You Might Be Right

Former U.S. Senators Tom Daschle and Ben Sasse join Governors Bill Haslam and Phil Bredesen to discuss Howard Baker's legacy as "The Great Conciliator" and what his place would be in today's politics.

Austan Goolsbee, president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, and Charles Calomiris, professor emeritus at Columbia Business School, join Governors Bredesen and Haslam to discuss the challenges the Fed faces in balancing independence with accountability, and the potential policy reforms that could modernize its approach. 

With the judicial branch increasingly in the spotlight, how judges are chosen and held accountable has never mattered more. Governors Bredesen and Haslam sit down with TN Supreme Court Chief Justice Holly Kirby, fmr. Justice Sharon Lee, and fmr. U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to discuss judicial elections, ethics, and explore whether reforms are needed to preserve the independence of the judiciary and public trust. 

In our Constitution, the framers established three independent branches of government, creating checks and balances to keep any one branch from becoming too powerful. Governors Bredesen and Haslam are joined by Harvard professor Cass Sunstein and Vanderbilt professor David Lewis to explore the history and interaction between the branches and whether the Framers' vision holds up in current practice. 

As global dynamics shift, are foreign alliances essential to U.S. safety and prosperity – or is an America First approach more effective? Governors Bredesen and Haslam talk with former Ambassador Rahm Emanuel and historian Michael Kimmage about the pros and cons of foreign alliances and the new international order. 

To kick off a new season of You Might Be Right, Heather Long, opinion columnist for The Washington Post, and James Lake, associate professor of economics at the University of Tennessee, join Governors Bredesen and Haslam to discuss trade policy and the impact of tariffs. 

Following an unprecedented presidential campaign, Andy Busch, Associate Director of the Institute of American Civics at the Baker School, and Lindsay Chervinsky, a presidential historian and executive director of the George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon, join Governors Bredesen and Haslam to debrief the election. What have we learned and what can history tell us about what might be next?

Steve Vladeck, law professor at Georgetown and CNN Supreme Court analyst, and John McGinnis, law professor at Northwestern, join Governors Bredesen and Haslam to discuss the impact of polarization and declining public trust on the Supreme Court. Is the Supreme Court as partisan as Americans think it is? Are reforms needed to help rebuild trust? 

While constitutional issues are at the heart of many of our disagreements, it may also be the solution to our increasing political polarization. Yuval Levin, Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and author of a new book "American Covenant", join Governors Bredesen and Haslam to explore how the Constitution can guide us to disagree constructively and resolve problems. 

Brothers, professors, and authors Hyrum Lewis and Verlan Lewis join Governors Bredesen and Haslam to discuss their new book "The Myth of Left and Right", and its premise that the "left" and "right" are social groups united by tribal loyalty rather than consistent philosophies.  Could a more multidimensional view of politics improve our civic discourse? This episode was recorded live at the Chattanooga Rotary Club in August 2024. 

Are Americans as divided as we think we are? To kick off Season Five, Rachel Kleinfeld, Rachel Kleinfeld, an international relations scholar and senior fellow in the Democracy, Conflict and Governance program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, joins Governors Bredesen and Haslam to discuss what the research says about the roots and repercussions of polarization in American politics.

Two years and over 200,000 downloads later, "You Might Be Righ"t has inspired listeners nationwide. To mark this milestone, we invited our most avid listeners to ask Governors Bredesen and Haslam questions about the podcast, their time in office, and current hot topics.