Taking Ship

Reunited, the crew of Salty Jason's Revenge delves into one of the dumber weeks in America. From President Good Brain Best Words having to call Speaker Pelosi "mommy" to Roger Stone's half naked body and Starbucks coffee just being the worst. This is a quick episode to start your week of off right. articles briefly mentioned: https://theconcourse.deadspin.com/you-cant-get-there-from-here-1831622949 https://thehill.com/opinion/national-security/426331-use-it-or-lose-it-seagoing-nations-must-defend-embattled-waterways 

With Frank Spring possibly trying to fashion an axle out of guano, an iPhone charging cord and the wrapper from a rest stop microwavable burrito, Maggie Moore and Elie Jacobs celebrate National "Good Day" Day by speculating wildly (some may say irresponsibly) about the shutdown and then play everyone's favorite parlor game: "Who should play the democratic presidential candidates on SNL".  Articles mentioned: Buzzfeed: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/jasonleopold/trump-russia-cohen-moscow-tower-mueller-investigation  Special Counsel response: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/inside-the-mueller-teams-decision-to-dispute-buzzfeeds-explosive-story-on-trump-and-cohen/2019/01/19/d89dba5b-fa0f-445b-9fd3-72f0e911e28d_story.html?utm_term=.1a1678876087  Kodiak, Alaska: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/18/us/politics/coast-guard-government-shutdown.html Elizabeth (not Nancy) Drew: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/27/opinion/trump-impeachment-resign-drew.html

Taking the week off the high seas, the crew of Salty Jason's Revenge decided to repost an old interview with one of our incredible guests: Chris Lu. Chris is currently a Practitioner Senior Fellow at the Miller Center and has been: Deputy secretary of labor in the Obama Administration White House cabinet secretary and assistant to President Obama Executive director, Obama-Biden Transition Project Deputy chief counsel, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee

With one crew member off this week, Frank and Elie are joined by Aaron ____ (aka: @BobbyBigWheel) for a lengthy conversation about what lessoned can be learned from the 2018 race, how donors should be thinking about making donations and general states of play. This is a good one for all you political nerds out there.

Together for the last voyage of 2018, Frank, Maggie and Elie put forth their nominations for dumbest thing, dumbest person and dumbest enterprise in the year of our lord 2018. This year lasted so long, we've all aged multiples of what was though to be physically possible. Remember the torture device in The Princess Bride? Yea... kinda like that.  Anywho, tweet back at us @takingship to give us your nominees. The only prize is the end of 2018 and the start of what is surely going to be an even dumber 2019.

The podcast you didn't know you needed, brings you the LIVE audience episode you don't want to miss. Frank, Maggie & Elie - together in the same location for only the 2nd time since the full crew was aboard - decided to invite all their friends to go "tourney-style" on the 2020 Democratic primary field. If this is already Dumbest Timeline America, the 2020 primaries will prove there's still a ways to go towards peak dumb... If you'd like to download your own bracket and play along: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1axRvdq7pj3cLOP0tAWkrSvZXgBJGjdgk

In a super brief episode, Frank, Maggie and Elie spend about as much time as any of them could stomach discussing His Eminence Ross Doutat's takes (links below). More importantly, they announce more details about their live show on Monday December 17th at 7p in Union Square, NYC (Eventbrite link below). LIVE EVENT: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/taking-ship-live-registration-53316614429?utm-medium=discovery&utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&aff=esfb&utm-source=fb&utm-term=listing&fbclid=IwAR0XWZW4RjZVOLAz-j84xP60w3hkirApxTtJg1genZ30m5o8JvzpP3Lf4xU "Why we miss the WASPs": https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/05/opinion/george-bush-wasps.html "The case again meritocracy": https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/08/opinion/sunday/wasps-meritocracy-ross-douthat.html

Joined by long overdue superstar guest, Barbi Appelquist, Frank Spring and Elie Jacobs talk California politics, national politics, the importance of state legislatures and they try to figure out what's the matter with Kansas. You're gonna wanna take a listen. You're also going to want to reserve the evening of Monday December 17th on your calendar for the *probably* live Taking Ship recording in New York City. Stay tuned for details...

