Listen "Debates"
Episode Synopsis
Who’s ready for the Presidential Campaign Debate Season? Whoo-hoo!!!!
Seriously, I long ago quit watching them because – and I say this with love – they are pointless. Nothing of any substance has been discussed at a debate since 1960, and it gets worse every cycle. Today we are literally watching them not to learn anything of value, but in the hope that – like NASCAR – there will be a giant implosion on the stage that ends with a Jerry Springer-esque fight. Including the chairs being thrown and noses being broken.
Now that I would most certainly watch.
That said, and putting my own ideas for how to improve the debates aside for the moment, there once was a time when debates in this country meant something. When opponents actually had positions on the issues that completely differed from one another. A time when politicians were actually addressing the issues, not trying get rich at the expense of the nation.
And the greatest of all these debates began on August 21, 1958 in Ottawa, IL…
More episodes of the podcast Dave Does History
Underway on Nuclear Power
17/01/2026
Religious Freedom
16/01/2026
Vermont
15/01/2026
DDH - It's Just Common Sense (Video)
13/01/2026
DDH - It's Just Common Sense
13/01/2026
Ink, Mittens and Treason
12/01/2026
Hamilton
11/01/2026
The Rubicon (Video)
10/01/2026
The Rubicon
10/01/2026
Connecticut Ratifies (Video)
09/01/2026
ZARZA We are Zarza, the prestigious firm behind major projects in information technology.