Daily Kos' The Brief
187 episodes - English - Latest episode: 8 days ago - ★★★★★ - 104 ratingsA one-hour weekly political conversation hosted by Markos Moulitsas and Kerry Eleveld highlighting on-the-ground leaders of the progressive movement.
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Episodes
RERUN: Everything you need to know about the January 6th hearings
July 06, 2022 08:00 - 44 minutes - 41 MBIn this episode of The Brief, first aired on June 16, 2022, Daily Kos’ Brandi Buchman breaks down everything going on with the Jan. 6 committee. She has been doggedly following the Jan. 6 committee as well as the ongoing prosecutions of both the rioters and conspirators who tried to overthrow our government after Donald Trump lost the presidential election to Joe Biden.
71. Privacy, mid-term elections, and the abortion thermonuclear political bomb
June 29, 2022 15:28 - 1 hour - 57 MBIt took 14 years, but public opinion turned so viciously against Prohibition that a Constitutional Amendment was passed to make sure rural Christianists could no longer attempt such an outrage. And this was booze, not a core freedom to keep medical decisions private between patients and their doctors. Kerry Eleveld and I will discuss this thermonuclear political bomb, dropped months before a critical election that will determine whether we survive as a functioning democracy. We’re already ...
70. Hashing out 2022's post-Roe, post-insurrection midterm amid record inflation
June 22, 2022 12:00 - 1 hour - 65.3 MBJoe Sudbay returns to geek out with Kerry Eleveld and Cara Zelaya on the Democratic Party must do, what they are doing, and what they aren’t doing. We covered student debt, the Jan. 6 committee hearings, and the history of presidents making big moves to match the big times they were living in.
69. You want to know EVERYTHING about Jan. 6, and the hearings? This is your show!
June 15, 2022 12:00 - 44 minutes - 41 MBDaily Kos’ Brandi Buchman has been doggedly following the Jan. 6 committee as well as the ongoing prosecutions of both the rioters and conspirators who tried to overthrow our government after Donald Trump lost the presidential election to Joe Biden. She has been interviewing congressional leaders, law enforcement, and others since January 6, 2021. Today, Brandi breaks it all down for us on Daily Kos’ The Brief.
68. We talk gun violence and what Biden and the Democratic Party must do now
June 08, 2022 12:00 - 50 minutes - 45.9 MBIgor Volsky is the executive director of Guns Down America and author of the book Guns Down: How to Defeat the NRA and Build a Safer Future with Fewer Guns. He joins Markos to discuss Uvalde, Texas, and what Democrats and Biden are and are not doing to solve our country’s gun safety issues.
67. Elie Mystal talks Supreme Court, Gun Laws, and Roe v Wade
June 01, 2022 12:00 - 43 minutes - 40 MBElie Mystal, justice correspondent for The Nation, joins Markos to talk about his New York Times best selling book, Allow Me To Retort: A Black Guy’s Guide to the Constitution. After decades, the Republican Party finally achieved the Supreme Court they wanted—a radical conservative court, vastly out of step with the American public, that is destroying all the freedoms we cherish, from our right to privacy (abortion, contraception, same-sex marriage, and even interracial marriage), to our rig...
66. Midterm elections are tough for the party in power, but 2022 is no ordinary year
May 25, 2022 12:00 - 1 hour - 58.3 MBIt’s well-known mantra that the party in the White House always struggles in midterm elections, as lofty expectations give way to the grinding ineffectiveness of the American legislative process, suppressing majority support, while the out-party is energized with desires of revenge. Indeed, the out-party typically gains over 30 House seats in the first midterm of a new presidency. But anomalies exist. In 2002, George W. Bush and his Republicans rode the post-9/11 zeitgeist to congressional ...
65. A Democratic senator in a swing district was knocking on doors when draft Roe decision came out. Here's what happened next
May 18, 2022 12:00 - 1 hour - 55.6 MBToday’s guests are Washington state Sen. Emily Randall, who has been knocking on doors in her tough swing district in the Kitsap Peninsula and Matt Hildreth, executive director of RuralOrganizing.org. Both have been on the ground talking with voters in rural areas and urban areas before, during, and after the leaked Supreme Court decision on Roe v. Wade. They have some interesting insights into how much of an effect it is having on voters and organizing for the midterms as well as some good...
