Talking Politics

Earlier this year I compared Donald Trump to former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi because no American came to mind.  Since then an American has come to mind.

This American was definitely a populist, finding passionate support among the dispossessed, discouraged and disillusioned.  He had an outsized personality.  He was unusually effective with his use of media.

This story is part of True/False Conversations, a series of in-depth interviews with the filmmakers of this year's True/False Film Fest. Find the rest of them here or download the podcast on iTunes.

When directors Elyse Steinberg and Josh Kriegman heard that former New York congressman Anthony Weiner was planning to run for mayor of New York City, they saw it as an opportunity to create a documentary with the classic theme of “redemption.” Weiner was looking to rebuild his reputation after a sex scandal had forced him to resign from Congress two years earlier.

What no one, not even Steinberg or Kriegman, would have guessed was that in the middle of this comeback story, a second sex scandal would break and that their film “Weiner” would end up documenting the collapse of Weiner’s political aspirations once again.

I spoke with Sternberg and Kriegman on their film and how they were able to get Anthony Weiner to be so candid.

A newly filed piece of legislation that would protect the first amendment rights of student journalists in Missouri public schools and colleges is making its way through the State House. Abby Kempf is a senior at Rock Bridge high school, and one of the editors-in-chief of the school’s journalism program.

Welcome to Talking Politics. KBIA’s weekly show dedicated to talking about local and national politics. On this week’s show Dr. Terry Smith, KBIA’s regular political commentator and a political science professor at Columbia College is back in the studio with a commentary on what the term “ribbon clerks” means in the political arena. 

Welcome to Talking Politics. KBIA’s weekly show dedicated to talking about local and national politics. Last week, the University of Missouri began its 18 month lecture series it’s calling The African American Experience in Missouri.

Welcome to Talking Politics, KBIA’s Weekly show dedicated to talking about local and national politics. Today Terry Smith, a Columbia College political science professor and regular political commentator for KBIA, returns to the show for a commentary about an analogy he sees between a childhood passion of his and today’s presidential politics. The transcription of Terry Smith's commentary is below.

Welcome to Talking Politics. KBIA’s weekly show dedicated to talking about local and national politics. On this week's Talking Politics, KBIA’s Sara Shahriari speaks with Missouri Senate President Pro Tem, Ron Richard, and got his take on some of the Missouri legislature’s most pressing issues. 

Welcome to Talking Politics. KBIA’s weekly show dedicated to talking about local and national politics.

On this week’s Talking Politics, Columbia College political science professor, Dr. Terry Smith, is here with a political commentary on voter’s choices and his thoughts on why some people seemingly vote against their own interests.

Dr. Smith is a regular political commentator for radio and television stations throughout Missouri, and has a vast knowledge surrounding the political arena.

This week on KBIA's "Talking Politics" we’ve brought back a familiar voice and contributor, Dr. Terry Smith.

Dr. Smith is a regular political commentator for radio and television stations and is a political science professor at Columbia College.

Today, he tells us how the 2016 presidential election is shaping up and what some of the major differences are between the 2012 and the 2016 presidential race.

Last week, the University of Missouri received a multi-million dollar gift. This gift coincided with the university's public fundraising campaign called "Mizzou: Our Time to Lead." The campaign has the university setting out to raise $1.3 billion dollars in order to advance its "educational and research goals."

KBIA's Abigail Coursen reports.

Last Thursday, the University of Missouri Health Care System announced it would be eliminating "refer and follow" privileges.

On the heels of this decision, Attorney General Chris Koster announced Monday the results of his office's investigation into the St. Louis Planned Parenthood clinic and its handling of fetal tissue.  

Marshall Griffin has the story.

What do you think of when you think of nuns? Do you think of economic equality? Do you think of social justice? What about a bus full of nuns traveling the mid-west?

Lawmakers return to the Missouri Capitol tomorrow for their annual veto session. Aside from attempting to override several of Governor Jay Nixon's vetoes, Republicans in the Missouri Senate willl also be choosing a new leader.

This week, Eli Yokley joins us to discuss Attorney General Chris Koster's testimony in front of a special legislative committee Monday. Koster turned the tables on members of the legislature, saying they participated in some of the same conduct but later refused to answer some questions from reporters.

