Capitol Courage

Ryan O'Toole

Welcome to Capitol Courage—where politics meets bold ideas and fearless conversations. We’re here to break down the biggest stories in Virginia and across the country with hot takes, real talk, and a little fun along the way. Whether it’s policy fights, political showdowns, or the leaders making waves — we’re diving into the courage it takes to stand up, speak out, and shake things up.

  1. 08/05/2025

    Episode 12: Sen. Russet Perry on Data Center Proliferation, the Fight to Protect Virginia Colleges from Trump, and Putting Lipstick on the Pig of the Republican Budget

    Welcome to Episode 12 of Capitol Courage!! Can you also believe we’re almost a teenager?? Around the pod, we’re feeling really happy with the name we picked for this podcast — we see more and more people these days talk about the courage crisis in American politics, by which we mean that there’s simply not enough elected officials or policymakers with the courage necessary to meet this perilous moment in our country. We’re excited to continue growing this podcast with you all and highlight the courageous folks around the country, and those cowards who are failing this moment. This week’s episode brings us talks around some heroes — those fighting to keep Virginia colleges and universities free from the interference of the Trump administration, including Virginia Senate Democrats — and cowards, especially those who are trying to sell the dangerous and deadly Republican budget bill. And we’re thrilled to be joined this week by Virginia Sen. Russet Perry, who has been one of the General Assembly’s leaders in fighting the entirely unregulated proliferation of data centers in Virginia, impacting regular people’s backyards and wallets. As always, DM us with any suggestions on future fights to cover and find us on social @CapitolCourage on Twitter and @CapitolCouragePod on Instagram and TikTok.

    59 min
  2. 07/17/2025

    Episode 10: Del. Holly Seibold on Taking on Big Tech and Big Gaming & What Republicans Hope You Miss in Their Budget

    Welcome listeners to Episode 10 of Capitol Courage! We’re thrilled to be celebrating double digits with you all. We’ve got some exciting conversations teed up for the coming weeks, and we’d love to hear from you on what big fights you think we should focus on next, or guests you’d like us to interview. Today we’re thrilled to welcome Virginia Delegate Holly Seibold to the pod, as she shares an all-too-rare perspective on what it means to stand up for your constituents, aka the regular people without a paid lobbyist. Whether it’s fighting a proposed casino in Tysons Corner or taking on big tech companies like Amazon to fight for consumer protection, she’s showing courage where it matters. And we also highlight a few of the less-publicized parts of the recent Ugly Republican Budget that is now law. Spoiler alert, they all make life more expensive for you and give special handouts to corporate special interests. Whether it’s making it harder for Medicare to lower prescription drug costs, restricting college student loan options, or forcing you to keep paying some private company to file your taxes, Republicans are hell-bent on raising the cost of living for regular people higher and higher. Lastly, join us for Part 1 of a sure-to-be-evolving conversation around how states are approaching redistricting, with some cowardly moves coming from Republican-led states. Will Democratic-led states have the courage to respond? We shall see..

    1h 6m
5
out of 5
7 Ratings

About

Welcome to Capitol Courage—where politics meets bold ideas and fearless conversations. We’re here to break down the biggest stories in Virginia and across the country with hot takes, real talk, and a little fun along the way. Whether it’s policy fights, political showdowns, or the leaders making waves — we’re diving into the courage it takes to stand up, speak out, and shake things up.