65. Abortion rights is 2022's electoral wild card, we talk to people on the ground
May 18, 2022 08:00 - 1 hour - 55.6 MBToday’s guests are Washington state Sen. Emily Randall, who has been knocking on doors in her tough swing district in the Kitsap Peninsula and Matt Hildreth, executive director of RuralOrganizing.org. Both have been on the ground talking with voters in rural areas and urban areas before, during, and after the leaked Supreme Court decision on Roe v. Wade. They have some interesting insights into how much of an effect it is having on voters and organizing for the midterms as well as some good...
64. Can Democrats make the GOP pay for Roe v Wade in midterms? Yes. They can.
May 11, 2022 12:00 - 1 hour - 56.1 MBWe speak with Christina Reynolds, VP of Communications at EMILY's List. EMILY’s List, along with NARAL and Planned Parenthood have announced intentions to spend at least $150 million to center abortion rights in this November’s elections.
63. Christine Pelosi talks to us about what Democrats must do to save women’s rights
May 04, 2022 12:00 - 1 hour - 55.2 MBChristine Pelosi has been a Democratic Party strategist for decades. She joins Markos and Kerry the day after Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s first draft decision obliterating decades of settled law protecting Americans’ reproductive rights to discuss what Democrats can do now and in the weeks and months ahead.
62. An update on Ukraine and Democrats win by hitting Republicans hard in Wisconsin
April 27, 2022 12:00 - 1 hour - 56.3 MBDemocrats need to go on the offensive. Today's guest, Ben Wikler, chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, can prove that because that is what the Democratic Party of Wisconsin did a couple of weeks ago in local elections and they won big time. You can also read Wikler’s report about it on Daily Kos.
61. Democrats and “messaging." Sigh. Can it be solved?
April 20, 2022 12:00 - 1 hour - 56.8 MBJennifer Fernandez Ancona from Way to Win, is our guest on this week’s Daily Kos’ The Brief. Unlike many messaging “gurus” Jennifer has data to back up what Democrats can say to help defuse Republican culture war attacks, and what the chances are of Democrats adopting this—or any—unified message.
60. Fox News is a menace to our democracy, more than ever, so let’s take them down
April 13, 2022 12:00 - 1 hour - 56.4 MBOur guest is Angelo Carusone, president of Media Matters, and the nation’s foremost expert on the pernicious effects Fox News has on our democracy. Carusone breaks down the evolution of the Fox News’ message since they’ve given up the pretense of having a “news” department. He also provides some ways you can make Fox News accountable in their pocketbooks.
59. Voters can still save the country, but Democrats have to help them
April 06, 2022 12:00 - 58 minutes - 53.7 MBLast I checked, not a single midterm general election ballot had been cast. But one would never know it based on all the doomsday scenarios being floated for Democrats. Joe Sudbay, a frequent guest host for SiriusXM Progress and a political consultant who works with progressive groups on issues like immigration, LGBTQ rights joins Kerry for a conversation on what Democrats must do to get out the votes we need to save democracy.
58. Kerry’s back! Let’s talk about Ukraine, midterm elections, and Biden’s recovering approval ratings
March 30, 2022 12:00 - 1 hour - 55.8 MBAfter a couple of weeks away, Kerry comes triumphantly back to the podcast to talk with Markos about what she has missed. The two also discuss how recent world events seem to have reminded many Americans why they got rid of the other guy in the first place.
57. Ukraine Update: What a difference a week makes
March 23, 2022 12:00 - 1 hour - 57.2 MBIf you’ve been appreciating our Ukraine coverage here at Daily Kos, here’s a chance to hear both me and Mark Sumner discuss that coverage. Daily Kos has been offering up some of the best war coverage in the biz, and this will be a chance to hear us expand on some of that coverage.
