Podcast Central: Marriage Equality, John Walsh, the State Senate and More!

I've been seriously negligent on my LeftAhead promos here on RyansTake, so here's a batch of our last few.

• Interview with Boston City Councilor Steve Murphy. We chatted lots of Boston topics, but also focused in on the proposed Suffolk Downs casino. Here's your chance to see what the President of the Boston City Council thinks about that, including whether or not the entirety of Boston should be able to vote on it, or just East Boston. I'll spare folks my thoughts on that matter, because if you're here, you probably know it already.
• State Democratic Party Chairman John Walsh. We love having John Walsh on and it always makes for a great show. He went over the strategy for this year's elections and I loved his thoughts, toward the end of the show, on the brewing Tierney-Tisei congressional race, which promises to be a doozy. Let's just say Tisei, the 'moderate' got behind the Blunt amendment... 
• Mike and I on the Republican Reality TV Primary, especially Santorum and Romney. Mike's always amazed that our pundit-like shows often do as well as shows with good guests, but I'm not as surprised. We had a lot of fun with this one, and people like fun. Plus, we're totally better pundits than most of the bobble-heads from CNN and Fox News.
• Freedom to Marry Board Member, Rev John Buehrens. Buehrens brings a national perspective as a 9-year member of Freedom to Marry, one of the chief national organizations fighting for marriage equality across the country. He's also a local UU minister, who just so happened to chair the national organization for a while.
  
  He brought even more insight into the state-by-state battles going on in Maine, Washington, Maryland and elsewhere than I expected -- so if these are on your radar, definitely check it out. He also brought in a fascinating understanding of where marriage equality, partisan politics and religion intersect, and how that influences the battle. This show shouldn't be missed.
• State Senate Candidate Mara Dolan. Our show with Dolan today was great. She is clearly a very credible candidate, with a wide policy background, as well. I was very pleased to hear that she understands the fact that the "MBTA issue" is a Beacon Hill issue as much as anything else.
  
  If you're from the 3rd Middlesex District, this is a can't-miss show, and even if not, you should still check it out, because these races have impacts that are far more wide-sweeping than their own borders. 

Marisa DeFranco at 3:30pm on LeftAhead

Mike and I are interviewing US Senate Candidate Marisa DeFranco at 3:30 today on LeftAhead. You can listen live at blogtalkradio.com/lefties starting at 3:30pm, or anytime after 4:30 at LeftAhead.com. There's also a mp3 player for the show on the right-hand column of this blog, and people can catch it at iTunes or some other podcast aggregators.

Today's LeftAhead Podcast: Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz

Mike has the full write-up at LeftAhead, but here's the general gist of today's jam-packed show.

The ever-intense MA Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz joined us today, centering on redistricting, transgender rights, and education. Not only is she a progressive leader in LGBT issues, she chairs the Joint Committee on education and is vice-chair of the Special Joint Committee on Redistricting.

I was impressed with the Senator's ability to squeeze in a lot of details in such a short amount of time, never mind switching between three unrelated topics at the drop of a hat. Her intellect and energy is why she's quickly become one of the most effective senators out there, never mind one of the leaders in the Commonwealth's small-d movement of progressive politics.

Today's show ended up being more timely than I would have suspected, with Congressman Frank's retirement, but we managed to talk about redistricting at both the local and congressional levels, as well as talk about some of the meta that goes behind it -- such as the goals of the committee and the process behind it. We also have some frank discussion on the Transgender Rights bill, both the importance of getting this done and the fact that there's still a little unfinished business surrounding it, since public accommodation was left outside of the bill. On education, mainly focused on her bill tackling the state's drop out problem, in which 8,000 kids in Massachusetts are dropping out every year.

For people who want to skip to the parts of the show they're most interested in, redistricting was the first topic and then we got to the transgender rights bill at about 14:20. At 24:50, we finally got to education. We didn't have as much time as I would have liked to take on this issue, but even just the five minutes we had was enough to tackle some key aspects of her bill on how she thinks we could be better at getting kids to stay in school.

A Post Citizens United World: This week's podcast, with Jamie Eldridge

State Senator Jamie Eldridge has long been one of our favorite guests on LeftAhead, but it's been a while since we've last had him on and were very excited when he quickly agreed to jump on the show and talk about what's really become one of the the most important issues facing us today: how do we live in a post-Citizens United world?

It's a difficult topic to address. There's the drastic implications of the Citizens United decision itself, as well as the conservative/corporate-loving bent of our courts to deal with -- courts in which things could get worse before they get better.

There's also the power of the special interests who have ample money and resources available to thwart even that which can still be done in a post-Citizens United world today.

The game seems rigged against us, yet the question becomes are we going to sit here and take it?

