Eye on Congress

Climate change — a major concern of this week’s United Nations General Assembly — affects people across the globe through immigration, food production and the economy, to name a few. But as Ashley K. Shelton tells Mary C. Curtis, climate change is also spurring voter suppression. Shelton, who leads the Power Coalition for Equity and Justice and is a founding member of the Black Southern Women’s Collective, is turning her attention to policies that need to be in place to ensure that Americans disproportionately affected by devastating weather events can fully participate in democracy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Circus is back in town. At least Showtime’s political documentary series "The Circus" is back, resuming its sixth season this past Sunday. And the show has no shortage of topics to explore. Just in the coming weeks Congress is staring at a possible government shutdown, a debt limit breach, the fate of President Joe Biden’s agenda, fighting the COVID-19 Delta variant. And more! Two of the show’s hosts, Mark McKinnon and Jennifer Palmieri join the Political Theater podcast to discuss what they’ll be up to amid these crazy times. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Congress is trying to bring clarity to crypto. In this episode, we discuss the most ambitious proposal to date with former CFTC General Counsel Patrick McCarty. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

House Democrats wrapped up markups for the 13 sections of the reconciliation package this week, sending the draft text to the Budget Committee where it’ll be compiled before heading to the Rules Committee. But disagreements between moderate and progressive Democrats could significantly reshape the package. CQ Roll Call’s Jennifer Shutt and David Lerman break down the latest on the reconciliation package. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Congress is deeply split, but not when it comes to the Olympics. Former U.S. women's national gymnastics’ team doctor Larry Nassar’s serial sexual abuse of female gymnasts provoked bipartisan action to toughen oversight of the Olympics organizing committee and amateur athletics. But there are still unanswered questions about Nassar and how this happened. CQ Roll Call Chief Correspondent Niels Lesniewski discusses what happened in Congress to address the situation and what lawmakers and the Justice Department could still do. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Former CFTC Commissioner Brian Quintenz joins Fintech Beat to talk about his tenure and the recent confrontations between the crypto industry and government. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Joe Biden made clear from his first day in office that social justice issues are at the top of his economic agenda. A "human" infrastructure bill remains on Congress's to-do list, which includes subsidies for child care, education, paid leave, health care, clean energy programs — in other words, a social safety net. But to get this partisan, largely unwritten measure passed, Democrats have embraced the budget reconciliation process. Mary C. Curtis speaks first to Norman Ornstein, emeritus scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, to unpack the reconciliation process. To discuss the friction within the Democratic party on this measure and more, Curtis turns to DNC Chair Jaime Harrison on what's at stake.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Filmmaker Greg Barker’s new documentary, “Detainee 001” comes at a turning point in U.S history and its timing could not be more ideal. The story of John Walker Lindh, the “American Taliban” makes for a poignant narrative as the United States stands on the cusp of the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks and has ended its war in Afghanistan. Barker discusses the Taliban, Afghanistan and the bizarre story of John Walker Lindh on this week’s episode of the Political Theater podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Joe Biden this week declared that the longest war in U.S. history was over, and that after evacuating thousands of Americans and Afghan allies, there was no vital national security interest that justified staying in Afghanistan. But after 20 years, the withdrawal of troops and civilians this summer was messy, and deadly. CQ Roll Call Senior Defense Writer John Donnelly, joins us to discuss how much of it was standard operating procedure and a lack of good options for the U.S. mission there. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The United Nations Capital Development Fund’s lead for digitalization in West Africa provides an insider’s account of the region's innovation curve, and how mobile payments, digital identities and ecommerce solutions are transforming what it means to have an “informal” economy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Martin Luther King III joins Equal Time to talk with Mary C. Curtis about his father’s “I have a dream" speech, voting rights today and personal memories of his father. Fifty-eight years after his father's iconic words, MLK III joins John Lewis' family and others to galvanize the nation to, once again, ensure voting rights for all Americans. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Health inequities between different racial and ethnic groups existed well before COVID-19, but the pandemic has revealed just how stark the disparities are. Throw in the politicization of science, and the United States has a big mountain to climb to conquer the virus. Dr. Leana Wen, an emergency physician and former health commissioner of Baltimore sits down with guest host Sandhya Raman to unpack where we are and what can be done. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sunayna Tuteja, The Federal Reserve's Chief Innovation Officer, gives her first interview since taking the post and offers insight on the Federal Reserve, and what it takes to move from the private sector to government. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A little known public-health directive, Title 42, allows border agents to swiftly “expel” migrants who cross the border -- without considering their asylum claims. It was implemented in March 2020 as COVID-19 cases spread across the U.S. This expulsion policy was criticized by presidential candidate Joe Biden, but President Biden has embraced it. At least for now. Special host Suzanne Monyak unpacks the politics of this thorny immigration policy with Cris Ramon, an independent immigration consultant. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kristin Smith provides a behind-the-scenes look at the infrastructure bill and crypto-lobbying in Washington.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The House is set to take up the fiscal 2022 budget resolution the week of Aug. 23, but moderates are threatening to block the tax and spending blueprint unless leaders hold a vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill. CQ Roll Call’s Jennifer Shutt and Paul Krawzak discuss the latest on the budget resolution. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Venture capitalists Tyler Griffin and Ryan Falvey break down how the next generation of fintech is leveraging technology to both scale and serve diverse customer bases. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Special elections to the House this year have offered more evidence that local and state contests have been nationalized, even down to the intra-party primary contests for safe seats. CQ Roll Call Politics Editor Herb Jackson and Inside Elections Reporter and Analyst Jacob Rubashkin join Political Theater to discuss what we can learn from special election results so far. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An upcoming decision on whether to raise or suspend the debt limit is shaping up to be one of the more challenging legislative battles this year. CQ Roll Call’s Jennifer Shutt and David Lerman discuss what is likely to be a contentious fight between the two parties. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The HBO documentary series “Obama: In Pursuit of a More Perfect Union,” arrives at a tumultuous time in American politics. It explores the formative years and presidency of Barack Obama, an era that seems both faraway and contemporary, with race relations continuing to define the public sphere. The three-part series premieres on HBO and HBO Max on Aug. 3, just in time for Obama's 60th birthday this week on Aug. 4. As part of the American Film Institute's AFI Docs 2021 documentary film festival, Political Theater host Jason Dick moderated a post-screening discussion with Peter Kunhardt, the director and producer of the series, and Jelani Cobb, staff writer for the New Yorker, also a producer and contributor to the series, as well as one of the country's prominent journalists covering race, culture and politics. Interview contents: AFI DOCS copyright 2021, courtesy of American Film Institute. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices