Shadow Politics with US Senator Michael D Brown

About Shadow Politics with US Senator Michael D Brown

Shadow Politics is a grass roots talk show giving a voice to the voiceless. For more than 200 years the people of the Nation's Capital have ironically been excluded from the national political conversation. With no voting member of either house of Congress, Washingtonians have lacked the representation they need to be equal and to have their voices heard. Shadow Politics will provide a platform for them, as well as the millions of others nationwide who feel politically disenfranchised and disconnected, to be included in a national dialog. We need to start a new conversation in America, one that is more inclusive and diverse and one that will lead our great nation forward to meet the challenges of the 21st century. At Shadow Politics, we hope to get this conversation started by bringing Americans together to talk about issues important to them. We look forward to having you be part of the discussion so call in and join the conversation. America is calling and we're listening… Shadow Politics is about America hearing what you have to say. It's your chance to talk to an elected official who has spent more than 30 years in Washington politics. We believe that if we start a dialog and others add their voices we will create a chorus. Even if those other politicians in Washington don't hear you — Senator Brown will. He's on a mission to listen to what America has to say and use it to start a productive dialog to make our democracy stronger and more inclusive. If we are all part of the solution we can solve any problem.

Publisher

Senator Michael D. Brown

Category

government · news

Language

en

Explicit

Yes

First episode

3 Jul 2023

Latest episode

5 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

1 of 113 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   5 Oct 2026

   Shadow Politics, October 4, 2026

   Shadow Politics with US Senator Michael D Brown Brazil's Primary Vote, Martial Law Fears, and the Politics of Fear Michael D. Brown and co-host Liberty Jones use Liberty's Brazilian primary vote as a starting point to discuss misinformation about Sharia law and socialism, partisan division, fear-based politics, and the midterms. Sharia Law, Socialism Fears, and a Call to Calm Michael D. Brown opens the broadcast by welcoming listeners to Shadow Politics and introducing his co-host, Liberty Jones, whom he calls his favorite person in the whole wide world. He turns first to misinformation he sees on Instagram and Twitter, where a post asks whether President Trump wants to ban Sharia law. Brown explains that Sharia is a religious code rather than American law, that it cannot be banned under religious freedom, and that the claims are meant to frighten people about Muslims, who make up less than three percent of the population. He then addresses warnings about communists and democratic socialists. Brown reminds listeners that Social Security, Medicare, public schools, and the fire department are already socialist ideas, and he says democratic socialists simply believe government should work for the people. Brown asks Jones to move on, and she responds that both sides use fear to push misinformation during the midterms. Division Past and Present, from Jackson to the Internet Jones asks whether American politics has always been this dysfunctional or is simply more visible now, and Brown answers that both are true. He recalls Andrew Jackson's wife, who was hounded by the press over a brief, unconsummated arranged marriage and died the day before he was inaugurated, a story he uses to show that nastiness in politics has always existed. Brown says the 1960s were just as divided, with assassinations, a never-ending war in Vietnam, and a divided decade he lived through as a hippie. He argues that the internet is what feels new, because anyone can find thousands of people who agree with them. Brown adds that in the past, Americans had to do research to learn anything, while today a twenty-four-hour news cycle spans fifteen outlets with different prejudices. Brown concludes that the internet has made the situation more toxic than it has ever been before. He says he is an old guy, stuck in his ways, and that Jones's view as someone younger matters more than his. Brazil's Primary Vote, Television, and Who Profits Jones reports that she voted earlier that day in Brazil's primary elections, which Brazilian citizens living in the United States may join for the presidency. She names the top two options as Flávio Bolsonaro, the son of the former president, and the current president, Lula, whom she calls the leftist option. Jones describes Bolsonaro as a former military man who was found guilty of trying to incite a militaristic dictatorship and imprisoned, and she says President Trump defended him and helped him get out of prison. She describes Lula as the leftist choice she is leaning toward for his environmental laws, recalls the car wash corruption scandal, and says she voted for a third candidate, Ronaldo Caiado, to defend her people. The conversation then turns to television, with Brown recalling that the 1950s brought four channels that signed off at midnight and a single set in most homes. Jones ties that to today's phones and asks whether division grows from real disagreement or because institutions profit from it. Martial Law Fears and the Question of Who Decides Brown argues that both parties exploit fear, and he jokes that some liberals are "liberals against going along," just as rigid as the MAGA side. He also says most people did not pass through Ellis Island, pointing to his grandfather, who lived here ten years before becoming a citizen. Brown's biggest concern is that Republicans are trying to rig the midterms and may place ICE agents and National Guard at polling places. He says martial law, which he notes h

2. 

