Capitol Courage

As we’ve been recording Season 2, our day jobs keep getting in the way of both recording, and in today’s instance, posting an episode we recorded 5 days ago. So apologies to our listeners that some references might be a little old. Join us today though as we break down some recent Virginia General Assembly debates on affordable housing and gaming, discuss the latest in AI, and celebrate Women’s History Month!

It’s been a huge week in Virginia politics, for many reasons we break down on today’s pod. One is Gov. Abigail Spanberger giving an incredible Democratic response to Donald Trump’s long and awful State of the Union and showing the roadmap for a good and succinct message on affordability impacting real people. Two is Senator Louise Lucas and Senate Democrats staying strong in fighting to hold data centers accountable and not waste taxpayer dollars on giveaways to the world’s biggest companies. And three is the amazing courage shown by a Virginia leader this week in standing up to abhorrent behavior. Thanks for joining us on the pod!

We’re now less than 3 weeks until the close of the 2026 General Assembly session in Virginia, and the battle lines are being drawn over what they might — and might not — do to address affordability. Of course a major part of what the legislature can do about affordability comes from the state budget. Tax cuts, investments in affordable child care, housing, and health care, the quality of schools, and more are all decided based on how much money we have in our budget, who we tax, and more importantly who we don’t tax. In Virginia we let a lot of super rich folks and big corporations off the hook when it comes to their tax liability, and the best thing in the House and Senate budgets released yesterday is the Senate’s idea to eliminate the data center sales tax exemption. It likely won’t make it entirely across the finish line, but props to Sen. Louise Lucas and others who are showing how serious this issue is. For a little fun on today’s pod, join us as we break down former Delegate Tim Anderson’s possible return to the General Assembly and why politics should be engaging.

We hope you’re enjoying Season 2 as much as we are, and for the third day in a row, we’ve recorded today’s pod in a different location — let us know which audio you like best! On today’s pod, we revisit a topic we explored last year when we interviewed Sen. Russet Perry and Del. Josh Thomas: data centers. Increasingly, data centers are driving up electric bills, taking our water, harming both the environment and the health of people around them — especially those near schools — and sucking up billions of dollars of taxpayer money in Virginia. There have been scores of data center bills in Virginia this session, and we hope this is one issue where legislators and the Governor continue to show courage in holding this industry accountable. Among several bills that have survived post-crossover, some really good ones include Sen. Lucas and Del. LeVere Bolling’s bills to shift more costs of energy capacity and infrastructure onto data centers, and Del. Sullivan’s bill to reform the data center sales tax exemption so that the data centers have to promote better practices for affordability, health, and the environment if they want to qualify. We hope these bills get signed into law!

We’ve been on team “Fight Trump’s Corrupt Plan to Steal House Seats with Fire” since last summer, and we couldn’t be more excited that one of the major accomplishments of the Virginia General Assembly so far is moving forward a constitutional amendment that will go before voters statewide in an April 21 referendum to temporarily give the General Assembly the authority to draw new Congressional lines. The General Assembly has also released the proposed new maps, and under recent election results, the map would result in a 10-1 Democratic House delegation from Virginia. This is what it looks like to flex power and recognize that to pass good policy at a moment when people need it, you need to use every tool available to you. That’s courage!! Props to the General Assembly, its leadership, and Gov. Spanberger for moving this plan forward. See you tomorrow (!) on Capitol Courage Season 2, straight from the 2026 session.

While our 3 month break was not entirely intentional, we’re rebranding it as a season break, so welcome back loyal listeners to Season 2 of Capitol Courage!! We’re thrilled to be back, and we’re coming to you live today — and nearly every day for the rest of Virginia’s legislative session — from the General Assembly Building. Today we break down our favorite bills from the session so far and discuss what real affordability means vs the use of the term as a buzzword.We’ll be here nearly every day through mid-March, so hit us up if you have suggestions for topics to cover, interviews to host, or tips you want us to share/discuss on the air. See you (tomorrow) on Capitol Courage!

Call it what you want to: a Democratic trifecta, a blue wave, a landslide. Whatever it is, Virginia voters spoke clearly this week in the 2025 elections and gave an affordability mandate to the three new statewide officials — Gov-elect Abigail Spanberger, Lt. Governor-elect Ghazala Hashmi, and Attorney General-elect Jay Jones — and the largest Virginia House Democratic majority since 1989 after they flipped 13 seats for a now incredible 64/100 seats. And while we live in Virginia and care the most about our home state, it was incredibly exciting - and dare we say hopeful - to see a national trend of courageous voters opposing and fighting the Trump administration and its weird obsession with fascism over affordability. From New Jersey to New York City to Georgia, voters spoke loudly and clearly and delivered huge wins to folks including NJ Gov-elect Mikie Sherrill and NYC Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani. While the elite media might love to debate the path forward for Democrats, over here at the pod we would say it’s simpler than that: voters don’t care how you get there, they just want a relentless and bold focus on making life more affordable now. We’ll be watching all of these newly elected Democrats to make sure they deliver on their promises and prioritize regular people, not corporate elites.

