Let's Pod This

Sabine Brown (Together Oklahoma) and Carly Putnam (Oklahoma Policy Institute) join us to review the current state of healthcare in Oklahoma and their upcoming "Rally for Coverage."

Special guests Effie Craven and Rep. Jason Dunnington join the show to discuss where the legislature is with various bills and what it's like to text their moms.

Oklahoma has sued more than a dozen pharmaceutical companies over their creation & marketing of addictive opioid medications. Last week we learned that one company, Purdue Pharma, was settling out of court for $270 million. We sat down with the state's Attorney General, Mike Hunter, to discuss the case and the settlement.

Recorded live at Missy's Donuts in Guthrie, OK, we sit down with Lt. Governor Matt Pinnell to discuss his approach to the Lt. Gov position and his other position as Secretary of Tourism & Branding.

This week we discuss a bill to keep pollution audits private, cleaning up the voter rolls, and the high cost of transporting people with mental illness. Just a typical week in Oklahoma, right?

Should deceased candidates be allowed to remain on the ballot? We discuss the implications of that situation along with independent redistricting and the structure & finances of the Office of Management and Enterprise Services (OMES).

As bills move from one chamber to the other, we take a look at what legislation has been signed, what's [mostly] dead, and what are still alive. Special guest: Bo Broadwater from The Journal Record Legislative Report.

Tres Savage from NonDoc explains the finer points of why Oklahoma counties should be allowed to tax the production of aggregates (i.e. rocks and gravel) and we visit with Joe Hight, chairman of Freedom of Information Oklahoma, to discuss Sunshine Week, government transparency, and whether the legislature should be subject to the Open Records Act.

Most of us were taught that it's impolite to discuss religion & politics, but in Oklahoma, those topics are often intertwined. In the eyes of Jon Middendorf, pastor at @okcfirst, the gospel "has to have skin on it," and by that measure, it is inherently a political conversation. Join us as we discuss the intersection of these two issues and how they define our state.

Are multiple, concurrent audits of Oklahoma's Medicaid program really necessary? Plus we're joined by Senator Julia Kirt to discuss if allowing the Governor to appoint agency directors more or less transparent than the current system of boards.

The first month of the 57th legislature has been dominated by guns and abortion, and this week has been no exception. We're joined by the Liz Charles of the Oklahoma Women's Coalition and Bo Broadwater of The Journal Record to discuss permitless carry, "trigger laws," and what issues OWC is following most closely. Along the way we also discuss zoos, horoscopes, and a *very* awkward phrase that was used by a lawmaker this week.

The State of Oklahoma has some extra money this year...or does it? We discuss how much, where it's going, and status updates on bills about guns, HIV education, and Medicaid expansion.

We discuss the loosening of gun laws, find out who actually writes bills, and chat with Senator Greg McCortney about the details of "Unity Bill" that will tweak Oklahoma's new medical marijuana law. Plus a few tidbits about influenza among animals.

County commissioners who are also lobbyists, Stitt's first State of the State, and a surprisingly detailed recounting of a Lifetime movie. (with Krystal Yoseph & Grant Hermes)

This week it seemed like every party and organization released their legislative agenda - including Let's Fix this. So we decided to compare & contrast the big ones to parse out what policies we think will actually get passed this session.

We're joined by Krystal Yoseph to discuss Governor Stitt's first Executive Orders and cast our predictions for the 2019 Oklahoma legislative session.

Andy & Scott play a game of "OK, Stop!" with Governor Stitt's inauguration address, breaking it down phrase by phrase.

Quick recap of the election, what we think happened, and where this leaves us to start the 2019 legislative session.

We give a quick run-down of the state races we're watching this Election Day and which counties our forecast model says might be the most competitive.

Big news! We reveal our election projection data model and who may (or may not) win the Governor's race. We also talk you through how to make a voting plan, which is more helpful & imporant than you might think!

A very brief recap of the debate between candidates for US Congress, incumbent Steve Russell (R) and challenger Kendra Horn (D), followed by an interview with Republican candidate for Labor Commissioner, Leslie Osborn.

We catch up with candidates who have been travelling the state together during their campaigns - Democratic candidate for Labor Commissioner Fred Dorrell and Democratic candidate for Insurance Commissioner Kimberly Fobbs.

We discuss the pros and cons of each of the five state questions that are on your ballots this year.

A brief update on Oklahoma's medical marijuana situation, a discussion of partisan symbolism, and a visit with Democratic candidate for Attorney General, Mark Myles.

We sit down with two candidates running for statewide office - Kimberly Fobbs, who is running for Insurance Commissioner, and Fred Dorrell, who is running for Labor Commissioner. #Votelahoma

We recap the the Oklahoman's gubernatorial debate that aired tonight. Pretty self explanatory. You saw that coming, though, right?

