A Gentlemen’s Disagreement

Episode 51 - Unionization, Immigration, and Ukraine

We're back to talk about a bunch of things that have been in the news over the past couple of weeks including the first unionization of an Amazon facility (14:12-31:05), immigration being back in the headlines (31:06-52:39), and the latest developments in Ukraine (52:48-1:06:40).

Episode 50 - Sports, Money, & Global Politics

This week we use the Roman Abramovich/Chelsea/Russia/UK saga as a jumping off point to delve a little more deeply into how global politics have increasingly become intertwined with sports in our increasingly interconnected world. How do we, as fans and global citizens, reckon with the influx of money into our teams and leagues from sources who the West generally doesn't think are good? And, do we, as the West, really have the moral authority to judge who is and isn't good? And, even if we do have that authority, how should we want to handle cases in which those sources want to get involved in our sports? It's all very complicated. (0:30-46:58)

We then conclude by talking about Ketanji Brown Jackson's nomination and confirmation hearings. (47:07-58:44).

Episode 49 - The Ukraine Is Not Weak

This week we finally discuss the situation in Ukraine. We look at what is currently happening on the ground, wonder about Putin's endgame, and talk about how the situation is playing out here in the United States. In a bit of a role-reversal, Ricky forces us to think about the current prevailing narrative in the United States and how this conflict might be benefitting the Biden Administration, while Brendan defends the prevailing narrative and how the Biden Administration has handled the conflict thus far.

Episode 48 - Let’s Go to Mo

We are joined this week by Maureen "Mo" McInerney from the Women's Public Leadership Network to talk about the work that she does to support women in politics. We talk about Mo's personal journey into politics, why we need more women in all levels of government, unique challenges that women face in the political arena, and much more. 

Episode 47 - A Draft of the Most Influential Non-presidential 20th Century Americans

We brought back our friends Dan Gonzalez and Joe Webster for our second annual snake draft. This year, we did a four round draft of the most influential non-presidential 20th century Americans. Chaos and controversy ensued.

Episode 46 - Affirmative Action in the NFL, college admissions, and the Supreme Court

We finally sit down to talk about three somewhat related events of the past few weeks: Brian Flores filing a lawsuit against the NFL alleging discriminatory hiring practices, Justice Breyer's retirement and President Biden's promise to nominate a Black woman to the Court, and the Court deciding to hear the affirmative action cases against Harvard and North Carolina.

Episode 45 - Talking Mandates with Matthew Knych

We are joined by Matthew Knych this week to talk vaccines and vaccine mandates. We discuss the two SCOTUS decisions on the Biden Administration's mandates, as well the philosophy behind the government mandating vaccinations in general, and the new vaccination requirements in Boston (2:55-1:01:49).

Episode 44 - A Year Later

This episode is all about reflecting on the events of January 6, 2021 and everything that has transpired since that day. We begin by talking about President Biden's decision to go after former President Trump in his Capitol Hill speech, and discuss whether former President Trump is the cause or the effect of larger issues in our country (0:35-36:25). We then debate the Democrats' decision to use the anniversary of January 6th to re-energize their push for voting rights legislation (36:48-1:07:51).

Episode 43 - The Top Stories of 2021

We close out 2021 by looking back at some of the stories that defined the year. At the end of the episode, we make the transition into the new year by predicting what stories might define 2022.

Episode 42 - Aerial Wars, Accountability, & Moral Authority

In this episode, we discuss the New York Times report that detailed the human toll of the aerial war the United States has conducted in the Middle East over the past decade (0:30-39:31). We then debate whether everyone's favorite senator signaling the demise of Biden's Build Back Better Bill is an indication of a failing democracy (39:58-1:02:11). Finally, we conclude by touching on inflation, omicron, and the conviction of the police officer who killed Daunte Wright in Minneapolis (1:02:31-1:23:58).