The Ron Show

Ron Roberts
  • 4.7 (11)
  • Politics
  • Updated Daily

Welcome to the Ron Show - Atlanta's only progressive audio platform airing five days a week on Georgia Now, M-F 4-6pm (replaying 8-10am the next weekday). Host Ron Roberts covers Atlanta, metro Atlanta, Georgia and national politics from a pretty unique lens ... he's just your run-of-the-mill Georgia-born gay progressive cat-dad realtor & talk show host. Dime a dozen, right?

  1. 1d ago

    Why are some Dems embracing 'status quo' when the energy is to its left?

    Notes forthcoming.

    45 min

  2. 4d ago

    Rick Jackson forgot "TV commercial Rick Jackson" | Revisiting a thorny (Mary) Rose

    Friend of the show, columnist Jay Bookman reminds us (and Rick Jackson) of the "Rick Jackson" Rick recalls himself being as a child: impoverished and in need. As Bookman opines, it's as if Jackson forgot that child version of himself on route to crafting the sort of policies he'd put in place if he were to become Georgia's next governor. - - - Revisiting a conversation I had with Mary Rose Wood, a brave "bad ass" (her brother's term) who's a high school teacher in Chapin, SC. There she was smeared on school board candidates' campaign mailer as "communist." All because she had her AP language arts students read a Ta-Nehisi Coates book. The south gonna "south," right? Anyhow, we discussed her story, brush with fame (and fear) in that small SC town.

    44 min

  3. 5d ago

    Stop giving bigots (Pride gear and) a platform | the rural GA preacher bucking anti-gay Baptist bigotry

    Some folks on social media have taken the bait, arguing the pros and cons of mandated "Pride Night" gear for pro athletes. Of all teams, the SAN FRANCISCO Giants manages to have anti-gay bigots on its roster, but they also (my opinion) made the mistake of concocting "Pride Night" gear for players to wear (it was an option, and note mandated). A minor league baseball team wound up having to forfeit its game when too many rostered players refused to wear their "Pride Night" gear. I'm as gay as they get, but I'm not dumb enough to think it's wise to put "Pride night" literally on the shoulders of pro athletes. Why give any bigot the platform to gripe about it? Or write Bible verses (eye roll) on their caps in response? Meanwhile, I'm re-sharing a conversation I had back in 2023 with a Hartwell, Georgia independent Baptist preacher who bucked the bigoted Baptist trend and swung open his smalltown church's doors - as the Washington Post reported it tnen - filling pews by "leaving no one out."

    45 min

  4. 6d ago

    Georgia Repubs accidentally mandate nail-biter elections? Rick's running (from Keisha) ... the no-show rodeo

    ...plus the Georgia GOP no-show rodeo & a Wynter-y cold endorsement leaves Mike Collins frozen out. The special session Governor Brian Kemp commanded out of the state legislature didn't yield much for his party (no redrawn maps, no property tax cuts passed onto consumers' sales taxes) but it did yield a mess of an election bill he'll have to sign (we're guessing) to address the looming QR code deadline: according to Marilyn Marks with the Coalition for Good Governance, the bill accidentally mandates razor-thin election margins, the way it's written. Oof. She joined me to explain. - - - Meanwhile, it's officially "general election season" for the 2026 calendar so focus will turn to Rick Jackson v Keisha Lance Bottoms, with statements made by Jackson at an event with a radical anti-abortion voter raising eyebrows. In the comments, he seems to co-sign on eliminating exclusions for incest and rape. - or at least creating new barriers to those exceptions being available to women who learn they're pregnant on or after the six-week ban in Georgia would occur. His being poor at thinking on his feet (there and in a prior televised debate) is likely one reason why Democratic nominee Keisha Lance Bottoms is challenging Jackson to no less than three one-on-one forums. --- The alleged killer who stabbed a MARTA passenger weeks ago may receive the death penalty, according to a federal grand jury, writes Rosie Manins at the Atlanta Journal Constitution. That's the story anti-transit, anti-urban folks want you to focus on, and not the fact that MARTA has adequately absorbed twice the usual ridership during the World Cup while running on-time and without incident. All that just proving that a little influx of state and federal support makes MARTA run "smarta." - - - As if there isn't enough to embarrass any Republican with self-awareness, a Georgia GOP rodeo drew "tens" of people (my guess-estimate when you don't count candidates and their surrogates). HA! - - - One more, though! Atlanta-based conservative talk radio host Shelley Wynter (WSB A/FM) had Senator Jon Ossoff on recently - and endorsed the incumbent Senator! Hear the exchange:

    45 min

  5. Jun 24

    The GOP three-ring circus: Georgia elections protocols, algae & Iran

    A Tuesday update on Georgia's special legislative session takes us to one ring of a three-ring circus of GOP clown activity. As the AJC's Caleb Groves & David Wickert reported - Republicans under the Gold Dome struggled to tackle a self-mandated deadline to eliminate QR codes from ballots while also trying to saddle local elections officials with an absurd burden to hand recount top-tier races. Stone Mountain Senator Kim Jackson took to the floor to rip the silliness. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (REPUBLICAN) succinctly pointed out that Georgia Republicans in the assembly had 18 months, ten meetings with his office and multiple budget requests for funding to allow his office to do exactly what they mandated his office do - to no avail. - - - Technically in the same "ring" of the current GOP circus, Democrats successfully blocked Georgia Republican efforts to create new taxes (they'd saddle county & city politicians with doing that to avoid shouldering any blame themselves) by passing property taxes only roughly 65% of the state's residents would benefit from while 100% shoulder the additional taxes sure to come to cover for 'em. - - - The lead clown in this three-ring circus is, of course, the clown with all the orange spray tan makeup. As James Tate on Twitter/X astutely lays out - point by point- Donald Trump has again successfully created a problem he now wants to fix while blaming "Antifa" for causing. Ron Filipowski: " So an Antifa scuba diver with a box cutter snuck into the Reflecting Pond to cut a 300 foot section out while evading all cameras and law enforcement in order to sabotage Trump. Do I have that right?" - - - Meanwhile, Tucker Carlson and Marjorie Taylor Greene are both now washing their hands of the Republican Party. I mean, their complicity in crafting what the GOP is now under MAGA & Trump is missing from their proclamations. They're unhappy (among other things) that we a) went to war with Iran then b) negotiated a deal that's a near-complete capitulation to Iran (from the "The Art of the Deal" leader they helped to return to the White House). British comedian Jonathan Pie, in his caricaturish role of TV reporter Tom Walker, truly captured all that makes ZERO sense with Donalt Trump leading on negotiating with Iran and his treatment of allies.

    45 min

  6. Jun 23

    GA Dems stare down GOP tax shell game | Ceretta Smith runs "for the people" in GA-12

    During the entire special session of the Georgia General Assembly, Democrats managed - time and time again - to withstand GOP efforts to offer property tax cuts while putting the burden on local electeds to find ways to make up the funding gap such cuts would put on county and municipal budgts. One such locally elected official - Jimmy Furst, Chamblee city councilman - provided his thoughts in an op/ed for the Atlanta Journal Constitution - and of course, so did I. Meanwhile the chief (we're told) reason for the special session was a looming July 1st deadline to eliminate QR codes from Georgia ballots. A half-measure with no Democratic party input sought to put the task off until 2028 but also mandating hand recounts for the top two races on any ballot. Oy! - - - My hometown (Grovetown, Georgia) has changed a lot since I was a kid in the 1980s. When I was a kid, we had a former Klansman as our fire department chief. Today, Grovetown's a racially diverse thriving bedroom community of 10,000-plus with Black city council members. A former city councilperson and mayoral candidate - Ceretta Smith - is now the Democratic party nominee for Georgia's 12th Congressional district. I got to know more about the former US Army medic and national union leader about what drives her to continue to want to serve her country.

    45 min

  7. Jun 18

    Purposeful House candidate aims to flip GA 1

    PLUS: We get a post-primary checkup on the Democrats' slate in Georgia from Atlanta-based strategist & Mike Collins will have a hard time beating Ossoff when he's unliked within GOP ranks Now that we're clear of the primary calendar (checks to make sure it's impossible there's any. more. run-offs) it's time to get to know some of the Democratic candidates throughout the state running for state and federal offices. Numerically, why not start in Georgia's 1st Congressional? Amanda Hollowell is the party's nominee; a well-known political strategist and the Chief of Campaigns at Color Of Change, the country’s largest online racial justice organization. I got to spend a lot of time learning about her, what's shaped her mindset and how her professional background and her raising a son who chimes in with his and his friends' views makes her a sharpened candidate to flip GA 1.- - - Atlanta-based political strategist/consultant Andrew Heaton popped on a call for a post-primary check-up of the Georgia Democratic Party's November slate, and to look at what the GOP counter candidacy looks like, too. One issue that may hobble Mike Collins is that he's unlikable even among prominent conservatives in the state, and the improprieties within his campaign and Congressional office may dog him throughout the general election cycle.

    1h 14m

  8. Jun 16

    Saving the 7th: White seeks to be a 'caretaker' for GA's vacant Senate seat

    PLUS: Kemp's 11th hour endorsement may test his political prowess for now and later. When Nabilah Parkes stepped away from use Georgia Senate seat to run for lieutenant governor, I believe she put personal aspiration ahead of party and constituents, which is why I can't vote for her today. That said, she couldn't have predicted the Supreme Court gutting the remnants of the Voting Rights Act to unleash another round of racial gerrymandering, but that's where we are, starting tomorrow. There's a run-off for that seat where two Democrats hope tobe on the general election ballot in November to take the office next January, but Republicans could win it today with a surge in turnout up-ballot aiding them. It's a three-alarm fire, and stepping up to try and save that Senate seat for Democrats is an unconventional candidate in Adrienne White-Carden. She's a career woman, mother and wife who's worked behind the scenes on several campaigns and causes, and is now the face and name on campaign material. She joined me to discuss the moment, why it works for her and her family "just this once" and the uphill battle she and her campaign staff, volunteers and army of endorsers have had to wage in the lats week. - - - Elsewhere on the ballot, Republicans have to choose between "Daddy's (money) boy Burt" and Rick "the ick" Jackson - who now has backing from (ick!) Ted Cruz and the social media praise from Donald Trump Jr. (ick!). Meanwhile Burt netting an 11th hour endorsement from Governor Brian Kemp feels like a backhanded compliment of sorts but it and Kemp's backing of Derek Dooley in the US Senate primary seem to be early tests of Brian's political clout in the state he's governed for two terms.

    44 min
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4.7
out of 5
11 Ratings

About

Welcome to the Ron Show - Atlanta's only progressive audio platform airing five days a week on Georgia Now, M-F 4-6pm (replaying 8-10am the next weekday). Host Ron Roberts covers Atlanta, metro Atlanta, Georgia and national politics from a pretty unique lens ... he's just your run-of-the-mill Georgia-born gay progressive cat-dad realtor & talk show host. Dime a dozen, right?

Information

  • Creator
    Ron Roberts
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2026
  • Episodes
    765
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Ron Roberts
  • Show Website
    The Ron Show

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