We visit with our Washington correspondent Effie Craven and local restauranteur & Democratic candidate for OK County Treasurer, Daniel Chae.

We visit with two of Oklahoma's intrepid journalists to get an inside look into what it's like to cover the State Capitol and politics in general in today's political climate.

Andy & Scott are joined by Commander Scott Downey, USN, Retired, for what starts out as a discussion of current events and the run-off election but what ends up being a rather vulnerable conversation between a liberal and a conservative.

Did you know Oklahoma has a Solicitor General? (We didn't.) Do you have any idea what they do? (We definitely didn't.) Join us for an insightful conversation with Oklahoma's Solicitor General, Mithun Mansinghani.

We sit down with GOP candidate for Labor Commissioner and Oklahoma Representative Leslie Osborn to find out what, exactly, the position does in our state.

We're joined by academic linguist and political consultant Daniela Busciglio to discuss why words matter and how advocates can use science to help us get our point across more effectively.

Outgoing state senator AJ Griffin shares about her experience in the state legislature - the victories, the disappointments, why she's leaving, and what comes next. There's a short Pruitt Watch, and also - our mics didn't work properly, so part of the audio is meh.

As the primary run-off nears, we're joined by Republican candidates for Lt. Governor, Dana Murphy and Matt Pinnell, to discuss their perspectives on what that position actually does and their plan for it, should they be elected.

We manage to give you a recap this week's Oklahoma political news while also being distracted by Ghostbusters, Star Trek, and easily accessible barrier protection.

We discuss the bizarre things that happened this week in Oklahoma's medical marijuana saga, and then we speak with State Auditor Gary Jones to learn about the role of that position in our state government.

Ep 43: "A doctor, a lawyer, and a therapist walk into a bar." Scott (a doctor) and Andy (a therapist) have an unusually candid discussion about SQ788 (medical marijuana), ridiculous voter outrage, and how the issue is playing out in Oklahoma. The lawyer couldn't make it. Also a very brief "Pruitt Watch."

We recap the primary election and discuss the crazy high number of run-off elections, plus the final DC edition of "Pruitt Watch" and phone calls with Democratic nominee for Governor, Drew Edmondson, and Election Board PIO, Bryan Dean.

Recorded live at Oak & Ore, we visit voters & candidates to get their experience and response to the elections. Featuring Kayla & Anna from Localities OKC, Amy Curran & crew from Generation Citizen, Brett Dickerson from OKC Free Press, JoBeth Hamon, Bo Broadwater from The Journal Record, Sheri Guyse from Big Bravely, recovering politico Thomas Larson, and candidates Carrie Blumert and Daniel Chae.

We test out some new audio gear and help explain some of the nuances of SQ788 with a quick fact-check of some of the most notable claims about the proposed law and medical marijuana itself.

Andy and Scott are joined by Tres Savage from NonDoc to recap the debate we held this week between Republican candidates for Labor Commissioner.

Andy and Scott are back from vacation! We take a quick look back at the 56th Oklahoma Legislature, discuss Governor Fallin's surprising vetoes of several bills, and give an update on the OSDH debacle. Then we lay out the plan ahead as we move into election season and head toward the 57th Legislature.

The second of two special episodes from our "From Walkout to What's Next?" events. This one was recorded live on April 23, 2018 at The Patriarch in Edmond, OK.

The first of two special episodes from our "From Walkout to What's Next?" events. This one was recorded live on April 22, 2018 and features guests Sabine Brown (Oklahoma Policy Institute) and Liz Waggoner (Oklahoma Women's Coalition).

Good news, Fixers - we have a winner to our 2018 Oklahoma Legislature Predict-o-Rama! And so, we take a quick look at what happened to the proposed legislation that was a part of the game and discuss what to expect from #LetsPodThis during the legislative offseason.

We finally - FINALLY - have an end to the 56th legislature...or do we? Regardless, we recap what happened during the last week of session, including three of the most contentious bills heard all session.

Intrepid local reporter Grant Hermes joins as special co-host to discuss the 2019 state budget. Grant also shares what he discovered when he called all state agencies to ask how much money they need to truly be "fully funded" and what that would actually look like.

We discuss the record number of people filing to run for office, what may happen regarding a tax on wind energy production, and give our best guesses about what will happen over the last few weeks of session.

As the walkout winds down, we wonder "What's Next?" for education advocates and the legislature. We discuss those questions and the record number of people who have filed to run for office.

The Oklahoma legislature raised taxes for the first time since 1990, but has already repealed some of the increases. We discuss how that all went down and what it means for the future, as well as the remaining potential for a teacher walk out.