   21 Sept 2026

   Shadow Politics, September 20, 2026

   Shadow Politics with US Senator Michael D Brown Trump's Falling Approval Rating, Tariffs, Greenland, and the Midterms with Steve Returning guest Steve, a self-described Trump supporter, tells host Michael D. Brown and co-host Liberty Jones that he is disappointed in the president over gas prices, the Kennedy Center, and the Iran war, launching a spirited back-and-forth over approval ratings, NATO, Greenland, media bias, abortion, and DC statehood. A Trump Supporter Returns, Disappointed Michael D. Brown opens the broadcast welcoming listeners to Shadow Politics and introducing his co-host, Liberty Jones, before turning to a returning guest he calls "our old friend Steve," a self-described Trump supporter he jokes is one of the bravest in America for coming back to defend his views. Brown starts with the numbers, noting President Trump's approval rating has fallen to thirty-four percent, the lowest on record, and asks why Steve still supports him. Steve admits he is disappointed, citing high gas prices, the ongoing conflict with Iran, and the push to rename the Kennedy Center, a place he has visited and loves, calling the naming fight a distraction from real problems. He adds that hamburger meat has climbed to nearly twelve dollars a pound, the highest he has ever seen, leaving him anxious heading into the midterms and unsure, as he puts it, what needs to change, only that something must. Socialism Fears and Midterm Warnings Brown argues that Trump seems "off the rails," questioning his mental acuity and criticizing him for campaigning heavily for Republican candidates despite his weak approval rating, when many of those candidates avoid appearing with him. Liberty Jones suggests much of Trump's behavior is performance, typical of a celebrity, and that moments of visible disappointment reveal character. Steve counters with a claim from that morning's Meet the Press, that Trump's approval rating mirrors past cycles when a predicted "blue wave" never materialized, and that the segment suggested voters dislike the Democratic Party's socialist wing even more than they dislike Trump. Brown pushes back hard, arguing that equating socialism with communism is as unfair as equating Republicans with fascists, and that only two members of Congress identify as democratic socialists, hardly a takeover. He recalls Michael Dukakis's disastrous tank photo as proof that image can sink a candidate, and predicts Republicans will likely keep the Senate but lose the House. Canada, Tariffs, and a Debate Over Who Plundered Whom Brown turns to Trump's trade fight with Canada, asking why the president would pick a quarrel with a friendly neighbor Steve himself calls "beautiful" with "lovely" people. Steve defends the tariffs as overdue payback for Canada taking advantage of American trade, though he admits it means paying more for his beloved Tim Hortons coffee. Brown counters that the United States has "plundered the world" far more than it has ever been cheated, creating what he calls banana republics in the Caribbean, and Liberty Jones agrees, calling herself "a firm believer in karma." She pivots to a weekend trip through Shenandoah, where "Vote No" campaign signs about marriage reminded her of a 1960s Virginia couple arrested for interracial marriage, and asks Steve what current Trump policies might look, in decades, like that old injustice; Steve says he has no opinion on gay marriage. Brown then dismantles what he calls red-herring fears about Sharia law and voter fraud, tracing similar tactics back to poll taxes and literacy tests from the civil rights era. Press Freedom, Activist Judges, and Disputed Facts The conversation turns to Trump barring CNN and MSNBC from press events despite promising transparency. Steve argues it "goes both ways" since Twitter and Facebook once banned Trump, and that the networks are relentlessly biased against him. Brown rejects the equivalence, arguing the press's job is to pursue truth rathe

3. 

