The Political Life

14/07/2023

Our newest episode is unique because it is a rebroadcast of a webinar conversation Maggie Mick, assistant Vice president of Multi-State, had with California Assembly-member, Mike Gipson about California lawmaking!

‎Show The Political Life, Ep Meet the Member: Mike Gipson (Hosted by Maggie Mick of MultiState) - Jun 27, 2023

12/06/2023

It's a podcast takeover with the Gold brothers! Rich and his brother Martin Gold from Capital Council take over the podcast to focus on all things Washington DC and the debt deal that was recently made in this special episode!

‎Show The Political Life, Ep The Gold Brothers Takeover: Debt Ceiling Deal & More! - Jun 12, 2023

05/06/2023

On this Monday edition of the podcast, Jim welcomes Public.com COO Stephen Sikes onto the podcast to talk about investing and the debt ceiling agreement that was made recently among other great topics!
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-political-life/id1401504350

25/05/2023

On this Thursday edition of the podcast, Rich Gold returns to talk about the looming debt limit in Washington D.C, why the issue of coming to an agreement is so important, and what could happen if no agreement is made.
Rich Gold is the leader of Holland & Knight - Public Policy & Regulation and focuses his practice on the intersection of complex policy and political issues involving Congress, the executive branch, and the media.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-political-life/id1401504350?i=1000614437902

17/04/2023

On this Monday's edition of the show, Rich Gold Returns to give an update on Washington DC on topics like the dept limit, and environmental regulations.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rich-gold-returns-with-an-update-on-washington-the/id1401504350?i=1000609261720

07/04/2023

Today we are bringing you a classic episode from the podcast!
"Are Psychedelics Coming to a State Near You? We hear from Sarah Mercer and Steven Stenzler of Brownstein"

Jim chats with Sarah Mercer and Steven Stenzler from Brownstein about the recent legalization of psychedelics in Colorado as well as recent legislative trends in California, Colorado, and states in the Western U.S. more generally.

‎Show The Political Life, Ep Are Pyschedelics Coming to a State Near You? We hear from Sarah Mercer and Steven Stenzler of Brownstein - Dec 16, 2022

31/03/2023

Check out today's unique episode!

Jim welcomes back Josh Gray and with him, his mom Jackie Krentzman to the podcast for the first time to talk about the unique relationship they have together and how it all came to be.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/meet-josh-grays-mom-jackie-krentzman/id1401504350?i=1000606716971

24/03/2023

Today we bring you a classic episode from the podcast! "WASRG - Inside the Dome in Person! With Sarah Mercer, Brian Bautista, Peter Ruddell, Chris Hosek and John Holub"

This was an incredible panel from WASRG's first ever in-person Inside the Dome – moderated by Jim! – featuring on-the-ground consultants from high-impact states giving their candid insider insight on the impact of the November elections and the major legislation expected in 2023.

The Washington Area State Relations Group (WASRG) is one of the nation’s largest organizations dedicated exclusively to serving state government relations professionals. Since the mid-1970s, WASRG has been providing its corporate, trade association and public sector members with a unique and valuable opportunity to interact with their peers, key state officials and public policy experts.

The panel includes (follow the links for full bios):

Sarah Mercer, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, Colorado Brian Bautista, The Southern Group, Florida Peter Ruddell, Honigman, LLP, Michigan John Holub, Public Strategies Impact, New Jersey Chris Hosek, Star Alliance, Texas

‎Show The Political Life, Ep WASRG - Inside the Dome in Person! With Sarah Mercer, Brian Bautista, Peter Ruddell, Chris Hosek and John Holub - Dec 9, 2022

17/03/2023

Check out today's episode!

Jim welcomes a new guest from a familiar company to the show. Chris Coffey, the CEO of Tusk Strategies, joins the podcast to discuss numerous topics, from working at Tusk Strategies on crypto to working on Andrew Yang's mayoral campaign.

You can find that episode here: https://thelobbyingshow.libsyn.com/new-york-politics-crypto-and-more-with-chris-coffey-of-tusk-strategies

03/03/2023

Check out today's newest episode!

Jim welcomes Josh Gray back onto the podcast to talk about his new job as vice president of Ogilvy along with other topics that have happened since Josh was last on the show.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/josh-gray-joins-ogilvy-and-talks-leadership-healing/id1401504350?i=1000602607167

24/02/2023

Check out today's newest episode!

