PODCAST · news
Michael and Sarah Walker
by Elephant in the Ink Room
Today’s political climate feels like a war zone—and who’s to blame? All of us. It’s easy to point fingers: blame Biden, blame Trump. But the hard truth is, we’ve let this happen. A commentary from the Purple Man, Not Left, Not Right, somewhere in the middle and trying to make sense of it all.Visit us at https://elephantsinkroom.com/ or our YouTube Channel 'purple man channel' https://www.youtube.com/@PurpleMan-z8b6lThank You for your time, Michael, Sarah and Emma Walker 'The Middle Road'We strive to keep it short, others may talk about everything but what you wanted to hear. 3 to 5 minutes is all it takes to get you motivated, 20 to 30 minutes to bore and lose you. There is just to much information coming at us to fast. We hope to distill it into useful information to get you thinking, not reacting rashly.
Episodes
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Elections and Media in the Modern Era – Part 2 of 3 Media: Gatekeepers No More – Video
The result is clear: voters now navigate a complex, fragmented media environment long before they step into a booth. Traditional gatekeepers no longer hold a monopoly on political information. And that leads directly to the next part of the story—who funds the messages that flow through these...
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Elections and Media in the Modern Era – Part 1 of 3: Elections – Behind the Ballot Box – Video
Understanding why every vote matters is only the first part of the story. Equally important is how the information voters receive before Election Day is shaped and delivered. From traditional network broadcasts to social media, cable news, and independent commentary, the channels through which...
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Rebuilding How We Choose Leaders – Video
Not just a candidate. A governing team. Two people who complement each other, who can genuinely work together, and who both understand the responsibility of the presidency. Two people where, if one had to step into the Oval Office, Americans would feel confident that the direction of the country...
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Article 3 of 3 The Long Game — Power Beyond the Ballot – Video
By now, it is clear that the 2026 midterms are unlike any we have seen in recent memory. The scale of spending, the intensity of coordination, and the precision of messaging all suggest a high-stakes contest—but the full story goes deeper than individual candidates or party control.
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Article 2 of 3 Transparency Illusions — Money in Plain Sight – Video
Voters see the headlines—mega-donors, super PACs, and campaign cash—but few grasp the mechanics behind it, or the strategic intent that guides these flows. In essence, visibility does not equal understanding.
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Article 1 of 3 Midterms Under Siege — The Scale of Influence – Video
Midterm elections are supposed to be smaller, quieter affairs compared to presidential contests. Yet, heading into 2026, the sums being poured into these races are unprecedented, rivaling what we normally see only in general elections. The early flood of resources, even when fully disclosed, is a...
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The Art of The Victim – Video
There's still a scorecard, though. We've lost lives — lives that didn't need to be thrown away. Your friends. Your family. And what has your hero and savior lost? Well, his sons have made hundreds of millions of dollars off military contracts.
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Two and a Half Years to Go: We Look at Impeachment, and the Consequences, Part 1 — Trump’s Greatest Unintended Successes – Video
So what has Trump actually accomplished in his second term, grand old 47? He's out to dominate the world, not king, but world emperor, and what he's getting back is a redesigned world that feels increasingly comfortable telling him to bugger off. From a global point of view, good going, Donald....
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They’re eating the dogs and cats – Or how to Feed the one that loves you the most – Video
On top of that, this stand-up comedian was then elected President of the United States. Can you believe that? Laughter from the audience is acceptable. It was a good delivery. But maybe a little too close to home for some in the crowd. Well, I can't get paid as a political commentator, and it...
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It’s Now or Never – Video
Surprise. That hottie is a bot. Running from a server in Pakistan, Asia, Africa, or Eastern Europe. The praise is robot code. The followers are purchased fiction. And every fake account is making Elon a fortune while making Trump look beloved. That's how well the slogan is actually working.