You've waited for it, so we delivered. Together on the high seas once again, Frank, Maggie & Elie skip the pleasantries and useless election "hot takes" and get down to business talking Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and why both the left and right are terrified of her, the future of the House under Pelosi (or someone else...hm??), a quick skip across the pond for an update on the sh!t show that is Brexit and other hijinks...as to be expected. Interested in us hosting a live podcast recording? Let us know. Drop us a line or even better tweet at us @takingship.

Frank Spring was out pounding pavement and doors to get out the vote, so Maggie and Elie recorded this week's episode behind his back. We cover GOTV, make our predictions and hope for death by black hole. Check us out.

Frank and Maggie are back, but this time they are joined by the amazing Charlie Bonner (@CharlieKBonner) , contributor to Progress Texas, Democratic operative, and road warrior. Charlie completed a road trip across America, learning and listening along the way. Tune in to hear what he learned. Recommendations from Charlie: The Trevor Project (https://www.thetrevorproject.org)

Frank and Maggie are back this week to discuss how all of our democratic institutions are crumbling and how they manage to get through these troubling times. Hot tip: drinking rosé always helps. Also on the docket: DC initiative 77, ignoring SCOTUS, and Instagram accounts to keep you laughing even when you feel like crying.

With the entire crew together again, Frank, Maggie and Elie talk about a 19th century British conspiracy theory, how we don't deserve Ben Carson and ride a Blue Wave to try and do math in Texas. The sea is angry, friends, you don't want to miss this episode. An article that was mentioned can be found here: https://theconcourse.deadspin.com/brett-kavanaugh-is-a-man-the-right-can-get-behind-1829225731

This week, Maggie and Frank offer up their top picks for who authored the anonymous op-ed in the New York Times, roll their eyes at the New Yorker Festival's invitation to Bannon, shake their heads at the NFL, and laugh at Kavanaugh's confirmation hearings.

Frank Spring is taking a leisurely European-like August so is off ship again leaving Maggie Moore and Elie Jacobs to on their own. Making the most of their time, they say nice things about John McCain, talk about the fire hose of news last week, a dude named Duncan and his bunny and round it all out with a review of good books and podcasts.

Reunited (and joined by Batgirl) at last, Maggie, Frank and Elie prognosticate about the races they're paying attention to and what we can divine from Frank's travels about the future prospects of the Democratic Party. Then things get interesting. Come to find out about a trench coat full of ferrets, stay for toddlers wearing their father's suit. If you're interested in Paula Deen's English Peas Recipe (really you just wanna read the comments) https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/english-peas-recipe-1946124

This week, Maggie and Frank dig into the finer points of Supreme Court history and current cases with Alexandra Meise (the attorney we all wished we had, Partner, MSK LLP; adjunct professor of int’l Human Rights Law at Georgetown Law). Come for the updates on the latest items before the court, stay for hot takes fictional judges. Organization Alexandra is supporting: Tahirih Justice Center (https://www.tahirih.org)

With Frank on shore leave (again...we know), Maggie and Elie go all Socratic and ask each other questions. If you wanna know your podcast hosts a little better, you wanna listen to this one. Couple things to flag: http://bulletcatcherstheplay.com https://israelguidedog.org

Joined by Shauna Dillavou, of Security+ Frank Spring & Elie Jacobs (Maggie Moore is on shore leave) talk about cyber security, what campaigns do wrong, what the Russian did -and may do-, why the Twitters sucks, the idiocy of campaigns, senate staffers and all white male board rooms. They also almost talk about the idiocy of the Blockchain. This is one you won't want to miss, in particular because it is chock full of VALUABLE actual real information, advice and explanations of things you've felt too awkward to ask about. [The brief Maggie Haberman was in reference to this: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/20/sunday-review/maggie-haberman-twitter-donald-trump.html]

Join Maggie Moore - sounding resplendent - and Elie Jacobs sounding like he's been thrown into the trunk of the missing Frank Spring's car as they review the NATO summit, talk about how and if the country can recover from Trump, the new White House Communication Director's wife and revisit the ghosts of the aughts via Sacha Baron Cohen and Sarah Palin.