Jim welcomes George Cronin of Rasky Partners back to the podcast to talk about all of the changes happening within the state of Massachusetts. During their conversation, George is able to give insight into different topics pertaining to the politics in Massachusetts.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/an-update-on-massachusetts-politics-with-george-cronin/id1401504350?i=1000601408926

17/02/2023

Make sure to check out today's new episode! Bradley Tusk is back for another exciting conversation with Jim about different funds that he is working on.

https://thelobbyingshow.libsyn.com/checking-in-with-chris-massey?fbclid=IwAR2sUVO7jOiMZCfmOw0saKi6_zdWPoRMRY1xAAKN6RIjT-k5kiwLFCD_cq4

Bradley Tusk is a venture capitalist, political strategist, philanthropist and writer.

He is the CEO and co-founder of Tusk Ventures, the world’s first venture capital fund that invests solely in early stage startups in highly regulated industries, and the founder of political consulting firm Tusk Strategies. Bradley’s family foundation is funding and leading the national campaign to bring mobile voting to all U.S. elections. Tusk Philanthropies also runs and funds anti-hunger campaigns that have led to the creation of anti-hunger policies and programs in 19 different states. Bradley hosts a podcast called Firewall, is the author of The Fixer: My Adventures Saving Startups From Death by Politics, the co-founder of the Gotham Book Prize, and is currently writing his first novel. He recently opened a bookstore, podcast studio, event space and cafe called P&T Knitwear on Manhattan's lower east side. He is also an adjunct professor at Columbia Business School.

29/11/2022

🎙️ Get caught up on the latest developments at FiscalNote, Inc.!

Josh Resnik, FiscalNote’s President and Chief Operating Officer, recently joined The Political Life podcast to talk about some of the exciting changes that have happened over the past several months, including FiscalNote becoming a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange.

Listen here: https://the-political-life.podcastpage.io/episode/fiscal-note-is-taking-political-intelligence-to-a-new-level-meet-josh-resnik

17/06/2022

Today we welcome back friend of the show Chris Massey to discuss the results of San Francisco's D.A. recall and what that might signal for the looming midterm elections.

Listen here: https://thelobbyingshow.libsyn.com/checking-in-with-chris-massey

15/06/2022

ICYMI: Our conversation with Lauren Belive, Director of Government affairs at SoftBank.

https://the-political-life.podcastpage.io/

After she graduated from Barnard College she moved to Washington, D.C., where she took on a staff assistant job with former California Congressman Henry Waxman.

From there she went on to work for then-Senator Barack Obama before joining his team on the presidential campaign trail and in the White House. She later held positions with Lyft and Zoom where she served as the Head of Federal Government Relations and Head of U.S. Government Relations, respectively.

In this episode, Lauren and Jim discuss Lauren's career history as well as her current position at SoftBank, where she works with portfolio companies and deal teams in various capacities as the Director of Government Affairs.

31/05/2022

Today on the show we sit down with Prashanthi Raman - the Vice President, Global Government Affairs at Cruise.

Prashanthi has had a fascinating career. After practicing healthcare law for 6 years, she was appointed by Illinois Governor Quinn to manage his administration's healthcare and human services legislative portfolio.

She then transitioned to the private sector and joined Lyft's government affairs team, where she oversaw and managed a wide range of public policy issues in various markets across North America.

At Cruise, the all-electric autonomous vehicle company "building the world’s most advanced self-driving vehicles to safely connect people with the places, things, and experiences they care about," she oversees global public policy and regulatory issues.

Special thanks to Jonathan Kilman for another great guest recommendation!

20/05/2022

Today on the show we welcome back Chris Massey, the Operating Partner, Government Relations & Public Affairs at Craft Ventures.

Craft Ventures is an early-stage and growth fund dedicated to the craft of building great companies. Comprised of entrepreneurs and operators, they're a team of founders helping founders.

Chris provides us with a recap of the All-in Summit, which recently took place in . Featured speakers included Elon Musk, Nate Silver, Tim Urban, and more.

He also covers what an impending recession could mean for the industry. Specifically, he touches on the potential for a decrease in spending on GR by startups.

16/05/2022

This week we are pleased to present part two of our conversation with Eric Tanenblatt. As a reminder, Eric is the Global Chair of Public Policy and Regulation at Dentons, the world's largest law firm.

