Welcome to Independent Times, the first podcast built for America’s largest voting bloc. 43% of voters now identify as independent, outpacing both Democrats and Republicans.

Host Lisa Singer, joined by co-hosts Leyla Gullen (FOX24 News Now) and Bryan Gallo (Emmy-winning producer), unpack:

• Why most Americans reject the Red vs. Blue labels.
• How independents have swung every election since 2004.
• Their frustration with a system that locks 27 million out of primaries, and the power of independents to heal a divided nation.

No spin. No party talking points. Just clear insights to help you vote with confidence.

Independent Hero of the Week: Dr. Jackie Salit, author of Independents Rising, on how independents unite America.

Subscribe now and join the Independent Times community: www.IndependentTimes.news

Follow us on all socials: @TimesPod

Timestamps:

• 00:00 Intro + Family Guy Clip
• 01:30 Lisa Intro: the 43% Shift (Gallup Data)
• 04:20 What Defines an Independent?
• 07:10 Swing Voters in Action (2004–2024)
• 11:40 Why Primaries Shut Out 27M Independents
• 15:00 Independent Hero: Dr. Jackie Salit, Co-Director ASU Center for Democracy
• 18:30 Next Week: Independent Candidates

Welcome back to Independent Times, the podcast for politically homeless independent voters navigating our polarized world.

You are America's largest voting bloc, yet true independent politicians are extremely rare. Host Lisa Singer, joined by co-hosts Leyla Gullen and Bryan Gallo, investigates the history and the enormous barriers facing independent candidates.

We unpack:

• The Legacy of Ross Perot and other disruptors like Ralph Nader, and whether independents risk being "spoilers."
• The Rare Breed: Why only 25 out of 7,386 state legislative seats are held by independents and zero in the U.S. House.
• The Forward Movement: Andrew Yang's crusade to fix the system using ranked-choice voting and open primaries to give voters real choices.
• The Two-Party Grip: How confusing ballot rules, lack of funding, and state-by-state election laws keep 3rd parties out.

No spin. No party talking points. Just clear insights to help you vote with confidence.

Independent Hero of the Week: Andrew Yang on his vision for a post-partisan America.

Subscribe now and join the Independent Times community: www.IndependentTimes.news

Follow us on all socials: @TimesPod

Timestamps:

• 00:00 Intro: The Struggle of Divided Politics
• 01:30 Independent Rarity (The Problem)
• 03:45 Ross Perot's Impact (1992 Clip)
• 06:10 The Independent Senators: Sanders & King
• 09:40 The Statehouse Scarcity
• 11:15 Andrew Yang, The Forward Party, and Local Wins
• 14:20 The Barrier: Sore Loser Laws & Party Flipping
• 17:00 Is the Two-Party System in the Constitution?
• 20:00 History of 3rd Parties (Ballotpedia's 50)
• 23:45 Why Independents Don't Have a Real Choice
• 27:00 Independent Hero: Andrew Yang's TED Talk
• 30:00 Outro

Welcome back to Independent Times. The Founding Fathers established the free press as the "Fourth Estate," a vital check on government power. Today, with only 16% of Americans subscribing to a newspaper and one to two papers closing weekly, that pillar is crumbling.

Host Lisa Singer, along with co-hosts Leyla Gullen and Bryan Gallo, uncovers what's at stake and how independents can help save this essential safeguard of democracy.

We unpack:

• The Core Fight: From Thomas Jefferson's scandal to Nixon's Watergate, why the battle between politicians and the press is constant.
• The Laws That Bind: Key historical laws, the Sedition Act, the Espionage Act, and modern challenges like Florida's weakened protections that make investigative reporting harder.
• Journalism's Shield: The landmark Supreme Court cases of NYT v. United States, The Pentagon Papers, NYT v. Sullivan "Actual Malice" standard, and why they are under threat.
• The Cost of Truth: The financial and legal risks facing journalists and how the Privacy Protection Act of 1980 offers limited defense.

No spin. No party talking points. Just clear insights to help you vote with confidence.

Independent Hero of the Week: The American Journalism Project (AJP), which invests in nonprofit news organizations to sustain local news.

