This week, it’s all about the Democrats. First, we look at the fallout from the “disastrous” Iowa caucuses. Then, we look at how the Sunday shows are interviewing the top democratic candidates—from Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg to Elizabeth Warren and Joe Biden. Some shows excelled, and some shows were (to steal a phrase from Bernie): “an embarrassment…a disgrace…screwed up badly.” There a lot of lessons we can take from this week’s coverage!

Shows discussed 

• Face the Nation on CBS

• State of the Union on CNN

• Fox News Sunday on FOX

• This Week on ABC

• Meet the Press on NBC

Email us at podcast@polilogue.com or you can send us your feedback @PolilogueCast. You can also follow us at @sotonaomi_ and @bsteidle.

Support the show: We produce Polilogue out of our own pocket and with about 10 hours of work every Sunday. If you’d like to support the show with a one-time or recurring donation, please visit our donate page here. Thank you!

Check out some of our other work: 

Brendan’s website: www.armisticedesigns.com  

 Naomi's website: www.startwithaquestion.org

In this special episode, we analyze the eighth democratic primary debate. Last night, ABC News, WMUR-TV, and Apple News hosted a debate with seven candidates in New Hampshire. We saw Senator Bernie Sanders and Mayor Pete Buttigieg try to defend their position atop the crop of candidates after essentially tying in Iowa. And we saw Vice President Joe Biden and Senators Amy Klobuchar and Elizabeth Warren try to chip away at their leads.

As always with our debate special episodes, we provide an analysis of the host performances and then we rank the candidates in three distinct categories: candidates who have improved their standing; candidates that are in the same place they were  yesterday; and candidates who are in a worse place than they were yesterday. 

Link to the meme Naomi referenced.

Email us at podcast@polilogue.com or you can send us your feedback @PolilogueCast. You can also follow us at @sotonaomi_ and @bsteidle.

Brendan’s website: www.armisticedesigns.com  

 Naomi's website: www.startwithaquestion.org

In this special multimedia episode of Polilogue, we actually go to a real Iowa Caucus. We observe the process and interview voters. To view photos from this podcast, simply look at your podcast player while playing it—and the images will appear where the podcast cover art usually appears.

WHAT’S ON THE AGENDA: 

We’ll first talk about our overall impressions at our FIRST Iowa Caucus.  We’ll share some audio from the room tonight, and some interviews we had with real Iowans after they had finished caucusing.  Finally, we’ll wrap it up with our closing thoughts.    

Email us at podcast@polilogue.com or you can send us your feedback @PolilogueCast. You can also follow us at @sotonaomi_ and @bsteidle.

Support the show: We produce Polilogue on our own dime and with about 10 hours of work every Sunday. If you’d like to support the show with a one-time or recurring donation, please visit our donate page here. Thank you!

Check out some of our other work: 

Brendan’s website: www.armisticedesigns.com  

 Naomi's website: www.startwithaquestion.org

Iowa is upon us! The Sunday morning political shows went all in for Iowa—with many hosts broadcasting straight from the Hawkeye state (except Chris Wallace, who was in Miami for the Super Bowl!). This week, we take a close look at Iowa, from the questions lobbed at candidates to the role of the shows in framing the decisions facing Iowans.

Then, there’s Impeachment. We discuss Chuck Todd’s exclusive interview with Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and how Adam Schiff is responding to criticism of the House process.

Don’t miss our special episode on Friday’s Democratic debate—showing up in your feeds on Saturday morning!

Chapters

• Introduction

• Highlight/Lowlight

• Iowa

• Iowa Candidate Interviews

• Iowa Commentary

• Impeachment

• Why It Matters: Interviewing Candidates

• Show Rankings

• Closing

Shows discussed 

• Face the Nation on CBS

• State of the Union on CNN

• Fox News Sunday on FOX

• This Week on ABC

• Meet the Press on NBC

Email us at podcast@polilogue.com or you can send us your feedback @PolilogueCast. You can also follow us at @sotonaomi_ and @bsteidle.

Support the show: We produce Polilogue on our own dime and with about 10 hours of work every Sunday. If you’d like to support the show with a one-time or recurring donation, please visit our donate page here. Thank you!

Check out some of our other work: 

Brendan’s website: www.armisticedesigns.com  

 Naomi's website: www.startwithaquestion.org

The impeachment trial officially started and the Sunday morning shows prioritized summaries and explanations differently. Meet the Press and Fox News Sunday provided comprehensive summaries to start the discussion—but others failed to set the stage. And no show took a comprehensive approach to bringing the audience up to speed on the events of the week. Interviews also varied in quality. For example, Chris Wallace and George Stephanopoulos excelled, asking tough questions in organized interviews.

