On Democracy with FPWellman: Recent Episodes
Fred Wellman
On Democracy with FPWellman is an ongoing discussion with activists, advocates, political operatives, candidates and others about the state of democracy in the U.S., the threats to its future and how we can fight back to preserve our nation.
Rex Huppke is known for his sharp wit and tongue in cheek columns on politics and our nation. He and Fred talk about the crazy moment from mugshots to making Alex Jones super mad. Rex is a national opinion columnist at USA TODAY where he occasionally writes midly amusing columns on the news of the day. Before joining USA Today he was with the Chicago Tribune for an interminably long time. Huppke started his working life as a chemical engineer before stumbling into a less distinguished career in writing by way of a master’s degree from our own University of Missouri Graduate School of Journalism. One of Rex’s greatest contributions to civil discourse and the good of the nation is his annual ‘Insult-a-Columnist’ drive for local foodbanks across the country.
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Democrats are everywhere including places that have been essentially abandoned to the GOP in rural areas. Jess Piper is the ‘Dirt Road Democrat’ who speaks to what is happening in these places and what we need to do to take them back. She and Fred discuss the challenges, what it’s like to run for office in tough places, and what is next to start taking back rural America. Jess is the Executive Director for Blue Missouri and hosts a weekly podcast called “Dirt Road Democrat.” She received degrees in English and Teaching from the University of Arkansas and was an American Literature teacher for 16 years. After the 2016 election of Trump, Jess became politically active. Jess ran for State Representative in HD1 in Northwest Missouri in 2022. She was not successful but used the experience to organize progressives in rural Missouri and across the country. Learn more about Blue Missouri at: https://bluemissouri.org/
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David Hogg had a literal baptism of fire into activism after surviving the Parkland High School shooting, so the barbs and attacks of politics don’t stop him from fighting for change. Now he’s got a new mission. He and Fred discuss it Gen Z’s activism, and why these fights matter. David is a leader in the fight to end gun violence and Co-Founder of March for Our Lives, an organization that has helped lead one of the largest youth movements in our country. Now he is the cofounder of Leaders We Deserve, a new mission aiming to elect more members of Gen Z to state houses and Congress. Learn more about the new mission at https://leaderswedeserve.com/
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Journalist Aaron Rupar immerses himself in the madness of the far right every day and broadcasts the lunacy for us all to see. He posts the clips and analysis we need to see to understand what is happening now and why it matters. We talk about all of the madness from the Trump indictments to the GOP primary and more. He is the former politics and policy editor at Vox and associate editor of Think Progress and now hosts his own site Public Notices and hosts podcast the Aaron Rupar Show. Find him at https://www.publicnotice.co/.
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From CRT hysteria, to Supreme Court decisions on affirmative action, and Ron DeSantis’ war on ‘Woke’ there is no denying there is an ongoing attack on any progress made by Black Americans by a new white nationalist movement. Michael Harriot has been studying white America his entire life and offers a very direct analysis of our society that must be heard. Michael Harriot is a writer, cultural critic, and the official Dean of Black Twitter. He writes extensively for The Grio and numerous other publications and is a regular guest on multiple news channels. His book, Black AF History: The Unwhitewashed Story of America, will be released in September. His new podcast Drapetomaniax: Unshackled History presents a significantly more accurate version of Black history than what was whitewashed from our social studies books. Michael holds a degree in mass communications and history from Auburn University and an MA in macroeconomics from Florida State University.
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The new PACT Act is one of the largest expansions in veterans healthcare in modern history and is available now. If veterans of Vietnam and the Gulf War era apply by August 9th they can have their benefits backdated to when the law was passed last year. Fred speaks with Terrance Hayes the press secretary for the Department of Veterans Affairs about this important new benefit and why veterans should apply as soon as possible.
How does a former CIA officer in Congress deal with the politicization of our national defense but still find ways to work across party lines? Guest U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger is doing just that. She represents Virginia's 7th Congressional District. Abigail’s career has been defined by public service — first serving as a federal agent with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, working money laundering and narcotics cases. She then served at home and abroad as a CIA case officer, focusing on counterterrorism and nonproliferation efforts. First elected to the House in 2018, Abigail serves on the House Agriculture Committee and the House Intelligence Committee.
