Today on Polilogue, we discuss military readiness , infrastructure talks, and space travel. We also examine the increase of COVID cases and how the media is dropping the ball by making this moment into a Facebook-White House argument moment.

Shows discussed 

• State of the Union on CNN

• Fox News Sunday on FOX

• This Week on ABC

• Face the Nation on CBS

Recommendations

• Really!?! with Seth and Amy - Billionaires in Space (NBC)

Contact us

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. If you’d like to support the show with a one-time or recurring donation, please visit our donate page here. Or leave a review on iTunes, Apple Music, or the Apple Podcast library. Thank you!

Check out some of our other work: 

Brendan’s website: www.armisticedesigns.com  

Naomi's website: www.startwithaquestion.org

Today on Polilogue, we cover a range of topics. Space travel. Vaccinate mandates. FDA regulations. The new (likely) New York City mayor. Afghanistan.

After multiple weeks of feeling frustrated with the Afghanistan story framing, we finally see multiple questions that examines what was accomplished and what the US has learned in the 20 years of being in the country.

Shows discussed 

• State of the Union on CNN

• Fox News Sunday on FOX

• This Week on ABC

• Face the Nation on CBS

• Meet the Press on NBC

Contact us

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. If you’d like to support the show with a one-time or recurring donation, please visit our donate page here. Or leave a review on iTunes, Apple Music, or the Apple Podcast library. Thank you!

Check out some of our other work: 

Brendan’s website: www.armisticedesigns.com  

Naomi's website: www.startwithaquestion.org

This Independence Day, several shows were hosted by substitutes: Ed O’Keefe hosted Face the Nation, Martha Raddatz hosted This Week, and Michael Emanuel hosted Fox News Sunday. The new voices brought fresh perspective that sometimes worked — like Ed O’Keefe focusing on climate change in western states. And sometimes that fresh approach was a dud — like Emanuel’s boring checklist interview with Congressman Michael McCaul on Fox News Sunday.

More than anything, questions and conversations that focused on local stories and human connection in relation to federal policy is something we hope we see more and more on the Sunday shows.

Shows discussed 

• State of the Union on CNN

• Fox News Sunday on FOX

• This Week on ABC

• Face the Nation on CBS

• Meet the Press on NBC

Contact us

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. If you’d like to support the show with a one-time or recurring donation, please visit our donate page here. Or leave a review on iTunes, Apple Music, or the Apple Podcast library. Thank you!

Check out some of our other work: 

Brendan’s website: www.armisticedesigns.com  

Naomi's website: www.startwithaquestion.org

The Biden Administration and a bipartisan group of senators have finally agreed on an infrastructure package. Therefore, the possibility of an actual physical infrastructure bill seems much more likely. This is real progress compared to the tortoise-pace we’ve seen on this issue the last few months. However, that’s where the good news ended if you watched the Sunday morning political shows. The White House fumbled the most basic of questions and journalists undermined valid criticisms and advocacy work.

Shows discussed 

• State of the Union on CNN

• Fox News Sunday on FOX

• This Week on ABC

• Face the Nation on CBS

• Meet the Press on NBC

Resources

• Where Did the Coronavirus Come From? What We Already Know Is Troubling. (NYT)

Contact us

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. If you’d like to support the show with a one-time or recurring donation, please visit our donate page here. Or leave a review on iTunes, Apple Music, or the Apple Podcast library. Thank you!

Check out some of our other work: 

Brendan’s website: www.armisticedesigns.com  

Naomi's website: www.startwithaquestion.org

Complexity reigned this week during the Sunday shows. From the intricate details of the Congressional negotiations on infrastructure to the finer points of Russian diplomacy, the Sunday shows were steeped in detail. Some programs did an excellent job—booking experts or key players to explain and explicate. While other shows took a less successful approach. We also look at some noteworthy questioning techniques by Chuck Todd—and contrast how two different Sunday shows took extremely different takes on the new federal holiday of Juneteenth.

Shows discussed 

• State of the Union on CNN

• Fox News Sunday on FOX

• This Week on ABC

• Face the Nation on CBS

• Meet the Press on NBC

Contact us

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. If you’d like to support the show with a one-time or recurring donation, please visit our donate page here. Or leave a review on iTunes, Apple Music, or the Apple Podcast library. Thank you!

Check out some of our other work: 

Brendan’s website: www.armisticedesigns.com  

Naomi's website: www.startwithaquestion.org

President Joe Biden is in Europe this week for a G-7 meeting, as well as a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was on all the Sunday morning shows with zero bombshell announcements and very set talking points about the Administration’s expectations of the Putin meeting.

