Politics

Memorial Day: A Gold Star Mother’s Story

May 31, 2021 Tim Episodes, History, Life & Style, Media, People, Politics, Politics, Society 00:38:06 Comments Off on Memorial Day: A Gold Star Mother’s Story

Marlyn Shipley joins Tim for a special Memorial Day episode where she tells her own story. Marlyn is a Gold Star Mother, which means she lost one of her children in service to the U.S. military. Marlyn’s son Michael was a specialist in the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne. He died on December 12, 1985 when the plane that he and 247 other fellow troops were aboard, crashed in Gander, Newfoundland. Marlyn talks about what Memorial Day means to her, about the life of a Gold Star mother, about her son Michael.

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The Story Behind the American Front Porch

May 24, 2021 Tim Branding, Episodes, History, Life & Style, People, Politics, Society 00:47:40 Comments Off on The Story Behind the American Front Porch

Author and journalist Michael Dolan joins Tim to tell the story of the American front porch. He’s the editor of American History magazine and the author of a book entitled, “The American Porch: An informal history of an informal place.” In this episode, he talks about how the front porch shaped life in America for well over 200 years. You could say that when it comes to our homes, the front porch was the original social media.

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Should We Ban Political Talk from the Workplace?

May 17, 2021 Tim Business, Crisis Communications, Episodes, Life & Style, Marketing, Media, People, Politics, Politics, Public Relations, Society 00:36:24 Comments Off on Should We Ban Political Talk from the Workplace?

Steve Paskoff joins Tim to talk about whether it’s a good idea for employers to ban discussion of politics in the workplace. Steve is CEO of an Atlanta-based firm called ELI, Inc. That’s a company that provides workplace culture training for employers. In this episode, Steve explains how to handle the touchy issue of employees talking about politics and other sensitive topics at work.

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SCOTUS: Is 9 a Good Number?

May 10, 2021 Tim Episodes, History, Life & Style, People, Politics, Politics, Society 00:35:01 Comments Off on SCOTUS: Is 9 a Good Number?

Mike Davis joins Tim to talk about the current debate over whether or not to expand the size of the U.S. Supreme Court, otherwise known as “court packing.” Mike is president of the Article 3 Project. That’s an organization that focuses on the U.S. Constitution and the judicial branch of government. Mike explains how important it is to preserve the apolitical nature of the judicial branch of government, and the U.S. Supreme Court, in particular.

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Surveillance: You’re Being Ranked

May 3, 2021 Tim Episodes, Life & Style, Marketing, Media, People, Politics, Politics, Society 00:46:28 Comments Off on Surveillance: You’re Being Ranked

Kelley Vlahos joins Tim to talk about how big tech companies are starting to use your data to grade you in ways that may surprise and shock you. The focus of our discussion is your Social Credit Score and how China may be illustrating just how alarming its applications can be. Kelley is a senior advisor at the Quincy Institute and editorial director at Responsible Statecraft. She’s written about this population monitoring tool that before now was unthinkable in America. That’s the focus of this episode.

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Internet Privacy and the Law

April 26, 2021 Tim Business, Episodes, Life & Style, Media, Politics, Politics, Society 00:39:31 Comments Off on Internet Privacy and the Law

Fred Cate joins Tim to talk about how big tech companies could use your personal data without your knowledge or explicit consent and some of the legal issues involved. Fred is vice president for research, a distinguished professor of law and a senior fellow at Indiana University’s Center for Applied Cybersecurity Research.

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What to Do About Big Tech and Section 230

April 19, 2021 Tim Crisis Communications, Episodes, Life & Style, Marketing, Media, Politics, Politics, Society 00:44:12 Comments Off on What to Do About Big Tech and Section 230

Josh Hammer joins Tim to talk about one of the hottest debates over the future of the Internet, the fate of Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act, which is credited with creating the Internet as we know it today and giving Big Tech almost unbridled power. Has that little provision outlived its purpose? We explore. Josh is opinion editor of Newsweek magazine. He’s a research fellow with the Edmund Burke Foundation. He’s counsel and policy advisor for the Internet Accountability Project, and he’s a syndicated columnist.

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Nadine Strossen: Fight Hate with Speech, Not Censorship

April 12, 2021 Tim Business, Episodes, History, Life & Style, Marketing, Media, Politics, Politics, Public Relations, Society 00:58:14 Comments Off on Nadine Strossen: Fight Hate with Speech, Not Censorship

Nadine Strossen joins Tim to talk about how to fight “hate speech” or harmful speech without censorship. She’s a best-selling author and a Professor of Constitutional Law at New York Law School. She’s also the first woman national President of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).  In this episode, she talks about private company censorship, the challenges, some solutions and all of it as addressed in her book “Hate: Why we should resist it with free speech, not censorship.