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What is it like to battle the most far right ideas of the GOP in a red state where they hold all the power? How do you stop the onslaught of extremist policies from gender affirming care to abortion when you're working with a weak hand? Missouri Representative Crystal Quade has been fighting it for 6 years as Minority Floor Leader and now she’s running for governor. There are lessons for everyone in Missouri as we fight for our democracy nationwide. Crystal represents parts of Greene County and Springfield and has served as the Democratic Floor Leader throughout her six years in office. She is a Democratic candidate for governor of Missouri. Learn more about her and her campaign at https://crystalquade.com/.
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California Representative Eric Swalwell joins the show this week to discuss the insanity of the House GOP, why Democrats need to be on the offensive, the increasingly great news on the economy along with his work to support Afghan Americans and his constituents. Swalwell represents California’s 14th District located in the East Bay region. He was first elected in 2012 and serves on the House Judiciary and Homeland Security Committees. He is also the top Democrat on the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection. You will also learn more about the important effort by the Department of Veterans Affairs to get more vets enrolled under the PACT Act.
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In this week’s show Fred speaks with retired Army General Ben Hodges about the situation in Ukraine, the inhumanity here at home, and the danger to our national security from partisan hacks. Ben is the former Commanding General of U.S. Army Europe. He is now Senior Advisor to Human Rights First, a nonprofit, nonpartisan international human rights organization. Prior to joining Human Rights First, he held the Pershing Chair in Strategic Studies at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA). General Hodges serves as NATO Senior Mentor for Logistics, he consults for several companies on issues on Europe, NATO, and the European Union.
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In this week’s show Fred speaks with New York Times and national bestselling author Jeff Sharlet on the underpinnings of the growing authoritarian movements in the U.S. Sharlet is a multi-award winning author of 8 books, and many articles in top journals. His newest book, THE UNDERTOW: Scenes from a Slow Civil War, is a travelogue of the slow march to violence in America. He is the Frederick Sessions Beebe '35 Professor in the Art of Writing at Dartmouth College, a contributing editor for Vanity Fair and editor-at-large for VQR. He is a frequent commentator on MSNBC and NPR. Jeff has been on the ground in the MAGA movement for years now and offers one of the most unique insights into that world today.
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In this week’s show Fred and Tim Miller discuss the Trump interview, GOP primary prospects, his book and much more. Tim Miller is an MSNBC analyst, writer-at-large at The Bulwark, podcaster, and best-selling author of ‘Why We Did It: A Travelogue from the Republican Road to Hell’. He was the communications director for Jeb Bush’s 2016 Presidential Campaign and the spokesman for the Republican National Committee during Mitt Romney’s 2012 Presidential Campaign. He is also a fellow native son of Missouri like Fred.
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In this week’s show Fred and David Pepper discuss his new book ‘Saving Democracy: A User’s Manual’ as well as the problem with uncontested races, getting disconnected voters into the fight and much more. David is a lawyer, accomplished author, political activist, and former elected official. He also teaches election law and voting rights. He served as the Chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party between 2015 and 2021. He started his political career on the Cincinnati City Council. His highly-acclaimed books Laboratories of Autocracy and Saving Democracy: A User’s Manual, detail the risk anti-democratic statehouses pose to our democracy. His popular white board talks online explain the machinations of those who oppose democracy and how we can push back. He leads Blue Ohio in partnership with Every State Blue to support candidates for state representative.
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Rachel Vindman joins Fred to talk about how real parents are fighting for their kid’s educations, the danger from Trump and DeSantis, and how she found her voice and wants to help others too. Rachel is a wife, mom, podcast host, writer, and activist. She is a co-host of the Suburban Women Problem podcast, and an advisory board member for the Renew Democracy Initiative. After her husband retired Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman was involved in the first impeachment hearing of Donald Trump, Rachel realized she needed to be more politically active. One of her favorite ways to do that is to help other women find their way to activism. She has found her voice as an activist and plain-spoken political commentator on Twitter, where you can follow her @natsechobbyist.
