Episodes

In the late 1960s, America appeared to be a country coming apart at the seams. The split over the US presence in Vietnam and the Civil Rights Movement was disrupting the traditional political coalitions that existed within the Democratic Party and created an opening for the Republicans - a party...

Since the murder of George Floyd, the issue of police reform has been front and center in public discourse. As with most issues in 2020, there’s been little room for nuance in this conversation, and we’re often forced to either take the side of racial justice or the police. A sizable number of...

The benefits America enjoys from being the world's reserve currency, which include the ability to borrow seemingly endless amounts of money, has been a recurring topic on YDHTY as of late. It allows us to fund popular government programs, hold the world's largest military, and keep taxes and...

The murder of George Floyd triggered a nationwide call for police reform that has ranged everywhere from “defund the police” to “reimagine policing”. At their core, the message is that structural elements of our system of law enforcement make black and brown people disproportionately subject to...

Following the Dust Bowl in the 1930s, maintaining stable commodity prices became a priority of the US government. A policy originally built on the idea of supply controls (i.e. - paying farmers to product less to keep prices stable) switched in the 1970s to one where farmers were encouraged to...

As a year, 2020 was a decade in and of itself. What began with wildfires in Australia and a near war with Iran and ended with an American president refuting the results of an election for the first time in history contained a pandemic that changed how we work, educate our children, and communicate,...

The recent vote against unionization by workers at an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama has brought the conversation on the role of organized labor back to the forefront. Once 25% of all workers in the United States, union members now comprise just over 10% of the total workforce - a trend that...

The 117th Congress (that would be the current one, for those of you who've lost count) has been lauded as having the highest percentage of women in history. This would be a cause for celebration, if that historical high weren't 27%. Jennifer Lawless, Professor of Politics at the University of...

George Washington described the Senate as a "cooling saucer", where legislation could be deliberated without the same pressures of public opinion as the House, much like a saucer would be used to cool hot tea.  Today, a more apt description for the Senate would be a saucer where legislation is...

Since World War 2, the US has operated under the mantle of being a champion and protector of democratic values. At the same time, its policy in the Middle East has involved close relationships with autocratic regimes, and military engagements more reflective of an imperial power than a defender of...