The Get More Smarter Podcast - A Weekly Show About Colorado Politics

Send us a Text Message. This week on the Get More Smarter Podcast, it’s a HOLY SHIT HE REALLY DID IT emergency podcast! We’re recording around 2:30 pm Mountain Time on Sunday, July 21st -- just about 2 hours after President Biden announced he was stepping down from the top of the Democratic Presidential ticket, endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris, and making HISTORY. Listen up to find out what we think about that, and what we think happens next.

Send us a Text Message. This week on the Get More Smarter Podcast, just when you thought this election couldn’t possibly get any more insaner, Donald Trump survived an actual assassination attempt; if you’re just waking up from a coma, yes, he’s about to officially be renominated as the GOP presidential candidate. We check in on the RNC convention in Milwaukee Wisconsin where Trump picked J.D. Vance, a dude barely one year older than Ian, to be his Vice Presidential running mate for a "Double MAGA"ticket. With pressure still sort of building on President Biden to step aside and let someone else take his spot at the top of the Democratic ticket, we check in on Colorado’s delegation to see how Democrats are handling this moment. Next we look across the aisle at our friends in the Colorado GOP, who, despite it all, continue to beclown themselves in front of Colorado, the country, and the entire universe. Oh! And their candidate in the only remotely competitive pickup district for them this year, Gabe-ish Evans, is surrounded by liars and hypocrites.

Send us a Text Message. This week on the Get More Smarter Podcast, WE DID IT Y’ALL! WE MADE IT ALL THE WAY TO EPISODE 200! The world is a mess and politics has sure gotten weird over the last two weeks but we made 200 episodes of a Colorado Politics podcast and you’re still listening! Yes you! On this episode we’ll look back at how far we’ve come, how far we still have to go, and interview one of our favorite guests, Colorado Governor Jared Polis.

Send us a Text Message. This week on the Get More Smarter Podcast, the Colorado Primary Election is over! The winners won and the losers lost and were here to celebrate and/or weep with you, depending on your preferred outcome. But, to be honest, we’re pretty happy with the results across the board; we’ll unpack what this all means for Colorado politics going forward, especially as it relates to the Democratic and Republican parties and their relative relevance.

Send us a Text Message. This week on the Get More Smarter Podcast, the 2024 Colorado Primary Election is on Tuesday, June 25th, so we break down the top races. Did you know in Colorado you not only vote for PEOPLE but you vote about PRETTY MUCH EVERYTHING ELSE TOO, ESPECIALLY THIS ELECTION? We also go through some of the top ballot initiatives voters will see this November. And finally, just when you thought the Colorado GOP’s campaign of self-defeat was over, they find a way to make themselves even more unelectable by turning on the people trying to rescue the party from itself.

Send us a Text Message. This week on the Get More Smarter Podcast, the Colorado GOP’s flag burning stochastic terrorism is the straw that broke the camel’s back, strangely enough, as local county party chairs are FINALLY calling for their chairman’s ouster. Just like we told you in our last episode, being a felon running for President kind of hurts you, at least a little. We also wind up another round of prognostications so we can tell you the future before you experience it yourself. And friend of the show and newly minted CEO of Denver Water Alan Salazar is BACK on the pod to talk about the essence of wetness, the battle over Colorado's water, and what he thinks about the first year of Denver Mayor Mike Johnston's administration.

Send us a Text Message. This week on the Get More Smarter Podcast, the Colorado Republican Party continues it’s absolutely undefeated effort to ensure permanent electoral dominance by the Colorado Democratic Party, this time by saying every single Coloradan should pull their kids out of public schools; we report on how that’s going for them. Democrat of the Decade, Colorado Republican Party Chairman Dave Williams, is also doing his part by draining the money from the party he runs for his own personal political gain! Also, we check in with our 8th favorite member of Congress from Colorado; our first (but not only!) most competitive election; and a primary debate in Ken Buck’s old district. ALSO, Donald J Trump is a convicted felon!!! In case you haven’t heard, the 45th president of the United States of America was convicted on all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records for paying hush money to a porn star to try and keep an affair he had secret during the 2016 election. Of course, Republicans are demanding his resignation from the presidential nomination and will be replacing him with someone who didn’t do all of that...just kidding!

Send us a Text Message. This week on the Get More Smarter Podcast, with six months left to go until the 2024 election, we look at the state of the U.S. House, the Senate, and the Presidential race that will literally determine the course of American and probably global history. Cool! Here in Colorado we have dueling slates of Republicans; we ask the question on everybody’s mind: "Will they actually split into two parties?" If not, what the hell happens next? We also talk furries, aromatherapy masseuses, and state legislative candidates.