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Kevin M. Kruse knows all too well that as Winston Churchill said, “those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” He has made it his life’s work to show how today’s issues have historic precedent and roots that we ignore at our peril. He is a Professor of History at Princeton University. He specializes in the political, social, and urban/suburban history of twentieth-century America, with a particular interest in conflicts over race, rights, and religion and the making of modern conservatism. His most recent publication is ‘Myth America’ a collection of historians taking on the biggest legends and lies about our past.
Who is fighting for our children’s best interests before anything else? Dr. Annie Andrews is a pediatrician and mom who was the Democratic nominee in South Carolina’s First Congressional district in 2022 and is now doing just that. With her cofounder Renee Harvey they have launched Their Future. Our Vote. to be the voice for children and the issues impacting their lives and future.
John Sipher and Fred talk about the danger of authoritarians, Republicans riding the violence, and the undermining of the intelligence community. Sipher is a former CIA officer and now nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center and co-founder of Spycraft Entertainment, a production firm providing content and talent to the entertainment industry. He is a foreign policy, intelligence, and national security expert. In 2014, Sipher retired from a 28-year career at the Central Intelligence Agency’s National Clandestine Service. At the time of his retirement, he was a member of the CIA’s Senior Intelligence Service, the leadership team that guides CIA activities globally.
Dennis Aftergut is a former federal prosecutor who has argued and won cases in the Supreme Court of the United States and of California. As Chief Assistant City Attorney in San Francisco in the era before Obergefell v. Hodges, Dennis successfully defended suits brought by Pat Robertson’s legal foundation and United Airlines challenging San Francisco’s ground-breaking Equal Benefits Ordinance, a nondiscrimination law assuring workers with domestic partners the same employment benefits as afforded to straight employees who were married. Today he is a constant source of legal perspective on the insanity of the right in a host of publications. He and Fred discuss the absolute flood of legal issues around the country today and the state of the Judiciary as a pillar of our democracy.
Fred is solo this week and finds there is hope to be found in Democratic victories in Wisconsin and local elections but the Trump Circus in New York is getting a lot of attention and hiding the real game that is afoot. That shell game is hiding the real ball in play across the country as Republican led states take what some want to call ‘culture wars’ to dangerous levels that will have real world casualties.
Kris Brownis President of Brady one of the oldest and most respected anti-gun violence organizations in the United States named after legendary White House Press Secretary and gun violence advocates Jim and Sarah Brady. Kris has led Brady since 2016 and is a long time veteran of gun violence prevention work starting her career on Capitol Hill working for Rep. Jim Moran, advocating for the bill that would eventually become the groundbreaking Brady Bill requiring background checks on federally licensed gun sales. She and Fred had a robust discussion about how the continued refusal by Congress and leaders to enact laws to end this scourge is a true failure of democracy.
Leo Shane is the Deputy Editor of Military Times in Washington D.C. Leo covers Congress, Veterans Affairs and the White House for the Military Times family of newspapers. He has covered Washington, D.C. since 2004, focusing on military personnel and veterans policies. His work has earned numerous honors, including a 2009 Polk award, a 2010 National Headliner Award, the IAVA Leadership in Journalism award and the VFW News Media award. He and Fred discuss the 20th Anniversary of the invasion of Iraq and how the veteran’s community has changed over the last two decades. Fred will also reflect on his experience as part of that fateful mission in 2003, 2005, and 2008.
Dr. Chris Jones grew up in Pine Bluff, Arkansas with a deep love for science. He attended Morehouse College on a full NASA Scholarship, for physics and math, then went on to study at MIT earning a masters degree in Nuclear Engineering, a masters degree in Technology & Policy, and a Ph.D. in Urban Planning. After becoming ordained as a minister, he returned home to Arkansas with his wife, an emergency room physician, and their three daughters to led the Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub. He was the Democratic nominee for Governor in 2022 and recently announced the launch of Vortex PAC an all-new grassroots movement that will transform Arkansas politics by building organizing power for Democrats in all 75 Arkansas counties with their first objective to replace all four of the Arkansas Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives. He and Fred discuss his race for Governor, new PAC, and the life of a Democrat in the increasingly red Midwest.