Chapters

• Introduction

• Highlight/Lowlight

• Impeachment: The Media

• Impeachment: Republicans

• Impeachment: Democrats

• Why It Matters: Jim Lehrer 

• Show Rankings

• Closing: Obstacles

Shows discussed 

• Face the Nation on CBS

• State of the Union on CNN

• Fox News Sunday on FOX

• This Week on ABC

• Meet the Press on NBC

Email us at podcast@polilogue.com or you can send us your feedback @PolilogueCast. You can also follow us at @sotonaomi_ and @bsteidle.

Check out some of our other work: 

Brendan’s website: www.armisticedesigns.com  

 Naomi's website: www.startwithaquestion.org

The impeachment trial is officially set to begin in the Senate in just two short days. Today on Polilogue we look at the White House impeachment legal team — in particular the new addition of Alan Dershowitz. We also look at the defenses of Republican senators and the issue framing of the House Impeachment Managers.

In examining all components of the impeachment, we ask ourselves: “Are the journalists giving us enough context to better understand what is about to happen on Tuesday?”

Unfortunately, we often find the answer to be: not really.

Chapters

• Introduction

• Highlight/Lowlight

• Democrats on Impeachment

• Republicans on Impeachment

• Why It Matters: Warren vs. Sanders

• Show Rankings

• Closing: MLK and Dialogue

Shows discussed 

• Face the Nation on CBS

• State of the Union on CNN

• Fox News Sunday on FOX

• This Week on ABC

• Meet the Press on NBC

Email us at podcast@polilogue.com or you can send us your feedback @PolilogueCast. You can also follow us at @sotonaomi_ and @bsteidle.

Check out some of our other work: 

Brendan’s website: www.armisticedesigns.com  

 Naomi's website: www.startwithaquestion.org

Today on Polilogue, we look at fallout from the Iran crisis. There’s a lot to discuss—and for a second week in a row, the Trump administration sent top national security officials to all five Sunday shows. Where last week we heard from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, this week the duties were split between Defense Secretary Mark Esper and new National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien. How did they do—and how did each Sunday show approach this multi-faceted story? We divide the conversation into three major themes:

What was the true nature of the threat from Iran?

What’s the role of Congress in this?

What will happen with Iraq?

Chapters

• Introduction

• Highlight/Lowlight

• The Threat from Iran

• The Role of Congress

• The Future of Iraq

• Why It Matters: Imminent Threats

• Show Rankings

• Closing

Shows discussed 

• Face the Nation on CBS

• State of the Union on CNN

• Fox News Sunday on FOX

• This Week on ABC

• Meet the Press on NBC

Email us at podcast@polilogue.com or you can send us your feedback @PolilogueCast. You can also follow us at @sotonaomi_ and @bsteidle.

Check out some of our other work: 

Brendan’s website: www.armisticedesigns.com  

 Naomi's website: www.startwithaquestion.org

A Polilogue first - one guest on all five Sunday political shows!

Today on Polilogue we examine the interviews of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on all of the shows. Secretary Pompeo was on the shows to discuss the assassination of Qasem Soleimani. Soleimani was an extremely important figure in the Iranian national leadership. He was the Iranian major general in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and commander of its Quds Force. He was also responsible for hundreds of deaths of Americans in the region, the deaths and displacement of hundreds of thousands of Syrians and Iraqis and other civilians in the region. He was a known adversary for years.

Threats and retaliations from Iran are expected to take place. Given the potential severity of these repercussions, there is intense scrutiny of the Trump administration’s handling and decision to take out Soleimani. We review how how each host approached their conversation with Secretary Pompeo.

We also review Senator Elizabeth Warren’s two interviews on State of the Union and Meet the Press! These were her first Sunday interviews since becoming a presidential candidate.

Chapters

• Introduction

• Highlight/Lowlight

• Pompeo on All Five Shows

• New Perspectives on Iran

• Elizabeth Warren Interviewed

• Why It Matters

• Show Rankings

• Closing

Shows discussed 

• Face the Nation on CBS

• State of the Union on CNN

• Fox News Sunday on FOX

• This Week on ABC

• Meet the Press on NBC

Email us at podcast@polilogue.com or you can send us your feedback @PolilogueCast. You can also follow us at @sotonaomi_ and @bsteidle.

