Finding Common Battle Grounds

Ryan Cragun
  • 4.7 (3)
  • Politics
  • Updated Weekly

Finding Common Battle Grounds is an attempt by two brothers - one conservative, the other progressive - to have civil conversations about politics, with a little help from their friends.

  1. S05E15 - Racialized Policing in the UK and Protesting in Churches

    Jun 10

    S05E15 - Racialized Policing in the UK and Protesting in Churches

    In this episode of Finding Common Battle Grounds, we tackle two recent news topics. The first is the resolution of the case in the UK against Vickrum Digwa, who killed Henry Nowak in December 2025 (FYI, Digwa was sentenced to life in prison). The case has apparently become a huge issue on the right in the US (and in the UK), and is being used to suggest that police have become so sensitive to race that they immediately side with racial minorities in any situation. Josh and Tom seem to take this position. Ryan, who hasn't heard much about the case, makes a different argument: police officers have been trained to be more sensitive to race because of a long, well-documented history of police officers discriminating against racial and ethnic minorities. As a result, they are not going to immediately privilege white individuals. That means they will now get situations wrong in favor of racial minorities AND white individuals in equal measure... And that suggests their training is working. Eventually, Josh and Tom agree, for the most part. We then turn to a recent news announcement by the State of Minnesota that they are not going to prosecute the protestors who interrupted a church service during the ICE occupation of Minneapolis. Josh and Tom condemn this decision. Ryan argues that the federal government politicized this when they decided to charge all of the participants in the protest with two federal felonies that could result in decades of prison time, even though the protestors did nothing violent. Minnesota's government is, in turn, politicizing this by not prosecuting them. Ryan's argument is that he would have been fine with all of them being charged with a trespassing misdemeanor and having to pay a $1,000 fine, but charging them with federal felonies is ridiculous. Josh and Tom agree for the most part, but point out that the victims were the people in the church. Ryan agrees.

    1h 12m
  2. S05E14 - Trump Robs the IRS and Republicans Make Teachers Informants

    May 27

    S05E14 - Trump Robs the IRS and Republicans Make Teachers Informants

    In this episode of Finding Common Battle Grounds, we tackle two topics. First, we examine Donald Trump's efforts to brazenly and blatantly steal a few billion dollars from the federal government. Trump sued the IRS, claiming they leaked his tax records (they didn't, but a former contractor for the IRS did). He sued for $10 billion, after he became President, which was effectively like he was suing himself as he got to decide the outcome. That was a first, because, despite there being plenty of crooks to inhabit the Oval Office, none are as brazenly corrupt as Trump. He then settled the lawsuit with two agreements: (1) His administration gets a $1.8 billion slush fund to give out to anyone who felt wronged by Biden, and (2) Trump and his family are immune from IRS investigation forever. Josh and Tom argue that Trump's lawsuit was legitimate, but otherwise agree with Ryan that this is blatant corruption and theft. We then turn to a new piece of federal legislation, the PROTECT Kids Act, that would force teachers to tell parents if their kids want to be called by a different name or pronouns. Josh is strongly in favor of the act and thinks it is the responsibility of teachers to inform on their students. Ryan disagrees. He argues that teachers are supposed to teach and make sure kids are safe, from themselves or others. This boils down to a disagreement over whether a kid exploring their gender is "safe" or not. Josh considers it evil. Ryan does not. Tom sees both sides. We don't agree!

    1h 23m
  3. S05E13 - Oil Shock and Inside Informants

    Apr 29

    S05E13 - Oil Shock and Inside Informants

    In this episode of Finding Common Battle Grounds, we tackle two topics. We start with the oil/energy shock that has resulted from the double blockade of the Straight of Hormuz. We talk about the consequences for Americans, for the global economy, for car purchasing decisions in the future, and whether it will affect the mid-term elections in November. We largely agree on this topic. Josh even admits he is going to be going all-electric at some point in the future! We then turn to the recent indictment of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) by the Department of Justice (DOJ's). Josh and Tom start by parroting the DOJ talking points that the SPLC was funding racist and terrorist organizations, so they would have a reason to exist. Ryan points out that they funded informants, and they admit that. He also argues that the lawsuit will drag on for years until there is a new administration, and then it will be dropped. In other words, this is a big "Nothingburger." Josh insists this was weird, and Tom seems convinced the SPLC was drumming up a problem. Ryan agrees it was weird, but the question is whether it was illegal.