Dr. Eli Merritt is a political historian at Vanderbilt University who writes a newsletter on Substack called ‘American Commonwealth’. He has written for the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and Chicago Tribune, among other news outlets. He is an expert on demagogues and democracy and the editor of the new book How to Save Democracy: Advice and Inspiration of 95 World Leaders. He and Fred discuss his new book as well as how our democratic institutions are failing to meet this moment and what we all can do to push back against the demagogues and authoritarians amongst us.
Katie Phang is on a roll. She began her career as a lawyer and prosecutor before beginning her path on TV as a legal analyst locally in Miami and continuing to national success. Now she has her own show on MNBSC and Peacock, aptly called The Katie Phang Show, as well as hosting her podcast ‘Class Action.’ Her talent makes her a frequent guest host across MSNBC. She and Fred discuss the search for justice and American’s faith in the our systems as we face an onslaught of more extreme actions from the right.
Bill Kristol is a frequent commentator on several networks including CNN/
He was the founder and editor-at-large of the conservative political magazine The Weekly Standard. Bill is now editor-at-large of The Bulwark. In addition, he is a founder and director of the advocacy organization Defending Democracy Together — responsible for such projects as Republicans for the Rule of Law, Republican Voters Against Trump and Republicans Against Putin. Bill and Fred discuss the State of the Union, the indecency in the Republican Party, culture wars, and much more.
Greg Sargent is a columnist with the Washington Post and the first returning guest. He joined The Post in 2010, after stints at Talking Points Memo, New York Magazine, and the New York Observer. He is the author of the 2018 book ‘An Uncivil War: Taking Back Our Democracy in an Age of Trumpian Disinformation and Thunderdome Politics.’ Fred and Greg touch on a range of issues in this conversation including the effort to oust Ilhan Omar from the Foreign Affairs committee, the impact of DeSantis’ stupid ‘Stop WOKE’ and ‘Don’t say Gay’ laws on school libraries, and how Democrats can fight back in these culture wars. Fred also fires off on the idea that Democrats shouldn’t support candidates in long shot races.
Santiago Mayer is the founder and Executive Director of Voters of
Tomorrow. He dove into politics in high school and hasn’t slowed down since,
participating in several campaigns including volunteering for the Biden/Harris campaign to help mobilize young voters. During the 2020 election cycle, Santiago and Voters of Tomorrow launched their first major initiative, “Prom at The Polls” registering thousands of young voters. These days Voters of Tomorrow carries out research, develops initiatives, and encourages Gen Z to vote for pro-democracy candidates nationwide. Santiago is currently pursuing a dual degree in Mechanical Engineering and Political Science at California State University, Long Beach. Fred and Santiago touch on a range of issues surrounding Gen Z, their activism, what we can do to draw them into politics, and what is next for this growing generation of voters.
Denver Riggleman is an Air Force veteran and National Security Agency contractor who represented Virginia’s 5th Congressional District. He has since moved on to focusing on respectable work co-owning Silverback Distillery in Virginia’s beautiful Rockfish River valley near Charlottesville. Months after leaving office he was recruited to join the staff of the House Select Committee on the January 6th Attack. Denver co-authored a book with Hunter Walker titled, The Breach, published in October of 2022 detailing his work on the committee. He and Fred talk about distilling good booze, serving in Congress, the January 6th Committee’s successes, and how so many are missing the danger to the democracy.
Fred discusses the new House rules, George Santos, the mythical moderate Republican and more with Jennifer Rubin, columnist for the Washington Post. Jennifer is also an MSNBC contributor and author of the book “Resistance: How Women Saved Democracy from Donald Trump.” Prior to her career in journalism, she practiced labor law for two decades but has since recovered.
