Art of Discussing

In this episode, Ben and Kate discuss DOGE's structure and actions so far, court cases and what's next for the agency.

Research/Resources:

• Department of Government Efficiency. https://doge.gov/. 2025
• “The White House: Establishing and Implementing The President’s ‘Department of Government Efficiency’”. Published in The White House website January 20, 2025 and available on https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2...

In this first episode in the President Trump's First 100 Days mini series, Kate and Ben discuss what executive orders President Trump signed in the first 100 days of his second term.

Research/Resources:

• White House Executive Orders. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/executive-orders/. 2025
• 2025 Donald J. Trump Executive Orders. National Archives. https://www.federalregister.gov/presidential-documents/executive-o...

In this episode, Ben and Kate discuss the first 100 days of President Trump's second term and introduce upcoming episodes that will cover some of the bigger topics in more detail.

Research/Resources:

• “So far Congress has stayed out of Trump’s way, but pressure tests lie ahead” by Susan Davis Published NPR website April 30, 2025 and available on. https://www.npr.org/2025/04/30/g-s1-63360/first-100-days-congress-acquiesces-to-...

In this episode, Kate and Ben discuss presidential pardons and the use of the autopen including what it is and when it can be used.

Research and Resources:

• “Whether the President May Sign a Bill by Directing That His Signature Be Affixed to It.” U.S. Department of Justice website. Update June 2, 2015. https://www.justice.gov/olc/opinion/whether-president-may-sign-bill-directing-his-signature-be-affixed-it
• "Trump tries to void...

In this episode, Ben and Kate discuss the two "stuck" astronauts and their return along with Boeing's current challenges.

Resources/Research:

• “Boeing timeline: Inside the air giant’s turbulent journey in recent years” by Chris Isidore and Matt Stiles. Published in CNN website September 13 2024 and available on https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/17/business/boeing-timeline-troubles-crashes-stock-dg/index.html
• “33,000 Boeing...

In this episode, Kate and Ben discuss the current economy and what the new presidential administration has done to effect the economy. 

Research/Resources:

• “Global economic outlook, January 2025” by Ira Kalish. Published in Deloitte website January 24, 2025 and available on https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/economy/global-economic-outlook-2025.html
• “Global Growth: Divergent and Uncertain” by International Monetary Fund. Pub...

In this episode, Ben and Kate discuss the transition process for the U.S. President and the U.S. Congress. Included in the discussion is the Presidential Transition Act of 1963 and general information regarding this law.

Research/Resources: 

• "Presidential Transition Act of 1963”. Published in U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) website February 16, 2023 and available on https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/COMPS-1612/pdf/...

In this episode, Ben and Kate discuss the presidential cabinet nomination process and current nominees for President Trump's second term cabinet. 

Research/Resources: 

•  "Trump Cabinet confirmation status: Which nominees have been confirmed” by Parker Kaufmann, Humera Lodhi, Christopher L. Keller, and Sara Burnett. Published in AP News website January 18, 2025 and available on https://apnews.com/projects/trump-...

In this episode, Kate and Ben discuss the Supreme Court taking on the TikTok legal case. This case is the "ban" that was enacted by Congress on the basis of national security concerns. This episode includes a quick update after the Supreme Court releases their opinion.

Research/Resources:

• “Supreme Court skeptical of ban on TikTok” by Amy Howe. Published in SCOTUSblog website January 10, 2025 and available on h...

Kate and Ben are taking a break for the holidays and will return with new episodes after the new year. This is a great chance to catch up on previous episodes you haven't listen to.

Check out our website at http://artofdiscussing.buzzsprout.com, on Facebook at Art of Discussing and on Instagram @artofdiscussing.

Got a topic that you'd like to see discussed? Interested in being a guest on our show? Just want to rea...

Ben and Kate discuss the 2024 election results for the president, senate, house and ballot measures along with statistics and trends that were seen through the exit polling data.

Research/Resources: 

• “Fox News Voter Analysis: How Trump regained the White House” by Fox News Polling Unit. Published in Fox News website November 6, 2024 and available https://www.foxnews.com/politics/fox-news-voter-analysis-how-trump-regaine...

In this episode, Ben and Kate discuss the history of daylight savings time and what countries and US states use daylight savings time.

Research/Resources:

• “History of Daylight Savings Time (DST)” by Anne Buckle. Published in Time and Date website and available https://www.timeanddate.com/time/dst/history.html
• "What is the history of daylight saving time?” by Angeli Gabriel. Published in Fox Weather website November ...

In this episode, Kate and Ben discuss the Israel Hamas conflict and what has happened in the past year since the attack on October 7, 2023.

Research/Resources:

• “Hamas hostages: Stories of the people taken from Israel” researched by Jamie Ryan and Emma Pengelly. Published in BBC website October 7, 2024 and available on https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-67053011
• “Israel’s military says six hostages ‘brutally murde...

October is cybersecurity awareness month. In this episode, Kate and Ben discuss cybersecurity awareness both on an individual and business level as well global and nation state level. 

Resources/Research:

• “Cybersecurity statistics in 2024” by Mehdi Punjwani and Sierra Campbell. Published in USA Today website October 4, 2024 and available on https://www.usatoday.com/money/blueprint/business/vpn/cybersecurity-statistics/
• “...

In this episode, Ben and Kate discuss the voting process specifically how the delegates and political party conventions work. Your hosts focus on the democratic party convention with the change in their, at the time, presumptive presidential nominee.

Research/Resources:

• “Democratic delegate rules, 2024”. Published in Ballotpedia website and available on https://ballotpedia.org/Democratic_delegate_rules,_2024

Ch...

In this episode, Ben and Kate discuss the events leading up to the Democratic National Convention in August and policies that the new Democratic candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris, has outlined so far. 

Research/Resources:

• “Fact check: A look back at false and misleading claims made during the Democratic convention” by The Associated Press. Published in The Boston Globe website August 23, 2024 and available on http...

In this episode, Ben and Kate discuss the events that led up to the Republican National convention as well as the noteworthy moments and information during the convention itself.

Research/Resources: 

• “Nikki Haley offers her ‘strong endorsement’ of Trump in convention speech” by Arit John, Jeff Zeleny and Kate Sullivan. Published in CNN Politics website July 16, 2024 and available on https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/16/politi...

In this episode, Ben and Kate discuss the most recent decisions released by the U.S. Supreme Court in early June 2024. 

Research/Resources:

• Supreme Court of the United State Calendars and Lists (https://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/calendarsandlists.aspx)
• Supreme Court of the United States Opinions of the Court – 2023 (https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/slipopinion/23)
• SCOTUSblog (https://www.scotusblog.com/)
• “An...

In this episode, Kate and Ben discuss the 2024 Summer Olympics. The discussion includes recent controversies surrounding the Games, what countries will not be included and how the International Olympic Committees determines what causes a country to not be included. 

Research/Resources:

• Olympics Paris 2024 (https://olympics.com/en/paris-2024)
• French protesters to poo in the Siene amid Paris 2024 Olympics controversy by Ch...