Half the Answer

Liberal Currents
  • 4.2 (17)
  • News Commentary
  • Updated Semiweekly

Caitlin M. Green and Trent R. Nelson interview experts who weigh in on current debates. In the process they seek not only to uncover answers to the questions of the day, but to explore why they are being asked in the first place. To understand the questions we ask, they believe, is half the answer.

  1. 2h ago

    Graham Platner: Walking Red Flag (with Marisa Kabas)

    Graham Platner is a parade of red flags stuffed into a pair of yellow rubber waders, and yet so many let those things slide with a tsk tsk at best. For others, he was a bad man with bad views who unfortunately represented the only possible way to reverse the GOP majority in the senate. Improperly vetted, he relied on his "everyman" image to skate through the primaries despite several rounds of damning information reveals. But mere weeks from the deadline to finalize the candidacy of contenders, a story finally emerged that nobody could ignore. We ask Marisa Kabas of the Handbasket how it feels to have people suddenly come all the way around, and why it's so frustrating that they didn't figure it out sooner. Resources thehandbasket.co https://bsky.app/profile/marisakabas.bsky.social https://www.thehandbasket.co/p/graham-platner-rape-accusation-maine-senate https://www.politico.com/news/2026/07/06/graham-platner-sexual-assault-allegation-00987737 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDAWPE5PaWE https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2026/jul/09/donald-trump-graham-platner-mitch-mcconnell-iran-midterms-latest-news-updates https://www.unpopularfront.news/p/graham-platner-is-a-type-of-guy https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/07/08/graham-platner-isolated-defies-maine-democrats-they-try-hatch-plan/ https://www.newsweek.com/i-dated-graham-platner-i-believe-jenny-racicot-and-lyndsey-fifield-12172864 https://www.garbageday.email/p/the-curdling-of-the-american-man https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/graham-platner-maine-senate-exit-democrats-b3010473.html https://losingmyperspicacity.beehiiv.com/p/we-have-an-even-bigger-problem-than-graham-platner?utm_source=losingmyperspicacity.beehiiv.com&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=we-have-an-even-bigger-problem-than-graham-platner&_bhlid=725fa1d50927278b100637f3437277b0325dbb16 klippenstein being an ass https://www.kenklippenstein.com/p/my-graham-platner-apology "Graham Platner 10-2-25" by m Spiess is licensed under CC BY 3.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/?ref=openverse.

    1h 17m

  2. 4d ago

    ICE Flights: Cattle Cars in the Sky (with Gillian Brockell)

    ICE flights are still happening and they are still horrifying. Gillian Brockell brings us updates on some of the major players in the game of torturing innocent people in the sky, their victims, and the regular people who do not want this abusive pack of monsters to continue using their resources. Resources https://gillianbrockell.com/ Send tips to: gbrockell.44 on signal https://bsky.app/profile/gillianbrockell.com https://www.patreon.com/cw/worstairlineever https://gillianbrockell.com/interviews-podcast-and-some-r/ https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/vietnamese-man-deported-from-u-s-to-south-sudan-repatriated-after-year-in-detention https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/fact-sheet/what-are-third-country-removals-factsheet/ https://bookshop.org/a/115699/9781324092407 https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/deep-swamps-archaeologists-fugitive-slaves-kept-freedom-180960122/ https://www.baloproject.org/ https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/08/world/africa/trump-deportation-us-judge-congo-colombia.html https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/01/omni-ice-deportations-charter-flight-stonepeak-private-equity/ https://theintercept.com/2022/02/17/amazon-ice-deportation-flights-omni/ https://www.ch-aviation.com/news/152641-stonepeak-completes-acquisition-of-uss-atsg https://www.npr.org/2026/01/08/nx-s1-5629234/the-cautionary-tale-of-how-chicago-privatized-its-parking-meters https://abc7chicago.com/post/chicago-parking-meter-deal-city-council-members-seek-block-morgan-stanley-sale-meters-stone-peak/19265309/

    1h 6m

  3. Jul 1

    America's 250th Birthday Party and The Green Reflecting Pool (with Amanda Moore)

    Why won't Gregory Bovino stay gone? Why can't Trump keep his pool clean? And how many fireworks is too many fireworks? We asked our friend and yours Amanda Moore to help us get to the bottom of these questions and more. Resources: https://www.instagram.com/noturtlesoup17/?hl=en  https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/an-ice-chaser-bovino/ https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/02/gregory-bovino-border-patrol-ice-minneapolis-chicago-new-orleans-video/ https://bsky.app/profile/noturtlesoup17.bsky.socialhttps://authory.com/AmandaMoore https://www.turtlediaries.net/p/update-from-the-great-american-state https://www.turtlediaries.net/p/semiquincentennial-and-ice

    1h 4m

  4. Jun 27

    Jared Kushner and Albania's Flamingo Revolution (with Hunter CG)

