Richard Helppie's Common Bridge

Europe is restless, US politics is nastier than it needs to be, and the information we rely on feels less trustworthy by the day. So this week we check in with the Historical Norms: three Revolutionary War-era gentlemen, all named Norm, who have opinions about how far we’ve drifted from what normal used to look like. Spoiler: the Norms are not impressed.

We start by lining up the headlines about France and the broader unrest a...

Turning 65 sounds like a number until it lands in your body, your mirror, and your calendar. We sit down with Mike Bryskier from the Substack “Aging Against My Will” and let the conversation roam where real life actually goes: the petty annoyances that become big, the fear you pretend you do not have, and the relief that comes when you finally laugh at it instead of trying to “embrace the journey.”

We talk ab...

Independent doctors are being squeezed out of the market, and it’s not because they forgot how to practice medicine. It’s because the business side of healthcare has turned into a maze of Medicare fee schedule pressure, weak commercial payer contracts, delayed payments, denials, clawbacks, and rising costs that hit small practices the hardest.

We’re joined by Preston Alexander of Forward Slash Health for a ...

Politics gets dangerous when power is defended with vibes instead of verifiable facts. We take a hard look at how public figures talk about the courts, the Justice Department, and “deterrence” and what those words can mean for ordinary people who just want fair rules applied evenly.

We start in Michigan with Alyssa Slotkin’s attempt to hold the center while raising alarms about ideological capture, then zoo...

A leadership rule from the workplace turns out to be a surprisingly sharp way to think about politics: if you do not receive an award, it does not mean you did not deserve one. We start there, with the uncomfortable gap between contribution and recognition, then zoom out to how modern public life rewards the loudest claim for credit instead of the best result. If you care about clear thinking, civic responsibility, and nonpartisan ...

Healthcare is one of the only industries where buyers sign thousand-page contracts, can’t see what they’re actually paying for, and then get told the solution is “trust us.” Nathan Kaufman sits down with Mark Cuban for an unscripted, brutally honest look at the incentives driving high costs, denials, and the constant feeling that someone is skimming off the top.

We dig into what Cuban calls “con...

Politics didn’t get more complicated, it got more tribal, and the incentives behind what you see and share are a big reason why. We kick off season eight of The Common Bridge by looking back at what we set out to do in 2019: build a fiercely nonpartisan space where people can talk policy without being forced to “join a team.” After hundreds of conversations and two presidential cycles, we’re more convinced t...

Health insurance is supposed to buy peace of mind, but too often it buys a new kind of stress: surprise bills, long waits, and prior authorization hurdles that hit when you’re already sick. We sit down with Nick Stefanizzi, president of Northwell Direct, to unpack a provider-led, direct-to-employer contracting model designed to lower healthcare costs while improving the actual experience of getting care.

Nick explains ...

If you’ve ever wondered what “access to care” really means, picture a region that holds 30% of Michigan’s land mass and just 3% of its population. From the Mackinac Policy Conference, we sit down with Tanya Darner, Market Chief Executive Officer at UP Health System, to unpack how a single regional hub in Marquette delivers Level II trauma services and specialty care for communities spread across the Upper Pe...

Healthcare gets argued like a spreadsheet, but most of what matters shows up as a human moment: a parent trying to make sense of a diagnosis, a patient who just wants care close to home, a kid in a hospital room who lights up because it’s bingo time. From the 2026 Mackinac Policy Conference, we talk with Tina Freese Decker, president and CEO of Corewell Health, and Lamont Yoder, president of Corewell Health East, about what i...

Seven days. That’s the average wait time Trinity Health Michigan says it takes to get a new patient in with a primary care doctor and it’s a clue to how affordability and access can actually improve at the same time. From the 2026 Mackinac Policy Conference, I sit down with Shannon Striebich, president and CEO of Trinity Health Michigan, to talk about what a modern health system has to do differently if we want shorter ...

Healthcare workforce shortages are not a single problem with a single fix, they are a pipeline problem. I’m joined by Russ Kavalhuna, President of Western Michigan University, to talk about what it looks like when a community decides to grow its own talent instead of hoping someone else moves in. From physicians and nurses to lab techs, radiology techs, OT, and PT, we dig into the roles that keep care available in real life, ...

Health care is not just a line item for employers, it’s a defining force in whether a region can grow, attract talent, and stay competitive. From the 2026 Mackinac Policy Conference, we sit down with Rick Baker of the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce to connect the dots between community investment and the health care systems that keep West Michigan working.

We talk about what the Chamber actually does across 3,100 member busi...

A lot of health care headlines sound distant until you realize how quickly a policy tweak can turn into a long drive, a missed refill, or an ER visit that could have been prevented. From the Mackinac Policy Conference, we sit down with Monique Stanton, President and CEO of the Michigan League for Public Policy, to talk about why Medicaid is the number one health care issue for so many Michiganders and why people feel genuinely scar...

A brand-new building can look like progress, but what happens when the real problem is leadership and accountability behind locked doors? From the Mackinac Policy Conference, we sit down with Michigan State Senator Michael Webber to talk candidly about state-run psychiatric hospitals, what he says he saw after taking a closer look, and why mental health care oversight can’t stay in the shadows.

We get specific about pa...

Health care gets blamed on villains, but the harder truth is that most people are reacting to the incentives right in front of them. From the 2026 Mackinac Policy Conference, we sit down with Matt Elliott, founder of Blue Lake Ideas and former president of Bank of America Michigan, to ask the question that quietly reshapes every other debate: who is the customer in health care?

Matt brings a leadership lens he calls the &ldq...

A kid walks into the ER because they thought a THC edible was candy, and the package did the lying. That’s one of the most unsettling through-lines in my conversation with Luanne Thomas Ewald, chief operating officer at CS Mott Children’s Hospital and Von Voigtlander Women’s Hospital at University of Michigan Health, recorded at the 2026 Mackinac Policy Conference with the Michigan Health and Hospital Association....

Detroit’s next wave of health care may be built as much with partnerships as with concrete. We sit down with Dr. Adnan Munkarah, President for Care Delivery and Chief Clinical Officer at Henry Ford Health, to unpack what it takes to modernize an academic medical center while keeping a century-long commitment to the city that surrounds it.

We talk about replacing aging hospital space with a new tower and why that matter...

One choice at the DMV can ripple into hundreds of surgeries, thousands of hospital hours, and a second chance at life for people you’ll never meet. From the 2026 Mackinac Policy Conference, we sit down with Dorrie Dils from Gift of Life Michigan to unpack what actually happens when someone becomes an organ and tissue donor and why the system works only when families and clinicians can move with clarity and speed.

We ta...