Episodes

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...

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...

The filibuster and Electoral College are often grouped together as institutions necessary to prevent swings in popular opinion having undue influence over federal policy. On the surface, they both seem to fit into America’s unique brand of federalism, where laws governing the whole of the country...

Many of the past 86 episodes of YDHTY have been dedicated to railing against America's two party duopoly as the main source of today's polarized political climate. After recording this episode, I may need to issue a few qualifiers to that statement. Raymond La Raja, Professor of Politics at the...

In 2019, a poll done by Georgetown University showed over 80% of respondents were frustrated by the lack of civility among members of Congress and thought compromise should be one of their chief goals. One year later, roughly the same percentage of those in the House of Representatives won...

One of the more unfortunate aspects of today’s polarized political climate has been the destruction of personal relationships over political differences. Social media, once a place where you could reconnect with old friends from school and work, became a place where people cut themselves off from...

With any luck, 2020 will be the year America officially hi peak post-truth, with people's beliefs on who won the most recent presidential election and the best way to combat COVID-19 falling in line with their partisan biases. This is part of a longer trend where science and data have been misused...

One of the things I've learned speaking with minor party candidates and activists is the number of issues they bring to the table that would be popular with voters if Americans ever got the chance to hear them. Issues such as the decriminalization of marijuana, criminal justice reform, and ending...

Of all the things that make a viable candidate, being able to actually cast a ballot for said candidate is probably the most important characteristic. With each state having its own set of rules around how candidates can qualify for battle access, minor parties and independent candidates looking to...