Not Another Politics Podcast

I love this podcast & have been listening for years - the analysis of methodology, critical conversations about political theory, and diverse perspectives are so much fun! But the sound mixing is so bad - the host & guest audio is extremely variable & not balanced, so I end up needing to skip 20% of episodes bc I can’t actually hear one of the hosts while the others are quite loud. Hopefully y’all can get the sound in shape, because the discussion is always worth it!

If you’re looking for a heavily right- or leftwing podcast, this isn’t for you. Each week’s discussion does not react to the buzzword of the week, nor does it follow a particular woke or MAGA script. Research is incorporated and discussed thoughtfully, but it doesn’t become academic navel gazing. My only complaint is that Wioletta needs a professional mic! It sounds like she’s recording on beat-up Thinkpad from 1996.

Thought this would have been a discussion with new or different insights. It is not. Analysis seemed shallow & information cited very standard

The discussion by Matthew Levendusky about the Supreme Court was the most superficial banal bit of pablum I’ve heard in a long time. My views on the Court are not based on New York Times reporting. Nor is it based on its partisan ruling on Roe. It’s the fact that for the past few years, this Court twists its argument to fit its predetermined decision. And in many cases they actually twist the “facts” to support their predetermined decision (eg. See Kennedy). They bounce between their interpretation of “originalism” or “textualism” or “history and tradition” to support their partisan position. They have gutted voting rights. They have stalled the trial decisions on Trump. You didn’t even mention the two biggest reasons for the illegitimacy of the Supreme Court. The overt corruption of Alito and Thomas. And the immoral and totally partisan appointment of Gorsuch and Barrett. Your speaker was vapid and your analysis of his paper was shallow. Very disappointing.

This isn’t a show where you will get the normal hot takes and such from the hosts that are recycled during the 24 hours news cycle. It reminds me a lot on how seminars would work in undergrad where everyone would pick and prod at the discussion raised by a certain piece of quantitative (well as much as you can get from this field) research. That might turn off the average Joe, whose looking to see what the leanings of the hosts are, but if that doesn’t interest you, the show is perfect for discussing why we see such trends in the world.