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What Do We Need? (A Question Asked Mid-Toke) – Video
This is a post that's going to take on many forms in the months ahead. All I really want to accomplish today is getting you to start asking the same question I'm asking, what do you think we actually need, and to stop listening to the BS in the meantime. Okay by you?
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Go Back to School, Donny — And Take Mike Johnson With You – Video
I've done it many times. It's uncomfortable. It's also the only thing that actually works. The lies only work when we stop asking questions. Repetition turns lies into perceived truth, but only if nobody pushes back. Push back.
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Did I Lose You? Let Me Try Again. – Video
Don't look surprised when the voting booth that was on Main Street last Tuesday got quietly moved overnight to a new, undisclosed location, with an ICE barricade out front checking tattoos. And no. You are definitely not invited to the Ballroom Gala.
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The Public Investment Brick What Good Government Requires – Brick Eleven Public Investment – Video
The government taking equity stakes in strategic industries is no longer a radical proposal. It happened with Intel. It happened with rare earth mining. It happened with U.S. Steel. The only question is whether those stakes benefit the American people or simply give politicians another lever to...
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It’s Not Which Side, It’s Looking In The Mirror – Video
That's right, freedom — we fought for freedom. But somewhere in there should be a guarantee of protection. And I don't see anyone way up the ladder caring about protecting anyone anymore, except themselves. Have you seen that bulletproof barrier they use now? I'd have loved that contract. Bet it...
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Impeach Him, Impeach Him, Well Maybe we Hold Off On That – Piece 2: Why Not Impeaching Might Be the Smarter Move – Video
So: to impeach, or not to impeach. Maybe that's the question we put to Congress before they decide it on their own. After all, they work for us.
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The Immigration and Social Services Brick What Good Government Actually Requires – Brick Ten – Immigration and Social Services – Video
We are a wealthy country. We are — when we choose to be — a compassionate one. We should never fail to provide basic services to the people who need them. Not because it is politically convenient. Because it is who we said we were when we put that torch in Lady Liberty's hand.
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Impeach Him, Impeach Him, Well Maybe we Hold Off On That – Piece 1: The Vance Problem – Video
That's the Vance problem. Not that he's Trump's successor. That he's Trump with the volume turned down and have the power already installed.
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The Environment Brick What Good Government Actually Requires — Brick Nine – Environment – Video
Not a perfect environmental policy. Not a zero extraction economy. Just the honest acknowledgment that exploitation without limit is not capitalism. It is not freedom. It is not progress. It is greed. And more greed.
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The Long View From 1964 – 23 and Me – Video
You can post a photo to your profile on those sites. And I keep finding more and more second and third cousins with really, really dark tans. Maybe that should be a requirement for the whole family reunion. Thanks, Dad, for the heads-up, all those years ago in Inglewood. He or she just may be...
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Behind the Scenes — The Secrets of Mediocrity and Old Age – Video
I was chasing. And it was predictable. I was getting to where I could do half a dozen cartoons a week before the events even happened, because I had figured out the pattern. Which led me to a certain conclusion about myself. I was a GOD. Well. Maybe it wasn’t me. Maybe it was just that he’s so…
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The Healthcare Brick What Good Government Actually Requires — Brick Eight – Healthcare – Video
The river doesn't have to change course overnight. You move the banks incrementally and the water follows. It has been done before in pieces — Medicare negotiating drug prices, the ACA expanding Medicaid eligibility, surprise billing protections that took decades of advocacy to produce.
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Bye Bye Trump – Video
So here's my real question, the one I don't have an answer to yet. With Trump gone and MAGA weakened, two groups of people have to make a move, and I genuinely don't know which way either one goes.
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250 Years, and you don’t know why we are celebrating? – Video
Meanwhile the home-born, the ones handed this country at birth, the ones who never had to sit for a test or prove they earned it — half of them can't tell you what happened 250 years ago, let alone what's happening right now. We just handed them a democracy nobody bothered to study for.
