OUR NATIONAL CONVERSATION

📅 Published: July 17th, 2025

🎙️ Host: Sam Taylor, Chief Operating Officer, Our National Conversation (ONC).

👤 Guest: Connor Chung, PhD Candidate in Political Science, MA in International Relations from ...

📅 Published: July 10th, 2025

🎙️ Host: Sam Taylor, Chief Operating Officer, Our National Conversation (ONC).

👤 Guest: Joseph Arellano, Social Media Intern, Our National Conversation (ONC).

An NYC mayoral race has been making headlines over the past week. Zohran Mamdani, a Democratic Socialist, defeated former Governor Andrew Cuomo in the Democrat's primary election. It seems that Mamdani's success can be largely attributed to one...

📅 Published: July 7th, 2025

🎙️ Host: Sam Taylor, Chief Operating Officer, Our National Conversation (ONC).

👤 Guests: Masie Zasadny, Managing Editor, Our National Conversation (ONC). Jeff Hall, CEO, Our National Conversation (ONC).

The Big Beautiful Bill is currently being debated on the House Floor. This bill, roughly 900 pages long, would extend Trump's tax cuts, impose big restrictions on Medicaid and bolster ICE and the milit...

📅 Published: June 26th, 2025

🎙️ Host: Sam Taylor, Chief Operating Officer, Our National Conversation (ONC).

👤 Guests:

Joseph Arellano, Social Media Intern, Our National Conversation (ONC).

Masie Zasadny, Managing Editor, Our National Conversation (ONC).

Last week, the U.S. launched strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities. The White House hails the strikes as a huge success that forced Iran to the table, while others argue tha...

📅 Published: June 19th, 2025

🎙️ Host: Sam Taylor, Chief Operating Officer, Our National Conversation (ONC).

👤 Guest: Jeff Hall, Founder and CEO, Our National Conversation (ONC).

Last Saturday, amidst a DC military parade, cities across the United States saw protests against President Trump and what many perceive to be his authoritarian policies and tendencies. Most of the focus went to LA, where ardent anti-ICE protests occurred...

📅 Published: June 12th, 2025

🎙️ Host: Sam Taylor, Chief Operating Officer, Our National Conversation (ONC). 

👤 Guests: 

Jef...

📅 Published: May 29th, 2025

🎙️ Host: Sam Taylor, Chief Operating Officer, Our National Conversation (ONC).

👤 Guest: Joseph Arellano, Social Media Intern, Our National Conversation (ONC).

Last week, Biden was diagnosed with cancer. Some have raised questions about government transparency, alleging a "cover-up." Others argue that the diagnosis could have legitimately been made after Biden's term. Even so, concerns exist that many ...

📅 Published: May 22nd, 2025

🎙️ Host: Sam Taylor, Chief Operating Officer, Our National Conversation (ONC).

👤 Guest: Jeff Hall, CEO, Our National Conversation (ONC).

Donald Trump has just accepted a major gift from Qatar: a luxury jet that will serve as a temporary replacement for the outdated Air Force One planes. Eventually, this jet will be donated to Trump's presidential library. Does this count as an illegal or ethically que...

📅 Published: May 15th, 2025

🎙️ Host: Sam Taylor, Chief Operating Officer, Our National Conversation (ONC).

👤 Guest:

Jeff Ha...

📅 Published: May 8th, 2025

🎙️ Host: Sam Taylor, Chief Operating Officer, Our National Conversation (ONC).

👤 Guest: Connor Chung, Director of Policy Content and Strategy, Our National Conversation (ONC).

Canada's elections took an unexpected turn as the Liberal Party managed to hold onto power. Many say this is Canada's reaction to Trump's tariffs and rhetoric.

Connor, a self-described conservative who studied extensively in Albe...

📅 Published: April 24th, 2025

🎙️ Host: Samuel Taylor, Chief Operating Officer, Our National Conversation (ONC).

👤 Guests:

Jeff Hall, Chief Executive Officer, Our National Conversation (ONC).

Eric McElveen, Policy and Opinion Writer, Our National Conversation (ONC).

The Trump Administration is making major moves on immigration in America, and much of the rhetoric underlying these moves focuses on undocumented immigration. Is this...

📅 Published: April 17th, 2025

🎙️ Host: Samuel Taylor, Chief Operating Officer, Our National Conversation (ONC).

👤 Guest: Samson Crouppen (SecretServiceSam), Comedian and Influencer.

Americans don't feel like they can talk to "the other side" about politics. Many commentators, influencers, and politicians feed into and benefit from this division, stoking hatred and refusing to engage with alternative perspectives. Denouncing the ...

📅 Published: April 9th, 2025

🎙️ Host: Samuel Taylor, Chief Operating Officer, Our National Conversation (ONC).

👤 Guests: 

Connor Chung, Director of Policy Content and Strategy, Our National Conversation (ONC).

Eric McElveen, Opinion Writer, Our National Conversation (ONC).

Are conservatives united behind Trump's tariffs?

Connor and Eric, both self-described conservatives, have different views on Trump's trade policies. While Con...

📅 Published: April 3rd, 2025 

🎙️ Host: Samuel Taylor, Chief Operating Officer, Our National Conversation (ONC). 

👤 Guests:

Connor Chung, Director of Policy Content and Strategy, Our National Conversation (ONC).

Tania Ruedas Ortiz, Director of Community, Our National Conversation (ONC).

Is the Trump Administration infringing on the rights of visa/green-card students? Students like Mahmoud Khalil and Rumeysa Ozturk are being detai...

Is the pro-Israel lobby too powerful? Are Trump's Israel-Palestine policies useful? Sam and Connor talk about American-Israeli relations and their influence in Washington. Connor, a self-described conservative and Trump supporter, finds himself more in agreement with the Left on this issue. Sam tries to understand the nuances of Connor's cross-cutting perspective. The pair discuss whether the Israel-Palestine issue seems to be a pa...

Tania and I talk about the MASSIVE changes we're seeing in the DOE: ~50% slashes to the workforce, cuts to research, and layoffs in the Office of Civil Rights. Is this government efficiency in action or cause for great concern? Both? Tania presents her worries while I articulate some conservative views. We aren't established policy experts: we're just students committed to respectful dialogue, understanding the other side and looki...

In this episode, Jeff Hall, host and CEO at Our National Conversation, speaks with experts and local leaders on how to address California's fire problem in the wake of the Palisades.

Jeff and citizens from Brentwood (right next to Pacific Palisades) ask two experts whether salt water could be used to supplement traditional water supplies, which failed during the recent fires. After all, San Francisco has had a saltwater pumping and...

Sam, host, is joined by Eric McElveen, ONC writer and self-described conservative. The two have a conversation about America-Europe relations. Is the Trump administration right to pressure Ukraine and diminish ties with Western Europe? Are Trump, Vance and Musk's critiques of European speech policy justified? How do these critiques factor into security policy?

Sam and Eric focus on trying to understand one another's perspectives on...

Sam, host, is joined by a mix of progressive, moderate and conservative student writers. The group discuss Trump's first full month in office. How is the new administration doing? How effective are its policies? Where is there cause for concern? Connor gives us a conservative, pro-Trump perspective, while Alexis, Maelyn and Nirati provide progressive to moderate views. During the conversation, our writers focus on trying to underst...