56. Can Democrats hold (or expand) Senate majority, and can we tie Putin around Ron Johnson's neck?
March 16, 2022 12:00 - 1 hour - 55.2 MBDaily Kos’ Political Director David Nir, host of The Downballot podcast, joins Markos this week. Along with Senate Majority PAC’s J.B. Poersch, we’re going to take a close look at the 2022 Senate map. Can Democrats hold the majority? Can we expand it, despite the tough political climate? And with so many Republicans like Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson and party leader Donald Trump playing kissy-face with Russian dictator and mass murderer Vladimir Putin, can the Ukraine invasion give Democrats a...
55. Can we wean ourselves off dictator oil?
March 09, 2022 13:00 - 58 minutes - 53.8 MBToday we have the triumphant return of Meteor Blades, aka, Tim Lange! He and Daily Kos’ Mark Sumner will join me to talk about how our oil addiction has fueled repressive regimes around the world and what we can do to wean ourselves for a cleaner, healthier world—one in which we’re not directly funding horrid repression and giving cause for more war.
54. Ukraine Update: The Russian paper tiger, er, bear, is exposed, and don't miss this week's The Brief
March 02, 2022 13:00 - 1 hour - 55 MBThis week’s The Brief should be the best discussion about the war in Ukraine you’ll find anywhere. We have two incredible guests—Jon Soltz, chairman of VoteVets, former tank commander in Kosovo, and logistics officer in Iraq. You can guess where that discussion will go. We also have Brandon Friedman, former spokesperson and advisor to Julian Castro and Tammy Duckworth, who served two combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan as an officer in the 101st Airborne Division.
53. We can't win 2022 elections without great candidates up and down the ballot
February 23, 2022 13:00 - 1 hour - 55.7 MBMarkos talks about whether or not Vladimir Putin has made a This week we are excited to have Ross Morales Rocketto. He is co-founder of Run for Something. Run for Something is critical progressive infrastructure and one of the premier organizations to emerge from the Resistance, urging young people to run for office. 2022 is the most important election since the last one, and once again the most important in our lifetimes. November will decide whether Republicans can stymie the rest of Joe B...
52. We can't win 2022 elections without great candidates up and down the ballot
February 23, 2022 09:00 - 1 hour - 55.7 MBMarkos talks about whether or not Vladimir Putin has made a This week we are excited to have Ross Morales Rocketto. He is co-founder of Run for Something. Run for Something is critical progressive infrastructure and one of the premier organizations to emerge from the Resistance, urging young people to run for office. 2022 is the most important election since the last one, and once again the most important in our lifetimes. November will decide whether Republicans can stymie the rest of Joe B...
52. Can Democrats talk about race in a way that *wins back* the white non-college vote?
February 16, 2022 13:00 - 1 hour - 60.7 MBToday we speak with University of California-Berkeley law professor Ian Haney López, a bona fide real-world Critical Race Theorist. Not the fake ones that conservatives are hyperventilating wherever Black people might reside, like in school and public libraries.
51. Student debt relief is good policy and good politics, so why hasn't Biden acted?
February 09, 2022 13:00 - 58 minutes - 53.7 MBPresident Joe Biden ran on, among other things, student debt forgiveness. It still hasn’t happened. The politics of student debt relief are more complicated than it seems on the surface. One poll pegged support at 62%, but the politics of resentment work well on this issue. Many people have already paid their loans off, so they feel jilted. Of course, college is exponentially more expensive these days than it was just a couple of decades ago, but remember: in politics, if you’re explaining, ...
50. The New Georgia Project flipped Georgia in 2020. How are they organizing in 2022?
February 02, 2022 13:00 - 57 minutes - 52.6 MBJoining us today we have Paul Glaze, the strategic campaign manager for NGP and its affiliate, New Georgia Project Action Fund (NGP AF). NGP is largely responsible for giving us the Senate in 2020. What are they doing this year to keep Warnock in the Senate, and get Abrams into the governorship?