Subscribe now and join the Independent Times community: www.IndependentTimes.news

Follow us on all socials: @TimesPod

Timestamps:

• 00:00 Intro & The Struggling Pillar
• 02:45 The First Amendment's Free Press Clause
• 04:10 The Jefferson/Sally Hemings Scandal (Partisan Press Birth)
• 07:00 Watergate & The Power of Investigative Journalism
• 10:15 Modern Restrictive Laws (Florida, Texas)
• 13:00 Historical Limits: Sedition & Espionage Acts
• 16:30 The Julian Assange Precedent
• 19:15 Journalist Protections: Privacy Protection Act of 1980
• 22:30 Landmark Protections: NYT v. United States (Pentagon Papers)
• 23:00 Outro

Welcome back to Independent Times. Today, we tackle a crisis: A 2025 YouGov poll shows only 29% of independents trust the media. How did we go from the unified trust of Walter Cronkite to a polarized "sea of spin?"

Host Lisa Singer, along with co-hosts Leyla Gullen and Bryan Gallo, explores the history of media failures and provides practical tools to help independent voters navigate the news with confidence.

We unpack:

• The Great Shift: The crucial moments from the Pentagon Papers triumph to the Fairness Doctrine's demise that fueled today's partisan media environment.

• Trust Killers: How major media failures, including the Iraq WMD reporting and the 2008 financial crisis, damaged the public's faith.

• False Balance & Narrative: How the push for "performative neutrality," Margaret Sullivan's critique prioritizes political narratives over facts.

• The Local News Crisis: The dire impact of social media and ad revenue cuts, leading to over 3,200 newspaper closures since 2005.

• The Fix: Practical steps for independents, including diversifying sources and using news literacy tools to spot bias.

No spin. No party talking points. Just clear insights to help you vote with confidence.

Independent Hero of the Week: Alan Miller, founder of the News Literacy Project, a nonpartisan nonprofit empowering students to spot fact from fiction.

Subscribe now and join the Independent Times community: www.IndependentTimes.news

Follow us on all socials: @TimesPod

• 00:00 Intro: The Trust Crisis in the News

• 02:40 Walter Cronkite & The Unifying Force of the Press

• 04:30 A Radical Idea: The First Amendment & The Fourth Estate

• 06:40 The Pentagon Papers Triumph (NYT vs. Nixon)

• 10:00 The Katharine Graham Story (Courage in Publishing)

• 13:00 The End of the Fairness Doctrine (The Birth of Partisan Media)

• 17:00 From Informing to Entertaining: Cable News and the 24-Hour Cycle

• 19:00 The WMD Disaster: How the Media Failed on the Iraq War

• 24:00 False Balance: Prioritizing Narrative over Truth

• 28:30 Major Media Mistakes (Woodward, Caliphate, FOX/Dominion)

• 31:00 The Ethics Failure: What Journalists Must Adhere To

• 33:30 The Bleeding Out: Social Media & The Death of Local News

• 37:00 The Fix: Practical Tools for Independent Voters

• 42:00 Independent Hero: The News Literacy Project

• 44:00 Next Time: Why Trust in Government is at an All-Time Low

Welcome back to Independent Times. Winston Churchill called democracy the "worst form of Government except for all the rest," and today, we feel the messy truth of that quote. Trust in government is at historic lows, with a 2025 study showing that 65% of young Americans are open to radical change, driven by economic anxiety and the perception that leaders prioritize the interests of elites over the public good.

Host Lisa Singer, along with co-hosts Leyla Gullen and Bryan Gallo, bridges the gap between widespread distrust and the government's essential functions.

We unpack:

• The Defining Divide: We clarify the core ideological platforms. Democrats view the government as the solution and a safety net, as seen in FDR's New Deal; Republicans view the government as the problem and advocate for lean, free markets, as exemplified by Reagan's philosophy.

• The Great Erosion: We trace the collapse of trust from the post-WWII peak of 80% to the present day, fueled by historic betrayals such as the Vietnam War lies, Watergate, and the devastating 2008 bank bailouts.

• The Economic Urgency: We examine the current financial crisis, characterized by rising delinquencies and family farm bankruptcies, and why economic stagnation threatens to push citizens into the arms of "strongmen."

• The Fix: With 86% of Americans fed up with gridlock, independent voters are the key to change. We share practical steps to restore accountability, starting at the local level.

No spin. No party talking points. Just clear insights to help you vote with confidence.