    Why is Albania having anti-Jared Kushner protests? What did he do to them? And what on Earth is going on in the UK? We asked our resident Europe expert to explain it all to us. Resources https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/how-uks-keir-starmer-went-from-election-landslide-to-downfall https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/06/jared-kushner-ivanka-trump-albania-luxury-resort-protest-movement-overthrow-albanian-socialist-prime-minister-corrupt-government/ https://www.wired.com/story/ivanka-and-jareds-island-resort-could-bring-down-albanias-prime-minister/

    1h 12m

  5. Jun 20

    The Legalization of Sports Gambling in America (with Danny Funt)

    How did sports betting burst onto the scene so violently in the last half-decade? Danny Funt, author of Everybody Loses: The Tumultuous Rise of American Sports Gambling explains the legal, regulatory and business changes that have led us here. For immediate help with problem gambling, please call 1-800-MY-RESET (800-522-4700) or visit https://www.ncpgambling.org/help-treatment/ Resources https://bookshop.org/p/books/everybody-loses-the-tumultuous-rise-of-american-sports-gambling-danny-funt/f7b6cf17f7e3e9b9?ean=9781668062029&next=t https://newrepublic.com/article/210094/sports-gambling-national-council-big-tobacco https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2026/02/20/everybody-loses-sports-gambling-danny-funt-review/ https://bsky.app/profile/dannyfunt.bsky.social https://x.com/dannyfunt?lang=en https://dannyfunt.substack.com/ https://www.congress.gov/bill/102nd-congress/senate-bill/474 https://sabr.org/journal/article/the-black-sox-scandal/ https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/584/16-476/ https://sri.siena.edu/2026/04/13/more-than-a-quarter-of-americans-27-have-an-active-online-sports-betting-account-a-third-have-opened-an-account-at-least-once/ https://www.masslive.com/politics/2023/03/really-annoying-sports-betting-ads-are-protected-by-1st-amendment-lawmakers-say.html

    1h 22m

  6. Jun 17

    SCOTUS, Callais, and What's Next for Voting Rights and Other Civil Rights (with Madiba Dennie)

    What does the Callais decision mean for voting rights and other anti-discrimination protections in the United States? How is anybody supposed to defend their rights against race-based discrimination if they're not allowed to use disparate impact as proof? Catch the discriminators confessing on a voice recording carrot pen, "Zootopia"-style? Bust out the mind-reading machine? We ask Madiba Dennie, author of The Originalism Trap, to explain it, and to help us figure out what to do now. Resources: The Originalism Trap: https://bookshop.org/a/115699/9780593729250 https://ballsandstrikes.org/scotus/alito-callais-opinion-voting-rights-act-fifteenth-amendment/ https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/amendment-15/

    1h 11m

  7. Jun 11

    Bari Weiss Is Supposed to Do the News Now (with Radley Balko)

    Why has Bari Weiss, a liberal-presenting Trump sycophant, been handed the reins to CBS News, one of our most prestigious news organizations? What does her time running the Free Press, a website that publishes commentary, tell us about how she thinks about "doing the f--king news," which is to say, journalism? Radley Balko joins Trent and Caitlin to explain what he found when he dug into the work of one Free Press "reporter" who whitewashed Trump's refugee policy and demonized resettlement NGOs. Resources "How Bari Weiss's Free Press Laundered MAGA Talking Points About Refugees" https://radleybalko.substack.com/p/how-bari-weisss-free-press-laundered "Rise of the Warrior Cop: The Militarization of America's Police Forces" https://bookshop.org/a/115699/9781541774537 "The Cadaver King and the Country Dentist: A True Story of Injustice in the American South" https://bookshop.org/a/115699/9781541774056 Last Week Tonight: https://youtube.com/watch?si=azsf62uWi2915K-6&v=gieTx_P6INQ&feature=youtu.be Academic freedom: https://theintercept.com/2018/03/08/the-nyts-bari-weiss-falsely-denies-her-years-of-attacks-on-the-academic-freedom-of-arab-scholars-who-criticize-israel/ "Inside Bari Weiss's Hostile Takeover of CBS News" https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2026/01/26/inside-bari-weisss-hostile-takeover-of-cbs-news In Bed With the Right: https://www.patreon.com/posts/152713931?collection=1409249

    1h 30m

  8. Jun 4

    The Two American Reconstructions: An Appraisal, Reflection (with Thomas Zimmer)

    What was the first American Reconstruction after the Civil War? Why are some historians suggesting we just left a second sort of Reconstruction Era? Join Caitlin and Trent as they got into it all with Historian Thomas Zimmer, going from the first period of reconstruction, across the late 19th and early 20th centuries, before pressing through this second reconstruction, which Thomas considers as being from 1965 to 2026. They then turned their attention towards what lays ahead for the United States, as well as why some Germans just don’t care about what’s going on across the Atlantic Ocean. Resources: democracyamericana.com www.thomaszimmer.online

    1h 29m
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4.2
out of 5
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About

Caitlin M. Green and Trent R. Nelson interview experts who weigh in on current debates. In the process they seek not only to uncover answers to the questions of the day, but to explore why they are being asked in the first place. To understand the questions we ask, they believe, is half the answer.

Information

  • Creator
    Liberal Currents
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    94
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Liberal Currents
  • Show Website
    Half the Answer

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