   14 Sept 2026

   Shadow Politics, September 13, 2026

   Shadow Politics with US Senator Michael D Brown and Liberty Jones Tribes, Kings, and the Seven Dictums of Left and Right Politics with Christopher Angle Philosopher and author Christopher Angle joins host Michael D. Brown and co-host Liberty Jones to trace the political left and right back to tribal leadership, monarchy, and revolution, sparking a pointed debate over the Second Amendment, ethics, and whether power inevitably corrupts any system built on it. A Philosopher Joins the Conversation Michael D. Brown opens the broadcast by welcoming listeners to Shadow Politics and introducing his co-host, Liberty Jones, before turning to his guest, Christopher Angle, a philosopher, author, and host of The Philosophical Angle podcast. Brown, who spent eighteen years working to end the disenfranchisement of the District of Columbia, says he is eager to hear Angle explain why the country feels so divided. Angle answers that he has identified a set of dictums, principles he says govern how the political left and right behave, and that understanding them requires starting with anthropology rather than modern headlines. He traces politics back to early human tribes, where a member with more knowledge, strength, or age would naturally emerge as leader. Angle argues that leadership brings with it a desire for more resources than others in the group receive, a pattern he says appears across human and animal societies alike, and the discussion that follows builds outward from that starting point. From Tribal Chiefs to Kings and Queens Angle expands his anthropological account into what he calls the second dictum, Saint Augustine's principle of libido dominandi, the idea that individuals within any society will strive to dominate others. He describes how successful tribes grow into kingdoms, with leaders morphing into kings and queens supported by aristocracies who help enforce their rule over everyone else. Angle says this created a permanent divide between the haves, who enjoyed wealth and status, and the have-nots, the slaves, serfs, and proletariats who worked the land for centuries. He argues that the haves came to believe they alone carried divine favor, a belief reflected in the "divine right of kings" found across Western and Eastern cultures alike, including imperial China. Brown interjects to ask about revolution, noting that eventually the oppressed groups reach a breaking point. Angle agrees that is exactly where the historical arc is heading, setting up the discussion of the uprisings that follow, from England's Civil War era through the documents that reshaped politics in the centuries after. Revolutions, Socialism, and the Rise of Totalitarian Control Angle walks through the American and French Revolutions, arguing that they permanently weakened royal power because rulers could no longer simply issue edicts and instead had to win votes. He points to the 1815 Congress of Vienna, where Europe's aristocrats, shaken by the French Revolution, struck what he calls the fourth dictum, noblesse oblige, a bargain promising the have-nots basic security in exchange for loyalty, which he identifies as the origin of socialism. Angle traces that thread forward to the 1848 Communist Manifesto and then to twentieth-century regimes he calls its descendants, including Stalin's Soviet Union, Hitler's Germany, Castro's Cuba, Pol Pot's Cambodia, and North Korea, all cases he characterizes as leftist because of their total control over society. He introduces a fifth dictum, Lord Acton's statement that power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely, arguing that unchecked leaders lose their sense of ethics and cooperation, leaving only an end-justifies-the-means mentality that, he says, let Stalin starve millions in Ukraine while believing he was doing right. Liberty Jones Challenges the Framework Liberty Jones pushes back, agreeing that humans carry an innate tribal instinct but rejecting the idea that society must

Inside a recent episode

Shadow Politics, January 25, 2026

Published 26 Jan 2026 · Transcript excerpt

[…] And when we talk about politics, I think we are missing the middle of the country. We are missing some of the red places who may not have the language that we do, but they do understand politics. They do understand what they want out of their government. And it is, can we be open to rolling up our sleeves and figuring out how to make this a democracy when we work those things out through the processes that we have instead of shutting people out. And I think that was the biggest problem as people felt shut out of the conversation and Trump gave them a path through. Yeah, I think that's true. I think, you know, I think that the Achilles heel of the Democratic Party, and we need to take some responsibility for what happened, I think that since I've been a Democrat for more than 50 years, our Achilles heel has been, we tend to talk down to the rest of the country. […]

Who has been a guest on Shadow Politics with US Senator Michael D Brown

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Dr Allan Lichtman
• India May
• Patrick Mara

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

2 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 48 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

64

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

81

Questions about Shadow Politics with US Senator Michael D Brown