Overall, it was a difficult setting for a journalist to conduct a newsworthy interview when the news has not quite been made yet. John Dickerson and Dana Bash, in particular, did a good job in forcing Blinken to explain how the Administration will measure success once the Putin meeting wraps.

Shows discussed 

• State of the Union on CNN

• Fox News Sunday on FOX

• This Week on ABC

• Face the Nation on CBS

• Meet the Press on NBC

Contact us

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. If you’d like to support the show with a one-time or recurring donation, please visit our donate page here. Or leave a review on iTunes, Apple Music, or the Apple Podcast library. Thank you!

Check out some of our other work: 

Brendan’s website: www.armisticedesigns.com  

Naomi's website: www.startwithaquestion.org

Brendan and Naomi are back from vacation and with new critiques of the Sunday morning political shows!

Today on Polilogue, we discuss the effect of new voices, the NYC mayor race, cybersecurity threats, and the never-ending infrastructure negotiations.

Shows discussed 

• State of the Union on CNN

• Fox News Sunday on FOX

• This Week on ABC

• Face the Nation on CBS

• Meet the Press on NBC

Contact us

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. If you’d like to support the show with a one-time or recurring donation, please visit our donate page here. Or leave a review on iTunes, Apple Music, or the Apple Podcast library. Thank you!

Check out some of our other work: 

Brendan’s website: www.armisticedesigns.com  

Naomi's website: www.startwithaquestion.org

What makes the Sunday shows unique? What do political critics get wrong about the shows? How often should the President be on a Sunday show? We tackle these and other questions—including some surprise ones—on this special episode of Polilogue. We even integrate a “Lightning Round” inspired by Chris Wallace. It’s a unique episode for us—and a fun one to record!

We’ll be back with a new episode on the latest news next week. But until then—join us as we pull questions from the tin and discuss why Sunday morning matters.

Contact us

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. If you’d like to support the show with a one-time or recurring donation, please visit our donate page here. Or leave a review on iTunes, Apple Music, or the Apple Podcast library. Thank you!

Check out some of our other work: 

Brendan’s website: www.armisticedesigns.com  

Naomi's website: www.startwithaquestion.org

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict continued to be a counterpoint in the Sunday morning political shows. John Dickerson had an impressive moment on Face the Nation when he weaved together his interviews with Benjamin Netanyahu last week and Senator Bernie Sanders this week. Chris Wallace, on the other hand, actively worked to discredit critical engagement in his interview with Mark, Regev, Senior Advisor to Israeli PM Netanyahu.

Other topics discussed include the lingering coverage of the Republican Party (particularly as it relates to the 1/6 commission) and powerful human stories about elected leaders.

Shows discussed 

• State of the Union on CNN

• Fox News Sunday on FOX

• This Week on ABC

• Face the Nation on CBS

Contact us

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. If you’d like to support the show with a one-time or recurring donation, please visit our donate page here. Or leave a review on iTunes, Apple Music, or the Apple Podcast library. Thank you!

Check out some of our other work: 

Brendan’s website: www.armisticedesigns.com  

Naomi's website: www.startwithaquestion.org

Today on Polilogue we note a huge milestone: our first Sunday without a Dr.Gottlieb appearance!! We were STUNNED.

Beyond a Gottlieb-less Sunday, the shows also covered a wide range of topics, including the Israel-Palestinian conflict, Trump’s grasp of the GOP, and the Colonial pipeline ransom attack. On the most complicated topics, we noticed important context setting explainers or segments were missing. 

Shows discussed 

• State of the Union on CNN

• Fox News Sunday on FOX

• This Week on ABC

• Meet the Press on NBC

• Face the Nation on CBS

Contact us

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. If you’d like to support the show with a one-time or recurring donation, please visit our donate page here. Or leave a review on iTunes, Apple Music, or the Apple Podcast library. Thank you!

Check out some of our other work: 

Brendan’s website: www.armisticedesigns.com  

Naomi's website: www.startwithaquestion.org

The economic recovery from this unprecedented pandemic looked like it was going well—until this week.  Economists and policymakers were shocked that the 1 million jobs they expected to see created in April was actually just about a quarter of that.  What went wrong?  While Republicans were interested in pointing the finger at enhanced unemployment benefits as a disincentive to work, experts persistently talked about the role of women during the pandemic.  From workforce and labor issues to questions of childcare, we discuss it all in this week’s episode (even if some Sunday shows disappointed on that front).  We also address the war within the GOP House conference as Rep. Liz Cheney finds her leadership role under threat. 