At Dentons, Eric started up an autonomous vehicle practice, which now collaborates with 70+ partners around the globe within the autonomous vehicle ecosystem.

In this episode, Eric gives Jim a concise update regarding the current state of the growing autonomous vehicle industry and shares some insight on the progress of electric vehicles in the United States - with particular focus placed on industry leaders like Waymo and Cruise and their work in metro areas like San Francisco, Phoenix, and New York City.

09/05/2022

Today on the show we welcome back Eric Tanenblatt, the Global Chair of Public Policy and Regulation at Dentons, the world's largest law firm.

He also leads the firm's US Public Policy Practice, leveraging his three decades of experience at the very highest levels of the federal and state governments.

Eric also heads up the firm’s 50-state practice. To name just a few of his accomplishments, Eric has served in the administration of three U.S. Presidents, as senior advisor to U.S. Senators and Governors, and helped coordinate the 2004 G8 Economic Summit, which was hosted in Sea Island, Georgia.

In Georgia, Eric also served as chief of staff to the former Governor Sonny Perdue. Because of his deep roots in Republican politics in the state, Eric updated Jim on recent activity in the Georgia state legislative session, and provided some insight into the gubernatorial and senate races there.

This is part one of a two part conversation, and next week Jim and Eric will chat about Eric’s past work helping disruptive companies navigate the complicated laws and regulations surrounding the innovation economy – with a particular focus placed on Eric’s work and writing around autonomous vehicles.

25/04/2022

This week on the show, we are excited to present part two of Jim’s interview with April L. Mims, the SVP of Public Policy at hims & hers. In our previous episode April shared a bit about her journey through law school and her experience serving as the Director of Public Policy at Lyft.

In this week’s episode, Jim and April discuss her work at hims & hers, a direct-to-consumer telehealth and wellness platform dedicated to de-stigmatizing healthcare and making it easier for people to access the care they need.

The company was launched as “hims” back in November of 2017 with the goal of providing more accessible healthcare for men - particularly sexual health, skin care, and hair loss - all from the convenience of a laptop or smartphone. “Hers” was launched about a year later (late 2018), and the company went public in January of 2021.

Since then, the company has been approved to provide synchronous telehealth care in all fifty states, and asynchronous care in the majority of them.

It's April’s job to work with the handful of states that have not yet approved asynchronous care, and help them understand this method of care, why it’s safe, why it’s convenient, and how it will create better access to care across the board.

18/04/2022

This week on the show, we speak to April L. Mims of hims & hers. In Part I of our two part conversation with April, we discuss her journey from law school to .

While studying law at Georgetown, she realized that she wanted to forego the white-shoe law firm route, and focus instead on public policy. April reflects on her time as a law student, discusses her experience as a Law Clerk at the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and shares some of what she learned during her time as the Public Policy Director at Lyft during the early 2010s.

Be sure to tune in next week when we share part II of our conversation with April, in which we’ll focus on her work at hims & hers, and how her previous experience has helped her succeed in her current position.

11/04/2022

This week's episode features a returning guest, A.J. Bingham, Founder and CEO of The Bingham Group, LLC. An Austin, TX based lobbyist, we previously discussed A.J.'s journey to launching Bingham Group. He is joined by Andrew Cates, a recent addition to Bingham Group, who will head up Bingham Group's work at the Texas Legislature as a Managing Principal.

The Bingham Group, LLC is a full service lobbying firm representing clients before municipal governments in Austin Metro, and the legislative and executive branches of Texas government.

Be sure to also check out the Bingham Group's weekly podcast titled “The BG Podcast ” where they interview Austin’s leaders and influencers.

04/04/2022

Today on the show we have Steve DelBianco, the President and CEO of NetChoice - a trade association that works to make the Internet safe for free enterprise and free expression.

In his role, Steve works with NetChoice members to set and execute the organization's agenda.

Steve has become a well-known expert on Internet governance, online consumer protection, and Internet taxation. He’s provided expert testimony in 25 Congressional hearings and many more state legislative sessions.

We speak to Steve about his career working in the tech industry, and how he grew NetChoice into an organization that Politico has called "tech's most aggressive lobbying presence in Washington D.C."

28/03/2022

On this week's show we speak with Ronald F. Bilbao, the Vice President and Head of Public Affairs at REEF.

REEF transforms static parking facilities into thriving mobility and logistical hubs. Their mission is to be the ecosystem that connects the world to your block.