There's a reason why many in the progressive left of this state admire and respect Jamie Eldridge above and beyond many others -- and what he has to say on this podcast reflects so many of them. He knows how to mix progressive with pragmatic, having a political style that speaks to our aspirations while not letting perfection become the enemy of the good. He understands the really important issues that are going on and has an almost Elizabeth-Warren-like ability to talk about them in ways that anyone can understand and get behind. Most importantly, though, he's not afraid to get behind the really difficult issues, the issues that require real courage and leadership to tackle -- and anything meant to realistically challenge the implications of a post-Citizens United world today falls under that category.

Senator Eldridge really speaks to the fact that you can run as a proud democrat, one who's not scared of their own core convictions, and win in districts that have little in common with Cambridge, Brookline, Amherst or Somerville -- not in spite of your beliefs, but because of them.

I strongly recommend listening in on the podcast -- it was the sort of show that flew by so quickly, I wished our format allowed us more time. Alas.

As always, you can get the show on LeftAhead, BlogTalkRadio.com/lefties, iTunes, or on the BlogTalkRadio audio player to the right.

Finally, as an announcement, we're having a special Thursday morning edition of LeftAhead tomorrow, featuring special guest Ayanna Pressley. It's probably been an election cycle since we've last had her on and the Boston City Council city-wide seat is very competitive this year, so it should be a good show.

Talk, Talk, Talk

Mike and I did our podcast on the economic state of things. Will American cities be burning like London, too?

Today's LeftAhead: US Senate Race w/Candidate Bob Massie

Today on LeftAhead, we had Bob Massie on as our guest, the first announced candidate running for the Democratic Primary to face Senator Scott Brown in 2012. Massie has degrees from Princeton, Harvard and Yale and has a wide variety of experience, is a published author, and helped developed tools which enable corporations to become greener and save money at the same time.

You can listen to the podcast using the player below, or head to LeftAhead.com. You can also get the show at Blogtalkradio.com/lefties, or download and subscribe at iTunes.



Mike and I touched on a a broad range of issues, from jobs and the economy, to the environment, to health care. Massie laid out his vision for where he thinks this country needs to go to ensure it remains competitive in today's world, and so we can strengthen the middle and working class.

We also talked about the campaign itself and Bob gave us his pitch for the race. Bob is clearly in the Democratic Wing of the Democratic Party, and will be tapping the grassroots across the state to build momentum. I hope everyone will listen to the show and see what they think.

DADT Repeal with Kara Suffredini from MassEquality

Mike and I had Kara Suffredini, MassEquality's still-new (and very savvy) director, on our latest LeftAhead podcast to discuss Don't Ask Don't Tell Repeal and the state of affairs of GLBT civil rights in New England and beyond. Lots of good, frank talk -- this show's not to be missed by anyone who cares about GLBT civil rights. Suffredini knows what she's talking about.

You can listen by clicking the link or using the Blog Talk Radio player to the right. Enjoy!

Today's Podcast: The Filibuster and National Snooze Button

Good, informative stuff on today's filibuster. We talk about the rules and how it works, and why some of the things have gone the way they've gone. It serves equal parts filibuster 101 and advocacy for its reform of repeal. Both Mike and I would love to see the thing go, but even making people stand up and defend their stance for hours -- instead of the current means of allowing things to take place behind closed doors -- would be a big improvement.

Click here to listen, or use the blog talk radio widget to the right.

The WikiLeaks Podcast

Mike and I had a great podcast on LeftAhead about the whole WikiLeaks ordeal, focusing on the facts of the matter, as well as some of the actual revelations from the story.

You can listen to the show by clicking the link above, catching it on the Blog Talk Radio player to the right or downloading it on iTunes.

This Week's Podcast: Corruption

This week Mike and I hit up ethics abuse in Massachusetts, covering everything from Chuck Turner to the probation department. We also discussed how important it is for the state to address the disease, not just the symptoms of the problem, by really cleaning house and pushing ahead with additional ethics laws -- especially those around issues of transparency (hello, Open Meeting laws).

As always, you can click the link to listen to the show, listen to it on the sidebar on this website, or catch it on itunes.

Today's Podcast: Online Videos and Social Media

Boston-based online video and social media expert Steve Garfield came onto LeftAhead today to discuss the importance online videos in terms of social media, and how easy it is to film them.

Click the second link to listen to the podcast, or catch it on the sidebar of this site.

My only comment on Kagan:

I have very little confidence she's going to be the liberal lion of the Supreme Court I'd love to have, able to deliver the same sort of intellectual prowess from the left that Scalia and Roberts bring from the right, but damned if I don't like her.

Note to readers: Mike and I did a SCOTUS podcast last week. I don't think I liked her then as much as I do now. She's very fun(ny) to watch.

Tres (for) Treasurer

LeftAhead Internet Radio, which I co-host, has now finished interviewing all three (known) candidates for State Treasurer. Click the links to listen in, or use the BlogLeftRadio player on the sidebar.

