happened.