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Not On My Watch – Video
That truth is this. The closest thing to actual power most of us will ever hold is a vote and a voice. That's it. That's the whole arsenal. It isn't much, until enough people pick it up at the same time. But neither of those things work if we stop using them. And they stop working in a different...
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America, 250 years, and what do we have to celebrate? – Video
Maybe the French will show up, polish their statue and demonstrate how they solved their problem by slicing a good loaf of French Bread with their one slice at a time slicer. Now that would make the 4th Great Again.
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The Education Brick What Good Government Actually Requires — Brick Seven – Education – Video
What is missing is a federal civilian pathway to trade certification that carries the same social contract as the degree programs. We fund your training as an electrician, a welder, a medical technician, a licensed tradesperson of any kind. You serve your community with that skill for a defined...
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The Purple Rose of Texas – Video
The fight will be against Citizens United, the Federalist Society, the Superpacs, Acs American Constitution Society, Leonard Leo, Arabella Advisors and the list goes on. It’s the dark money, they want to control and control is easier when there are fewer choices.
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MAGA 2.0 — A Rose By Any Other Name Still Stinks – Video
It was so much easier when it was just the evil left against the evil right. Now it's the evil left against the evil right against the other evil right against the original evil right.
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The Capitalism Brick What Good Government Actually Requires — Brick Six – Capitalism – Video
We are currently in a period of deliberate deregulation. Sold as freedom for business to grow. What it actually produces — when the major players are left to their own devices — is consolidation until competition disappears and the consumer pays whatever the monopoly decides they pay.
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The Four Horsemen Are Already Here – A message for Texas Bible Thumpers and Christian Nationalists everywhere – Video
So there we are, folks. Three Horsemen accounted for. What??? There are FOUR Horsemen? You're right. There are four. So who are we missing? Who are we waiting for?
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Just Asking the Obvious – Video
If the tools exist, and they clearly do — why aren't they being used here? And if it turns out the forgiveness itself was secured by deceiving a federal court — what happens then?
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The FCC and The News Brick What Good Government Actually Requires — Brick Five – The FCC and The News – Video
I can remember when the news was presented as news. Facts. This is what is happening. If an outlet wanted to offer opinion it was called an editorial and labeled as such. The separation was clear and it was honored because the public expected it and the license required it. That line has been...
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The Electoral College: A Solution Looking for the Right Problem? – Video
The Electoral College asks how states should be represented. Ranked-choice voting asks how voters should be represented. Maybe before we decide which system is best, we should decide whose voice we are trying to hear more clearly.
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The Judicial Branch Brick What Good Government Actually Requires — Brick Four – The Judicial Branch – Video
The Supreme Court needs its own enforcement mechanism. A Marshal's service with the specific authority to detain anyone — anyone — that the court by majority vote determines is willfully operating outside their constitutional limits and has become a national threat. No exceptions. No immunity. No...
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It Takes Two to Tango, But The More The Merrier – Video
But enough of beer bars and bedrooms. Off to where the real back-stabbing and dirty stuff happens — politics and government.
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The Long View From 1964 – The Newsboy Cap – Video
We didn't just lose the newspaper. We lost the commons it created. Oh, I would love a basket of Ol' English Fish and Chips with a bottle of malt vinegar right now.
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Protecting Your Voting Rights – Video
Document and report any suspicious activity, like voter purges or intimidation, to the FBI or state attorneys general. Ultimately, the strongest defense is high participation and collective action—history shows that when voters mobilize, attempts to restrict access often fail. If things escalate,...
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Before We Go Any Further A Reality Check – Video
The obvious goal with this set of foundation blocks isn't to fix the broken system. It's to provide a structure with enough strength that it cannot be so easily broken and manipulated again. The strength comes from simplicity. Not complexity.
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The Cabinet, Party Favors Brick What Good Government Actually Requires — Brick Three – The Cabinet, Party Favors – Video
There would still be infighting. There will always be infighting. Human nature doesn't get reformed by better institutional design. But more handshakes and less backstabbing is not a naive hope. It is what happens when you change the incentive structure. Right now the incentive is loyalty to one...