Check out some of our other work: 

Brendan’s website: www.armisticedesigns.com  

 Naomi's website: www.startwithaquestion.org

This week Meet the Press hosted a special episode about the state of media in the age of disinformation. With guests like the editors-in-chief of the New York Times and the Washington Post, disinformation researchers, and other prominent journalists, MTP attempted to have a larger conversation about news in the age of Trump. They discussed what’s changed, how making the news got harder, and what they can do to maintain or regain trust.

In advance of this episode, Rolling Stone interviewed Chuck Todd. He mentioned how naive he was at the start of this administration. He mentions being shocked that White House officials and Republican lawmakers would blatantly lie on Meet the Press and purposely engage in disinformation campaigns. This promotional article did not impress media critic, Jay Rosen, who released his own scathing response to Chuck Todd’s media confessions.

So today, we will forego reviewing the other shows and have a fuller conversation about the state of media by looking exclusively at Meet the Press and the criticism of Jay Rosen.

Chapters

• Introduction

• Highlights from MTP

• Lowlights from MTP

• Missing from MTP

• Jay Rosen’s MTP Criticism

• Final Thoughts

• Closing

Shows discussed 

• Meet the Press on NBC

Articles discussed

• The Christmas Eve Confessions of Chuck Todd (Jay Rosen’s Press Think blog)

• How Disinformation Spreads, According to Chuck Todd (Rolling Stone)

• The truth is worth it. (NYT media campaign)

Email us at podcast@polilogue.com or you can send us your feedback @PolilogueCast. You can also follow us at @sotonaomi_ and @bsteidle.

Check out some of our other work: 

Brendan’s website: www.armisticedesigns.com  

 Naomi's website: www.startwithaquestion.org

This week, President Trump became the third president in history to be formally impeached by the US House of Representatives. The next step is a trial in the Senate. However, Speaker Nancy Pelosi is waiting to send the charges to the Senate until fair trial conditions have been agreed to by Mitch McConnell. In this episode, we discuss Speaker Pelosi’s very surprising power play and Republican’s ire of its effectiveness.

We also discuss Senator Amy Klobuchar, who is getting increased attention after her performance in the last Democratic debate. She has been going on the Sunday talk show for weeks. Can she continue the momentum to a good finish in the Iowa and New Hampshire caucuses?

Chapters

• Introduction

• Highlight/Lowlight

• Impeached!

• Klobuchar!

  Why It Matters: Moderates

• Show Rankings

• Closing

Shows discussed 

• Face the Nation on CBS

• State of the Union on CNN

• Fox News Sunday on FOX

• This Week on ABC

• Meet the Press on NBC

Email us at podcast@polilogue.com or you can send us your feedback @PolilogueCast. You can also follow us at @sotonaomi_ and @bsteidle.

Check out some of our other work: 

Brendan’s website: www.armisticedesigns.com  

 Naomi's website: www.startwithaquestion.org

In this special episode, we analyze the sixth democratic primary debate. Last night, PBS and Politico hosted a debate with seven candidates in Los Angeles. We learned about wine caves and a very clear winner emerged in the form of Senator Amy Klobuchar.

As always with our debate special episodes, we provide an analysis of the host performances and then rank the candidates in three distinct categories: candidates who have improved their standing; candidates that are in the same place they were  yesterday; and candidates who are in a worse place than they were yesterday. 

Email us at podcast@polilogue.com or you can send us your feedback @PolilogueCast. You can also follow us at @sotonaomi_ and @bsteidle.

Love our show and want to support us directly? You can support us on our Patreon. 

Brendan’s website: www.armisticedesigns.com  

 Naomi's website: www.startwithaquestion.org

This week the US House of Representatives will pass the impeachment charges and soon the Senate will need to determine if and how thorough they want to conduct this trial against President Trump.

In today’s episode of Polilogue, we examine how the moderators of the Sunday morning political shows shaped these conversations. We ask ourselves which interviews had effective use of video clips and gave context? Which hosts asked effective, simple questions? Which interviews were theatrical?

Chapters

• Introduction

• Highlight/Lowlight

• Chuck Todd

• George Stephanopoulos

• Chris Wallace

• Jake Tapper

• Margaret Brennan

• Why It Matters: Partisanship

• Show Rankings

• Closing

Shows discussed 

• Face the Nation on CBS

• State of the Union on CNN

• Fox News Sunday on FOX

• This Week on ABC

• Meet the Press on NBC

Why are there only two parties in American politics? (WaPo): https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/04/27/why-are-there-only-two-parties-in-american-politics

Political Polarization in the American Public (Pew): www.people-press.org/2014/06/12/political-polarization-in-the-american-public

Email us at podcast@polilogue.com or you can send us your feedback @PolilogueCast. You can also follow us at @sotonaomi_ and @bsteidle.