After Rhena’s recent trip to Greece (hear more on today’s episode), we’re back!! And it’s a good thing, because we have A LOT to talk about. This whole podcast exists to highlight politicians and other civic leaders who are showing the courage needed to meet the moment, as well as those who are showing the cowardice that reveals their ineptitude. And after talking about the need for Democrats to approach the redistricting fight with the same fire Republicans are using, we couldn’t be more excited to post today’s episode amid Virginia Democratic leaders pushing a bold plan to give Virginia a stronger voice in our nation’s redistricting battle. As if that wasn’t exciting enough, we’re now only 4 days out from the 2025 Virginia elections in which we hope to see a new Democratic trifecta elected and a Democratic sweep of the statewide offices. As part of our recent string of House candidate interviews, we’re excited today to welcome John McAuliff — candidate for Virginia HD-30 — to the pod. Stay tuned here to Capitol Courage for our response to the elections next week and in the coming weeks as we highlight the transition towards a new Governor and the 2026 session.

Welcome back listeners!! We’re now on day 3 of the federal government shutdown, and on this week’s episode we dive into the lose-lose situation surrounding the fact that Republicans have shut down the government all to let healthcare get more expensive. It’s not a typical episode for us with heroes and villains. Increasingly so many of the fights gripping our country — the shutdown, the attacks on free speech, Trump declaring war on American citizens and weaponizing law enforcement against those who simply disagree with him — have a common theme: we have a courage problem. We hope that through this podcast allows us to dive into what it takes to be courageous in today’s political environment, a task that gets harder and harder every day. Speaking of, we’re thrilled to welcome to the pod this week another outstanding Virginia House candidate, Lily Franklin running in HD-41 centered around Blacksburg and Virginia Tech. A second-time candidate after losing in a Trump district by only 183 votes in 2023, she’s back and running an incredible race focused on what regular people need to have life be more affordable.

Welcome back listeners! Vacations and some personal leave have gotten in our way over the last month, and we’re so thrilled to be back. We’re onto Episode 14, where we begin what will be a recurring theme over the next 6 weeks: highlighting battleground candidates in the 2025 Virginia House races. There are some incredible courageous and progressive candidates running for the House this year, and we’re excited this week to welcome Jessica Anderson, candidate in HD-71, to the pod. We also begin a discussion today that we’ll keep up in the coming weeks, diving into the growing cowardice all around our nation’s political discourse these days. Whether it’s elected officials, colleges, media companies, or so many other so-called ‘institutions,’ the cowardice of so many people and organizations in positions of power towards the Trump administration is changing the fabric of our country more and more away from democracy and more towards authoritarianism and fascism. We hope you’ll stay with us on the pod as we keep lifting up this massive courage problem in America, and as we say at the end of every episode, keep showing up where it matters.

Welcome back to Capitol Courage! We’ve had some vacations recently during the dog days of summer, so bear with us during a spottier schedule. You’ve probably noticed that the redistricting wars around the country are only getting hotter and hotter, with California Democrats’ press conference rolling out their Election Rigging Response Act (learn more here). This is undoubtedly one of the most important fights in the U.S. right now, and with loads of heroes and cowards on all sides, we break down the latest in the fight in Texas, California, New York, and even Virginia. And we’re thrilled to welcome to the pod this week State Senator Stella Pekarsky, who embodies courage serving Virginia’s SD-36. From serving on the Fairfax County School Board, defeating a longtime incumbent in a 2023 primary, and leading the charge on several legislative fights — including this year banning hidden junk fees — hear her break down what courage in politics means to her.

Welcome to Episode 12 of Capitol Courage!! Can you also believe we’re almost a teenager?? Around the pod, we’re feeling really happy with the name we picked for this podcast — we see more and more people these days talk about the courage crisis in American politics, by which we mean that there’s simply not enough elected officials or policymakers with the courage necessary to meet this perilous moment in our country. We’re excited to continue growing this podcast with you all and highlight the courageous folks around the country, and those cowards who are failing this moment. This week’s episode brings us talks around some heroes — those fighting to keep Virginia colleges and universities free from the interference of the Trump administration, including Virginia Senate Democrats — and cowards, especially those who are trying to sell the dangerous and deadly Republican budget bill. And we’re thrilled to be joined this week by Virginia Sen. Russet Perry, who has been one of the General Assembly’s leaders in fighting the entirely unregulated proliferation of data centers in Virginia, impacting regular people’s backyards and wallets. As always, DM us with any suggestions on future fights to cover and find us on social @CapitolCourage on Twitter and @CapitolCouragePod on Instagram and TikTok.