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The Term Limits Brick What Good Government Actually Requires — Brick Two – Term Limits – Video
Not reform it. Not balance it. Remove the institutional infrastructure that makes it the only viable option. No party designations on ballots. No party primaries with public funding. No party based committee assignments in Congress. Watch what happens to the PACs when there are no teams to back....
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The Show Must Go On — But Who’s Running It Now? Part 2 – Video
He will call it insurrection. We will call it Tuesday.
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The Accountability Brick What Good Government Actually Requires — Brick One – Accountability – Video
That's it. That's the foundation. Everything else — healthcare, infrastructure, justice, national security, the institutions we depend on daily without noticing — sits on top of that one simple principle. Remove it and nothing else holds. The walls crack. The roof comes down. The building that…
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Guest Post – Outrage Turned Us vs. Them Into Us vs. Us – Video
That reality does not erase legitimate differences between left and right. It simply raises a different question: who benefits when citizens become so consumed by fighting one another that they stop paying attention to the people holding the matches?
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One last thing, the Treasury is ours as well, get your fingers out of it. – Video
Sorry Charlie, but you works for us, not the other way around.
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The Wake Up Call We Needed — Now What? – Video
Elect moderates. I don't care if they carry a D or an R. Get away from the extremes. Flush MAGA down the toilet. Dump the wokes in a landfill. Look for people who want a functional government — leaders who understand that America is a member of the world community, not its boss. We are powerful...
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This One Is For You The Moderates. The Independents. The People With No Checkbox. – Video
The only way independents and moderates get a checkbox is if we force it into existence. Not by waiting for permission. Not by hoping one of the two parties decides to represent us. By showing up, making noise, and refusing to be invisible any longer.
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The President Who Won’t Leave – That’s right Donny, you never needed 4 inches to begin with – Video
The President of the United States works for us. He has no reason to fear us — unless we are not on his agenda. Unless what he has been doing was never in the best interest of the Americans he swore to serve. Maybe some reporter should just ask him directly. Why are you so afraid of us? What did...
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Bernie, Bernie, Bernie – Video
"This legislation would guarantee that the trillions of dollars potentially generated by A.I. are used to improve the lives of all of us — not simply to make the richest people in the world even richer."
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Today’s political climate feels like a war zone—and who’s to blame? All of us. It’s easy to point fingers: blame Biden, blame Trump. But the hard truth is, we’ve let this happen. A commentary from the Purple Man, Not Left, Not Right, somewhere in the middle and trying to make sense of it all.Visit us at https://elephantsinkroom.com/ or our YouTube Channel 'purple man channel' https://www.youtube.com/@PurpleMan-z8b6lThank You for your time, Michael, Sarah and Emma Walker 'The Middle Road'We strive to keep it short, others may talk about everything but what you wanted to hear. 3 to 5 minutes is all it takes to get you motivated, 20 to 30 minutes to bore and lose you. There is just to much information coming at us to fast. We hope to distill it into useful information to get you thinking, not reacting rashly.
HOSTED BY
Elephant in the Ink Room
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Michael and Sarah Walker have?
Michael and Sarah Walker currently has 146 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Michael and Sarah Walker about?
Today’s political climate feels like a war zone—and who’s to blame? All of us. It’s easy to point fingers: blame Biden, blame Trump. But the hard truth is, we’ve let this happen. A commentary from the Purple Man, Not Left, Not Right, somewhere in the middle and trying to make sense of it all.Visit...
How often does Michael and Sarah Walker release new episodes?
Michael and Sarah Walker publishes regularly with 146 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to Michael and Sarah Walker?
You can listen to Michael and Sarah Walker on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Michael and Sarah Walker?
Michael and Sarah Walker is created and hosted by Elephant in the Ink Room.
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