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Hispanic voters: America’s political future April 10, 2022 – Latinos are the fastest-growing segment of the American population and could steer its political future, picking those who control the U.S. House, Senate, and presidency. “As long as we have this black-white dichotomy between the parties the real battleground is going to be over Hispanics,” says M.V. “Trey” Hood, a political scientist with the University of Georgia.

The Politics of Ketanji First Black Female Court Nominee on the ‘Defensive’ March 20, 2022 – First Black female U.S. Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson will face criticism this week from Senate Republicans for serving as a public defender. “You’ve got a few guys up there running for president in 2024,” USA Today Supreme Court Correspondent John Fritze says. “They care about firing up the Trump base of the party.”

Rom Com to Rebellion, Irish Film Part of America March 6, 2022 – Decades of Irish movies focus on the theme of the island’s violent struggle to free itself from British rule. “Happiness is not really a prevailing characteristic of the Irish,” says Irish Studies Professor Socky O’Sullivan. “We tend to actually celebrate our troubles.”

The Politics of the U.S. Intelligence Radical Break from Past Strategies Stumps Russians March 6, 2022 – Twenty years after colossal blunders claiming Iraq weapons of mass destruction and failing to intercept the 911 hijackers, U.S. Intelligence agencies are being praised for exposing Russian plans to invade the Ukraine. “Someone decided to make a pretty radical break from what has been the practice for decades,” former New York Times national security reporter Scott Shane said. “What they did at each stage is they put the intelligence out.”

The Politics of the Putin Could His Ukraine Bullying Backfire? February 27, 2022 – Russia may capture the Ukraine capital, but the well-armed opponent could become Vladimir Putin’s Afghanistan. “He’s asking for trouble,” former longtime Russian correspondent Will Englund says. “You’ll have a guerilla war.”

The Politics of the Robert T. Lincoln Lincoln Son Close to Three Presidential Assassinations February 20, 2022 – Our President’s Day edition focuses on how Abraham Lincoln’s son, Robert T., detested politics after his father’s assassination. “The Republican Party tried five times to run him for president,” Robert T.’s biographer Jason Emerson says. “He said ‘To me the presidency is nothing but a gilded prison.’”

The Politics of the Ukraine Russian President’s Threats ‘Cold War Ghosts’ February 13, 2022 – Communist Russian President Vladimir Putin’s threat to invade the Ukraine to prevent it from aligning with the Democratic west hearkens back to the east-west battle of a half century ago. “A lot of Cold War ghosts have been resurrected and scattered about,” Los Angeles Times Foreign Editor Jeffrey Fleishman said. “Is he willing to breach war to collect what the past has already taken from him?”

The Politics of Bashing Biden Liberal Opinion Writers are Turning on their President February 6, 2022 – America’s liberal media is starting to criticize President Joe Biden’s handling of national and international affairs. Is it wiping out his chances for reelection in 2024? “Some of it is deserved,” said Bill Straub, a former White House correspondent. “The withdrawal from Afghanistan was just a bloody mess.”

The Politics of Killing Police 55 Shooting Deaths are Highest in 26 Years January 29, 2022 – An increasing number of American police officers are being gunned down in a wave not seen in a quarter of a century. “There’s a variety of reasons and most of them most of them can be laid at the feet of our elected officials and police leaders,” said a former Baltimore police union leader. They have emboldened criminals in this country by the de-policing.”

The Politics of Bob Dole The Man Once Called the Darth Vader of Congress Had a Soft Spot January 23, 2022 – Bob Dole died last month at 98 and left a legacy of a tough, grim Congressional curmudgeon who failed to achieve the presidency three times but quietly helped the poor, including creating a key economic lifeline: food stamps. “He had a very tough outside,” said author and Dole researcher Mark Zwonitzer. “He has a really soft core inside.”

The Politics of Racial Reckoning Are Companies Capitalizing Financially on Latest Civil Rights Struggle? January 17, 2022 – In the wake of the George Floyd killing, American companies are engaging in a racial reckoning not seen since the Civil Rights struggle of the 1960s. But is the inclusion of more Black Americans in news stories, TV ads and hiring sincere? “I think there are some companies that have leadership that realizes there has to be a change and are making a best effort,” said Phyllis Alexander of the National Coalition Building Institute. “The majority of our corporations are in the business of making money...not to do social justice.”

The Politics of Christmas Songs From the Political to the Bizarre December 26, 2021 – From war to nuclear holocaust, Christmas attracts songs with a purpose, in addition to those you wish remained a silent night. “There is a billion of hours of recorded Christmas music in the world that most people do not hear,” says technical producer, Brad Maybe, organizer of The Eggnog Playlist.