Political Breakfast from WABE
Every Tuesday and Thursday morning on the Political Breakfast podcast, veteran Atlanta journalist Lisa Rayam, Democratic strategist Tharon Johnson, and Republican strategist Brian Robinson deliver Georgia’s best analysis of local politics with a weekly dose of informed, respectful and lively discussion. During Georgia’s state legislative session, Political Breakfast presents the pop-up podcast Gold Dome Scramble every Friday morning as host Lisa Rayam talks with reporters Sam Gringlas and Rahul Bali from the WABE newsroom to break things down for our listeners — the issues being considered, and the bills getting sorted through various committees at the Georgia State Capitol.
Episodes
On this week's edition of Political Breakfast, Georgia's Republican Lt. Gov. Burt Jones wants in on the 2026 gubernatorial race.
Jones kicked-off his campaign for Georgia Governor in grand style and to the tune of 10 million dollars.
Jones loaned himself the money and made a pretty bold statement in doing so.
Republican strategist Brian Robinson and Democratic strategist Tharon Johnson discuss this strategic move along with h...
Congress has narrowly approved President Donald Trump’s sweeping tax and spending bill, with most Republicans voting in favor and every Democrat opposed.
Under the law, which includes $4.5 trillion in tax cuts, about 300,000 Georgians could lose health coverage, tax incentives for clean energy will be cut and states like Georgia may end up having to shoulder more of the costs associated with food stamps.
On this week’s ...
On this week's Political Breakfast: Campaign fundraising is ramping-up.
Strategists Tharon Johnson and Brian Robinson and host Lisa Rayam tackle the latest numbers in the 2026 Georgia Governor's race.
On the Democratic side, Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, and state Senator Jason Esteves have surpassed the 1 million mark over roughly 2 months since both entered the race.
For the GOP: Lieutenant Go...
President Donald Trump just signed his so-called 'big, beautiful' massive tax and spending bill over the July 4th holiday weekend.
Democratic strategist Tharon Johnson and Republican strategist Brian Robinson and host Lisa Rayam react to the latest.
Plus, Georgia Republican U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter wrote on X on Sunday that his granddaughters are safe after attending a summer camp in Central Texas that flooded over the we...
On this week’s special Independence Day encore episode of “Plugged In: A WABE Politics Podcast,” politics reporter Sam Gringlas takes listeners on a summer road trip to a pair of towns that helped shape former presidents Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Georgia’s own Jimmy Carter.
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On this week's Political Breakfast, Republicans are mostly a united front and in support of President Donald Trump's so-called 'big, beautiful' massive tax and spending bill.
Georgia Democrats say there's nothing beautiful about it, claming the bill will strip away people's healthcare and increase poverty while creating tax breaks for the rich.
Democratic strategist Tharon Johnson and Republican strategist Brian Robinso...
On today's Political Breakfast, we react to news from the AJC that Geoff Duncan may be running in the 2026 Georgia Governor's race as a Democrat.
Duncan, now an official outcast after Georgia GOP leaders expelled him from the party, has long expressed frustration with President Donald Trump and those who support his administration.
But strategists Brian Robinson, Tharon Johnson and host Lisa Rayam wonder: Is the party w...
A massive solar panel recycling facility called Solarcycle is coming soon to Cedartown, a small community in Northwest Georgia near the Alabama border.
Solarcycle got a $64 million tax credit through the Inflation Reduction Act to build a second facility that will make solar panel glass, but according to the company, the groundbreaking is on hold as Congress considers gutting the clean energy tax credits in the new federal budget.
...
On this week's Political Breakfast, the gang addresses the latest in the ongoing Israel-Iran conflict.
Israel and Iran continued to trade attacks over the weekend, with U.S. officials saying both have violated a recent cease fire.
U.S. bombs destroyed three nuclear sites in Iran, according to President Donald Trump.
Republican strategist Brian Robinson, Democratic strategist Tharon Johnson and host Lisa Rayam brin...
