Podcast
Politics is Everything Podcast
Democracy faces a wide range of pressing challenges – from extreme partisanship and divisive politics to persistent inequities in access, voice and participation in public institutions and decision-making processes, from civic unrest to institutions that aren’t responsive to public needs. It’s not enough to just identify problems, we also have to find solutions and work collectively to address them.
Politics Is Everything is a member of the Democracy Group and hosted by Kyle Kondik, Carah Ong Whaley, and other members of the Center for Politics team.
Listen to Politics Is Everything on: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and Stitcher. Scroll down to listen to the most recent episodes.
Ep. 66: Least Impactful Debates In American Presidential Nomination History?
Kyle Kondik and Carah Ong Whaley discuss the December 6, 2023 Republican primary debate, Nikki Haley’s moment, the dynamics of the race for the Republican nomination, and the challenges faced by the other candidates in their attempts to attract Trump’s voters. They also talk about the retirements of several members of Congress and the implications for lawmaking and upcoming elections, as well as the new congressional map in Georgia.
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Notes on the State of Politics: Dec. 7, 2023
The GOP Primary: Lowest-Hanging Fruit Remains Out of Reach for Trump Rivals
Ep. 65: ‘Tired of Winning: Donald Trump and the End of the Grand Old Party’ ft. Jonathan Karl
ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl joins Center for Politics Director Larry J. Sabato to discuss his new book, Tired of Winning: Donald Trump and the End of the Grand Old Party. Karl offers new insights and reporting in his third book on Donald Trump’s presidency and its aftermath with implications if he were to return for a second term.
Ep. 64: ‘Party of the People’ ft. Patrick Ruffini
In this episode, Kyle Kondik and Carah Ong Whaley talk with Patrick Ruffini, a Founding Partner of Echelon Insights and Republican pollster about his new book, Party of the People: Inside the Multiracial Populist Coalition Remaking the GOP. The book examines an unfolding political realignment especially along class lines with implications for the 2024 elections and beyond.
Ep. 63: Just Trying to Stop the Stupid Stuff ft. Congressman Ted Lieu
Representative Ted Lieu, named by Time Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in AI in 2023, joins us to discuss how the chaos in the House of Representatives is preventing progress on addressing the promises and challenges of generative Artificial Intelligence. He also shares his views on how AI might impact the workforce and elections. On the impact of deepfakes in the 2024 elections, Congressman Lieu says, “It’s going to be a problem and the best counter it is to urge everyone to not trust what they see.”
Rep. Lieu represents California’s 36th Congressional District and is serving his fifth term in Congress and currently sits on the House Judiciary, Foreign Affairs, and Science, Space, and Technology Committees. He was also elected by his colleagues to serve as Vice Chair of the Democratic Caucus, making him the highest ranking Asian American to have ever served in House Leadership. He also has the distinction of being the first member of Congress to introduce legislation written by General Artificial Intelligence.
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Ep. 62: What to Expect When You’re Expecting Election Results: 2023 Edition
On Tuesday, November 7, 2023 voters in several states will go to the polls to cast ballots in state and local elections. Many voters have already cast a ballot early in-person or by mail. Kyle Kondik and Carah Ong Whaley discuss the Crystal Ball’s mega preview of some of the key elections we are watching: gubernatorial elections in Kentucky and Mississippi; the state legislative contests in Virginia; an abortion-related ballot issue in Ohio; and a state Supreme Court race in Pennsylvania.
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Ep. 61: What Happens When Democracy Threatens to Unravel? ft. Liz Cheney
Center for Politics Professor of Practice Liz Cheney sat down with Center for Politics Director Larry J. Sabato and other members of our team this week for a discussion about the challenges facing American politics and democracy. She speaks out for the first time about the new Speaker of House Mike Johnson (R-LA-4) and why he is dangerous. Cheney’s forthcoming book, Oath and Honor: A Memoir and a Warning, is now available for pre-order and will be released on December 5, 2023. Cheney, former chair of the House Republican Conference, joined the Center for Politics as Professor of Practice in March.
Ep. 60: Spoiler Alert? Third Party Wild Card & Perceptions of Women in Politics
In this episode, we dive into a new analysis by Kyle Kondik, Managing Editor of Sabato’s Crystal Ball, about where third parties run strong and where we should expect the third party vote to be meaningfully higher or lower in the most important states in the Electoral College in 2024. We also discuss the election of Representative Mike Johnson as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Carah Ong Whaley also talks with Gretchen Barton, Principal of Worthy Strategy Group, LLC, about a new study of perceptions of leadership and what it means for women in politics. Natalie Jackson of the National Journal joins us for the conversation. After learning about Gretchen Barton’s new study, we wondered what images would come to mind about political leadership for UVA students and we conducted a little experiment. Let us know if the study or what students say resonate with you. Email us at [email protected]
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Ep. 59: The Calculus of Choosing a Veep ft. Joel K. Goldstein
Joel K. Goldstein, a scholar on the vice presidency at Saint Louis University, joins Kyle Kondik and Carah Ong Whaley to discuss lessons from history on vice presidential selection. Despite headlines quick to suggest that the Republican primary debates are an audition to Donald Trump’s running mate, history suggests that whoever wins the Republican presidential nomination is unlikely to choose one of their rivals for the nomination as his or her running mate. They also discuss challenges for Vice President Kamala Harris.
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Ep. 58: Can AI Help Meet Voters Where They Are? Ft. Matt Hodges
Matt Hodges, Executive Director of Zinc Labs at the Zinc Collective, joins Carah Ong Whaley and Ella Nelsen (UVA ‘25) to discuss the role of technology in campaigns and elections and what lawmakers should consider in frameworks governing the use of tech tools, including Generative Artificial Intelligence.
Also in this episode, Kyle Kondik discusses his new analysis of how the 2024 election might be historic in that we could have a pair of presidential candidates who sweep their party nominating contests, even in spite of their weaknesses and liabilities.
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Ep. 57: Every Time You Hear Us, You Feel A Little Bit Smarter From What We Say
In this episode, Kyle Kondik and Carah Ong Whaley share takeaways from the second Republican presidential primary debate, held on September 27, 2023 at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. They also talk about new analysis on the Crystal Ball by Carah and Kylie Holzman (UVA ‘26) about why the United States hasn’t had a woman president.