A brief intro to The Sausage Makers Podcast. What are we trying to do? Why are we trying to do it? Is it gonna be fun? At least as much fun as parliamentary procedure.

Episode 0: Pilot

Who should be in control of the world's most dangerous weapons? Congress, or the President? Donald Trump's nuclear rhetoric might sound irresponsible, but is it based in sound deterrence strategy? How can we work toward disarmament and non-proliferation on the one hand, and expect our adversaries to believe us when we say "all options are on the table?" How can we reconcile the irrefutable utility and terrifying reality of nuclear weapons?

Ep 1. Nuclear Option

How does a vote become a president? In this episode, we follow one robot's ballot from registration to declaring a winner. We'll touch on voter suppression, the Electoral college, and how to make sure you're registered and how to find your polling place.

Ep. 2: Election Special

In some ways, you can think about the federal budget like you think about your own finances. But in others, the budget process is decidedly weird. In this episode, Philip G. Joyce, a former CBO budget analyst, walks us through how Congress decides what to spend money on, and whether, given that shutdowns are a mainstay of politics, the process is broken. Spoiler: He says that the process is fine, if only Congress would actually use it. We also talk about a budget based on outcomes, the challenges of entitlement spending, and whether there's any appetite at all in Washington for objective policy analysis.

Ep. 3: Is the budget process broken?

The debate over border security has centered on whether a physical wall is the best way to stop illegal immigration and contraband smuggling into the U.S. In this episode, we tackle that question. We look at the push-pull factors behind illegal immigration, the economics and tactics of the cartels, and what policies the American Government can pursue in order to address them. 

Shownotes:

Rand Corporation study on Border security for DHS: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1jxSrMgMKzWXw5DEu32vWRKQHDhiWbEGw

Senate Judiciary Hearing on Border Security and the Cartels: https://www.c-span.org/video/?455663-1/border-patrol-chief-testifies-senate-judiciary-committee

Panel Discussion on Central American Security and Migration: https://www.c-span.org/video/?455592-1/central-american-security-migration-panel-discussion

Ep. 4: Beyond a border wall

The Sausage Makers is a podcast about government, policy, and the folks who run the country. Are they perfect? No. Is democracy irreparably broken? No.

The Sausage Makers aims to peel back the curtain and really look at how the sausage gets made. Look through the legalese. Past the talking points. Beyond the Bulls**t.

We hope to restore faith in our government by telling stories about how it works, why it fails, and what can be done to fix it. Because Democracy is too beautiful a thing to give up on.

The Sausage Makers

Popular tracks