49. Can pro-Democracy Republicans help Dems retain control this November?
January 26, 2022 13:00 - 1 hour - 55.3 MBOur guest today is Sarah Longwell, publisher of the conservative never-Trump publication, The Bulwark, and host of The Focus Group with Sarah Longwell podcast. Sarah gives her insights into the current state of the Republican Party, what she sees in terms of the GOP's ability to recapture Congress in November, and what she would advise the Democratic Party to do in terms of messaging and tactics. It’s a great look from the other side of the aisle, from a Republican that is just as terrified...
48. Don't give up. Democrats still have a solid chance for 2022!
January 19, 2022 13:00 - 1 hour - 56.7 MBJoe Trippi has worked for high-profile campaigns like Jerry Brown’s in California, Howard Dean’s for President, and Doug Jones’ for Senate. Joe has a great podcast, where he’s been sharing his long-earned political wisdom. He has argued that despite historical headwinds and Joe Biden’s low approval ratings, Democrats actually have several reasons to be optimistic this November.
48. Joe Trippi thinks Democrats have a chance in 2022, and we brought him on The Brief to talk about it
January 19, 2022 09:00 - 1 hour - 56.7 MBYou might remember Joe Trippi from high-profile campaigns like Jerry Brown’s in California, Howard Dean’s for President, and Doug Jones’ for Senate. These days, he’s got a great podcast, where he’s been sharing his long-earned political wisdom. A couple of weeks ago, he argued that despite historical headwinds and Joe Biden’s low approval ratings, Democrats actually have several reasons to be optimistic this November. So, that seemed as good an excuse to have him back on The Brief, our weekl...
47. Kos and Kerry are back talking insurrectionists and 2022
January 12, 2022 13:00 - 1 hour - 55.6 MBToday’s guest is Daily Kos writer Dave Neiwert, the nation’s premier expert on right-wing militants and extremists. We’ll be talking about the January 6th insurrection and the wave of prosecutions that have taken place in its wake.
47. Kos and Kerry are back with The Brief podcast, talking insurrectionists and the 2022 outlook
January 12, 2022 09:00 - 1 hour - 55.6 MBToday’s guest is Daily Kos writer Dave Neiwart, the nation’s premier expert on right-wing militants and extremists. We’ll be talking about the state of the extremism movement in the wake of the Jan. 6 insurrection, and the wave of prosecutions that have taken place in its wake.
Youth voters saved Democrats and America in 2020
January 05, 2022 09:00Today we’re looking at the youth vote—how important it was in 2020, and how critical it will be in 2022 to have any chance of retaining control of both chambers of Congress. Our guest is Ben Wessel, the former executive director of NextGen America, an organization focused on youth voter turnout. His advice on how to keep young people engaged can’t be missed. Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/daily-kos-the-brief/id1549983077?i=1000526586496 The show orig...
RERUN: The fight for rural America is alive and well. Can progressives win the rural vote?
December 29, 2021 13:00 - 54 minutes - 50.1 MBThis episode original aired July 21, 2021. Democrats have long considered the rural vote as completely unchangeable. Are we wrong about that? Are rural values aligned with those of the Democratic Party? How can we change our messaging to appeal to rural voters without losing our progressive ideals? J.D. Scholten and John Ray join us in conversation on how the fight for rural America is far from over.
The fight for rural America is alive and well. Can progressives win the rural vote?
December 29, 2021 09:00 - 54 minutes - 50.1 MBThis episode original aired July 21, 2021. Democrats have long considered the rural vote as completely unchangeable. Are we wrong about that? Are rural values aligned with those of the Democratic Party? How can we change our messaging to appeal to rural voters without losing our progressive ideals? J.D. Scholten and John Ray join us in conversation on how the fight for rural America is far from over.
RERUN: You can survive conservative family members this holiday season with this great advice
December 22, 2021 13:00 - 1 hour - 57.8 MBThis episode originally aired December 8, 2021. Happy Holidays! As we all prepare for the holidays, today, we’re going to talk to Monica Guzman, journalist and author of the upcoming book I Never Thought of it That Way, now available for pre-order. There are clear challenges reconciling our partisanship with Guzman's desire to “be curious” when talking to our political foes, but the advice is wise and applies far beyond politics to business and our personal relationships. This podcast coul...
