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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GovernmentSen. Chris Murphy, (D-CT) talks about the forces fueling our partisan divide, the coming political realignment that will shake up American politics, fraud committed by economic elites on the working class, and much more. -
Hannah Meisel, government and politics reporter for Capitol News Illinois, discusses the recent trial of top Madigan aide Tim Mapes, what the outcome means for Madigan’s upcoming trial, and why the legal proceedings are important for the state and residents.
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Frank Mautino, Illinois Auditor General, talks about his office’s roles and responsibilities, the state’s financial condition, audits of the Quincy and LaSalle VA homes, audit of IDES Covid funds overpayment of more than $5 billion, and much more.
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EconomyTony Pipa, Senior Fellow at the Center for Sustainable Development at the Brookings Institution and Reimagining Rural policy initiative, talks about opportunities for rural revitalization from the Infrastructure Bill, CHIPS Act, and Inflation Reduction Act and possibilities from the upcoming Farm Bill.
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Rick Kogan, host of “After Hours With Rick Kogan” on WGN and Chicago Tribune columnist, talks about the Chicago cultural scene, the Mob, the state of journalism, the urban-rural disconnect, and what it means to be a “newspaperman.”
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Luke Nichter, author of The Year That Broke Politics: Collusion and Chaos in the Presidential Election of 1968, talks about new sources that provide further understanding of the pivotal race including the LBJ-Nixon relationship, the important background role of the Rev. Billy Graham in nurturing that relationship, the myth of Nixon’s Southern Strategy, the real reason for Humphrey’s fall comeback, and why George Wallace is “the most misunderstood politician in history.”
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Campaigns & ElectionsThom Serafin, a veteran, Chicago-based public affairs and communications consultant and TV analyst, discusses the latest Trump indictments, the impact on the 2024 presidential race, Democrats’ messaging challenges on the economy, and what it might take to break the partisan divide.
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Campaigns & ElectionsKathie Obradovich, editor of the Iowa Capital Dispatch, discusses the latest from the campaign trail on the leading Republican candidates as well as the role of Governor Kim Reynolds.
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James Risen, two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author and former New York Times journalist, talks about his new book, The Last Honest Man: The CIA, The FBI, The Mafia, The Kennedys—And One Senator’s Fight to Save Democracy. Risen discusses the Church Committee, headed by Idaho Senator Frank Church, which exposed shocking abuses by the intelligence community involving assassinations of foreign leaders, hit men, the Mob, illegal surveillance of American citizens, and the mysterious deaths of three committee witnesses.
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EconomyAlan Mallach, author of Smaller Cities in a Shrinking World: Learning to Thrive Without Growth, discusses the impact of population shrinkage on cities, global challenges for shrinking cities, and ideas and examples of how shrinking cities can thrive. He localizes the issue by including the Quad Cities in his remarks.