• Steve Grossman (D)
• Steve Murphy (D)
• Karen Polito (R)

Yes, LeftAhead interviewed a Republican. We were polite and everything. On Polito's show, skip ahead 15 minutes if you just want to hear the interview. All of the shows were interesting -- and I thought all of the candidates made some good points. I do have to say that Murphy's notion of just how the State Treasurer's office could grow jobs is appealing to me, but I don't see how he gets passed the juggernaut that is Steve Grossman (who would be a fantastic State Treasurer, too). No idea who I'll support in the end, but I think Massachusetts benefits tremendously by having this very competitive race, including the Republican.

Niki Tsongas's Podcast -- Good Stuff

Mike and I had Niki Tsongas on LeftAhead yesterday and I thought it went very well. Tsongas was wonkier than I had expected, in a good way. For people who like a good, meaty podcast, filled with a broad spectrum of issues and some specifics to go along with it, I think you'll like it a lot.

You can listen or download it at the link above, on this site's right-hand sidebar, blogtalkradio.com/lefties or on Itunes, searching for LeftAhead amongst the podcasts.

Peter Smulowitz for State Senate on Tuesday

Senator Brown may have won a seat in the US Senate, but that meant he had to give up his old position in the State Senate. The door may have been shut, but we can safely call this an open window.

Peter Smulowitz, a medical doctor living in the district, in Needham, was campaigning to replace Brown since even before Brown defeated Martha Coakley, and now he finds himself an established candidate in an open seat. With an impeccable resume -- from Cornell for a degree in Biology, to the University of California for Med School and then Harvard for a grad degree in health care policy, Smulowitz has been in Massachusetts since 2003, when he started at Beth Israel Deaconess for his residency, where he still works as an emergency physician. As Co-Chair of the Governmental Affairs Committee for the Massachusetts College of Emergency Physicians, he's worked closely with both state regulatory agencies and state legislators, including his work with State Senator James Timilty to file "An Act to Improve Access to Emergency Care," which has nudged the Department of Public Health towards taking action on reducing overcrowding at ERs across the state. He's also had close ties with his home community in Needham, working on environmental causes and affordable housing.

Undoubtedly, health-care related questions will pop up, as well as questions about his record, stances on the issues and the campaign in general. People can listen live, Tuesday at 2:30, or catch it later at the same site, at LeftAhead.com or on itunes.

Upcoming LeftAhead Guests

We have some exciting guests lined up for LeftAhead internet radio.

• Lt. Governor Tim Murray, Tuesday, 2/23 at 2:30. We were very excited to get him for an podcast focused on public transportation issues.
  
• Former Governor Michael Dukakis, Tuesday, 3/2 (I think at 2:30). This will be another podcast focused mostly on public transportation issues.
• Progressive Democratic candidate for State Senate to fill in Scott Brown's old seat, Peter Smulowitz, Tuesday, 3/9 at 2:30. This will be focused on campaign issues.
  

As always, our shows are available at LeftAhead.com, on iTunes (under "LeftAhead") and at Blogtalkradio.com/lefties. People can also listen to it on the nifty Blog Talk Radio player on the righthand-side of this blog. We're always looking for interesting guests (from campaigns, orgs, etc.) and ideas for topics, so feel free to send me an email if you're interested.

Deval Patrick Podcast

LeftAhead Internet Radio, a podcast I'm a co-host of, had Governor Patrick on yesterday. Lots of interesting and frank talk occurred -- including some new themes that, I hope, will be appearing frequently on the campaign trail. We focused on budgetary issues and the (sometimes heated) dynamics of Beacon Hill between the Governor and legislative bodies, as well as what the Governor plans to do should he be reelected for a second term. Patrick was on for the first half hour of the show, then the co-hosts discussed the upcoming race.

Readers can listen in on this site's sidebar, at the LeftAhead link up above, on iTunes (searching for LeftAhead) or at www.blogtalkradio.com/lefties.

Deval Patrick to appear on LeftAhead podcast this Tuesday

He'll be coming on LeftAhead this Tuesday to take questions from Lynne, Mike and myself. We haven't pinned down the exact time, but it'll probably be an hour or two earlier than our normal 2:30 start time. As always, when we're finished doing the live show, the recording will be available on LeftAhead.com and iTunes to listen or download, or on this site's sidebar.

If any readers have questions they'd like asked, I will consider them, but they have to be serious and respectful in phrase. Mere partisan attacks are obviously unacceptable.

Today's Podcast: Politics in 2011

What's going to happen in 2011? Lynne and I discussed that and more on today's episode of LeftAhead.

Catch it by clicking the link, on the BlogTalkRadio media player to the right or by downloading it free on itunes.

Today's LeftAhead Podcast: MA-Sen, Health Care

It was a lively one, today, especially after Lynne joined us (she was a bit late).