In a phone interview Monday, Governor Jay Nixon stumbled when asked if the buck stops with him on the Ferguson response.  Eli Yokley joins us to discuss the politics surrounding Nixon's response.  

In this week's Talking Politics we tackle the difficult and commonly misunderstood interaction between city, state and federal laws.  Ginny Chadwick voted against an ordinance that would have decriminalized the cultivation of marijuana plants at a city council meeting in October after saying she would vote for the measure during her campaign.

In this episode of Talking Politics, Prof. Terry Smith gives us an overview of what to expect from next week's midterm elections.

Eli Yokley of PoliticMo joined us this week to discuss Amendment 2, Amendment 6 and Amendment 10, which will each appear on ballots across Missouri next week.  They deal with everything from the use of certain types of evidence in court to the governor's ability to limit spending.

In this episode of Talking Politics, Prof. Terry Smith of Columbia College gives us an overview of the upcoming 2014 election.  Marshall Griffin gives us a look at Tom Schweich’s bid for state auditor that appears to be turning into a bid for governor. Finally, KBIA’s Bram Sable-Smith will walk us through the Columbia Police Department’s implementation of body cameras.

This week two Missouri political consultants joined the show to talk about how campaigns in Missouri utilize data. John Hancock, a Republican, is starting a Super PAC that will focus on micro-targeting voters through consumer data in 2016.  Patrick Lynn, a Democrat, is a consultant with Show Me Victories.  Hancock and Lynn discussed the advantages of this new method of voter targeting.

Eli Yokley of PoliticMo joined the show this week to discuss an unusually large amount of spending in the race for the Cole County 19th Judicial Circuit Court.

  The Washington D.C.-based Republican State Leadership Committee has contributed $200,000 to its Missouri-based political action committee.  $100,000 of that money was passed along to Brian Stumpe, Republican candidate for the Cole County 19th Judicial Circuit Court, and the other $100,000 is on its way.  Stumpe hopes to unseat Democrat Patricia Joyce, who has served on the court since 2002.

The legislature reconvenes this week to attempt to override several of Gov. Jay Nixon vetoes of bills they passed last spring.  Chris Kelly sat down to talk with us about what he thinks the legislature should and will do in this edition of Talking Politics.

Missouri lawmakers are scrambling this week to finalize and pass legislation before the end of the legislative session on Friday, May 16.

As Missouri senators and representatives put the finishing touches on their work, we took a look at some of the biggest bills this legislative session. This edition of Talking Politics looks into the abortion wait-time bill, the student transfer bill and the override of Nixon's veto on an income tax decrease.

KBIA's Hope Kirwan sits down to talk with Nadege Uwase to talk about what it was like growing up in Rwanda during the genocide and what the international community has learned from this tragedy.

And later on the program, a bill proposed in the state House to begin discussion on the Missouri state flag’s design has some historians worried. One flag expert, though, says the state’s a long way from a redesign process. ­Jack Howard reports.   

Mid-Missourians headed out to the polls today to cast their votes on school board, city council, and mayoral candidates and a range of issues on ballots in the municipal elections.

KBIA's news team captured some of the sights and sounds on election day in this edition of Talking Politics, hosted by Kate Grumke.

Since the early 1800s in Missouri, there have been laws against selling certain items on Sundays. These laws are called Blue Laws, and they were originally designed to give citizens and businesses a day of rest. But a motorcycle dealer in Kansas City is pushing to knock down one of the state's last remaining blue laws. KBIA's Justin Paprocki reported on how Sunday motorcycle sales could soon be allowed, with producing by Matthew Zuzolo.

 This week on Talking Politics, there are three candidates running for the First Ward Columbia City Council seat. Bill Easley, Ginny Chadwick and Tyree Byndom will be on the April 8 ballot.

Also on the show, a freshman state representative from St. Louis County wants to make the high five the official greeting of Missouri.

  Last week, it was hard to miss the huge news coming out of Columbia.

Former University of Missouri defensive lineman Michael Sam came out to ESPN last week. He could be the first openly gay NFL player after the draft in May.

"I'm not afraid to tell the world who I am. I'm Michael Sam: I'm a college graduate. I'm African American, and I'm gay," Sam said. "I'm comfortable in my skin."