Ep. 50: Leah Sargent on the Dignity of Dependence

Ep. 56: Maryam Mehrtash on Reinventing the Village

Lauren Hall and Lura Forcum host We Made This Political with guest Maryam Mehrtash [https://www.instagram.com/maryammehrtash/], a former marketing executive (Disney, Marvel Studios, 20th Century, and the Paramount+ launch [https://www.linkedin.com/in/maryammehrtash/]) who pivoted after a late-2023/early-2024 layoff into writing, Substack (This Is Not a Memo [https://thisisnotamemo.substack.com/?utm_source=%2Fsearch%2Fthis%2520is%2520not%2520a%2520memo&utm_medium=reader2&utm_campaign=reader2]), speaking, and authoring her first book on reinvention, leadership, and how systems are failing people. She describes losing her identity after job loss, the pressures of transactional corporate culture, and a heart attack at 42 that she links to compounded chronic stress plus genetic risk (elevated lipoprotein(a)) and elevated LDL; she urges awareness of women’s heart-attack symptoms and Lp(a) testing. The conversation centers on her essay “We Were Never Meant to Do This Alone,” [https://thisisnotamemo.substack.com/p/we-were-never-meant-to-do-this-alone] critiquing American self-sufficiency myths, discussing lost “villages,” workplace and policy gaps (childcare, paid leave, healthcare), community-building practices, and potential admin-load relief via AI.00:00 Meet Maryam Mehrtash00:41 From Disney to Reinvention02:20 Layoff and Identity Shift05:16 Heart Attack Wake Up Call13:05 Values Boundaries and Betting on Yourself18:59 We Were Never Meant Alone26:26 Rehumanizing Work and Policy32:38 Compounds and Modern Villages39:22 AI and the Invisible Load43:13 How to Build Your Village49:12 Where to Find Maryam50:11 Closing and Optimism Resources Find Maryam [https://substack.com/@maryammehrtash] on Substack. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wemadethispolitical.substack.com [https://wemadethispolitical.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Ep. 55: Scott Warren and Morgan Ramsey-Elliot on Conservative Voters and Saving Democracy

Lauren Hall and Lura Forcum host Scott Warren (SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins) and Morgan Ramsey-Elliot (ReD Associates) to discuss their report, “Faith, Freedom, Family and Place,” an ethnographic study of conservative Americans’ relationships to democracy and institutional trust. They explain why common “save democracy” messaging often falls flat, arguing that democracy means different things across audiences and can be heard as protecting the status quo or advancing a partisan progressive agenda. Drawing on deep fieldwork, they describe a moral foundation—faith, freedom, family, and place—and three conservative orientations (actor critics, system critics, and foundation defenders) that predict tolerance for democratic norm deviation. The conversation highlights how local civic life, institutional encounters, COVID-era experiences, and information ecosystems shape distrust, and stresses listening, specificity, and honest reckoning with institutional failures. 00:00 Welcome and Guests 00:44 Why Study Conservatives 01:36 Limits of Polling 04:18 Red Associates Approach 07:03 Save Democracy Messaging 10:41 Democracy Means What 17:03 Faith Freedom Family Place 18:43 Inside the Ethnography 24:00 Values in Daily Life 28:32 Types of Conservative Critics 30:36 Crisis Segments Explained 31:41 Bridge Building Strategies 33:51 Elite Messaging And Slippage 36:23 COVID Trust Breakdown 38:19 Everyday Institutional Failures 42:06 Illiberalism Perception Gap 45:36 Ethnography Interview Method 49:02 Why Outrage Persuasion Fails 51:09 Report Reception And Backlash 54:46 Dissemination And Hope Resources Full Report: https://conservativestudy.redassociates.com/ [https://conservativestudy.redassociates.com/] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wemadethispolitical.substack.com [https://wemadethispolitical.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Ep. 54: Paul Kane on Congressional Dysfunction, Media Decline, and Broken Incentives

Lura Forcum and Lauren Hall host We Made This Political with congressional reporter Paul Kane [https://substack.com/profile/130986530-paul-kane] of NOTUS [https://www.notus.org/paul-kane], who explains how he moved from planning for law school to a 26-year career covering Congress and what makes a good congressional reporter. Kane argues that communications technology and the collapse of local and regional news have reshaped Congress, enabling “radical transparency” without reliable context and weakening accountability, illustrated by Rep. Tom Kean Jr. not being seen publicly since March 5th. [https://www.njspotlightnews.org/2026/06/the-missing-rep-tom-kean-jr-finally-speaks-sort-of/] The conversation covers low legislative output in 2025 and recent Congresses, the Senate’s procedural paralysis and focus on nominations, changing incentive structures favoring fundraising and attention over legislating, and norms that no longer enforce behavior because punishment can be monetized. Kane critiques media’s focus on controversy, highlights Gabe Fleisher’s Wake Up to Politics [https://www.wakeuptopolitics.com/], and ends with cautious hope in growing, less click-driven journalism and stories like Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester’s. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisa_Blunt_Rochester]00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro00:55 Paul Kane Origin Story02:30 Reporting Lessons From Local Politics05:03 What Makes a Great Hill Reporter09:35 How Congress Changed With Phones14:23 Radical Transparency Tradeoffs15:53 Missing Congressman Case Study20:03 Low Information Voters and Swings24:15 Approval Ratings and Cynicism27:03 Why Lawmaking Has Stalled32:09 Coalitions to Gridlock33:14 Fundraising and Selection Effects35:19 McHenry’s Incentive Shift42:13 Rules Fail and Punishment Backfires45:42 Chaos Era New Normal48:48 Media’s Role in Polarization53:50 Independent News and New Models57:00 Hopeful Signs and Closing Resources Find Paul’s Work: Paul’s final Washington Post column: https://wapo.st/4uBtWDU [https://wapo.st/4uBtWDU] Pauls’s interview with former Representative Patrick McHenry (NC-10): https://535.news/interviews/patrick-mchenry-jun-3-2026/ [https://535.news/interviews/patrick-mchenry-jun-3-2026/] Norms in Congress (NOTUS): https://www.notus.org/analysis/congress-there-are-no-rules-mike-johnson-republicans-legislation [https://www.notus.org/analysis/congress-there-are-no-rules-mike-johnson-republicans-legislation] Paul’s NOTUS bio and article listing: https://www.notus.org/paul-kane [https://www.notus.org/paul-kane] Paul’s Blue Sky profile: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:vqueu3b2o4xv4kcscj4dxdwf [https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:vqueu3b2o4xv4kcscj4dxdwf] Paul’s X/Twitter profile: https://x.com/pkcapitol [https://x.com/pkcapitol] Other Writers Discussed in the Episode: Gabe’s Wake Up to Politics Newsletter [https://www.wakeuptopolitics.com/] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wemadethispolitical.substack.com [https://wemadethispolitical.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Ep. 53: Nathan Smolensky on Independent Voters and Finding Common Ground

