Hear Me Out

On today’s episode of Hear Me Out: live from Seattle. Hear Me Out had its first-ever live show on May 4, 2024 — and it was such a great conversation that we wanted to make sure our podcast listeners heard it, too. The Cascade PBS Ideas Festival was full of smart, unconventional thinkers on the biggest issues facing this country… so what better place to have a conversation abo

On today’s episode of Hear Me Out: prosecuting parents. Ethan Crumbley’s parents didn’t pull the trigger that killed 4 students in 2021 — but they’ve been sentenced to prison time for it all the same. School shootings are devastatingly common in this country, but punishing the parents of the killer is a new tactic of handling the aftermath. Even if you think the Crumbleys

On today’s episode of Hear Me Out: solidarity? College campuses across the country are grappling with protests and occupations in the name of a free Palestine. Many hundreds of students, faculty, and outside community members have been arrested in tense clashes with police — called onto campuses by the universities themselves. Student protestors have shaped public discourse on

On today’s episode of Hear Me Out: nobody wins with two parties. A competitive presidential election draws closer every day – and as ever, every vote will count. So is it fair to accuse third-party voters of wasting a vote, as often happens? Or are third-party candidates actually preserving what little we have left of a competitive democracy? Bernard Tamas of Valdosta State Uni

On today’s episode of Hear Me Out: blaze it. Ahead of the honorary stoner holiday that is 4/20, we’re taking a look at the marijuana landscape. Public opinion has warmed considerably to legal weed in the past few decades – both medicinal and recreational – even though it remains a Schedule 1 drug on the federal level. But some public health experts are still sounding the al

On today’s episode of Hear Me Out: amore, but make it anti-racist. Honoring interracial marriage has only been the law of the land for a few decades in this country; there are couples alive today whose relationships were illegal within their lifetimes. There are now more mixed-race couples – and children – in the U.S. than ever before, and interracial love is overwhelmingly s

On today’s episode of Hear Me Out: housing the nation. We have an affordable housing problem — and an affordability problem, period, but that’s another show. When we talk about solutions to homelessness and cost burden for renters and homeowners alike, many progressives lean toward government intervention… because capitalism seems to have failed us. But has it, really? Or i

On today’s episode of Hear Me Out: getting the jab. Vaccine hesitancy is not a new phenomenon in the United States, but it is a growing one… particularly in conservative Evangelical circles. At the same time, there’s a lot for all of us to dislike, and distrust, about the American healthcare system. So, for those of us who have a hard time working up any sympathy for the vacc

On today’s episode of Hear Me Out: talk it out. Talking about therapy isn’t taboo anymore — and that’s great, because everyone deserves help when they need it. The question is… do you really need it? Dr. Richard Friedman of Weill Cornell Medicine wrote a piece for The Atlantic last month, headlined ”Plenty of People Could Quit Therapy Right Now.” So why is that the ca

On today’s episode of Hear Me Out: the purity test. Purity, in political science, doesn’t have anything to do with morality. It has to do with whether your policy aligns with your principles. From “Bernie Bros” to the uncommitted vote against Biden, we’ve seen progressives protect ideological purity… and punish stances that don’t align. An all-or-nothing stance on iss