InfluenceWatch Podcast

Episode 14: Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions

March 8th, 2018  |  50 mins 29 secs

aipac, bds, boycott, conservative, divestment, israel, j-street, jewish voices for peace, palestine, peace, sanctions, students for justice in palestine, united nations

The movement for Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions (BDS) against Israel is a mainstay on college campuses - for some due to the Jewish state's policies and for others due to its very existence. How did it get this way, and who are the players on both sides?

Episode 13: Janus v. AFSCME (with guest Mark Mix!)

March 1st, 2018  |  44 mins 26 secs

afscme, conservative, constitution, first amendment, free speech, labor unions, legal, libertarian, mark janus, mark mix, national right to work, politics, right to work, supreme court, union dues, unions

Special guest Mark Mix (National Right To Work) discusses the vital Supreme Court case Janus v. AFSCME and his organization's role in it.

Episode 12: Stump the Experts! Live at CPAC

February 22nd, 2018  |  54 mins 14 secs

american bridge 21st century, capital research center, conservative political action conference, cpac, david brock, dr. steven j. allen, matthew vadum, steve allen

We're at CPAC 2018! Today, we hosted a panel where we invited listeners to ask us their questions about influential organizations and try to stump us. We even got a question from a David Brock employee...

Episode 11: The Brocktopus

February 15th, 2018  |  43 mins 30 secs

anita hill, conservative, david brock, democratic politics, hillary clinton, media matters for america, politics, shareblue

Heard of political operative David Brock? If you haven't, you've definitely seen his intricate political machinations.

Episode 10: De Blasio’s New York

February 8th, 2018  |  39 mins 23 secs

berlinrosen, bill de blasio, campaign, corruption, democrat, democratic party, fight for $15, mayor, money, new york, new york city, nyc, politics, progressive agenda committee, seiu, seiu 1199, service employees international union, special interests, working families party

Who is Mayor Bill de Blasio? Who wanted him in office and why? And why ought we be concerned about him and his potential run for president?

Episode 9: Koch vs. Soros

February 1st, 2018  |  56 mins 14 secs

americans for prosperity, billionaire, cato, charity, charles koch, conservative, corruption, david koch, democracy alliance, donor, foundation, foundation to promote open society, george soros, influence, koch brothers, koch industries, koch seminar network, libertarian, mercatus center, money, money in politics, open society, open society foundations, philanthropy, policy center, politics, reason foundation, special interest, super pac

Who impacts our politics more, the Koch Brothers or George Soros? And to what end? We detail their political empires.

Episode 8: The Opioid Crisis

January 25th, 2018  |  43 mins 46 secs

addiction, conservative, crisis, drugs, fentanyl, heroin, libertarian, opiates, opioids, painkillers, politics, prescription, public health, rural america, trump

We discuss the opioid crisis, the influencers who contributed to it and those trying to stop it, and the battle over the President's Nationwide Public Health Emergency to address the opioid crisis.

Episode 7: Behind the Immigration Battle Lines

January 18th, 2018  |  45 mins 46 secs

center for immigration studies, conservative, daca, deferred action for childhood arrivals, fwd.us, government, government shutdown, illegal immigration, immigration, libertarian, migration policy institute, policy, politics, president, racism, shithole, trump, trump administration, undocumented

We discuss DACA, the president's "vulgar" comments, and the influencers on both sides of the immigration debate.

Episode 6: Government Shutdown?!

January 11th, 2018  |  41 mins 2 secs

big government, budget, conservative, debt, deficit, federal, government, libertarian, money, politics, shutdown, special interests, spending

Negotiations over the federal budget have started in Washington, leading to the possibility of a government shutdown if no deal is reached. What does this mean, and who are the special interests looking to protect their funding in the budget?

Episode 5: Uprising in Iran

January 4th, 2018  |  37 mins 26 secs

analysis, conservative, deal, foreign policy, iran, nuclear, obama, ploughshares fund, politics, protests

Protests for reform have broken out in Iran, with the theocratic state cracking down leaving 21 people dead. How did we get to this point, and what does it tell us about President Obama's nuclear deal with the regime?

Episode 4: Year in Review

December 28th, 2017  |  40 mins 27 secs

For our final show of the year, Scott and Mike take us through the biggest stories of 2017 to tell us about why they matter and the influencers behind them.

Episode 3: The Battle Over Net Neutrality

December 21st, 2017  |  34 mins 58 secs

conservative, fcc, free market, internet, net neutrality, politics, regulations

The FCC votes to remove Obama-era Net Neutrality regulations. Will this really hurt the internet and raise your prices? Who wanted Net Neutrality and why?

Episode 2: Judges! Judges! Judges!

December 14th, 2017  |  46 mins 45 secs

appointments, conservative, courts, judiciary, nominees, politics, president trump, senate

Who gets to control the courts for the next forty years? The administration fights against left-wing organizations to get their judges confirmed.

Episode 1: Hollywood Explodes

December 7th, 2017  |  38 mins 1 sec

entertainment, feminism, film, hollywood, politics, sex scandal, sexual assault, sexual harassment, sexual misconduct, television

How is Hollywood, the land of progressive politics, also the land of sexual misconduct?