    1h 18m
  4. S05E12 - Never Say Muslim, Insider Trading Among Politicians, and Sea Shanties

    Mar 17

    S05E12 - Never Say Muslim, Insider Trading Among Politicians, and Sea Shanties

    The primary focus of this episode of Finding Common Battle Grounds is the assertion by Josh and Tom that being labeled "racist" is so damaging in society that mainstream media outlets won't even note when someone is a different religion or race in their news coverage, even when it is important to the story. This came up in the context of the recent attempted attack on an anti-Muslim protest in NYC. Ryan isn't fully convinced by this and eventually argues that it is perfectly acceptable to single out a small group of people who are a subset of a nationality or race or religion and say they are a problem for specific, contextual reasons, but not to broaden that to an entire group of people. We discuss immigrant crime statistics in relation to this. We then briefly discuss what appears to be widespread insider trading among politicians based on a story about Markwayne Mullin. There's also a bonus debate at the beginning about sea shanties, whether the awful chant by White Pine Riots counts, and whether it is a racist or anti-immigrant song.

    1h 28m
  5. S05E11 - Trump's Holy (Shit) War in the Middle East

    Mar 6

    S05E11 - Trump's Holy (Shit) War in the Middle East

    In this episode of Finding Common Battle Grounds, Tom, Josh, and Ryan discuss the war in Iran that the US has entered with Israel. We discuss the justification for the war, how it seems to be going, and, most importantly, what we think the likely outcome will be. There is a lot of agreement. We all agree that Khameini was a horrible dictator. We all agree that the timing is off. We all agree that the likely outcome will be a failed state governed by anarchy and probably warlords. We don't agree on whether it was the right thing: Josh and Tom lean in favor of that, while Ryan leans against it.

    1h 25m
  6. S05E10 - You've Got It MAiD in Canada

    Mar 2

    S05E10 - You've Got It MAiD in Canada

    In this episode of Finding Common Battle Grounds, Ryan, Josh, and Tom are joined by Jake and Hunter. We discuss Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD), Canada's program that allows people who meet specific criteria to have the help of a physician to end their lives. Josh is adamantly opposed to this and is unwilling to budge at all, even in pretty obvious cases, like if someone is very old, has a terminal diagnosis, and is going to spend their remaining few months in excruciating pain. The rest of the panelists fall on a spectrum, from Ryan, who fully embraces this (closely followed by Jake), to Hunter and Tom, who don't love it, but respect people's autonomy. Josh brings up gray cases to criticize the practice, which is useful to show that any policy can be problematic. Intriguingly, some panelists suggest their real concern is that it is a government program, and that they would trust it more if it were privatized, you know, like a big-box wholesaler!

    38 min
  7. S05E09 - Generational Perspectives on the Economy

    Feb 26

    S05E09 - Generational Perspectives on the Economy

    In this episode of Finding Common Battle Grounds, we have two new panelists: Jake and Hunter. They are Millennials! We invited them on to give them an opportunity to talk about the challenges of trying to make it in the US in 2026, given the economic situation with expensive housing, high interest rates, inflation, and general expenses. Jake and Hunter both indicate that there is a YOLO attitude among Millennials that is tied to their perception that it isn't possible for them to succeed, so they are living it up to the extent they can without regard for debt. They both also note that some of this is social media's influence and the desire for immediate gratification, and people's unwillingness to struggle and suffer for a while to skimp, save, and eventually build up enough savings to buy a home and stabilize their lives. Even so, it does seem as though there are serious impediments to building wealth for younger generations. We discuss possible causes and consequences.

    1h 11m
  8. S05E08 - The White Supremacist Take Over of the US Government and Immigration's Influence on Free Speech

    Feb 7

    S05E08 - The White Supremacist Take Over of the US Government and Immigration's Influence on Free Speech

    We tackle two topics in this episode of Finding Common Battle Grounds. First, the NYTimes recently published an article examining some of the social media posts of the Trump Administration. In the article, they detail that the posts use tropes and themes that are closely linked to white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups. All three of us see the links, but have varying levels of skepticism as to what is happening. The second topic is related to some legislation in Canada that would make it illegal to use religion as a defense to justify hate speech. Tom raises this point to argue that mass immigration seems to result in greater restrictions on free speech. Our discussion on this point is far-ranging, and, unfortunately, it isn't very clear whether we ultimately agree with Tom. Also, Ryan pokes at Josh's friends just so they complain to Josh!

    1h 38m
See All (97)

Ratings & Reviews

4.7
out of 5
3 Ratings

About

Finding Common Battle Grounds is an attempt by two brothers - one conservative, the other progressive - to have civil conversations about politics, with a little help from their friends.

Information