Send us a Text Message. This week on the Get More Smarter Podcast, the SINE has DIED; for those of you who for some reason don’t speak Latin, the second regular session of the 74th general assembly has come to an end! Best friend of the pod Christy Powell is back to give us the rundown from under the gold dome at Colfax and Sherman. Then, some Republicans are already denying the results of the 2024 election even though it hasn’t happened yet! Next, Democrats in the US House of Representatives saved Mike Johnson from his own caucus, mostly because they are basically running the House anyway. And we have an update from everybody’s favorite puppy murdering governor of South Dakota, because she just can’t stop talking about the time she shot and killed her own dog or the world leaders she did or didn’t meet.

Send us a Text Message. This week on the Get More Smarter Podcast, Ian sings "The Final Countdown" as the Colorado House and Senate race to finish up dozens of bills before the legislature adjourns sine die on May 9th (and there are still some big f***in’ deals left to finish up). Next, the Colorado Republican Party is putting their thumbs, their hands, and their whole bodies on the scales for the worst candidates running in Colorado. We also unveil the REAL Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and check in with our 8th favorite member of Congress from Colorado; a Republican Governor literally shot and killed a puppy; and we’ve got a returning segment where we call out the BS so you don’t have to.

Send us a Text Message. This week on the Get More Smarter Podcast, we have a special interview-only episode with Texas Democratic Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett, who has become a viral sensation for her willingness to say to Republicans what we're all quietly thinking. Crockett talks to us about her expectations as a Freshman Member of Congress; why people respond to her message; how Democrats can win in 2024; and what goes through her mind before she lets her frustrations pour out into a microphone.

Send us a Text Message. This week on the Get More Smarter Podcast, Ian is/was coming in from Our Nation’s Capitol, Washington DC, where the GOP Micro-Majority is getting sick and tired of threats and shenanigans coming from…other members of the GOP Micro-Majority. Then, we check in on the smaller, more golden-domed capitol building in the centennial state where lawmakers only have a few weeks left to finish a big ol pile of bills; we ask the perennial question everyone else is asking too, “HOW WILL THEY GET IT ALL DONE IN TIME!?!?!” We also have an unfortunate amount of flatulence-related political content to squeeze out. And finally, we’ll take a look at the Colorado congressional races that are finally starting to take shape (sort of). We’ll get a report from Best Friend of the Pod and unofficial guest host, Christy Powell, who's back to deliver the good, the bad, and the broke from the first quarter fundraising period!

Send us a Text Message. This week on the Get More Smarter Podcast, GIVE ME LIBERTY OR GIVE ME LAUNDRY, or something; Democratic members of Colorado’s congressional delegation fight back against some of the silliest stuff we’ve ever heard of -- six or seven months before the most important election of our lives (again) We have a final update from the absolute clown show that is the Colorado Republican House Micro Minority whose attempted impeachment of Secretary of State Jena Griswold went exactly as we said it would. Then, a member of the same micro minority caucus that I never heard of until 10 minutes before recording this episode left a loaded gun in a bathroom in the State Capitol, and no, this isn’t the first time something like this has happened, unfortunately. Also, we may FINALLY have proof that Colorado Republican Party Chairman Dave Williams is a plant by Democrats akin to the plot of the Scorcese film "The Departed" because once again we cannot think of a way we could have done more damage to the State GOP ON PURPOSE than Williams has done by happenstance.

Send us a Text Message. This week on the Get More Smarter Podcast, we’ve got a longer episode because there's lots to discuss. First, there are more than a few problems for Colorado republicans in more than a few congressional districts, and one of them was so bad he lost to Heidi Ganahl in 2022. It’s Budget, Guns and Mental Health down at the State Capitol; we update you on some big fights and some big crazy going down under the gold dome. And...CHEMTRAILS! Seriously. But before all of that, you know him as Colorado’s 29th Attorney General because he is Colorado’s Attorney General! Phil Weiser is back on the pod to chat trust-busting, regulating social media, county-level gerrymandering, bad gas, and much more.

