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.
S02E7 Kerry Hawk Lessard, The Politics of Native Americans
Native Americans lead the nation among ethnic groups in COVID outbreaks and death while also ranking first in methamphetamine drug abuse.
“There are decades of Native people not being heard,” said Kerry Hawk Lessard, executive director of Native American Lifelines, a Baltimore health center. “The identities of Native American people are so often asserted through stereotypes.”
S02E06 Jane Friedman, Politics of Holiday Publishing
A paper shortage threatens to disrupt holiday book sales, and independent bookstores gain a small COVID victory over the nation’s book-selling king, Amazon.
“During the pandemic, people have started to shop more consciously, looking at their local and retail businesses,” said book industry analyst Jane Friedman. “They want them to survive.”
S02E01 John Fritze, The Politics of the U.S. Supreme Court
The U.S. Supreme Court has embarked on its most-watched term in two decades, facing low approval ratings and handling volatile cases from gun rights to abortion, making it the Greatest Show on Earth.
“This term, everybody’s paying attention,” USA Today Supreme Court Correspondent John Fritze says. “People are fired up.”
S01E38 Gary McLinney, Politics of Violent Crime
Murders across the nation have reached their highest in a half-century, and many blame the demoralization of American policing in the wake of the George Floyd killing a year ago.
“They’re doing the job that elected officials and some communities want them to do,” Gary McLhinney, former president of the Baltimore Fraternal of Police, told the Retail Politics Podcast with Gerry Shields.
“They don’t want them engaging with criminals,” McLhinney said.
S01E05 M.L. “Mike” Elrick, Politics of Michigan
A Detroit Pulitzer prize-winning reporter, who sent former mayor Kwame Kilpatrick to federal prison for corruption, said Sunday that the New York Times could have provided better cover for the writer of an anti-Trump screed by putting his name in the piece.
S01E03 Mike Griffin, Politics of Florida
“Because of 2000 and because of the hiccups we’ve had since, I will tell you Florida has probably the safest, most secure election system in the country,” said Mike Griffin, former chief political correspondent for The Orlando Sentinel who covered the historic 2000 ballot recount debacle, appearing on Sunday’s weekly Retail Politics Podcast.
S01E02 Howard Schneider, Politics of Fake News
Appearing on the Retail Politics Podcast with Gerry Shields, Howard Schneider of Stonybrook University in Long Island, NY, urged readers to thoroughly question the accuracy of the information they receive.
“Much of what is spread is not spread by Russian trolls or malevolent people,” Schneider said. “It’s you and me...we basically need to slow down.”
S01E01 Pete Leffler, Politics of Pennsylvania
This week, we will discuss the Politics of Pennsylvania, the state that handed President Donald Trump victory in 2016 and promises to be once again a critical hurdle for Trump or challenger Joe Biden to win this year.
In this episode, Gerry talks to Pete Leffler, the former longtime political editor for The Morning Call newspaper in Allentown, Pa., who will give us a drone’s eye view of the Keystone State’s current political landscape going into this monumental Nov. 3 presidential election.