Welcome back to Capitol Courage, where we’re doing our best to stay on top of all of the heroes and cowards making news in politics today, both in Virginia and across the country. Today’s episode is stacked with discussion around some of the week’s biggest fights, ranging from South Park excoriating Paramount and Donald Trump through the power of laughter and satire; some Democrats maybe, actually showing courage and the willingness to go for the jugular on redistricting, and the complete cowardice of Congressional Republicans protecting a dead pedophile and a sexual predator in the White House. On our home front in Virginia, join us also for a great discussion with Del. Paul Krizek, a leader in the Virginia General Assembly on gaming issues, where we break down why the fight around so-called “skill” games (aka gas station slot machines) matters to you.

Welcome listeners to Episode 10 of Capitol Courage! We’re thrilled to be celebrating double digits with you all. We’ve got some exciting conversations teed up for the coming weeks, and we’d love to hear from you on what big fights you think we should focus on next, or guests you’d like us to interview. Today we’re thrilled to welcome Virginia Delegate Holly Seibold to the pod, as she shares an all-too-rare perspective on what it means to stand up for your constituents, aka the regular people without a paid lobbyist. Whether it’s fighting a proposed casino in Tysons Corner or taking on big tech companies like Amazon to fight for consumer protection, she’s showing courage where it matters. And we also highlight a few of the less-publicized parts of the recent Ugly Republican Budget that is now law. Spoiler alert, they all make life more expensive for you and give special handouts to corporate special interests. Whether it’s making it harder for Medicare to lower prescription drug costs, restricting college student loan options, or forcing you to keep paying some private company to file your taxes, Republicans are hell-bent on raising the cost of living for regular people higher and higher. Lastly, join us for Part 1 of a sure-to-be-evolving conversation around how states are approaching redistricting, with some cowardly moves coming from Republican-led states. Will Democratic-led states have the courage to respond? We shall see..

With today's episode, our ability to stick to the Skywalker Saga ends - so long, JJ Abrams, and honestly good riddance to Rise of Skywalker.Welcome listeners! In the words of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, I wish I could say good (afternoon), but it is not one. We recorded this week’s episode two days ago as the US Senate passed the Republican budget that will rip healthcare away from 17 million Americans and raise the price of groceries, housing, and energy — all to give your money to swampy concentration camps in Florida and new tax breaks for billionaires. If you’re mad as hell, join us. We’ll keep a spotlight on this dangerous and harmful budget for the coming weeks, and if you want to do something about it in the short term, join us in Virginia where we have elections in just over 4 months and can send a message to these corrupt Republicans. On today’s episode we cover both the lows of the Republican budget (there are no highs, come on) and welcome Virginia Del. Josh Thomas to the pod to discuss his fight against data centers.

Turns out we called last week’s pod Episode 8, when it’s actually this week’s Episode! (Putting our special post-primary rapid response this week in a unique category). With all respect to The Force Awakens, consider this a testament to the best of the JJ Abrams trilogy, getting to reference The Last Jedi two weeks in a row. Join us this week as we break down the record-breaking momentum of those who oppose the Trump administration following the No Kings protests across the country, and a reflection on how the right wing’s reaction to the assassination and attacks of Minnesota lawmakers and their families goes beyond cowardice to evil. And our main segment of the week features Virginia State Sen. Lashrecse Aird, who talks about the courageous fights of her career, especially winning a successful primary challenge against an incumbent in 2023 - who she beat by 40 points.

Today, on a special episode of Capitol Courage, join us as we discuss the results of the 2025 Virginia House and statewide primaries. From the role of corporate money in this primary season, water crises, some of the big wins of the night, and our hopes for the Democratic statewide ticket in the general election, let’s bring on the 2025 general election!

With another recent vacation from our end (join us for an extended Disney discussion), welcome back to Capitol Courage!! There are fights across the country, with lots of heroes (think the people exercising their constitutional rights of free speech and petitioning the government) and cowards (spineless politicians who won’t meet the moment). And we’re so honored this week to welcome Sen. Creigh Deeds (D-Charlottesville) to the pod this week to discuss his approach to public service and why he’s taking on Big Pharma to make medicine more affordable. Plus like our co-hosts, he’s a beagle owner and lover!