You can survive conservative family members this holiday season with this great advice
December 22, 2021 09:00 - 1 hour - 57.8 MBThis episode originally aired December 8, 2021. Happy Holidays! As we all prepare for the holidays, today, we’re going to talk to Monica Guzman, journalist and author of the upcoming book I Never Thought of it That Way, now available for pre-order. There are clear challenges reconciling our partisanship with Guzman's desire to “be curious” when talking to our political foes, but the advice is wise and applies far beyond politics to business and our personal relationships. This podcast cou...
46. Judicial reforms, ending the filibuster, and DC statehood
December 15, 2021 13:00 - 1 hour - 55.6 MBWhen we first checked in with Demand Justice executive director Brian Fallon, back in March, he it made clear that “[i]f we go to the trouble of getting rid of the filibuster to pass H.R. 1 … but then we forget to do anything about the structural problem of the judiciary that has been utterly ‘Trumpified’ over the years, then these judges will just overturn all these proposals and gut the new Voting Rights Act the way they gutted the original Voting Rights Act.” In other words, if we didn’...
45. You can survive conservative family members this holiday season with this great advice
December 08, 2021 13:00 - 1 hour - 57.8 MBToday, we’re going to talk to Monica Guzman, journalist and author of the upcoming book I Never Thought of it That Way, now available for pre-order. There are clear challenges reconciling our partisanship with Guzman's desire to “be curious” when talking to our political foes, but the advice is wise and applies far beyond politics to business and our personal relationships. This podcast could very well save your holiday gatherings if you must deal with … difficult relatives.
44. Talking to the guy they has been tracking COVID since well before lockdowns: Mark Sumner
December 01, 2021 13:00 - 59 minutes - 54.6 MBWe at Daily Kos were prepared for the COVID-19 pandemic from the very start thanks to comprehensive and relentless coverage by Mark Sumner. He wrote his first story on the emerging pandemic on Jan. 23, 2020, and has since written 382 additional stories, including a recent update on the omicron variant. Today, Mark joins me and Cara Zelaya to talk about the evolving face of the pandemic and why we can’t allow COVID-19 to become endemic.
RERUN: Breaking down all things Texas with special guest Julián Castro
November 24, 2021 13:00 - 1 hour - 55.1 MBThis episode first aired on August 25, 2021. On this week’s episode of The Brief, hosts Markos Moulitsas and Kerry Eleveld unpacked the current state of COVID-19, voting rights, and electoral politics in Texas with special guest Julián Castro—as well as whether Castro himself is preparing for a run against Gov. Greg Abbott next year. Castro, a Democrat from Texas, served as the mayor of San Antonio and was Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under President Obama. He has offered cri...
Breaking down all things Texas with special guest Julián Castro
November 24, 2021 09:00 - 1 hour - 55.1 MBThis episode first aired on August 25, 2021. On this week’s episode of The Brief, hosts Markos Moulitsas and Kerry Eleveld unpacked the current state of COVID-19, voting rights, and electoral politics in Texas with special guest Julián Castro—as well as whether Castro himself is preparing for a run against Gov. Greg Abbott next year. Castro, a Democrat from Texas, served as the mayor of San Antonio and was Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under President Obama. He has offered c...
43. Arizona is critical in 2022—in every way possible
November 17, 2021 13:00 - 58 minutes - 53.5 MBArizona will be a critical battleground on every possible level. We are still waiting on new maps in Arizona, but we are guaranteed competitive House seats and should have a chance at picking up the state legislature. Our guest Montserrat Arredondo of One Arizona, which worked with partner organizations to register over 250,000 new voters in the 2020 cycle.
42. How can Democrats avoid 2021-like results as we try and hold Congress in 2022?
November 10, 2021 13:00 - 1 hour - 55.9 MBToday, we take a look at last week’s electoral wreckage and what it means for next year’s 2022 midterm elections. Joining us are Drew Linzer, who runs Civiqs, our data and research arm, and David Nir, who runs Daily Kos Elections. We’ll look at the results, the data, and the current polling, and explore whether Democrats have any chance of holding Congress next year.
