Finding Common Battle Grounds is an attempt by two brothers - one conservative, the other progressive - to have civil conversations about politics, with a little help from their friends.
In this episode of Finding Common Battle Grounds, we tackle two topics. We start with the Trump Administration's efforts to restrict voting by mail. We note that elections are governed by the states, and we all agree that the federal government should have no involvement in elections. Tommy and Josh continue to be convinced there is widespread voter fraud, though they are not able to muster evidence. Ryan is not convinced voter fraud is common at all (see here (https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/truth-about-voter-fraud) and here (https://votingrights.news21.com/article/election-fraud/)), but is convinced that Trump's use of the United States Postal Service is aimed at rigging the election. In the process, we learn that voting in Hillsborough County, Florida, appears to be far more secure than is voting in Utah! We then turn to the trade war with Canada... For a brief second. We go off on a lot of tangents. Tommy brings us back and reiterates that this is largely political and does not involve the vast majority of our trade with Canada. Ryan suggests that this may be the beginning of countries standing up to US bullying. Josh doesn't agree with that. Ryan also makes the point that the trade deficit the US has with other countries has gone up under Trump, not down (Fact check: goods deficit, not services). Alas, our discussion of the trade war in Canada kind of dissolves into chaos. Oh, and Tommy is under the weather, Ryan is on painkillers as he just had a tooth extracted, and Josh is loopy because he has COVID and is on medication. So, if we're not very coherent in this one... You're welcome!
18 Aug 2026
S05E17 - Peak Anti-Woke and Democratic Socialists
In this episode of Finding Common Battle Grounds, we tackle two topics. First, we discuss the decision by Sean Duffy, Secretary of Transportation, to label bike lanes "DEI bike lanes" and remove them from the Department of Transportation's website and cut funding for them (https://newrepublic.com/post/213402/donald-trump-transportation-secretary-dei-bike-lanes-websites). We all agree that this is absolutely absurd. It strikes us as the Trump Administration looking for things that are associated with progressive countries in Europe, labeling those things "DEI" to poison the well, and then trying to harm them just because they want to be seen as opposed to progressive ideas. The Trump Administration's anti-woke agenda has reached a climax by banning bike lanes. We then turn to our second topic - the rise of interest in the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and their recent successes in big elections. Tom points out that there are some members of the Democratic Party who are distancing themselves from the DSA. Ryan points out that the DSA is garnering interest because there are lots of people in the US who are suffering, and the current conservative administration's allegiance with big businesses and oligarchs isn't helping the "man on the street." Josh says he will die over any efforts to institute socialism in the US - literally, he will get out his guns and start shooting people. We then discuss the language surrounding this and realize we have a semantic disconnect over socialism.
9 Jul 2026
S05E16 - Balogun's Bump, Fauci's Fraud, and Iranian Irascibility
We tackle three topics in this episode of Finding Common Battle Grounds. We start with the intervention by Donald Trump on behalf of the US Men's National Soccer Team in the World Cup on behalf of Folarin Balogun. We all agree that FIFA is corrupt. We also agree that it's harder to get more corrupt than Trump. Our general conclusion is that we want a World Cup that is just about the sport, and that Trump's intervention added a taint to an event that was wholly unnecessary. We then turn to outgoing Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, and her over-hyped report claiming to reveal the truth about Anthony Fauci. We agree that the report didn't really provide new data. But Josh and Tom are convinced that the documents provide compelling evidence that COVID-19 came from a lab; Ryan can't agree because the science isn't there yet. Otherwise, we agree that Fauci was involved in funding gain-of-function research and lied. Finally, we turn to the initial framework for an agreement between the US and Iran to end the war (that had just restarted the night we recorded this) that was worked out in June 2026. Ryan argued that Obama had a better deal. Josh and Tom are skeptical. We discuss some of the details.
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
YouTube views
2,032
Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025
Apple Podcasts (US)
4.7 / 5
3 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
4 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 60 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
69
Social presence
0
YouTube
68
Engagement
60
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Questions about Finding Common Battle Grounds
Who hosts Finding Common Battle Grounds?
JOSH and RYAN and TOM host the show. Published by Ryan Cragun.
How often do new episodes come out?
The show publishes monthly, based on its RSS feed.
Does Finding Common Battle Grounds take guests?
Yes. Guests have been identified in episode analyses.
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