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Power Struggle: Big Tech and Antitrust Reform

March 29, 2021 Tim Business, Crisis Communications, Episodes, History, Life & Style, Politics, Politics, Society 00:38:24 Comments Off on Power Struggle: Big Tech and Antitrust Reform

Antitrust expert Bill Baer joins Tim to talk about the growing interest in antitrust and efforts to rein in Big Tech. Bill is a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution, and has a unique view of all of this. He was Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, and before that he had served as Director of the Bureau of Competition at the Federal Trade Commission. In this episode, Bill explains how antitrust reform, particularly for Big Tech, has already begun to take shape.

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How Free is Speech on the American College Campus?

March 22, 2021 Tim Episodes, Life & Style, Media, Politics, Society 00:47:45 Comments Off on How Free is Speech on the American College Campus?

Princeton professor and author Keith Whittington joins Tim to talk about the current state of free speech, or not-so-free-speech on the American college campus. Keith has a long resume of accomplishments, including the authoring of the award-winning book, “Speak Freely: Why Universities Must Defend Free Speech.” But in this episode, we talk about Keith’s role in the formation of a new and already growing organization that champions freedom of speech called the Academic Freedom Alliance (AFA).

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Don’t Tell Alice Roosevelt Longworth What to Do

March 8, 2021 Tim Episodes, History, Life & Style, People, Politics, Politics, Society 00:45:18 Comments Off on Don’t Tell Alice Roosevelt Longworth What to Do

Biographer Carol Felsenthal joins Tim to tell the story of one of the most talked about members of a first family in 100 years. Alice Roosevelt Longworth was Teddy Roosevelt’s daughter who was well ahead of her time for her wildness, her outspokenness and her ability to make headlines. And long after Teddy died, Alice continued as force of nature for anyone who was anyone in Washington, D.C. throughout the 20th Century until her death at 96 years old in 1980.

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Ron Coleman: Free Speech on Trial

March 1, 2021 Tim Business, Crisis Communications, Episodes, History, Life & Style, Marketing, Media, Politics, Politics, Public Relations, Society 00:44:15 Comments Off on Ron Coleman: Free Speech on Trial

Attorney Ron Coleman joins Tim to talk about his U.S. Supreme Court victory for an Asian-American rock band called The Slants over the issue of free speech. Ron details a case that is now a landmark Supreme Court victory for freedom of speech.

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The Gig Economy: In the Balance

January 25, 2021 Tim Business, Crisis Communications, Episodes, Politics, Politics, Society 00:43:13 Comments Off on The Gig Economy: In the Balance

Attorney Bob Eassa from the national law firm of Duane Morris joins Tim to talk about the gig economy and how a restrictive law in California has turned the notion of the gig economy on its head. In this episode, we talk about how the law impacts independent contractors and employers, what’s being done about it, and whether this sort of regulation could come your way.

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What They Won’t Tell You About Socialism

January 4, 2021 Tim Episodes, History, Life & Style, Politics, Politics, Society 00:32:35 Comments Off on What They Won’t Tell You About Socialism

Economist, professor and author Paul Rubin joins Tim to talk about the impact of socialism on the future, particularly among young people who tend to be the most supportive of it, but who stand to lose the most because of it. This is the focus of his new book called, “A Student’s Guide to Socialism: How it will trash your lives.”

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Sharyl Attkisson: Focusing on “The Narrative”

December 7, 2020 Tim Business, Crisis Communications, Episodes, Life & Style, Media, People, Politics, Politics, Public Relations, Society 00:48:53 Comments Off on Sharyl Attkisson: Focusing on “The Narrative”

Sharyl Attkisson joins Tim to talk about her latest book and the current state of the news media in society.  Her book, “Slanted: How the news media taught us to love censorship and hate journalism,” centers on that dynamic called “The Narrative,” which appears to drive so much news coverage we see today. Sharyl talks of her many years as a network reporter and the way the media covers news today.

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Tim O’Brien

Tim O’Brien, author, senior media advisor and veteran damage control expert, takes you inside the issues, the stories and to the people who reveal things you may not know, and other things some may want to keep hidden.  With over 35 years in handling high stakes and complex crisis management situations, and in his own comfortable style, Tim probes to uncover what’s real and what matters. What will shape the future. He developed the Shaping Opinion podcast to help you see how influence is at play every day. Get a fresh perspective that will help you see through the spin.