Then, we talked to longtime Democratic consultant Joe Trippi, who managed the 2004 presidential campaign of Howard Dean. We take stock of the current Democratic Party, discussed the Clinton v. Sanders primary, considered how a 2016 bid by Joe Biden might have gone, look back at the groundbreaking 2004 Dean campaign, consider how Democrats were in the minority in 2004 and then back in the majority after 2006, look forward to the 2020 Democratic presidential primary and wrap up with a discussion of what motivates Trippi away from politics.

In the 8th episode of "Mack on Politics,", we talked to Rory Broomfield, Director of the Freedom Association, from London.

On the day that British Prime Minister Theresa May met with President Donald Trump, we delved into his assessment of PM May's speech in Philadelphia yesterday, we discussed the speech PM May gave in Britain before she left for the U.S. which detailed the path forward for Brexit, we discussed the next steps for Britain as it leaves the E.U., we considered the implications of a bilateral trade deal between the U.S. and and the U.K., and we discussed the future of the E.U., as France and Germany plan to hold national elections later this year.

In this episode of "Mack on Politics," we first talk about the state of the media in the Age of Trump with New York Times media columnist Jim Rutenberg. We discussed the Trump's media relations, why the media consistently takes Trump's bait, whether public job approval of the media really matters, who Rutenberg thinks we're the media stars of the 2016 campaign, what is really going on inside Fox News and what major media stories we should follow in the next few months.

Then we talked to national security and foreign policy expert Tom Rogan, a columnist for National Review, about Russia, Syria, NATO, Iraq, Iran, and North Korea, in a fascinating 45 minute discussion of these foreign policy challenges for the new administration.

On Episode 6, we preview the Trump administration, look back at the 2016 campaign, and take a deep dive into campaign television ad buying.

First, we interviewed columnist, radio host, best-selling author and DailyWire.com editor-in-chief Ben Shapiro. We discussed his concerns about Trump, his hope for the new administration, what he believes the top priorities can and should be, what he thinks Trump should do to strengthen the bilateral relationship with Israel, what he makes of the state of conservative media, and finally, we talked about what is really happening on college campuses.

Second, we spoke to Republican operative and columnist Reed Galen, who has a new book, “The American Singularity” out about the 2016 campaign. We look back at the primary, explore if Trump could have been defeated, how Trump won the primary and the general, and how he evaluates the incoming Trump administration.

Finally, we interviewed ViaMedia president and CEO Mark Lieberman, who runs the largest independent political ad buying agency in the country. We looked back at how the Trump and Clinton campaigns bought TV ads, how consumers are watching TV, how the technology is changing, and how the 2016, 2018, and 2020 campaign cycles will be different.

In the 5th episode of the “Mack on Politics” podcast, we take a deep dive into Russia and the world of intelligence.

First, we began by speaking with former world chess champion, Chairman of the Human Rights Foundation, Russian pro-democracy activist and author Garry Kasparov (“Winter is Coming”). We discussed his upbringing in Russia and his adult life as a dissident, what he would tell President-elect Trump about Russia if given the chance, what his views about Henry Kissinger and Rex Tillerson are, how he believes Putin will test Trump in the early weeks of his presidency, if he lives in constant fear for his life, and what a post-Putin Russia looks like.

Then, we spoke to lifetime intelligence community professional John Schindler, who worked at the NSA for nearly a decade, taught at the Naval War College, and is a national security columnist for The New York Observer. We discussed his views about Russian interference in the U.S. election, Wikileaks and what their real mission is, who Edward Snowden is and what his real mission is, and we reviewed Iran and North Korea and the intelligence challenges those opaque regimes pose to the U.S.  We finished by examining the state of the U.S. intelligence community, made up of 17 agencies, and then heard John name his four favorite spy movies.

In the fourth episode of "Mack on Politics," we start with a timely interview with Bill Kristol, who recently announced he was stepping away from Editor duties at The Weekly Standard after 21 years. We reviewed how conservative media has grown over 40 years and considered what conservatism means in the Age of Trump. Kristol revealed what he believes the biggest mistake the GOP can make and he detailed how he believed Trump can succeed. Kristol urges conservatives to remain true to their principles in the Age of Trump and he believes most observers are underestimating the coming battles between the GOP and the Trump White House over policy. Kristol admits he is “hopeful” about Trump and his Cabinet, while still concerned about Trump and his character and temperament. Finally, we discuss Kristol’s friendship with Secretary of Defense designee Gen. James Mattis (USMC, Ret.) and what Kristol believes Obama’s legacy will be in foreign policy, specifically as it relates to Israel.

Then we turned to a detailed 2016 campaign discussion with Jeff Roe, the longtime GOP consultant who managed the presidential bid of U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX). We asked Roe about what he learned from managing a presidential campaign, how he was brought into the Cruz team and how he decided to work for him, whether he thinks in retrospect there was any way to beat Trump in the primary, how Trump beat Hillary, what Roe would suggest Trump do to build a successful reelection effort starting now, and whether he wants to join the Trump administration.

In the third episode of "Mack on Politics," we begin by interviewing former Clinton White House Director of Production for Presidential Events Josh King (@polioptics) about the optics of campaigns. He dives deep on the imagery of the Trump and Clinton campaigns and tells war stories from his Clinton White House days. His recent book, "Off Script: An Advance Man’s Guide to White House Stagecraft, Campaign Spectacle, and Political Suicide" is a great and fun read.

Next, we spent some time talking to legendary Washington, DC journalist Betsy Fischer Martin (@BFischerMartin), the former executive producer of NBC's "Meet the Press" for the late Tim Russert, about the state of the mainstream media, how the "Sunday Shows" are changing, what challenges the current media environment places on campaign coverage and how Tim Russert would have covered the 2016 campaign.