Shows discussed 

• State of the Union on CNN

• Fox News Sunday on FOX

• This Week on ABC

• Meet the Press on NBC

• Face the Nation on CBS

Contact us

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. If you’d like to support the show with a one-time or recurring donation, please visit our donate page here. Or leave a review on iTunes, Apple Music, or the Apple Podcast library. Thank you!

Check out some of our other work: 

Brendan’s website: www.armisticedesigns.com  

Naomi's website: www.startwithaquestion.org

Republicans went on the Sunday morning political shows to attack President Biden’s infrastructure plan. We were impressed by the effective questions on Fox News Sunday and frustrated by the vague questions and focus on Meet the Press. We were surprised by the lackluster criticisms and weak messaging from prominent Republican leaders negotiating the infrastructure counter proposal.

We also explore the tone and objectives of journalists with a cause.

Shows discussed 

• State of the Union on CNN

• Fox News Sunday on FOX

• This Week on ABC

• Meet the Press on NBC

• Face the Nation on CBS

Contact us

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. If you’d like to support the show with a one-time or recurring donation, please visit our donate page here. Or leave a review on iTunes, Apple Music, or the Apple Podcast library. Thank you!

Check out some of our other work: 

Brendan’s website: www.armisticedesigns.com  

Naomi's website: www.startwithaquestion.org

Today on Polilogue, we explore the many ways the Sunday morning political shows discussed police violence and police reform. Some shows did a crap job and used body cam video footage and mislabeled violence. Other shows chatted in circles about what Washington could do to fix the issue. And then some shows went deeper into the conversation with experts and the actual lived experience in communities.

We also appreciate honest responses, worthwhile follow-up questions, and explicit public health instructions.

Shows discussed 

• State of the Union on CNN

• Fox News Sunday on FOX

• This Week on ABC

• Meet the Press on NBC

• Face the Nation on CBS

Contact us

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. If you’d like to support the show with a one-time or recurring donation, please visit our donate page here. Or leave a review on iTunes, Apple Music, or the Apple Podcast library. Thank you!

Check out some of our other work: 

Brendan’s website: www.armisticedesigns.com  

Naomi's website: www.startwithaquestion.org

Today on Polilogue, we discuss the Johnson & Johnson vaccine pause and whether or not the explanations suffice. We question whether the pause will undermine broader efforts to reach herd immunity.

We also discuss police reform and President Biden’s recent decisions regarding refugee caps and ending military presence in Afghanistan.

Shows discussed 

• State of the Union on CNN

• Fox News Sunday on FOX

• This Week on ABC

• Meet the Press on NBC

• Face the Nation on CBS

Contact us

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. If you’d like to support the show with a one-time or recurring donation, please visit our donate page here. Or leave a review on iTunes, Apple Music, or the Apple Podcast library. Thank you!

Check out some of our other work: 

Brendan’s website: www.armisticedesigns.com  

Naomi's website: www.startwithaquestion.org

President Biden’s Americans Jobs Plan has caused a lot ruckus in its first couple of weeks in the public discourse. There are questions about what counts as infrastructure, what does a modern society and economy require, and if and how social services should be included in an infrastructure plan.

That is the point of policy discussions. Understanding these disagreements in policy is the whole point of critical thinking and nuance.

What is less clear is the fact that very few news organizations have done their own independent fiscal analysis. Journalists seem to be extra quiet on providing any kind of meaningful fact check about the costs of the proposal.

On today’s episode, we also discuss the extended introduction of Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the frustration of vague language, and the human being component of human stories.

Shows discussed 

• State of the Union on CNN

• Fox News Sunday on FOX

• This Week on ABC

• Meet the Press on NBC

• Face the Nation on CBS

Resources

• “The GOP claim that only 5 to 7 percent of Biden’s plan is for ‘real infrastructure’” (WaPo)

• “A former top Trump official started a lie about Biden's infrastructure bill. Two Sunday shows ran with it.” (Media Matters)

• “When Children Say They’re Trans” (Atlantic)

• Transgender Identity and Experiences of Violence Victimization, Substance Use, Suicide Risk, and Sexual Risk Behaviors Among High School Students — 19 States and Large Urban School Districts, 2017 (CDC)

Contact us

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. If you’d like to support the show with a one-time or recurring donation, please visit our donate page here. Or leave a review on iTunes, Apple Music, or the Apple Podcast library. Thank you!

Check out some of our other work: 

Brendan’s website: www.armisticedesigns.com  

Naomi's website: www.startwithaquestion.org

Infrastructure Week. Finally!! Except don’t call it an infrastructure bill, because apparently it’s called the Americans Jobs Plan. In today’s episode of Polilogue, we examine the framing by the Biden administration for their new aspirational jobs bill and their goal to expand the definition of infrastructure. Some of the journalists questioned this premise stronger than others.

