Beth sits down with Lauren Pinkston, an independent candidate for governor of Tennessee, on the same day Governor Beshear sent Senator Mitch McConnell a letter asking about his month-long hospitalization. They use that story, plus Graham Platner’s exit from the Maine Senate race, to get at something bigger: what “honor” means in public life when authenticity and elitism both fall short. Then they turn to what that looks like in practice — data centers, classrooms, and a possible return of Family dinners to the governor’s residence.
Topics discussed:
- Transparency and elected officials’ Health, from Mitch McConnell to Tom Kean Jr.
- Graham Platner’s exit from the Maine Senate race and what it says about party incentives
- Elitism, authenticity, and what “honor” means in public service
- Money in politics and running a campaign without party infrastructure
- A proposed moratorium on data centers in Tennessee
- Rebuilding public Education: vouchers, Montessori models, screen time, and special education
- Parenting lessons Lauren brings to how she’d govern
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Pantsuit Politics is a podcast for real conversations that help us understand politics, democracy, and the news - while still treating each other like thoughtful human beings. We take a different approach to the news; our political analysis blends hard facts with important social and cultural undercurrents so you don’t miss the big picture. Over years of discussing everything from abortion to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, we established basic rules of engagement, which we describe in our books, Now What? How to Move Forward When We’re Divided (About Basically Everything) (2022) and I Think You’re Wrong (But I’m Listening): A Guide to Grace-Filled Political Conversation (2019). Listeners describe us as “America’s political therapists” and “our trusted, smarter friends who can help us make sense of the world.”
