Blue Dog Radio

Raised by a single mother and a grandmother dealing cards in Nevada casinos, Shannon Bird learned early that opportunity rarely arrives without a fight. In this episode of Blue Dog Radio, Bird's story ranges from a Reno trailer park to the Colorado legislature, reflecting on class, public schools, dissent, housing, democratic faith, and the women who taught her backbone. This is a conversation about stewardship over performance and why government should still be in the business of watching ou...

The Central Valley has a healthcare problem and Washington keeps sending politicians. In this episode of Blue Dog Radio, we sit down with Dr. Jasmeet Bains, a practicing family physician, current California State Assemblymember, and Blue Dog candidate for Congress in CA-22. Here we talk about what it looks like to serve a community that’s been overlooked for too long. Before politics, Bains was treating patients in rural clinics across the Central Valley. People without insurance. Families lo...

Johnny Garcia-Texas 35 In this episode of Blue Dog Radio, we sit down with Johnny Garcia, a deputy sheriff from Bexar County who’s running for Congress in Texas’s 35th District. Johnny talks about growing up on the west side of San Antonio, the influence of his mother, and working construction and plumbing before entering law enforcement. He shares what he learned managing programs inside the county jail, serving on patrol, and working as a SWAT hostage negotiator. Experiences that shaped how...

Politics spends a lot of time talking about voters and not nearly enough time listening to them. In this episode of Blue Dog Radio, we talk with political analyst Simon Bazelon about the people who actually decide elections. Not the loudest voices online, but the voters in the middle who are trying to get through the week with some stability, dignity, and hope. Here we dig into what these voters really care about, why life feels harder than it used to, and how the economy, costs, and basic qu...

In this episode of Blue Dog Radio, Representatives Marie Gluesenkamp Perez and Jared Golden sit down for a candid conversation about faith. Where it comes from, how it anchors their work, and what it means to hold belief in something larger than politics. They talk about the traditions that shaped them, the values that still guide them, and how faith helps them stay grounded in a world that too often rewards cynicism over service. From humility and forgiveness to the idea of grace in Washingt...

Welcome to Blue Dog Radio, where we cut through the noise and talk about what really matters to Americans in every corner of this country. This show is about common sense, community, and making politics work the way it's supposed to, for real people in real places. Episode One – “What It Really Means To Represent Home” – is the first of a three-part conversation between two of the youngest Blue Dog leaders in Congress: Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, an auto repair and machine shop owner from Washin...