On We Made This Political, hosts Lura Forcum and Lauren Hall interview Nate Smolensky, a strategist for independent candidates and author of Common Ground From the Ground Up [https://www.amazon.com/Common-Ground-rethinking-relationships-democracy/dp/B0FJHCGRTK], about why independent identification is rising (about 45% and growing) and what people want from politics: less pessimism, more authenticity, problem-solving, and respectful engagement. Smolensky distinguishes independents as candidates and voters not beholden to either major party and argues the parties optimize for base-driven, alienating messaging—accelerated since 1994 and amplified by social media—while blocking competition through spoiler narratives. He highlights several independent campaigns polling competitively and explains “second option” strategies in one-party strongholds. The conversation also explores existential fear politics, voter empowerment, and Smolensky’s “collaborative discourse” approach—moving from win-lose argument to learning, “yes-and” additive conversations, and policy discussions that incorporate multiple perspectives. 00:00 Independents Can Break Gridlock 00:19 Meet the Hosts and Nate 01:54 Why So Many Independents 02:20 Authenticity Over Policy 04:28 What Independent Really Means 07:17 Representation Gap and Median Voter 09:15 Parties Cater to the Base 11:28 Politics as Market Segmentation 14:15 How the Strategy Took Hold 17:09 Independent Candidates Rising 20:00 Spoiler Effect and Vote Shaming 28:08 Existential Threat Messaging 32:43 Independents as Fulcrum 34:27 Earn My Vote Messaging 37:20 Collaborative Discourse Explained 40:24 Stop Trying to Convert 45:20 Zero Sum vs Additive 51:42 Yes And Policy Thinking 55:48 Moral Beliefs vs Policy 58:06 Hope and Where to Find 01:00:22 Closing Thanks and Outro Resources * Nate’s book Finding Common Ground [https://www.amazon.com/Common-Ground-rethinking-relationships-democracy-ebook/dp/B0FHQPZ8QZ] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wemadethispolitical.substack.com [https://wemadethispolitical.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Ep. 52: Ben Appel on Gender Heresy and Belonging

On We Made This Political, hosts Lura Forcum and Lauren Hall talk with writer Ben Appel about his memoir Cis White Gay: The Making of a Gender Heretic [https://www.amazon.com/Cis-White-Gay-Making-Heretic/dp/1637586280] and how identity, group loyalty, and the need for belonging shape belief and punish dissent. Appel describes returning to school at Columbia at 33 after a career in hairdressing and personal struggles, and how campus culture, critical theory, and political sloganeering pushed him to question reductive binaries, self-censorship, and seeing government as good only when it serves “my side.” The conversation covers polarization, the lack of ideological viewpoint diversity in education, pressures to conform, debates within gay communities such as marriage equality, and concerns about medicalizing gender-nonconforming youth and the difficulties faced by detransitioners. Appel finds hope in stepping back from social media, connecting with people, and focusing on everyday respect and curiosity, including talking to Trump voters as fellow human beings. 00:00 Talk to Trump Voters 00:19 Meet Ben Appel 01:53 Why Write Cis White Gay 06:57 Parroting Politics 13:14 Life Experience at Columbia 19:23 Starved for Viewpoints 23:23 Critical Theory as Dogma 25:40 Binary Thinking and Trump 31:54 Language Policing in Academia 36:09 Identity Buckets Debate 37:40 Growing Up Effeminate 40:42 From Inclusion to Medicalization 44:15 Critical Theory Distraction 50:22 Performing Identity Wrong 52:40 Gay Marriage Clash 01:03:18 Detransitioners Aftercare Gap 01:07:09 Finding Hope Offline 01:15:05 Wrap Up and Credits Resources Ben’s Substack Ben Appel’s Newsletter [https://substack.com/@benappel] Ben’s book, Cis White Gay [https://www.amazon.com/Cis-White-Gay-Making-Heretic/dp/1637586280] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wemadethispolitical.substack.com [https://wemadethispolitical.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]