Hosted by Gerry Shields
Gerry is a former longtime Washington correspondent and political writer for The New York Post, Baltimore Sun, and Philadelphia Inquirer and author of the new book: The Front Row: My Jagged Journey Recording American History from Reagan to Trump.
Episodes
Welcome to the Retail Politics Podcast. Without enough hand sanitizer for candidates to shake hands, let alone kiss voter babies, we redefine Retail Politics for the digital world, reaching you one download at a time. We’ll speak weekly for 30 minutes to politicians, academics, and reporters on the front lines of American political issues to help you choose best how your government should function.
S01E49 Jessica Wehrman, Politics of Infrastucture
The U.S. Congress is ready to spend $1 trillion on American highways, bridges, railways, wastewater treatment plants, and the national electric grid. Is it enough?
“This is something presidents have wanted to do for some time,” CQ Roll Call Reporter Jessica Wehrman said. “But the needs are really, really vast...There are wastewater systems that date to the 1800s.”
S01E35 Howard Mortman, Politics of Congressional Prayer
As C-SPAN spokesman, Howard Mortman watched much congressional footage before one daily tradition caught his eye: the prayer before each session.
Mortman has written the definitive history of congressional prayers with his book When Rabbis Bless Congress.
“The very first thing that Congress does, both chambers, is open with a prayer,” Mortman tells the Retail Politics Podcast with Gerry Shields. “It’s like nothing else that happens during the day. There’s no acrimony; there’s no hatred, there’s no debate, there are no votes.”
S01E31 David Hawkings, Can Biden’s Focus Be Sustained?
President Joe Biden is off to a fast start, remaining focused on vaccinating the country and restoring the economy, but faces monumental challenges in working with Congress on issues such as immigration and guns, the former editor of Congressional Quarterly Weekly magazine told the Retail Politics Podcast with Gerry Shields.
David Hawkings said the possible loss of Democrat control in the U.S. House of Representatives 18 months now could puncture Biden’s momentum.
“He has not allowed himself to get distracted by things that other people want to talk about,” Hawkings said. “That was not the book on Joe Biden...whatever caught his fancy; he would talk about. In contrast, he’s stayed pretty focused.”
S01E30 Patrick J. Kennedy, Politics of Mental Health
Former U.S. Congressman Patrick J. Kennedy kicks off national Mental Health Awareness Month on the Retail Politics Podcast with Gerry Shields, stating that America’s failure to adequately treat mental illness and addiction driving overdose deaths and mass shootings.
The son of former U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy discusses his own mental illness and addiction to deadly opiates, leaving Congress to start the Kennedy Forum, advocating for better mental health and addiction treatment.
Kennedy lauded the nation’s commitment to fighting cancer but notes we have spent trillions – with a T – on that battle.
“We’ve spent a fraction of that on mental health,” he said.