This is the first episode of a five-part miniseries on the Iowa caucuses hosted by Tommy Vietor and produced by Pineapple Street Studios. In episode one, Tommy looks back at Barack Obama's 2008 Iowa operation to explain how he won, how that victory propelled him to the White House, and why Obama says his Iowa caucus victory was more meaningful than the night he was elected president. Tommy also heads to the Iowa State Fair to talk with 2020 candidates and introduces you to some young campaign field staffers who we'll follow for the next few weeks.
Charles Mitchell, who leads the Commonwealth Foundation in Pennsylvania, is worried about children's access to charter schools in the Keystone State. "Our governor has declared war on opportunity for Pennsylvania families," Mitchell says, referring to Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf. "He's issued 11 executive orders, the plain intent of which is to put the kibosh on charter schools."
We also cover the following stories:
Supreme Court plaintiff Mark Janus discusses workers' rights.
Two impeachment hearings will occur today.
Chick-fil-a makes a notable change in its charitable giving.
The crew chats about how Paul and Sara made the transition from individual contributors to managers overseeing teams of engineers. Sara used to see this transition as a form of selling out, but has a new perspective after having made the shift. Paul admits he still doesn’t feel like a “CEO” and how he approaches his role as the co-founder who focuses on creating signal instead of operations. OF course, we argue about Bitcoin, and finally we examine the role luck plays in life, especially for The Rock.
Interview - Kent C Dodds
Kent admits that when he first tried programming, he just couldn’t understand strings, and decided the career path wasn’t for him. He ended up on a track that would have made him an accountant or business intelligence analyst. From that perch, however, he began to find ways to automate and improve his workflows. Not only did this help him stand out at work, it reawakened his interest in coding, which is now his full time career.
Part 2
Sara talks about the difference between writing code for software applications, and writing firmware, which she got into while helping to launch and run Jewelbots. Paul and Sara recall what it was like working in tech during the 90s, when they had to constantly worry about how to conserve RAM. We also talk about the days before Git, when folks passed a hard drive around from hand to hand. The kids today have no idea how good they have it.
Today's episode features a deep dive into what used to be a core Republican program, the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP. Did you know that every year, over a thousand people -- most of them with homes -- freeze to death in the U.S.? Did you know that both political parties used to want to do something about that?
We begin, however, with some listener feedback from our popular recent Episode 330 in which we broke down a recent decision by the Connecticut Supreme Court regarding "pre-embryos" and in vitro fertilization (IVF). Hear from a published scientist and an IVF mom!
Then, it's time for our deep dive into LIHEAP, 42 U.S.C. § 8621 et seq. You'll learn all about the problem of home heating in this country and what we do about it... at least for now. You'll also learn exactly how much the Trump administration would like to fund this program, which you won't be surprised to learn is $0.
But that's not all! Our "C" segment features a lengthy explanation from election law expert Beth Kingsley who answers the question "Could Donald Trump just hire Vladimir Putin to work on his 2020 re-election campaign if he discloses it?" The answer is more complicated than you'd expect and just might surprise you.
After all that, it's time for the answer to Friday's #T3BE 153 about the admissibility of a doctor's note in court. Will Thomas get this one right?? Listen and find out!
Appearances
None! If you’d like to have either of us as a guest on your show, drop us an email at openarguments@gmail.com.
Show Notes & Links
Please do participate in our favorite charity event of the year, Vulgarity for Charity! To participate, just donate $50 or more to Modest Needs, and then send a copy of the receipt to vulgarityforcharity@gmail.com along with your request for a roast. You can even request that Thomas & Andrew roast the victim of your choice.
We discussed both the IVF decision and the election hypothetical back in Episode 330.
In the interview, Mike talks to Yancey Strickler, co-founder of Kickstarter, about the company’s origins, the challenges of developing creator guidelines, and what he thinks about wealth in the tech industry. His new book is This Could Be Our Future.
Rep. Adam Schiff joins to break down all of the latest impeachment news, Pete Buttigieg takes the lead in Iowa, and Elizabeth Warren offers her own Medicare for All plan. Then Senator Sherrod Brown talks to Jon F. about impeachment, health care, and his new book, Desk 88: Eight Progressive Senators Who Changed America.
Senate President John Cullterton is retiring after 4 decades in the statehouse, and U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley is front-and-center in the impeachment hearings. We’ll find out what the Illinois senate will be like without Cullerton, and what kinds of questions Quigley is preparing for witnesses on capitol hill this week.
Few people pay much attention to local regulation, but it's where some of the most substantial infringements on liberty occur. Christina Sandefur of the Goldwater Institute comments.
Few people pay much attention to local regulation, but it's where some of the most substantial infringements on liberty occur. Christina Sandefur of the Goldwater Institute comments.
Episode fifty-seven of A History of Rock Music in Five Hundred Songs looks at “Flying Saucers Rock ‘n’ Roll” by Billy Lee Riley and the Little Green Men, and at the flying saucer craze of the fifties. Click the full post to read liner notes, links to more information, and a transcript of the episode.
