Épisodes

  • Project 2026: Make Election Day a Holiday
    Nov 13 2025

    The American people are frustrated with the American election system. As a result, the United States ranks 138 out of 172 nations in voter turnout. One of the biggest reasons that working adults don’t vote is that they are too busy. Standing in long lines before morning commutes, leaving during workday to travel to assigned polling stations, or putting off family duties to reach the polls after work are luxuries many people can’t afford. Because of this, sixty-five percent of Americans are in favor of making Election Day a national holiday.

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    12 min
  • Project 2026: End Political Gerrymandering
    Nov 6 2025

    Gerrymandering is widely regarded as a distortion of the democratic process. Gerrymandering refers to any deliberate manipulation of electoral boundaries to favor one political party or group. These methods can dramatically skew election outcomes despite little change in overall voter preference. The Supreme Court has declined to review political gerrymandering by states. Congress, however, has the authority to end gerrymandering by requiring that congressional district boundaries be drawn by independent commissions.

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    20 min
  • Project 2026: End the Modern Filibuster
    Oct 30 2025

    Democracies around the world only require a simple majority (above 50%) to pass legislation. The filibuster, which requires approval by 60% of the Senate, makes that chamber the most anti-democratic in the world. If Senators supporting a filibuster are from low population states, they could represent as few as twenty percent of Americans. So, in our democracy, the vast majority of Americans can deeply desire a piece of legislation, but the remaining portion of the population can kill it. The only way to stop this injustice is to eliminate the modern filibuster.

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    23 min
  • Project 2026: Take Back the Constitution
    Oct 20 2025

    For the upcoming 2026 mid-term elections, serious congressional candidates need to consider a change of approach. Rather than struggling to resolve divisive ideological issues, candidates need to pick common governing themes that are not only broadly popular but also immune to attack. PROJECT 2026 describes ten legislative proposals that all congressional candidates should agree to.

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    19 min
  • Can the Constitution Survive President Trump?
    Aug 13 2025

    On Truth Social, President Trump’s social media outlet, Trump posted a picture of himself in a crown saying “Long live the king.” Trump, however, will have a hard time subverting the Constitution. The key to consolidating power in authoritarian regimes is to use supermajorities to change the Constitution. President Trump's popularity is at historic lows, and power in our Constitution is more decentralized than in any other country. This podcast will discuss this, and will also consider what can be done to restore our constitutional order.

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    28 min
  • Can President Trump Steal the Power of the Purse?
    Aug 5 2025

    In 2016, Donald Trump said "I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn't lose any voters" In 2025, Donald Trump illegally took billions of dollars of research grants away from Harvard University. I guess we can't say we weren't warned. This podcast explores how the power to control funding, which is called the power of the purse, belongs to Congress, not the President.

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    34 min
  • Can President Trump Fire Federal Workers?
    Jul 29 2025

    In this podcast, we interview Elizabeth Aniskevich, a litigator and a former federal employee at the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau. Earlier this year, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau terminated all probationary employees. When this was stopped by the courts, the agency eliminated 1,400 of the 1,700 jobs at the agency. We will discuss what it was like to be at the agency when it was targeted by the Trump administration and how the employees are fighting back.

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    34 min
  • Can President Trump Fire the Fed Chair?
    Jul 17 2025

    Can President Trump fire Jerome Powell, the Chair of the Federal Reserve Board? When bankers run central banks, economies are stable. When politicians run central banks, economies blow up. The Federal Reserve is an independent agency, and Jerome Powell can only be fired for cause. But the Supreme Court has made it clear that it doesn’t like independent agencies. What is likely to happen?

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    37 min