We also discuss differing expert opinions regarding a COVID fourth wave and the host responsibility to lay out the facts.

Shows discussed 

• State of the Union on CNN

• Fox News Sunday on FOX

• This Week on ABC

• Meet the Press on NBC

• Face the Nation on CBS

Resources

• CDC Conflicting Messaging (Tweet by Christopher Ingraham)

• “What Georgia’s Voting Law Really Does” (NYT)

Contact us

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. If you’d like to support the show with a one-time or recurring donation, please visit our donate page here. Or leave a review on iTunes, Apple Music, or the Apple Podcast library. Thank you!

Check out some of our other work: 

Brendan’s website: www.armisticedesigns.com  

Naomi's website: www.startwithaquestion.org

Today on Polilogue, we explore more conversations about bipartisanship and voter rights. We also looked at a special episode on gun violence.

We ask ourselves if journalists asked the right questions. We examine if the hosts framed issues appropriately. And we wonder why some hosts weren’t ready with the rigorous follow up question.

Shows discussed 

• State of the Union on CNN

• Fox News Sunday on FOX

• This Week on ABC

• Meet the Press on NBC

• Face the Nation on CBS

Contact us

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. If you’d like to support the show with a one-time or recurring donation, please visit our donate page here. Or leave a review on iTunes, Apple Music, or the Apple Podcast library. Thank you!

Check out some of our other work: 

Brendan’s website: www.armisticedesigns.com  

Naomi's website: www.startwithaquestion.org

Migrants and unaccompanied minors are arriving to the southern border in new record numbers. Department of Homeland Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas was on four shows to explain how the Biden administration was working on the issue in a humane manner, but Secretary Mayorkas provided few details on how the decades-long crisis would actually be resolved.

We also discuss how poorly all the shows explained the border crisis or even the immigration crisis more broadly, in any meaningful way.

Shows discussed 

• State of the Union on CNN

• Fox News Sunday on FOX

• This Week on ABC

• Meet the Press on NBC

• Face the Nation on CBS

Contact us

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. If you’d like to support the show with a one-time or recurring donation, please visit our donate page here. Or leave a review on iTunes, Apple Music, or the Apple Podcast library. Thank you!

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 if and how the Sunday talk shows presented Biden’s now fully confirmed American Rescue Plan. Shows like Fox News Sunday had extensive conversations about the law’s cost and intended impact. Shows like Meet the Press failed to acknowledge the new law at all.

We all discussed the difference between vague and specific questions; the value of a good clarifying question; and how to spot when a journalist is asking a troll question.

Shows discussed 

• State of the Union on CNN

• Fox News Sunday on FOX

• This Week on ABC

• Meet the Press on NBC

• Face the Nation on CBS

Contact us

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. If you’d like to support the show with a one-time or recurring donation, please visit our donate page here. Or leave a review on iTunes, Apple Music, or the Apple Podcast library. Thank you!

Check out some of our other work: 

Brendan’s website: www.armisticedesigns.com  

Naomi's website: www.startwithaquestion.org

President Biden’s $1.9 trillion relief package finally passed the Senate last Friday. The House still needs to approve a few remaining amendments, but it’s official: President Biden’s first piece of tentpole piece of legislation is on its way to become law.

The effort was narrowly approved with only 50 votes after certain benefits were reduced to appease a moderate Democrat with substantial power in the Senate: Joe Manchin of West Virginia. Senator Manchin was on four of the five Sunday shows today defending his actions and his support of the Senate filibuster.

Chapters

• Introduction

• Quality: Who is Worthy to Lead?

• Quality: Returning to the George Floyd Story

• Questionable: Little Substance in Sec Def Interview

• Questionable: Asa Hutchinson’s Public Health Fail

• Politics: DeWine Stays Clear of Texas

• Politics: The Restrictions of Republican Governors

• Journalism: Manchin Mania

• Show Ratings

• Dialogue Challenge

Shows discussed 

• State of the Union on CNN

• Fox News Sunday on FOX

• This Week on ABC

• Meet the Press on NBC

• Face the Nation on CBS

Resources

• Kill Switch: The Rise of the Modern Senate and the Crippling of American Democracy by Adam Jentleson

• “Manchin in the Middle” via Politico Magazine

Contact us

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. If you’d like to support the show with a one-time or recurring donation, please visit our donate page here. Or leave a review on iTunes, Apple Music, or the Apple Podcast library. Thank you!

Check out some of our other work: 

Brendan’s website: www.armisticedesigns.com  

Naomi's website: www.startwithaquestion.org