InfluenceWatch Podcast

Episode 193: Planned (And Well-Funded) Climate Chaos

October 29th, 2021  |  20 mins 59 secs

climate chaos, fossil free, leftist funding

In this episode: Mike Watson interviews CRC Research Assistant Parker Thayer on the little-covered "Climate Chaos Week," in which demonstrations were held for five days around Washington, DC and introduced the group Build Back Fossil Free to the world.

Episode 192: Election Integrity Begins With Local Politics

October 22nd, 2021  |  25 mins 13 secs

election integrity, local politics, unions

In this episode: Sarah Lee interviews Mike Watson on why local politics -- and the involvement of union organizers and activists at that level -- have played a role in some of the election integrity concerns plaguing modern American politics.

Episode 191: The Blueprint For Buying Elections?

October 15th, 2021  |  27 mins 29 secs

2020 election, ctcl, zuckerberg

In this episode: Mike talks to William Doyle, Ph.D., principal researcher at Caesar Rodney Election Research Institute in Irving, Texas, about his thesis that, based on the data, the 2020 election wasn't stolen. It was instead purchased by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

Episode 190: Big Left Philanthropy

October 11th, 2021  |  26 mins 1 sec

big philanthropy, ford foundation, jd vance

In this episode: The two Mikes (Watson and Hartmann) discuss the leftward direction of Big Philanthropy and whether or not it's reasonable to suggest reform that "seizes assets" of any nonprofit or charitable organization.

Episode 189: Eco-Right Rising

September 30th, 2021  |  20 mins 10 secs

conservatives, eco-right, environmentalism, green new deal

In this episode: Is there a way to be environmentally conscious without adopting the policy positions of leftists who want to implement radical policies like the Green New Deal? Mike Watson and Hayden Ludwig discuss Hayden's new report, "Rise of the Eco-Right."

Episode 188: Race As A Marxist Hammer

September 24th, 2021  |  22 mins 5 secs

blm, heritage foundation, marxism

In this episode: CRC Research Director Mike Watson interviews Heritage Foundation Senior Fellow Mike Gonzalez about his new book, "BLM: The Making of a New Marxist Revolution."

Episode 187: The Business of Woke

September 17th, 2021  |  16 mins 4 secs

big business, boardrooms, scam, social justice, woke culture

In this episode: CRC's Mike Watson interviews author and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy on the invasion of woke culture into America's boardrooms and businesses.

Episode 186: Is Mail-In Balloting Here to Stay?

September 9th, 2021  |  23 mins 17 secs

center for voter information, mail-in ballots, virginia gubernatorial election, voter participation center

In this episode: Sarah Lee is joined by CRC Senior Investigative Researcher Hayden Ludwig to discuss a recent article he wrote on the effort by some left-leaning activist groups to promote and facilitate mail-in balloting in Virginia before the gubernatorial election in November. Is pervasive mail-in balloting destined to the be the left's favored election strategy forever more?

Episode 185: The Weather Underground Resurfaces

September 2nd, 2021  |  22 mins 36 secs

andrew cuomo, chesa boudin, pardon, soros das, weather underground

In this episode: Mike Watson interviews a fellow CRC analyst, Ken Braun, on his research and writing related to the 1981 Brink's armored car robbery -- a subject that's just hit the news again all these years later because of its association with The Weather Underground and one Soros-funded DA named Chesa Boudin.

Episode 184: Liberal Myths About H.R. 4

August 26th, 2021  |  27 mins 24 secs

big government, elections, ken blackwell, states rights

In this episode: With both sides of the political aisle claiming a desire to protect elections, Mike Watson gets to the heart of the debate with the always edifying Ken Blackwell. Join them as they discuss the myths liberal legislators peddle as they attempt to pass H.R. 4, legislation that would federalize elections.

Episode 183: The Redistributionist Right

August 19th, 2021  |  26 mins 18 secs

american compass, national review, oren cass, redistributionist right, wall street journal

In this episode: Sarah Lee and Mike Watson talk about the merits (or lack thereof) in a conservative embrace of unions, a conversation that comes after Watson publicly called out American Compass (in an op-ed at National Review) for pushing a new "conservative" approach to labor unions while taking significant funding from decidedly less than conservative donors such as the Omidyar Network.

Episode 182: Living Orwell Instead of Reading Him

August 12th, 2021  |  21 mins 57 secs

censorship, colleges, first amendment, free speech, universities

In this episode: Cherise Trump, Executive Director of Speech First, joins the Influence Watch podcast to discuss the challenges and trends related to censorship and infringement of speech on college campuses.

Episode 181: Easy To Vote, Hard To Cheat

August 5th, 2021  |  27 mins 48 secs

election integrity, election reform, honest elections

In this episode: Mike Watson talks with Jason Snead, executive director of the Honest Elections Project, about how the country can get back to having faith in elections again.

Episode 180: Episode 180: Critical of Critical Race Theory

July 30th, 2021  |  28 mins 53 secs

critical race theory, education, leftism, parents defending education

In this episode: Parents of all political persuasions have begun to push back against the creeping curriculum known as Critical Race Theory by taking matters -- and their children's education -- into their own hands. Mike Watson interviews Parents Defending Education's Erika Sanzi on this new educational reality.

Episode 179: Social Justice Unionism

July 22nd, 2021  |  25 mins 46 secs

In this episode: Can unions continue to claim they advocate for the worker when they embrace social justice advocacy that has little or nothing to do with their original mandate? CRC's Research Director Mike Watson tries to answer this question.

Episode 178: Chaos in Cuba (with guest John Suarez)

July 16th, 2021  |  32 mins 28 secs

blm, castro, communism, conservative, cuba, democrat, demonstrations, freedom, john suarez, left, liberal, libertarian, liberty, politics, progressive, protests, republican, right, riot, society

In this episode: Since last Sunday, Cubans have publicly demonstrated against the Communist regime that has inflicted tyranny on their homeland for over sixty years. Joining us to discuss the background behind the demonstrations and the prospects for a freer Cuba is John Suarez, the executive director of the Center for a Free Cuba.