41. Election Day edition of The Brief: Does Virginia really presage anything for 2022?
November 03, 2021 12:00 - 1 hour - 57.6 MBVirginia isn’t the only state with key races on the ballot, but it’s the one everyone is watching. How Virginia goes today, goes the nation next year! Or does it? Join us as we discuss Tuesday’s elections with Virginia elections expert Carolyn Fiddler, and we examine our chances of prevailing, as well as what the results (good or bad) mean for the country.
40. Daily Kos experts talk about the Senate bottleneck, and the state of redistricting
October 27, 2021 12:00 - 1 hour - 56.8 MBToday we’re talking to two of our in-house experts: Joan McCarter will join us to give us an update on Democratic efforts to … get anything out of the Senate, where Sens. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Joe Manchin of West Virginia remain intractable, insufferable a-holes. The delays and chaos have helped drive President Joe Biden’s numbers below 40%, making a difficult 2022 election cycle even more challenging. And speaking of 2022, we’ll talk to Daily Kos Elections’ Stephen Wolf about the s...
39. Pennsylvania is critical to making Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema obsolete... and winning in 2024!
October 20, 2021 12:00 - 1 hour - 55.3 MBMarkos and Kerry are joined by Jamie Perrapato, Executive Director of Turn PA Blue, an organization dedicated to flipping the Pennsylvania state legislature by training and mobilizing grassroots groups and volunteers to support candidates in Southeastern PA and beyond.
38. A true Senate majority runs through North Carolina, a tough state. Can we win it in 2022?
October 13, 2021 12:00 - 1 hour - 57.6 MBNorth Carolina is a purple state, but one that leans red. Today, on The Brief, we talk to Marcus Bass, Deputy Director for the North Carolina Black Alliance. Also joining is La’Meshia Whittington a campaign director from North Carolina Black Alliance. This organization advocates for North Carolinas historically black institutions of faith, education, and civic service across the state. In 2020 the North Carolina Black Alliance launched SafeVoterNC, a resource for Voter Safety and Protectio...
37. Michigan's critical 2022 elections will have an impact on who the next president is
October 06, 2021 12:00 - 1 hour - 57 MBArizona and Georgia’s big 2020 flips have gotten a ton of attention, and they were undoubtedly dramatic. But they weren’t the only states to flip based on dramatic Democratic gains. Today, we will talk to Art Reyes of We The People Michigan about their work to organize their community on the ground. He will be joined by one of his grassroots organizers, Kamau Clark. We will discuss how Democrats managed such a dramatic turnaround in 2020 and how 2022 is shaping up.
36. Virginia’s Governor’s race is tight. Worrying isn’t enough, what can we (and you) do?
September 29, 2021 12:00 - 56 minutes - 51.6 MBVirginia is one of a handful of states with statewide elections this off-year. We are exactly five weeks from Election Day, with Republicans hoping to flip what has been an increasingly reliable blue state in recent years. Joining us to talk about this critical election on our podcast, Daily Kos The Brief, are two on-the-ground experts. Gwen Mills is secretary-treasurer of UNITE-HERE. She was the architect of the union’s Take Back 2020 program—the largest labor field program in the 2020 el...
35. Democrats win big in California recall. What does that mean heading into 2022 cycle?
September 22, 2021 12:00 - 59 minutes - 54.1 MBIs California a bellwether for the epic incoming 2022 cycle, or is it its own blue bubble, with its own dynamics divorced from the rest of purple America? To discuss this topic, today’s guest on The Brief is Nick Rathod. He is the founder of the State Innovation Exchange, a progressive answer to ALEC—the right-wing group that writes model conservative legislation for state legislators to adopt.
34. With Texas abortion decision can Democrats get electoral revenge?
September 15, 2021 12:00 - 59 minutes - 54.3 MBMarkos and Kerry talk with Jodi Hicks, CEO and President of Planned Parenthood California to talk about the awful Texas law, how it may have helped Democrats during the California recall election, and her experiences on the ground with voters facing a radicalized Supreme Court and Republican Party.