Office Hours with Karpf and Loge

On the final episode of before an extended hiatus, Karpf and Loge talk APSA and a hotel strike, ethics of deciding whose money to take, and critical need to not only defend democratic institutions, but also to pro-actively promote them. Hiatus note: We're available for conferences, weddings, Arbor Day parties, or whatever special occasion calls for hot takes with footnotes. TTFN.

Karpf and Loge encourage academics and researchers to keep focusing on challenges facing society, and for universities and funders to make a loud and consistent case for the importance of that research. It's past time to play offense. Plus we make fun of Elon Musk.

Thoughts on Threads, Post, Blue Sky, podcasts and what strategic comms professionals should do about all of it. Dave is also still concerned about climate change and the end of the world.

Like everyone else, Karpf and Loge are tired of Trump but keep talking about him anyway. They also talk about Red Bike Guy and the power of mockery, and lessons for Major League Soccer and Messi from strategic political communication.

On a post-season pre-summer school bonus episode Karpf and Loge talk Musk, comms lessons learned from the US COVID response, CNN, Trump channeling Eminem's 2002 hit "Without Me," and political attacks and political narratives.

Karpf and Loge talk about the comms and content of the writers' strike, AI generated "news" sites, partisan "news" and the endless gunk it's creating, and PornHub versus Utah in a debate no one wants to admit they have a stake in.

On an emergency podcast Karpf and Loge talk Tucker Carlson and Fox, Twitter blue check mayhem, Disney suing DeSantis, an RNC AI stunt, and a strat comms lesson from cheese in Taco Bell products. It's been quite a 72 hours.

Karpf and Loge discuss the importance of structure and power in policy change and elections, and the limits of comms given power and structural constraints. Plus we offer tips for people doing policy comms, and Karpf points out one more way in which Elon Musk, Elon Musks.

The politics of Trump haven't changed, but he's a pundit employment machine; Musk and DeSantis continue to fail to think "what now, what next, then what?"; colleges as rhetorical constructions to attract students and raise money; a meatball made of extinct woolly mammoth DNA; and an old WWII fort off the English coast that claims to be a country, is half the size of a soccer field, and has its own national soccer team. 

If Trump is arrested most voters will say 'I told you so,' but that doesn't make getting indicted a sound political strategy. The argument for what the failure of Silicon Valley Bank means is underway and will determine what, if anything, happens as a result. Plus ChatGPT makes up stuff that makes Dave sound smart.

ChatGPT for strategic communication, language choice involves strategic and ethical choices, plus ranting about CPAC, doomsaying is bad, comedy is good, Jurassic moths and invisible asteroids.

Nikki Haley is running for President, the State of the Union is a strategic comms circus, Elon Musk is doing Elon Musk things, and if they're actually space aliens and not spy balloons the timing is super inconvenient.

Karpf and Loge talk Trump being allowed back on Facebook and what the Republican primary looks like, strategic comms and protests, and the English football (soccer) team Reading FC raising awareness about climate change. Plus fan mail from dog walkers, and Loge finally has COVID making the random rants even more random than usual.

Political analyst and former Republican strategist Sarah Isgur joins Karpf, Loge and a live studio audience to talk Senator Sinema and Republicans in 2024. Against his wishes we sing "Happy Birthday" to Dave Karpf.

In the final episode of season three, Karpf rants about Elon Musk (of course) and Karpf and Loge talk about why the story of the midterms matters for 2024. They agree that the story should be that voters like democracy and rights - and will punish people who threaten to take away either.

Why climate activists are good for companies that provide security to art galleries, why the mid-terms look like they'll be unsurprising and possibly terrifying, and Karpf and Loge want your take on how advocates can use next month's men's World Cup in Qatar to make the world a better place.

Karpf gloats about being right about Biden and marijuana, messaging and the midterm elections, and what DeSantis got right about disaster politics and why that's bad for democracy. Plus challenges to the space time continuum and we pitch Nyquil to sponsor us.

The absurdity of the annual fake budget crisis, the bad news that is Matt Gaetz, midterm election narratives, Nyquil chicken, and Loge still insists this is a dog walk podcast.

The timing of Biden's address on democracy, CNN needs to stop chasing shiny objects and start defending democracy, and the comms challenge of protecting the civil service from political patronage. Plus Loge gets Karpf to agree to watch a show about soccer.

Comms lessons from the student loan relief win, and ideas for how Democrats should message student loans and the 2022 mid-term elections. Loge ideas for sayings that should be on coffee mugs and Karpf continues to mock Musk.

Comms lessons from the Inflation Reduction Act and what activists should do next, and the hot mess and comms challenges of the Trump investigation(s). Plus Loge worries about five foot bats and warns about Donald Trump shaped MDMA and Dave Karpf is troublingly hopeful.

Karpf praises Sen. Manchin and is troublingly optimistic, why the Forward party as a third party is a dumb idea, the Republican fundraising platform WinRed continues to be terrible and what comms professionals can learn from all of it. Plus Karpf wears a meta Mountain Goats t-shirt, Loge praises the English women's national soccer team and warns about holes ocean floor.

What is the strategic communications value of attention-getting stunts? How can communications professionals build on actions like disrupting Supreme Court Justices eating dinner and activists gluing themselves to paintings? Plus Karpf still has opinions about Elon Musk and Loge is aghast Karpf has never seen the Rockford Files.

Ultra-conservative elites in Congress and the Supreme Court are ignoring the will of the people and threatening democracy. Advocates should remind state, local and national leaders that the right to privacy and children's safety matter more than what Tucker Carlson says. Plus self-repairing robot fish with lasers.

"Do you hear me/do you care?" - Missing persons. In this episode we talk guns, the January 6th Commission, the Supreme Court weakening the administrative state, and plug the legendary new wave band Missing Person's "Words" video.

Karpf and Loge talk about how Democrats should talk about the economy and inflation, and the limits even the best messaging has on who people vote for. Loge warns against releasing 66-million-year-old space spores and makes a pitch for a crypto company sponsor the pod (if they pay in cash).