Send us a Text Message. This week on the Get More Smarter Podcast, the Second Regular Session of the 74th Colorado General Assembly is about halfway over: Democrats are taking big swings at big bills and Republicans are making utter fools of themselves. In other words, it’s a day that ends with “y.” Not-billionaire and not president and not gonna be president former host of NBC’s "The Apprentice" is broke as shit and can’t pay $464 million dollars he owes to the people of NY State for being a criminal fraudster. Who could have seen that coming? And with the U.S. Senate Majority in the balance, it’s looking like Republicans could blow their chances at a majority once again. But first Congressman Jason Crow from Colorado’s 6th congressional district stops by to talk about the Space Force National Guard; the VA in Aurora; Ukraine; gun violence prevention; and saving democracy.

Send us a Text Message. This week on the Get More Smarter Podcast...we have a special interview-only episode with the man who was the first guest on the original show way back in May 2016. You know him as Denver's Mayor, Colorado's Governor, and now a United States Senator: John Hickenlooper is back on the pod! You don't want to miss this interview...

Send us a Text Message. This week on the Get More Smarter Podcast...Christy Powell is back on the podcast, and we’ve got a whole Christy-only special on the halfway point of the Colorado legislative session as a bonus episode! Our unofficial third cohost drops by again to give us an update on what’s going on under the gold dome and to confound us once more with her legislative game "What the F*** are They Talking About?"

Send us a Text Message. This week on the Get More Smarter Podcast, Super Tuesday came and went and left us with the same situation we had beforehand; that’s right, it’s a Biden-Trump rematch, and no, there’s nothing you can do about it. But Dark Brandon is back: President Biden absolutely overcame incredibly low expectations for his State of the Union speech, and (formerly) rising Republican star Dark Katie Britt from Alabama vastly underperformed her basically average expectations. Later, the Colorado House Republicans catch “nopeachment fever” from their colleagues in Washington DC; this time, they’re going after a friend of the pod, and most likely a Fox News hit! They also tried and failed to make abortion and maybe also IVF illegal in Colorado right after even ALABAMA realized the error of their ways and carved out an exception for IVF in their heinous anti abortion law. Next, Colorado Democrats’ favorite Republican Copy Machine Masochist is back! What genre of office equipment will Ron Hanks exact his revenge on in his latest electoral endeavor? And finally, we did it yall: Democrats are finally killing off Colorado’s oil and gas industry -- for the fifth time -- once and for all. Or whatever.

Send us a Text Message. This week on the Get More Smarter Podcast, the United States Supreme Court voted unanimously to let Donald Trump appear on the Colorado ballot in 2024; Democrats and Republicans alike weep and rejoice in equal measure. Kevin McCarthy may have been the shortest-termed speaker in modern history, but MAGA Mike Johnson may go down as the least capable person to ever hold the job as he kicks the can down the road and forces the federal government to live paycheck to paycheck. Next, Real President Joe Biden and Pretend President Donald Trump both visited the Texas Border this week, but only one of them wants to do anything to solve the problem. With the Colorado legislature well underway, one powerful legislator is picking fights with the media about objectively accurate reporting -- where have we seen this before? And our 8th favorite member of congress from Colorado is having a tougher and tougher time these days. May we politely suggest suspending your campaign and spending more time with your family? Finally, the fallout from the overturning of Roe v. Wade continues as Republicans recognize the effects of their own policies; maybe they should stop trying to interfere in private medical decisions altogether so this kind of stuff isn’t a problem anymore? And the most corrupt, contemptible, and batshit crazy chair of the Colorado GOP in modern memory -- if not all of history -- is using Nikki Haley’s money to go after Phil Anschutz, Jeff Crank, and Nikki Haley, all while trying to bolster his own campaign for Congress. Is there any line this guy won’t cross to promote himself?

Send us a Text Message. This week on the Get More Smarter Podcast, the incredibly cynical and evidence-free impeachment attempt against President Biden is failing, and now even Republicans are noticing; as it turns out, when the leader of your party is a 91-time indicted twice convicted obvious crook, trying to play both sides against a guy like Joe Biden just isn’t going to work. Next, we discuss how an egg isn’t a chicken, a sapling isn’t a tree, a seed isn’t a flower, and no, a frozen embryo isn’t a person. A southern Colorado Republican con artist gets targeted by the feds in an investigation; we're glad that federal law enforcement is finally figuring out what so many of us in Colorado knew for so long. And finally, the namesake of the very first episode of this podcast has emerged from his hole; former U.S. Senator Cory Gardner has an endorsement to make! Will this be the normie establishment kiss of death, or just what the incredibly crowded field in his former congressional district needs to make their mind up?