This is the home of the 'On Democracy' podcast with FPWellman. An ongoing discussion with advocates, activists, journalists, political players and more about the state of our democracy and the threats we face. Hosted by former Lincoln Project Executive Director, political strategist, and Army combat veteran, Fred Wellman. Available on Apple, Spotify, and Google Podcasts.
Jason Kander is the author of two New York Times bestselling books, Outside the Wire: Ten Lessons I’ve Learned in Everyday Courage, and Invisible Storm: A Soldier’s Memoir of Politics and PTSD, as well as a children’s book, Courage Is, which he co-authored with his son, True. He is currently the President of National Expansion at Veterans Community Project, a non-profit dedicated to fighting veteran suicide and homelessness. He is also the host of ‘Majority 54,’ one of the nation’s most popular political podcasts and sits on the boards of Giffords and Let America Vote/End Citizens United. In 2021, during the fall of Kabul, Jason founded Afghan Rescue Project to save Afghans he had personally served alongside from brutal Taliban retribution. After that first successful operation, Afghan Rescue Project continued its work. To date, the organization has played a crucial role in the successful evacuation of more than 2,000 at-risk Afghan men, women, and children.
Ruth Ben-Ghiat is Professor of History and Italian Studies at New York University. She is an MSNBC Opinion Columnist and commentator on CNN, MSNBC, and other media outlets about authoritarianism, Fascism, and threats to democracy around the world.
Her latest book, Strongmen: From Mussolini to the Present examines how illiberal leaders use corruption, violence, propaganda, and machismo to stay in power, and how resistance to them has unfolded over a century. She publishes a terrific Substack community called Lucid about democracy and autocracy that I’m proud to be a paying subscriber where she not only writes her regular newsletter but hosts chats about the issues of the day and the march of authoritarianism here and abroad.
Michael Steele is the former Lieutenant Governor of Maryland and Chairman of the Republican National Committee. You seem him regularly appearing on MSNBC and elsewhere and now hosts his own podcast the aptly titled Michael Steele podcast.
Soledad O’Brien is an award-winning documentarian, journalist, speaker, author and philanthropist. She is the CEO of Soledad O’Brien Productions, a multi-platform media production company dedicated to telling empowering and authentic stories on a range of social issues and a thought leader. She currently anchors and produces the Hearst Television political magazine program “Matter of Fact with Soledad O’Brien”. Her latest project ‘The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks’ is currently being broadcast on MSNBC and is available on Peacock where I watched it this week. She has also carved out a niche very directly calling for our media to fight disinformation and to inform the American people accurately.
Mark McKinnon is the co-creator, co-executive producer, and co-host of Showtime's The Circus: Inside the Greatest Political Show on Earth .
He is of course a legendary political advisor, reform advocate, media columnist, and
television producer. In his free time, he skis and mountain bikes wherever his travels
find him leading to busting his head at least once or twice that I know of.
I had the privilege to have Mark as an instructor at Harvard’s Kennedy School in the
spring of 2006 as an Army officer heading to the Pentagon and wanting to understand
political communications. Boy did I learn a lot. We’ve stayed in touch over the years
good fortune to connect with Mark just a month ago when The Circus made its way to
northwest Georgia to document the weird world of Marjorie Taylor Greene and my
friend, her challenger, Marcus Flowers.
Naveed is a Veteran of the U.S. Army and Operation Iraqi Freedom, from Springfield, Va. After serving on active duty for four years, including a 12-month tour in Iraq, Naveed returned to his hometown for undergraduate studies and began volunteering with veteran’s groups. This led to a legislative and advocacy fellowship with the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America in 2012, followed by political campaigns.
In 2016, the First Lady invited Naveed to attend Pres. Obama’s final State of the Union address, in recognition of his years of work on Veterans Issues. In 2018, Naveed worked with the Virginia Democratic Party’s Mission First initiative, to get veterans and military families involved in the political process.
For the past 10 years, Naveed has been involved with veterans and military families across the nation in a movement to build progressive political power. He holds a B.S. from the University of Virginia where he studied Political Science, and is here today to talk about a new initiative: Courage for America, where he serves as a senior advisor.
