Episodes

  • BN+: Michael Tackett, "The Price of Power"

    BN+: Michael Tackett, "The Price of Power"
    Jan 7 2025
    Kentucky senator Mitch McConnell has spent 40 years in the United States Senate, 17 of those as leader of his Republican colleagues. That's the longest any senator has been at the top of the leadership rung in either political party. Sen. John Thune (R-SD) was elected a few weeks ago to head up the Republican majority in the Senate in 2025. Journalist Michael Tackett's book, a profile of Senator McConnell, is called "The Price of Power: How Mitch McConnell Mastered the Senate, Changed America, and Lost His Party." Mr. Tackett, deputy Washington bureau chief of the Associated Press, conducted over 50 hours of interviews and was granted access to never-before-released oral histories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 hr and 6 mins
  • Q&A: Stuart Eizenstat, "The Art of Diplomacy"

    Q&A: Stuart Eizenstat, "The Art of Diplomacy"
    Jan 6 2025
    Stuart Eizenstat, former Domestic Policy Adviser to President Carter and U.S. Ambassador to the European Union under President Clinton, talks about his political career and his new book, "The Art Of Diplomacy," in which he discusses the work done to achieve agreements like the Camp David Accords, the Kyoto Protocols, and the Iran nuclear agreement. Mr. Eizenstat also talks about growing up in the South during the Civil Rights Era and how that experience changed him. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 hr and 10 mins
  • AW: Rep. Mark Green (R-TN), "We Before Me"

    AW: Rep. Mark Green (R-TN), "We Before Me"
    Jan 5 2025
    Congressman Mark Green (R-TN) discusses division in America and the advantages of putting others before self. He's interviewed by Military Times deputy editor Leo Shane. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 hr and 1 min
  • Brion McClanahan, "9 Presidents Who Screwed Up America"

    Brion McClanahan, "9 Presidents Who Screwed Up America"
    Dec 31 2024
    Brion McClanahan has a PhD in history from the University of South Carolina. Several years ago, he wrote a book titled "9 Presidents Who Screwed Up America: And Four Who Tried to Save Her." His view on the presidency is not the traditional one you get from most historians. On the back of his book, published by Regnery History, the liner notes claim: "The worst presidents are the ones who want to 'reform' the country through the power of the federal government, which usually means usurping the power of Congress or the people." Brion McClanahan focuses a negative spotlight on Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, Barack Obama, and others." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 hr and 23 mins
  • Q&A: Speaker Don Scott (D), Virginia House of Delegates

    Q&A: Speaker Don Scott (D), Virginia House of Delegates
    Dec 30 2024
    "For every young kid that makes a mistake, they can look at Don Scott and say, 'I'll never give up. I can still be what I want to be in America.'" That was former Republican governor Bob McDonnell of Virginia speaking about our guest this week, the state's newly elected Democratic speaker of the House of Delegates. Don Scott talks about the hurdles he overcame, including spending almost eight years in prison, to become Virginia's first Black speaker in 405 years. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 hr and 11 mins
  • BN+: Peter Osnos, "LBJ & McNamara"

    BN+: Peter Osnos, "LBJ & McNamara"
    Dec 24 2024
    In his latest book, "LBJ & McNamara," Peter Osnos's dedication reads this way: "To those on the Vietnam Wall on the Mall and their countless Vietnamese counterparts. It did not have to happen." In his role as publisher at PublicAffairs Books, Osnos spent numerous hours working with former Defense Secretary Robert McNamara for his 1995 book, "In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam." Osnos writes: "This book describes what happened in the years between 1963 and McNamara's last day as Secretary of Defense in February of 1968. Robert McNamara died in 2009 at the age of 93. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 hr
  • Q&A: Christina Swarns, Innocence Project Executive Director

    Q&A: Christina Swarns, Innocence Project Executive Director
    Dec 23 2024
    Since its founding in 1992, the Innocence Project has been responsible for getting hundreds of wrongfully convicted people in the United States out of prison. Attorney and Innocence Project executive director Christina Swarns joins us to talk about the history of the organization, the root causes of wrongful convictions, and some of the clients the Innocence Project has successfully represented over the years, including the two men convicted of killing of Malcolm X in 1965. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 hr and 8 mins
  • AW: Andy Puzder, "A Tyranny for the Good of Its Victims"

    AW: Andy Puzder, "A Tyranny for the Good of Its Victims"
    Dec 22 2024
    Andy Puzder, former CEO of CKE Restaurants, took a critical look at stakeholder capitalism, which he argues is a form of socialism that will hurt the middle and lower classes in America. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    59 mins