Independent Hero of the Week: Braver Angels, a grassroots organization dedicated to bridging the partisan divide and rebuilding trust one conversation at a time.

Subscribe now and join the Independent Times community: www.IndependentTimes.news

Follow us on all socials: @TimesPod

Timestamps

• 00:00 Intro: Churchill's Cynical Defense of Democracy

• 02:30 The Low-Trust Crisis: 65% of Youth Open to Radical Change

• 04:00 Constitutional Federal Republic vs. Democracy

• 06:00 The Breakdown of Accountability (The Three Pillars)

• 07:30 Economic Strangling: Delinquencies, Bankruptcies, and High Stakes Clip

• 11:00 Brief Moments of High Trust (1812 to Post-WWII Peak)

• 14:45 The Great Shift: FDR's New Deal Revolution

• 18:00 Understanding the Ideological Divide: New Deal vs. Reagan

• 21:00 Betrayal: Lies from Vietnam to the Iraq War

• 23:30 Trust Killer: The 2008 Bank Bailouts Clip

• 26:00 Independents: The Key to Fixing Gridlock

• 28:00 Action Plan: Rebuilding Trust Starts with You

• 31:00 Independent Hero: Braver Angels & The Lincoln Lesson

Welcome back to Independent Times. With trust in government at a record low of 22%, it's time to ask a critical question: What is our civic duty in fixing this mess?

Host Lisa Singer, along with co-hosts Leyla Gullen and Bryan Gallo, explores the "core covenant" of American citizenship, from George Washington’s promise to the JFK ideal. We argue that the independent majority is now responsible for restoring the republic.

We unpack:

• The Core Covenant: The history and definition of the bargain: government provides protection and liberty, and citizens provide accountability and engagement.

• Duty vs. Responsibility: We examine the crucial role of independent voters in revitalizing a self-governing republic by fulfilling their civic duty and responsibility through active engagement, drawing inspiration from historical movements that leveraged the First Amendment to demand accountability.

• The First Amendment Superpowers: We demonstrate how independent changemakers throughout history, such as the Women's Suffragists and Civil Rights Protestors, activated their rights to force systemic change and hold officials accountable:

• The Ongoing Fight: We examine the modern threat to voting rights, including the 79 restrictive laws passed since 2020 and the persistence of closed primaries in 22 states.

The Independent Majority is now the largest voting bloc, and we are the key to overcoming partisan infighting and forcing solutions.

Independent Hero of the Week: The League of Women Voters (LWV), a non-partisan organization founded by suffragists in 1920, empowering citizens through election information at VOTE411.org.

Subscribe now and join the Independent Times community: www.IndependentTimes.news

Follow us on all socials: @TimesPod

Timestamps

• 00:00 Intro: George Washington's Core Covenant of Citizenship

• 02:30 The Paradox of Apathy (Why Citizens Check Out)

• 04:00 The Price of Freedom Is Eternal Vigilance

• 06:30 The Purpose of Government is Human Happiness (Jefferson's Metric)

• 08:00 Demanding Inclusion (The Frederick Douglass/Lincoln Lesson)

• 10:00 Superpowers of the American Citizen (The First Amendment Toolkit)

• 12:00 Civic Duty vs. Civic Responsibility (Formal vs. Proactive)

• 15:00 History Proves Engagement Works (Voting and Protesting)

• 17:00 Peaceably Assemble: The Civil Rights Movement Triumph

• 19:00 Free Press: Watergate and Accountability

• 21:00 Petition the Government: The Women's Suffrage Victory

• 24:00 The Living Fight: 79 Restrictive Voting Laws Since 2020

• 26:00 Shelby v. Holder and the Weakening of the Voting Rights Act Clip

• 28:00 LBJ's Call to Action (Framing Voting Rights as a Universal Duty)

• 30:00 Independent Hero: The League of Women Voters

• (00:00:01) - Independent Voters: These Are Independent Times
• (00:01:59) - Independent Times: Low Trust in our Government
• (00:03:57) - The role of independents in the 2020 election
• (00:09:41) - Civic Duty and Civic Responsibility
• (00:15:15) - Why Americans Should Get Out to Vote
• (00:18:53) - Non-violence
• (00:20:36) - The Fight for Voting Rights
• (00:29:34) - A Centennial Celebration of the League of Women Voters