Former Georgia Governor Nathan Deal drew national attention in 2016 when he vetoed a religious liberty bill that opponents said would lead to discrimination against LGBTQ people.
When a similar measure passed again this year, Governor Brian Kemp quickly signed it into law.
On this week’s episode of “Plugged In,” hosts Sam Gringlas and Rahul Bali discuss what’s changed over the past decade with WABE's Patrick...
Political Breakfast went live this week, as Democratic strategist Tharon Johnson, Republican strategist Brian Robinson and host Lisa Rayam react to thousands flooding the streets of Atlanta for 'No Kings' protests, part of broader demonstrations across the nation.
They happened the same day as a military parade in Washington for the Army's 250th Anniversary -- which also coincided with President Donald Trump's 79th birthday.
...
Data centers are growing faster in Atlanta than anywhere else in the country.
That rapid growth has left communities grappling with how these new developments will impact the environment and their neighborhoods.
WABE has been taking a closer look at data centers as part of our series, “Server South.”
On this week’s episode of “Plugged In,” hosts Sam Gringlas and Rahul Bali are joined by WABE and Grist ...
On this edition of Political Breakfast, strategists Tharon Johnson and Brian Robinson along with host Lisa Rayam, respond to the immigration crackdown taking place in Los Angeles. What message is it really sending to America?
Plus, they analze an immigration raid that took place at home, inside a busy Marietta nail salon. A dozen undocumented workers were arrested. The PB team talks about how fear among the undocumente...
On this episode of Political Breakfast, strategists Tharon Johnson, Brian Robinson and host Lisa Rayam discuss a hodge-podge of political news.
What do they make of the so called breakup between Elon Musk and President Trump? Plus, how Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger finds himself in a precarious situation after the GOP state Covention.
Plus, political fatigue--what is it exactly...
Data centers are growing faster in Atlanta than anywhere else in the country.
That rapid growth has left communities grappling with how these new developments will impact the environment and their neighborhoods.This week, “Plugged In” hosts Sam Gringlas and Rahul Bali are joined by WABE Business Reporter Marlon Hyde and WABE Southside Reporter DorMiya Vance for the first of two episodes exploring WABE’s series, Se...
This week the Political Breakfast team was pleased to record the podcast in front of a live studio audience, alongside legends from Sesame Street and the Muppet Show at Atlanta's own Center for Puppetry Arts! It's home to more than 5 thousand puppets and artifacts.
Democratic strategist Tharon Johnson and Republican strategist Brian Robinson joined host Lisa Rayam to answer questions from some of our loyal listeners.
We...
Two Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) incumbents are on the ballot this year after a lengthy legal battle and their challengers are taking aim at the current commission’s performance.
Voting in the primary is already underway.
On this week’s episode of “Plugged In,” hosts Sam Gringlas and Rahul Bali speak with WABE and Grist climate reporter Emily Jones about the PSC and some of the challenges the stat...
On this week's second serving of Political Breakfast, former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms is officially running to replace Governor Brian Kemp. But are Dems pleased?
Bottoms tells WABE that we are "facing chaos and uncertainty and anxiety" based on the policies that are coming out of Washington and "Georgians want and need a fighter.”
Democratic strategist Tharon Johnson, Republican strategist Brian Robinson and host...
On this week's live edition of Political Breakfast just after the Memorial Day holiday, strategists Brian Robinson, Tharon Johnson and host Lisa Rayam discuss the 2026 U.S. Senate race against incumbent Democrat Jon Ossoff.
Governor Brian Kemp decided not to run. He and President Donald Trump met recently in Washington earlier this month to mull-over who will face Ossoff.
In the race so far: U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter, from...
Adriana Smith, a 30-year-old nurse and mother, was about nine weeks pregnant in February when doctors declared her brain dead after she suffered a medical emergency.
Smith’s family says doctors at Emory University Hospital have been keeping her on life support because she is pregnant, citing Georgia’s restrictive abortion law.
In this week’s episode of “Plugged In,” hosts Sam Gringlas and Rahul Bali ta...
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