A collection of several of our best Political Junkie episodes, covering noteworthy political moments and featuring some of Ken’s favorite interviews.
We open the program by hearing from two voices related to the violence and tragedy last Saturday at Charlottesville. M.A. Sullivan, a longtime resident of the college town, attended the rally to give support to the counter-protesters and witnessed some of the awful confrontations first hand. And Mark Potok, formerly with the Southern Poverty Law …
There’s no way we can celebrate Independence Day without hearing about significant independent presidential candidates of the past half century. Ron Rapoport of the College of William & Mary takes us on a tour, starting with Gary Johnson and Jill Stein in 2016 and traveling to 1968 with George Wallace. A new book chronicles the …
President Trump seems to be having a successful foreign trip, his first since his inauguration, but back home there are still questions about alleged ties to Russia and whether he has tried to block any investigation. Lisa Desjardins of PBS’ NewsHour focuses on the controversies facing Trump, as well as the latest on his budget package he …
The House passage of the American Health Care Act has a long way to go before it becomes law, and it’s premature to say with any certainty how voters in 2018 will react to it. But one member of Congress who was faced with a tough vote was Marjorie Margolies, a freshman Democrat from Pennsylvania. Her …
As President Trump is about to reach his one-hundredth day in office — and after touting that he has accomplished more than any other president in that time period — NPR’s Mara Liasson offers a scorecard and a reality check. Bernie Sanders and DNC chair Tom Perez are on a national tour promoting the Democratic Party and …
Another tweet, another firestorm. This time, President Trump has declared, in a tweet and without any evidence, that Barack Obama had his offices bugged during the campaign. Trump then insisted that Congress investigate. Janet Hook of the Wall Street Journal discusses the ramifications of such a claim and what it says about the current occupant of the White House. …
President Trump seemed to catch his critics off guard Tuesday evening, as he gave an address to a joint session of Congress that lacked finger-pointing or vitriol. NPR’s Ron Elving makes a return visit to the Political Junkie with analysis of Trump’s remarks and observations about the President’s tone. There was something new about the Democrats as well: …
Andrew Puzder, President Trump’s nominee for labor secretary, removed his name from consideration moments after this week’s program was concluded. Nonetheless, there was still plenty to talk about, especially in light of Michael Flynn’s resignation as national security adviser. Aaron Blake of the Washington Post fills us in with the details of Flynn’s departure, as …
It was history in the making in the Senate, as Betsy DeVos was confirmed as secretary of education thanks to a tiebreaking vote by Vice President Pence. It was the first time that a member of the Cabinet was decided by the vote of a VP. Ed O’Keefe of the Washington Post notes, however, that if Democrats couldn’t defeat …
With just days to go before Donald Trump is sworn in, Matthew Dallek of George Washington University talks about the history of inaugurations — including his choice of some of the more memorable ones. And while we will have a new president on Friday, it’s less sure when the new Cabinet will be in place; some of Trump’s …