Tony Messenger is the metro columnist for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. In 2019, Tony won the Pulitzer Prize for commentary for his series of columns on debtors' prisons in Missouri. In 2016, Messenger was awarded a Missouri Honor Medal, the highest award bestowed by the University of Missouri's School of Journalism. That same year he won a National Headliner for editorial writing. In 2015, Messenger was a Pulitzer finalist for his series of editorials on Ferguson, and won the Sigma Delta Chi award for best editorials of the year, given by the Society of Professional Journalists. He recently published his first book Profit and Punishment that digs deeper into the way America criminalizes the poor in the name of justice.
This is the home of the 'On Democracy' podcast with FPWellman. An ongoing discussion with advocates, activists, journalists, political players and more about the state of our democracy and the threats we face. Hosted by former Lincoln Project Executive Director, political strategist, and Army combat veteran, Fred Wellman. Available on Apple, Spotify, and Google Podcasts.
John Della Volpe is the director of polling at the Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics, and the author of Fight: How Gen Z is Channeling Their Fear and Passion to Save America published just earlier this year. The Washington Post referred to John as one of the world’s leading authorities on global sentiment, opinion, and influence, especially among young Americans and in the age of digital and social media.
John is also founder of SocialSphere, a Cambridge, Massachusetts based public opinion and analytics company. He appears regularly on MSNBC’s Morning Joe and his insights on the Millennial generation are found in national media outlets in the U.S. and abroad, including the Daily Show with Trevor Noah.
This weeks guest is a great American who has taken the fight online in a unique way. Ron Filipkowski is an attorney, former Marine, triathlete, and historian. You probably know him best for his falling out with Governor Ron DeSantis and subsequent blossoming as a force of nature tracking and reporting on right-wing extremism. Ron was a federal prosecutor and Republican. While watching the threat posed to democracy by right-wing extremism, he became a national social media influencer and has been seen on BBC, CNN, and MSNBC. He has recently launched his own podcast 'Context.’ On top of all of that, he is currently a practicing attorney based out of Sarasota…because we all have day jobs.
Semi-Retired
Each Tuesday, hosts Richard and Dave offer insightful and humourous takes on a wide...
Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify
This is the home of the 'On Democracy' podcast with FPWellman. An ongoing discussion with advocates, activists, journalists, political players and more about the state of our democracy and the threats we face. Hosted by former Lincoln Project Executive Director, political strategist, and Army combat veteran, Fred Wellman. Available on Apple, Spotify, and Google Podcasts.
There are certain guests you invite that don’t need much introduction. Steve Schmidt is an icon of American politics. As described in the currently airing Lincoln Project documentary he is one of only about a dozen political operatives alive who have managed Presidential General Election campaigns. He worked on the George W. Bush campaign and served in his Administration for Vice President Cheney and is, of course, a cofounder of the Lincoln Project. You regularly see him on TV offering his unique perspective and you can read his opinions and insights regularly on his newsletter at The Warning from Steve Schmidt.
He doesn’t need a lot of introduction but for those who live under a rock LTC (Retired) Alex Vindman is a former Army officer who served last on the National Security Council in the White House as the Director of European Affairs. That was the capstone assignment of an illustrious Army career that included service as an infantry officer in Iraq where he as injured in an attack and received the Purple Heart for his combat wounds. You got to know him during the impeachment of Donald Trump when he first uttered the words “Here, right matters.” And made fans amongst millions of patriotic Americans.
Since his retirement from the Army he has been hard at work on his PhD through Johns Hopkins University and is currently doing…well a lot from supporting the efforts of VoteVets and serving on the staff of the national security blog Lawfare with a fellowship of the Pritzker Military Foundation. He is the bestselling author of his memoir ‘Here, Right Matters: An American Story” and is a regular on television and on the speaking circuit. Alex has traveled to Ukraine to see the situation on the ground himself as recently as two months ago and is intimate with the constantly changing landscape of that war.