Ron is a Miami native with 15 years’ experience in public policy and government. We speak to him about REEF's transition from a parking company into a cutting edge tech platform.

Check it out wherever you get your !

14/03/2022

This week on the show we welcome back Rich Gold, who is a Partner at Holland & Knight LLP, and the leader of the firm’s Public Policy and Regulation team.

We're also joined by Nasim Fussell - a trade attorney in Holland & Knight's Washington, D.C., office, and a member of Rich's team. Nasim has a wealth of trade legislation and negotiation experience, having served in numerous trade-related roles in the public and private sectors.

Prior to joining Holland & Knight, she was the chief international trade counsel for the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, serving under Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa). She also served as deputy chief international trade counsel under former Chair Orrin Hatch (R-Utah).

Nasim and Rich discuss the impact that the Ukraine invasion will have on U.S. trade with Russia. They also weigh in on how our relationship with China may be affected as a result of trade legislation being proposed in Congress, and the different policy stances Congress and President Biden are taking on international trade.

Check it out wherever you listen to !

04/03/2022

This week on the show we've got Vance Roush of Overflow on the show!

Overflow is an online stock donation platform that helps nonprofits and churches accept donations of publicly-traded stock.

While most nonprofits deal exclusively with cash donations, many potential donors hold their wealth primarily in stocks, not cash. This fundamental misalignment means nonprofits miss out on countless donations each year.

Overflow is reinventing modern philanthropy by making it possible to donate stock directly to nonprofits.

With a background in technology as a former Googler and in the nonprofit space as a church builder, Vance has experienced first hand the power of generosity and is on a mission to scale that principle through technology. In addition to leading Overflow, he serves as Executive Pastor at VIVE Church.

Check out the episode wherever you listen to your !

28/02/2022

After 192 episodes, this week we had not one, but TWO guest hosts fill in for Jim on the show.

Episode 193 features Chris Massey of Craft Ventures and David Mack (D-Mack) sitting down for a fascinating conversation with David Owen of Shef.

Shef is a startup based out of San Francisco that allows consumers to have authentic, homemade meals cooked by local, certified chefs delivered right to their home.

Chris and D-Mack speak with David about:

- How David decided to make the move to in-house government relations;

- What it was like working for AirBnB in the early days of the company;

- How the '08 financial crisis and smartphones paved the way for the creation of companies like Lyft, AirBnB, and Eaze;

- How Shef is navigating the patchwork quilt of food-related regulations across the country

Check it out wherever you get your !

18/02/2022

Today on the show we welcome back Chris Massey, the Operating Partner, Government Relations & Public Affairs at Craft Ventures.

Craft Ventures is an early-stage and growth fund dedicated to the craft of building great companies. Comprised of entrepreneurs and operators, they're a team of founders helping founders.

Chris talks about the recent San Francisco recall election, and how the research from More In Common's "Hidden Tribes Project" can help us understand the outcome.

He also speaks about his work with Craft Ventures and one of their exciting portfolio companies, Overflow — a company that helps nonprofits easily and securely accept stock and cryptocurrency donations.

11/02/2022

It's infrastructure week on The Political Life w/Jim O'Brien!

This week we travelled across the pond (virtually) to speak with Lawrence Slade, FEI, the CEO of the Global Infrastructure Investor Association (GIIA).

GIIA is the membership body for the world's leading and the advisors to the sector. They represent investors with over US $1tn AUM.

Lawrence has been involved in the energy industry since the late 1990’s working in countries all over the world.

He is currently a Board member of Connected Kerb, a Board Trustee and Audit Committee member of the Money Advice Trust (who run the National Debtline and Business Debtline) and is also a Fellow of the Energy Institute.

04/02/2022

On this week's episode, we welcome back the "Gold Brothers," Martin Gold of Capitol Counsel, LLC and Rich Gold of Holland & Knight LLP.

The pair of political insiders walk us through what to expect from the legislative calendar in the next six months before members of Congress completely turn their attention to the midterm elections.

Here's what we covered this week:

- The history of the Electoral Count Act of 1887 and how Congress is expected to address its ambiguities.
- Both Rich and Marty discuss their expectations for how senators on both sides will approach the Supreme Court confirmation process.
- And finally, they get into what can be salvaged from President Biden's Build Back Better legislation and whether or not Senator Manchin will be on board for any sort of proposal.

Listen now wherever you get your