Guest Episodes Episodes

What does it take to run for the U.S. Senate in one of the reddest states in the country with no party machine behind you? On this episode I sit down with Todd Achilles, an independent candidate for U.S. Senate in Idaho who is challenging three-term incumbent Jim Risch. Todd went from Army tank commander to two decades in tech, with leadership roles at companies like Hewlett Packard and T-Mobile, then served in the Idaho House before leaving the parties entirely. He founded Veterans for Idaho Vo...

What does progressive even mean anymore? It is one of the most argued over words in American politics and one of the least defined. In this episode of Purple Political Breakdown, I sit down with progressive video essayist The Soy Pill to put the label under real pressure: where it holds up, where it falls apart, and why the left and the right keep talking past each other. We get into the questions people actually fight about. Is this just communism with better branding, or the Nordic style socia...

Ohio's 7th Congressional District is back on every Democratic flip list in the country, and on this episode of Purple Political Breakdown Ohio Edition, Radell Lewis sits down with two-time OH-7 Democratic congressional candidate Matt Diemer to break down why. Matt has run this district twice, in 2022 and 2024, and he knows exactly what it takes (and what it costs) to fight for a seat the national party has long written off. We dig into the new Democratic nominee Brian Poindexter, the messy reali...

The California governor 2026 race is the most crowded gubernatorial primary in state history, and most of the candidates getting the airtime are the ones writing the biggest checks. On this episode of Purple Political Breakdown, host Radell Lewis sits down with Reza Safarnejad, an independent (No Party Preference) candidate for governor of California whose ballot designation is Small Business Owner and whose path into politics started the day the Palisades fire burned his entire neighborhood to ...

Host Radell Lewis sits down with Pastor LaTrina Slater, a mental health professional with over twenty years in the field and author of a new book chronicling her journey reconciling Christianity with her identity as a gay woman. LaTrina serves as pastor of an affirming church and founded Grace Revolution, a ministry focused on youth, adults, and families in marginalized communities. This conversation lands in the middle of a national reckoning over Christian nationalism, after President Trump po...

What if finding your representatives, tracking their votes, and holding your government accountable was as easy as opening an app? In this episode of Purple Political Breakdown, host Radell Lewis sits down with Devin Neal, co-founder of Civic, the new civic engagement app built to make democracy accessible before the 2026 midterms. Devin brings serious technical firepower to this mission. He is a software engineer with experience at Google, Meta, and Cash App, holds degrees in computer science a...

What does the Democratic Party actually stand for, and can anyone deliver the elevator pitch? Radell Lewis sits down with Pisco, a lawyer turned political streamer from Live and Learn, to break down the identity crisis facing the Democratic coalition. They tackle whether Democrats should lean into populist rhetoric to compete with MAGA, how to handle politically toxic influencers like Hasan Piker and Nick Fuentes, and where the line falls between pragmatic alliance building and dangerous associa...

Radell Lewis sits down with Zee, Founder of Sole Strategies and Executive Director of National Ground Game, the force behind the Unfuck America Tour. This conversation cuts straight to the heart of what Democrats are getting wrong and what it takes to actually win. Zee breaks down how her team has generated over 100 million organic views, raised $700,000 from small dollar donors, and flipped Escambia County blue for the first time since 1960. They tackle why TPUSA dominated college campuses for ...

Is the American Dream of homeownership slipping away, or is it being taken? In this episode of Purple Political Breakdown, host Radell Lewis sits down with Ashley Thomas III, National President of the National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB), the nation's oldest minority real estate trade association, founded in 1947 to fight for democracy in housing. Ashley is also the CEO and Founder of LA Top Broker, Managing Broker of First Security Investment Co., Inc. (one of the country's oldes...

Are Americans too cynical to recognize when government actually works? Radell Lewis sits down with David Martin, host and producer of The Good Government Show, to explore the stories of public servants and local leaders making real differences across the country. From a recidivism program in Berks County, Pennsylvania that dropped reoffending rates from 60% to just 5%, to micro loans helping small business owners grow, to rural hospitals reopening in communities that desperately need them, David...

What if there were 10 issues that the overwhelming majority of Americans already agree on, but Congress refuses to act on? That is exactly what Seven Ten (seventen.org) was built to address. In this episode of Purple Political Breakdown, host Radell Lewis sits down with Joe Patterson, the director of Seven Ten, a nonpartisan, nonprofit pro-democracy organization designed to unclog Congress by focusing exclusively on issues with 70% or more supermajority support. Joe breaks down the full list of ...

Your morning coffee may come with a side of modern slavery, child labor, and mass deforestation and it only costs 2-3 cents more per cup to fix it. In this episode of Purple Political Breakdown, host Radell Lewis sits down with Etelle Higonnet, founder and director of Coffee Watch, Yale Law School graduate, and internationally recognized human rights attorney who has been knighted by the French government for her pioneering work to curb deforestation in high-risk commodity industries. With exper...

