Calling all political junkies. Smack dab between Super Tuesday and Michigan’s Primary Day, we go deep on the state of the race with two of the best political minds we know.

It’s voting trends, turnout predictions, and the ever-shifting political landscape with Dr. Cory Smidt, political science professor at MSU, and Zach Gorchow, editor and publisher of Gongwer News Service.

So, it all started with Joe’s harem of skunks, but I won’t ruin the ending.

Sal Palombo is our guest on the podcast, aka Sal the Skunk Guy.

Sal owns and operates Michigan Animal Control. If you have critter problem anywhere in Michigan (and here’s what we’ve learned… everyone does whether you know it or not), Sal has the solution and an amazing story to match (See: Giant lizard knocking on your front door).

It’s gut-check time.  We’re taking it one episode at a time, and we’re just going to go out there and give it 110 percent.

Graham Couch, sports columnist for the Lansing State Journal, is our guest.  The dude is a physical freak; a true student of the game. 

Today, we take all controversies and opinions out of the podcast by asking the evergreen question: How would you grade Lansing’s food scene?

Helping us kick off 2020, Emily Lawler of MLive, Beth LeBlanc of the Detroit News, and Kyle Melinn of MIRS News join us. It’s simple. We put topics in a bowl, the reporters pull them out, and the predictions for the new year start to fly.

Fixing Michigan’s crumbling roads continues to be the white whale (wink, wink) of state politics.  Every pol pledges to fix them; no one actually does.  So, what’s the deal with our roads?

Today, we talk to an expert… Joe’s dad.

When you think of Christmas in Michigan, you think of Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland in Frankenmuth.

Today, we load up the sleigh to visit the Christmas capital of America, and Wayne Bronner, the second generation owner of the store, is our guest.

We’ve been talking about it for months, and today we do it.  We hypnotize Laura Biehl.

When he died last month, words like “legend” and “icon” were used to describe Hugh McDiarmid, Sr.  Hugh was a political reporter and columnist for the Detroit Free Press, and for most of us on this podcast, his career spanned a time before ours.  So, we set out to do some learning and asked two of Hugh’s colleagues to talk about their friend.

For a podcast based in Michigan’s capital city, we’ve made it 42 episodes without talking to a lobbyist.  No longer.