Check out some of our other work: 

Brendan’s website: www.armisticedesigns.com  

 Naomi's website: www.startwithaquestion.org

This week we look at the CNN townhall with Nancy Pelosi. We examine the format of the downhill and Pelosi’s comments that stood out to us. We also discuss what was missing or unsaid in the downhill as well.

Chapters

• Introduction

• The Townhall Format

• What Stood Out

• What was Missing

• Closing

Coverage and videos of the events are available here.

This week we look at 10 standout moments from this Sunday’s five Sunday morning political shows. Impeachment wasn’t the only topic of conversation. We also saw important commentary on issues ranging from climate change to the military. At the end of the episode in our “Why It Matters” segment we try to see climate change issues through a different lens.

Chapters

• Introduction

• 1: Face the Nation’s Value

• 2: Climate Discussion

• 3: Impeachment Funding

• 4: Impeachment Process

• 5: Substance Issues

• 6: Does Impeachment Matter?

• 7: Russian Propaganda

• 8: Republicans Defending Trump

• 9: Military Pardons

• 10: Pete Buttigieg

• Why It Matters

• Show Rankings

• Closing

Shows discussed 

• Face the Nation on CBS

• State of the Union on CNN

• Fox News Sunday on FOX

• This Week on ABC

• Meet the Press on NBC

Info on the UN climate change conference: https://unfccc.int/cop25

Renewable energy and the economy: https://www.edf.org/energy/clean-energy-jobs

Email us at podcast@polilogue.com or you can send us your feedback @PolilogueCast. You can also follow us at @sotonaomi_ and @bsteidle.

Love our show and want to support us directly? You can support us on our Patreon.

Check out some of our other work: 

Brendan’s website: www.armisticedesigns.com  

 Naomi's website: www.startwithaquestion.org

This week marked the end of the public impeachment inquiry hearings. Now, things move to the House Judiciary Committee and then, potentially, formal Articles of Impeachment. But the debate on the Sunday morning political shows was still very much bifurcated: there was the argument between the substance of the case, which Democrats wanted to focus on—and the process, which the Republicans leaned on. This week, we explore each in turn. And, we introduce a new segment called: Why It Matters—where we try to fill in the gap and suggest some reasons why the week’s topics of discussion matter outside of Washington.

Chapters

• Introduction

• Highlight/Lowlight

• The Substance Argument

• The Process Argument

• Why It Matters

• Show Rankings

• Closing

Shows discussed 

• Face the Nation on CBS

• State of the Union on CNN

• Fox News Sunday on FOX

• This Week on ABC

• Meet the Press on NBC

At least 13 Ukrainian soldiers were killed while President Donald Trump's administration was withholding military aid from the country from mid-July to mid-September.  https://www.newsweek.com/thriteen-ukrainian-soldiers-killed-trump-aid-withheld-1463128 

The Comey letter cost Hillary the election—according to an extensive analysis by FiveThirtyEight’s Nate Silver.  https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-comey-letter-probably-cost-clinton-the-election/ 

Email us at podcast@polilogue.com or you can send us your feedback @PolilogueCast. You can also follow us at @sotonaomi_ and @bsteidle.

Love our show and want to support us directly? You can support us on our Patreon.

Check out some of our other work: 

Brendan’s website: www.armisticedesigns.com  

 Naomi's website: www.startwithaquestion.org

In this special episode, we analyze the fifth democratic primary debate. Last night, MSNBC and the Washington Post hosted a debate with ten candidates! We saw a debate first with FOUR women moderating the debate.

As always with our debate special episodes, we provide an analysis of the host performances and then rank the candidates in three distinct categories: candidates who have improved their standing; candidates that are in the same place they were  yesterday; and candidates who are in a worse place than they were yesterday. 

Email us at podcast@polilogue.com or you can send us your feedback @PolilogueCast. You can also follow us at @sotonaomi_ and @bsteidle.

Love our show and want to support us directly? You can support us on our Patreon. 

Brendan’s website: www.armisticedesigns.com  

 Naomi's website: www.startwithaquestion.org

This week, we look at how the Sunday shows covered the first public impeachment hearings in decades—and the 2020 election.  Over the past week, three witnesses testified in public hearings to the house intelligence committee. The interviews were with career civil servants—people who had served in multiple presidential administrations. And yet, Republicans continued to the focus on the process of the hearings rather than the substance.  In an interview on Face the Nation conducted by Margaret Brennan, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi remained steadfast in the face of Republican talking points. 