In this episode of Purple Political Breakdown , host Radell Lewis sits down with Dr. Bernd Reiter , political scientist and Professor of LusoLatin American Studies at Texas Tech University, for a wide-ranging conversation about the crisis of representative democracy, extreme wealth inequality, and what it would actually take to fix America's political system. Dr. Reiter brings a unique international lens to American politics. Born and raised in Germany, he's lived and researched across Colombia,...

Purple Political Breakdown host Radell Lewis sits down with Adam Swart, founder and CEO of Crowds on Demand the country's largest protest and advocacy firm for an eye-opening conversation about the state of protesting in America. With ICE protests dominating headlines and tensions escalating between civilians and law enforcement, this episode delivers the insight you need right now. Adam brings over a decade of experience organizing high-profile protests and advocacy campaigns across the polit...

In this episode, Radell sits down with Che Ahn, a Korean-American pastor and Republican candidate for California Governor 2026, to discuss the state's most pressing issues. From the California homelessness crisis and Prop 36 enforcement to affordable housing, gas prices, and the Pacific Palisades fires, this conversation dives deep into policy solutions and the role of faith-based organizations in addressing poverty and drug rehabilitation. Ahn shares his immigrant story, his vision for cutting ...

Can forgiveness bridge America's political divide? Host Radell Lewis sits down with Matt Melvin, author of Bully Behind Bars , a gay Christian Trump supporter who survived prison and bullying to share a message of acceptancewhile also calling Democrats "Nazis." This raw, unfiltered conversation explores political tribalism, MAGA loyalty, Clinton conspiracy theories, and whether true bipartisan dialogue is possible when both sides struggle to hold their own accountable. Radell challenges Matt's c...

Host Radell Lewis sits down with Dakarai Larriett, U.S. Senate candidate from Alabama, for an in-depth conversation about police reform, racial discrimination, and his proposed Motorist Bill of Rights. After experiencing a false arrest in Michigan in 2024where officers allegedly attempted to plant drugs in his vehicle and subjected him to humiliating sobriety testsLarriett was inspired to run for office and fight for systemic change. When all three branches of government failed him, he decided t...

How did America become so politically divided? In this episode of Purple Political Breakdown, host Radell Lewis sits down with journalist and author Alison Sher to examine the forces driving political polarization in post-pandemic America. Alison Sher is a journalist, author, and cultural commentator whose work explores the fault lines of modern societyfrom generational identity to ideological polarization. She has written hundreds of stories for regional alt-weeklies and niche publications, ble...

Is public education failing your children? In this episode of Purple Political Breakdown, host Radell Lewis sits down with Chris Linder, Education Technology consultant with over 30 years' experience in media, technology, and education. Chris is the founder of REMIX Academics and author of Homeschool Remix , which shows diverse families how to use the hybrid homeschooling model to combine the structure and socialization of the traditional classroom with the freedom and flexibility of homeschooli...

Host Radell Lewis sits down with Bryce Eddy (The Bryce Eddy Show, Salem Podcast Network) to explore the intersection of Christianity and politics in America. Are American values and Christian values truly one and the same? This episode dives deep into faith, morality, and the founding fathers' vision for the nation. Topics include: Judeo-Christian principles and the U.S. Constitution The nuclear family and community building Local politics vs. federal government power Decentralization and govern...

What's really happening with immigration in America? Host Radell Lewis sits down with David Rozas, founding partner of Rozas Law Firm and one of the nation's leading immigration attorneys, to break down the immigration crisis beyond the political talking points. David Rozas has spent his career taking on some of the toughest immigration cases in the country, from asylum seekers to refugees and unaccompanied immigrant children. As a founding partner of Rozas Law Firm, he grew the small practice i...

Host Radell Lewis sits down with Clarence H. Carter, Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Human Services and author of "Our Net Has Holes In It," for an in-depth discussion on transforming America's broken welfare system and addressing the homelessness crisis. About the Guest: Clarence H. Carter is a career human services (safety net) administrator with 30+ years of experience in the administration of programs and agencies dedicated to serving economically, socially, and developmentally v...

This is a great conversation with my guest about the different layers of the abortion debate. Guest's Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4eEa7zaNA1YHhmUNxzo4fw Guest's Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTAYi1hZy0UqNXeVHRb7EtQ Standard Resource Links & Recommendations The following organizations and platforms represent valuable resources for balanced political discourse and democratic participation: PODCAST NETWORK ALIVE Podcast Network - Check out the ALIVE Network where you can catc...

This week on Purple Political Breakdown, we sit down with Adam Mizel, co-founder of US United, a not-for-profit media collective that's challenging the narrative of American division through grassroots action and community engagement. Adam's story is anything but typical. After a 30-year career spanning Morgan Stanley, private equity, hedge funds, and running public companies, he found himself at a turning point in May 2020. Like many Americans, he was screaming at his TV as the country seemed t...