Welcome to ‘On Democracy with FPWellman’ coming to you from Half
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As I mentioned last week, I am so excited to bring the new season and new
format show to you on all of your favorite podcast platforms and now on
YouTube too!
As the name implies, On Democracy is a weekly discussion of the state of
our democracy. My goal is to bring you the top voices you’ve heard of
before from top advocates, politicians, experts, journalists, and academics
but also present those voices you may not have heard of before who are in
the fight for our democracy every day.
Kris Goldsmith is the nation's most recognized authority on the targeting of
American troops and veterans with disinformation and extremist recruiting efforts
by hostile foreign and domestic entities. After leaving the US Army at the rank of
sergeant in 2007, he became a top advocate in PTSD treatment and suicide
prevention, founding High Ground Veterans Advocacy, which trains veterans to
lead movements to shape federal law and regulations. As the Chief Investigator
and Associate Director for Policy and Government Affairs for Vietnam Veterans
of America, he led the successful campaign to remove the expiration date of
veterans education benefits, creating the Forever GI Bill and his work inspired
two congressional investigations into the effects of disinformation and extremism
on veterans. Goldsmith earned a degree from Columbia University in 2020 while
working full-time for VVA and running High Ground Veterans Advocacy.
Immediately following the attack against the Capitol on January 6, 2021, he
founded Sparverius, LLC, a service-disabled veteran-owned small business
which employs veterans in detecting and disrupting disinformation and extremism
campaigns that seek to erode Americas democracy.
Missouri House Democratic Floor Leader Crystal Quade is leading the fight against a Republican Super Majority in one of the reddest of states. She’s done it with skill, focus, and a strategy for the long term. We talk about the lessons others can learn and what we face as a state and nation if the GOP continues unchecked.
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Dr. William Horne recently published an essay on why we need to start using the “F” word (fascism) to describe the direction of the modern Republican Party. He is a historian who focuses on how elites and white supremacists use the state to create racial inequality and we examine what that means today.
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Writer, producer, and director Billy Ray, known for a string of Hollywood hits including The Comey Rule, Captain Phillips, and more, joins the show to talk about how Democrats must speak to the American people in the face of chaos agents and how they can bring back our sense of community.
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The January 6th hearings get more explosive each time and the Supreme Court acts like an arm of the GOP more each day. What does it all mean and what comes next for our democracy? John Nichols, National Affairs correspondent for The Nation and associate editor of The Capital Times in Wisconsin joins the show to discuss it all.
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Glenn Kirschner brings his 30 years as a federal prosecutor, homicide prosecutor and Army JAG to the show to discuss the January 6th Hearings and the insanity coming out of the GOP campaigns among other topics.
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As a bipartisan group of Senators build a framework on gun safety legislation we chat with former gun industry executive and safety advocate, Ryan Busse. He is the author of Gunfight: My Battle Against the Industry That Radicalized America, and serves as a senior policy adviser to Giffords.
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Talking about the first day of January 6th Committee Public Hearings and what’s next with Washington Post columnist and author of the Plum Line, Greg Sargent.
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Guest Jeff Timmer is the former executive director of the Michigan GOP, an advisor to John Kasich and a senior advisor to the Lincoln Project. He is an expert on the politics of the upper midwest and we’ll talk about the mess around candidate signatures, the threats to Governor Whitmer and murder of a Wisconsin judge, as well as the latest revelations about John Fetterman’s health.
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Special holiday episode with former Navy SEAL, ER doctor, and founder of Veterans For Responsible Leadership Dan Barkhuff to talk gun violence, Eric Greitens and the midterms, VFRL and Memorial Day’s meaning to those of us who have lost brothers and sisters in war.
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Tuesday is primary day in Georgia, Alabama and Arkansas. We focus on the hot races in Georgia and especially GA-14 as well as questions on Florida and Missouri.
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A short short show to talk about what happened in Buffalo, put it in context and how we must attack this source.
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The premier episode of ‘’On Democracy’ kicks off with fierce pro-democracy advocate, USA Today contributor and cohost of ‘The Suburban Woman Problem’ podcast, Rachel Vindman.
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