Let's Pod This

Much to the chagrin of the NCAA, the state of California recently passed the Fair Pay to Play Act, which law permits collegiate athletes to hire agents and make money from endorsements. A similar bill will likely be filed in Oklahoma next year, so we sat down with OU gymnast (and burgeoning entrepreneur) Peter Daggett to hear his perspective as a student athlete.

This is the fourth and final episode in our "Gerrymandering Oklahoma" series.  By now we know what gerrymandering is, how and why it happens, and a few ways to prevent it. But how, exactly, do you get it to stop when the political system is rigged against you? You let the voters take the lead. For this, we spoke with Katie Fahey who started a people-first movement in Michigan in 2018 that led to the formation an independent redistricting commission and virtually eliminated gerrymandering from her state

This is the third episode in our "Gerrymandering Oklahoma" series. We wanted to learn more about gerrymandering around the country, so we wanted to talk to a man who literally wrote the book on the topic, David Daley. He is the author of "Ratf**cked: Why Your Vote Doesn't Count" and has probably looked at more maps and driven more legislative district boundaries than anyone else in the country.

This is the second episode in our "Gerrymandering Oklahoma" mini series. Now that we know how legislative redistricting is done and how that process often leads to gerrymandering, we want to talk broadly about how states can prevent politicians from picking their own voters. For that, we speak with Dan Vicuña from Common Cause, to gain some insight on what's worked in other states and how their organization is involved.

This is the first episode of our "Gerrymandering Oklahoma" mini series. We're joined by OU political science professor Keith Gaddie to discuss the ins and outs of gerrymandering and the legislative redistricting process. (Hint: It's super important and most people have no idea.)

The judge has ruled: Oklahoma has won their lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson, and for that the state will receive $572 million...or will they? 

Quick updates on the two ballot initiatives (SQ802 & 803) that are collecting signatures right now, plus we're joined by Sara Jane Rose and Alyssa Fisher from Sally's List to talk about recruiting and training women to run for public office. (Psst - you can do it!)

This is the third episode in our three-part series about criminal justice reform in Oklahoma. In this episode, we speak with state Representative Garry Mize about the legacy of state questions 780, 781, and 788, and what the legislative path to meaningful criminal justice reform might look like. 

This is the second episode in our three-part series about criminal justice reform in Oklahoma. In this episode, local defense attorney Brian Jones walks us through each of the steps involved in the typical criminal legal process, including details about the many, MANY fines and fees, as well as some of the big fallacies most people people believe about how the legal system operates.

This is the first episode in our three part series on the criminal justice system in Oklahoma. We're joined by policy experts Damion Shade & Ryan Gentzler to lay a foundation of data about the Oklahoma criminal justice system, how we got here, and why things are so bad.

Audio from the panel discussion following our "The West Wing" Watch Party, recorded live on May 15, 2019, featuring Donelle Harder (Gov. Stitt's spokesperson), Phil Bacharach (Chief of Staff to State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister), and Steve Hill (Chief of Staff to OKC Mayor David Holt). 

We're joined by two members of OKC's LGBTQ community - one a Republican and the other a Democrat - to talk about how they got involved in politics, what Pride means to them, and how they navigate the waters that contain those two things.

We review the results of our 2019 #okleg Predict-o-Rama game and visit with one of the winners, Rep. Zack Taylor from Seminole.

We discuss the pros & cons of Governor Stitt replacing the veteran director of DHS with a young venture capitalist, Justin Brown. Special guest: attorney Brian Ted Jones.

We're joined by Oklahoma state Senator Carri Hicks and local actress/producer/activist Cacky Poarch to get their perspective on the 2019 legislative session and learn about "Faces of the 47th: The Art of Activism," a documentary feature film debuting at the deadCenter Film Festival next week.