After taking a break for Ryan’s vacation (hear about it on this episode), we’re back! ICYMI, Republicans in the U.S. House recently passed a Big, Ugly Bill in the dead of night, hoping that you wouldn’t notice the dangerous provisions that would make life more expensive and overall worse for regular people. Profiles in courage that they are, we’re today diving into some of the key provisions of the bill, including how it would impact our home state of Virginia. The good news is that this awful bill is not yet law, and there are weeks if not months for the public to speak out and fight this bill that would rip away health care from millions of Americans, make groceries even more expensive, and put our basic judicial checks and balances at risk. Join us to learn more, and as always, share today’s episode with your friends and be sure to follow us on Twitter @CapitolCourage and Instagram and TikTok @CapitolCouragePod.

Welcome Fellow Courageous Virginians & Beyond!Rhena has taken over the duties of writing up this blog post while Ryan is out of the country so GOOD LUCK TO US ALL. MUHAHAHA.No but really, this week’s episode is so so special for us. We have our first guest! Delegate Karrie Delaney (VA-HD 09) brings a discussion on taking on one of the largest and most well-resourced lobbies - the pharmaceutical industry. We talk through her “why”, the direct impacts her legislation has on Virginians, & talk about why COURAGE is so crucial in politics.Can you guess our Coward of the Week? Hint: No, we have not moved on from the John Reid of it all!While we all cry in unison that Ryan is abroad (and may stay there forever IYKYK), drown your tears (of laughter) with me in this week’s episode!

Welcome listeners! Like Star Wars, we have a New Hope for Episode 4, and that’s an end to Peace in the Valley in the Virginia legislature. We welcome Progress in the Valley, Meaningful Change in the Valley, and sometimes even Chaos in the Valley. This week’s episode brings a discussion on the history of the Virginia Way: a prioritization of compromise and civility over big, structural changes. Did you know Virginia was founded as a corporation? Today’s history lesson takes you into how Virginia has too often prioritized corporate profit over the needs of those doing the labor and work that drives our economy. And can you guess our first repeat Coward of the Week? From the Kentucky Derby, Donald Trump’s Emmy loss leading us down this weird timeline, why lawyers should be protected, and why it’s always good to remind voters where you stand, join us for a fun time!

If it’s Thursday, that means it’s time for another episode of Capitol Courage! Join us today for episode 3, where we break down our thoughts on the Democratic LG and AG primaries in Virginia, and why those races are so important this year. While the Governor understandably gets a lot of attention, these two offices will play a key role in advancing — or stopping — a bold agenda in 2026 to make life better for Virginians.And of course, if we’re talking about the LG race in Virginia, we have to discuss the still-going controversy around Republican nominee John Reid, which might have a little something to do with our cowards of the week.As always, share with your friends to subscribe, and follow us on Twitter @CapitolCourage and Instagram and TikTok @CapitolCouragePod. Our DMs are open with any ideas you might have for topics, heroes & cowards, or guests. And stay tuned in the coming weeks for special guests starting to join us.

For those of you that know us already, or listened last week, you know that we’re based in Virginia and that in our day jobs we do advocacy at the Virginia General Assembly. Well, we couldn’t wait any longer to dive into some of the biggest fights of the 2025 legislative session. Join us to hear about some of the courageous fights, whether they be on the affordability crisis facing the middle class, or the work to enshrine our freedoms in Virginia’s Constitution. And of course, you know we had to touch on at least one courageous David and Goliath fight of some regular people in their community taking on a big corporation trying to buy its way through state government. Any guesses? Plus you know each week we’ll dive into the latest greatest — and worst — heroes and cowards of this week in national and Virginia politics. Let’s get into it, this is Episode 2 of Capitol Courage! While we’re still growing, please share the episode and tell your friends and coworkers to subscribe or follow us on social, where we’re on Twitter @CapitolCourage and Instagram and TikTok @CapitolCouragePod.

Welcome to Capitol Courage, where politics meets bold ideas and fearless conversations. We’re here to break down the biggest stories in Virginia and across the country with hot takes, real talk, and a little fun along the way. Whether it’s policy fights, political showdowns, or leaders making waves, we’re diving into the courage it takes to stand up, speak out, and shake things up. Join us for episode 1, where we break down the news of the week, the leaders taking on courageous fights, and the cowards not meeting the moment.

Welcome to Capitol Courage, the podcast where we break down the biggest political stories—Virginia, national, and everything in between. We’re bringing hot takes, bold moves, and the stories of people shaking things up in politics.And, of course, we’ll throw in a little fun, a little shade, and a lot of unfiltered commentary.So if you’re tired of the same old political chatter and want something smart, sharp, and just a little rebellious, join us!