2Political Podcast Episode 105 is now available. You can listen to it or download it from the podcast site, 2political.com. You can leave comments there as well as download or listen to any episode (you can access the five most recent episodes from the list on the right side of my blog).

The episode was recorded a couple weeks ago, but Arthur was too busy to get it edited. The “week off” we refer to was actually last week; we’re recording a new episode later this week.

Siri made a special guest appearance before we go to our first topic, the most important story in the world: The ponytail-pulling Prime Minister of New Zealand. Arthur summarises the story, then explains the background of the story and some aspects that weren’t reported outside of New Zealand. Naturally, the story is bigger than the creepy headlines: There are power disparities, and lack of consent, for example. But the politics of the story was icky, too.

Next up, the far-right anti-LGBT religious extremists rallied in Washington. We talk a bit about that, then that leads to a wider discussion of the far right, as well as how the US Supreme Court might rule. We even end on a positive note.

Everyone’s welcome to leave a comment (agree or disagree!).

Links for this episode:
John Oliver’s take on John Key’s ponytail pulling
A Kindle edition of the book Dirty Politics that Arthur mentioned (and recommends) is available on Amazon
A related link: “The Curious Science of Counting a Crowd” in Popular Mechanics back in 2011
“The new argument against gay equality: Same-sex marriage kills” by Dana Millbank in the Washington Post, which Jason mentioned
"Janet Porter: Gay Marriage To Blame For Noah's Flood, Will Usher In End Times"
“Bachmann: Rapture Imminent Thanks To Gay Marriage & Obama”
Jason’s Blog
Arthur’s blog, podcasts and videos can be accessed here.