Sam hosts former New York State Senator Daniel Squadron, co-founder and executive director of the States Project, to discuss Moore v. Harper, the election law case regarding “independent state legislature theory”, as well as the battle for state legislatures going into the midterm elections. Then he is joined by Amanda Bock, museum curator and shop steward of the Philadelphia Museum of […]

Sam and Emma host Rachel Cohen, senior policy reporter at Vox, to discuss her recent piece “How state governments are reimagining American public housing”. Then, they are joined by Jessica Preheim, Vice President of Strategic Planning and Public Affairs at the Houston Coalition for the Homeless to discuss housing policy in the city.  First, Emma runs through yesterday’s primaries before diving right into […]

Sam and Emma host Jake Grumbach, professor at the University of Washington, to discuss his recent book Laboratories Against Democracy: How National Parties Transformed State Politics. First, Emma and Sam tackle the successful passing of Biden’s Build-Back-a-Bit, filled to the brim with goodies for the fossil fuel industry as a ransom tradeoff for even thinking about a green […]

Sam and Emma host Matthew Cortland, Senior Fellow at Data for Progress, to discuss Supplemental Security Income restorative/legislative efforts, and right to repair activist Louis Rossmann to discuss the change in right to repair laws after Biden’s competition executive order was signed into law. Sam, Emma, and Matthew cover the structural differences in disability social securities, […]

On today’s show, Jamila Michener (@povertyscholar), Professor in the department of Government at Cornell University, joins us to discuss her new book, Fragmented Democracy: Medicaid, Federalism, and Unequal Politics. Medicaid is one of the most fundamental aspects of the US federal safety net, however it is fractured and constantly under attack by state governments, especially in GOP-controlled […]