At the same time, the Democratic presidential field continues to expand. In our second segment, we explore if and how journalists explain the election to everyday Americans.

Chapters

• Introduction

• Highlight/Lowlight

• Holding steady during impeachment

• The Democratic field expands

• Show Rankings

• Closing

Shows discussed 

• Face the Nation on CBS

• State of the Union on CNN

• Fox News Sunday on FOX

• This Week on ABC

• Meet the Press on NBC

Email us at podcast@polilogue.com or you can send us your feedback @PolilogueCast. You can also follow us at @sotonaomi_ and @bsteidle.

Love our show and want to support us directly? You can support us on our Patreon.

Check out some of our other work: 

Brendan’s website: www.armisticedesigns.com  

 Naomi's website: www.startwithaquestion.org

The impeachment inquiry continues to split the Democrats and Republicans into their respective camps. Democrats focus on the behavior and decisions of the Trump White House. Whereas Republicans focus on the supposed rigged process  of the Democrats. 

But beyond the noisy partisan bickering, what are we to take from these squabbles? Today on Polilogue we examine if and how the shows are explaining the impeachment inquiry. Are the process complaints by Republicans valid? Are hosts doing any fact checking during an interview? When a story like the impeachment inquiry feels never-ending, what can the shows do to center the viewer and tell this is where we are and this is why it matters.

Also in our second segment, we discuss the likely candidacy of Michael Bloomberg in an already packed Democratic primary.

Chapters

• Introduction

• Highlight/Lowlight

• Impeachment is going public

• Bloomberg emerges

• Show Rankings

• Closing

Shows discussed 

• Face the Nation on CBS

• State of the Union on CNN

• Fox News Sunday on FOX

• This Week on ABC

• Meet the Press on NBC

Email us at podcast@polilogue.com or you can send us your feedback @PolilogueCast. You can also follow us at @sotonaomi_ and @bsteidle.

Love our show and want to support us directly? You can support us on our Patreon.

Check out some of our other work: 

Brendan’s website: www.armisticedesigns.com  

 Naomi's website: www.startwithaquestion.org

President Trump is not an easy man to work for or defend. White House Administration officials don’t always come on the Sunday morning political shows. There are some explosive weeks when there is not a single administration official on the shows. So if you were a show host and you were able to book someone from the White House — what would you do with that interview? How would you approach it? How would you prepare for it?

This week we saw Kellyanne Conway interviewed on State of the Union and Fox News Sunday. Dana Bash and Chris Wallace both had follow up questions and were insistent with their questions, but we noticed that each interview had different objectives. Moreover, the preparation of each host framed different kinds of questions to Kellyanne.

We also discuss the winnowing 2020 field and how their messaging is landing in Iowa and across the country.

Chapters

• Introduction

• Highlight/Lowlight

• Kellyanne in the Hot Seat

• The 2020 Field Shrinks

• Show Rankings

• Closing

Shows discussed 

• Face the Nation on CBS

• State of the Union on CNN

• Fox News Sunday on FOX

• This Week on ABC

• Meet the Press on NBC

Email us at podcast@polilogue.com or you can send us your feedback @PolilogueCast. You can also follow us at @sotonaomi_ and @bsteidle.

Love our show and want to support us directly? You can support us on our Patreon.

Check out some of our other work: 

Brendan’s website: www.armisticedesigns.com  

 Naomi's website: www.startwithaquestion.org

We are out of town this week knocking on doors for a friend running for city council in the Pacific Northwest (don’t forget to vote your for your local elections in off-year elections!!).

So this week, we returned to our special series looking at the top-polling candidates via their signature campaign speeches. Complete with audio clips and analysis, it’s everything you’ve come to expect from an episode of Polilogue!

Today, we’re talking about Elizabeth Warren’s candidacy. Elizabeth Warren has been surging. She has been focused and slowly climbing. However, similarly to Joe Biden, she has avoided the Sunday morning political shows. In this close look, we look at Elizabeth Warren’s Brooklyn speech on September 16. Here are the topics we discuss:

• Introduction

• General Impressions

• The Goals of the Speech

• The Rhetoric

• The Policies

• The Final Grade

• Closing

Click here for Warren’s Brooklyn speech

Let us know what you think! We will be back next week with our regularly-scheduled look at the Sunday morning political shows.

Email us at podcast@polilogue.com or you can send us your feedback @PolilogueCast. You can also follow us at @sotonaomi_ and @bsteidle.

If you’re interested, you can check out some of our other work: 

Brendan’s website: www.armisticedesigns.com  

 Naomi's website: www.startwithaquestion.org