Robin Johnson
Host of Heartland PoliticsRobin A. Johnson is a governmental relations, public policy and political consultant. He is an expert on government reform issues and has consulted with numerous local governments on consolidation/merger, public-private partnerships and full-cost accounting of public services. Robin has also helped candidates win elections for the U.S. Senate, U.S. Congress, state legislature, judiciary and local government. Robin served as a consultant to the Office of Statewide Performance Review in the Illinois Governor’s Office and is former director of the Illinois Center for Competitive Government, a partnership between the Illinois Comptroller’s Office and the Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs at Western Illinois University. Prior to that, he was Director of the Local Government Affairs Division of the Illinois Comptroller’s Office. Robin served on the Board of Directors of the National Council for Public-Private Partnerships (NCPPP) in 1999-2000.
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Jonathan Cohen discusses his book, Losing Big: America's Reckless Bet on Sports Gambling. -
Stephen Franklin, former labor reporter for the Chicago Tribune, takes alook at the state of American labor this holiday weekend and discusseshis book Three Strikes: Labor's Heartland Losses and What They Mean forWorking Americans. The book examines three labor disputes in oneIllinois town, Decatur, that captured the change in labor-managementrelations. -
Stephen Macedo, co-author with Frances Lee of In Covid's Wake: How Our Politics Failed Us, discusses the failure to heed pre-Covid plans for managing a pandemic, how voices of dissent were treated, lack of cost and benefit considerations, impact of policies by class difference, school closures, the origins of Covid, and impact on our democracy. An important book written by authors without a political agenda. -
Are you tired of the hyper-partisanship in our politics and looking forsomething new? Lindsay Williams Drath, CEO of the Forward Party,explains the party's mission, stakeholders, origin, strategy and much more. -
State Rep. Taylor Collins (R-Mediapolis), Chair of the House HigherEducation Committee, discusses actions taken by the legislature andboard of regents on affordability, intellectual freedom, andtransparency, as well as priorities for the the future includingcommunity college bachelor degrees. -
Carter Hendren, a top Republican operative when the Illinois GOP was dominant in the Governor's office, looks back at why the Republicans were more competitive, why he believes in patronage, which elections changed the, course of Illinois politics, what needs to be done to reform the state, and much more. -
Marc Dunkelman talks about his new book, Why Nothing Works: Who Killed Progress--And How to Bring it Back. -
Rahm Emanuel, former Member of Congress, Chicago Mayor, and Ambassador to Japan who also served in the Clinton and Obama administrations, talks about how to revitalize the Democratic party, whether the party is still a 'big tent' party, NAFTA and free trade agreements, education and whether the Iowa caucuses should again lead off the presidential nominating process. -
Joan Williams discusses her new book, Outclassed: How The Left Lost the Working Class and How to Win Them Back. We discuss topics from her book including messaging suggestions, masculinity challenges, how the language of those with college degrees pushes away working class voters, and much more.
