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Wake Up To Politics

At only 18-years-old, Gabe Fleisher made quite a name for himself. When he was 9-years-old, Gabe started getting up at the crack of dawn to send out a daily email newsletter with his analysis of the political news cycle. He called it Wake Up To Politics, and it slowly developed a large readership.

In 2020, in partnership with St. Louis Public Radio, Fleisher extended his popular newsletter with a podcast that explained the inner workings of American politics. And just like his newsletter, episodes are short, sweet and to the point.

Ways To Subscribe
  • Generation Pandemic
    Studies have shown that the most important time for a person’s political development is in their early years. So how is the coronavirus pandemic impacting young Americans — a cohort already distrustful of government and anxious for change — and what will it mean for their political identities going forward? In this episode of Wake Up To Politics, young listeners call in to share their thoughts about coming of age during COVID-19; then, TIME national correspondent Charlotte Alter helps put their comments into context with incisive analysis about the political lives of millennials and Generation Z.
  • Quarantine campaigning
    How do you run a campaign for the presidency when your candidate and all your volunteers are stuck at home? In this episode of Wake Up To Politics, Gabe interviews representatives of both presidential campaigns — Trump spokeswoman Erin Perrine and Biden rapid response director Andrew Bates — to find out. They discuss how both campaigns have expanded their virtual efforts in light of the coronavirus and how they are responding to the unique challenges that the pandemic poses. These two aides might not see eye-to-eye on much: but they both agree it is an unprecedented time to seek the White House.
  • The mail-in election?
    Coronavirus has quickly altered almost every facet of American life, and politics is no exception. In this episode of Wake Up To Politics, Gabe shares voice memos from listeners with questions and concerns about politics in the age of coronavirus. Plus, Vote at Home Institute CEO Amber McReynolds explains what voting-by-mail means and how much time states have to implement it.
  • Campaigning Through The Ages
    It may feel as though technology and modern innovations have remade campaigning in recent years, but has politics truly changed? In this episode, Gabe interviews Professor Philip Freeman, an expert on ancient elections, to compare elections across the ages and share a story from an ancient Roman campaign that still has relevance to this day.
  • The Second Gilded Age of Politics
    “There are two things that are important in politics,” 19th-century Republican party boss Mark Hanna once said. “The first is money, and I can't remember the second." As accurate as that observation was 100 years ago, it rings even truer now. But conversations about money in politics can often be hard to follow. Gabe and Washington Post reporter Michelle Ye He Lee are here to help: In this episode, they share information on the history of regulating campaign finance, give definitions of key terms to know, and even offer some tips that will allow you to read campaign fundraising reports for yourself.
  • A user’s guide to polls
    Gabe breaks down the past and future of political polling, with some help from Steve Kornacki, national political correspondent at NBC News and Nathaniel Rakichm,elections analyst FiveThirtyEight. Together, they will offer some tips for consumers to interpret polls as they are released in this rapidly-changing election cycle.
  • Gerrymandering in the 21st Century
    In this episode, Gabe talks to Professor Sam Wang of the Princeton Gerrymandering Project about how Democrats and Republicans gerrymander district maps for their political gain and what he's doing to try and stop it. They will trace the rise of partisan gerrymandering from the earliest days of the Republic to the sophisticated, high-tech methods being used by politicians today, and discuss how Professor Wang is attempting to use those same methods to undo America's political divisions.
  • How do the Iowa Caucuses work?
    In this episode, Gabe talks to Iowa Public Radio reporter Clay Masters and Iowa State Auditor Rob Sand to break down how the Iowa caucuses work and how Iowa came to be a required stop on the road to the White House. Gabe and his guests will take you inside a caucus room, explain what's changed about the process in 2020, and discuss the future of the caucus system.
  • Introducing Wake Up To Politics, the podcast!
    In partnership with St. Louis Public Radio, Gabe Fleisher is extending his popular Wake Up To Politics newsletter with a brand new podcast. From explaining election processes to a user guide for polling data, Gabe will break down complicated systems that shape what happens in the political arena every day. Episodes drop every other week starting Jan. 24, just in time for the Iowa Caucuses.