Pantsuit Politics

Beth sits down with Lauren Pinkston, an independent candidate for governor of Tennessee, on the same day Governor Beshear sent Senator Mitch McConnell a letter asking about his month-long hospitalization. They use that story, plus Graham Platner's exit from the Maine Senate race, to get at something bigger: what "honor" means in public life when authenticity and elitism both fall short. Then they turn to what that looks like in practice — data centers, classrooms, and a possible return of family dinners to the governor's residence.

Topics discussed:

Transparency and elected officials' health, from Mitch McConnell to Tom Kean Jr.

Graham Platner's exit from the Maine Senate race and what it says about party incentives

Elitism, authenticity, and what "honor" means in public service

Money in politics and running a campaign without party infrastructure

A proposed moratorium on data centers in Tennessee

Rebuilding public education: vouchers, Montessori models, screen time, and special education

Parenting lessons Lauren brings to how she'd govern

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Sarah's on summer break this week, so Beth sits down with chef, culinary historian, and seventh-grade history teacher Mica Chavez to trace how food actually built the world we live in — from the Columbian Exchange and the science behind corn, to slavery, immigration, and the industrial food system we're stuck with today.

Topics discussed:

The Columbian Exchange: how corn, chili, potatoes, and tomatoes reshaped diets on both sides of the Atlantic

The science of nixtamalization — why New World corn didn't wreck teeth the way Old World wheat did

How chili peppers spread across the globe via birds

The Irish potato famine's surprising link to New Mexico settlement history

Indigenous and Spanish foodways merging in the Southwest: acequias, sheep, and companion planting

How mechanization and post-WWII food policy created the mass-produced, processed food system

Precision farming, AI, and the tension between efficiency and sustainability

What to cook this summer (hint: it's pie)

Speaking of good food and good company — the Minneapolis live show after party has both! Get your tickets here.
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For America's 250th, we asked Ezra Klein what freedom actually requires
of us — and he took us somewhere we didn't expect: attention. We get
into why the older idea of freedom was about self-mastery, not just
endless choice, and what that means for how we live, parent, and govern
right now. It's a Fourth of July conversation about virtue,
institutions, and whether we can still build something new.Topics discussed:• The vision of abundance and why the future is so hard to imagine• Attention as a collective resource — and why ours is deranged• Freedom as choice vs. freedom as self-mastery• Virtue, vice, and the illiberal moment• Institutional trust, corruption, and the education debate• Natalism, AI, and whether we're living through an aberration• Outside of Politics: which founder would make the best podcast guestResources mentioned:• Abundance by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson https://bookshop.org/a/124929/9781668023488• Why We're Polarized by Ezra Kleinhttps://bookshop.org/a/124929/9781476700366• The Lost History of Liberalism by Helena Rosenblatt https://bookshop.org/a/124929/9780691203966• The Pursuit of Happiness by Jeffrey Rosen https://bookshop.org/a/124929/9781668002483• The British Are Coming by Rick Atkinson https://bookshop.org/a/124929/9781250231321• "Now Is a Time of Monsters" by Ezra Klein, The New York Timeshttps://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/12/opinion/ai-climate-change-low-birth-rates.html?eafs_enabled=false
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We're celebrating America 250 with three-time Pulitzer winner Rick Atkinson, whose Revolution Trilogy strips the reverence off the founding to show what was actually there: the first American civil war, a continent of human loss, and a republic that has weathered worse than this. Outside of Politics, the most important question of the summer: what's your favorite fair food? Topics discussed:The Revolution as America's first civil warWhy Britain lost a war it was expected to win — and the role of alliesThe human cost: Valley Forge and the letters of Sergeant Oliver ReedThe women of the Revolution and "remember the ladies"Reliable and unreliable narrators in historyAmerican exceptionalism, reconsideredOutside of Politics: the glory of fair foodWant the full America 250 series, including our premium Good Morning and More to Say episodes? Join our community at pantsuitpoliticsshow.com.
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After a wave of June primaries, the question isn't just whether democratic socialism is winning — it's what it's actually offering. Beth and Sarah pull apart the electoral story (charisma, anti-establishment energy, and a generational shift on Israel) from the policy story: where collective approaches have something real to contribute, where capitalism still delivers, and the third thing Trump is quietly building that nobody's naming.Topics discussed:- The Mamdani effect and the June primary results across four states- Why Mamdani spent political capital endorsing three House races- The generational shift on Israel and the "Ossoff off-ramp"- How the DSA and the IMF each define their economic vision- Where markets fail (caregiving, healthcare) and where capitalism still works- "State-guided capitalism" and what Trump is actually building- Billionaires as a manifestation of the system, not the cause- Outside Politics: Confessions of a know-it-all and getting "fired" by your doctorNext week is the big one — our America 250 celebration, with Good Morning from 1776, Founding Father karaoke, and two special episodes. Don't miss it: join us at pantsuitpoliticsshow.com
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