About this episode

Paul Kane discusses the impact of media decline and broken incentives on congressional dysfunction.

Lura Forcum and Lauren Hall host We Made This Political with congressional reporter Paul Kane of NOTUS , who explains how he moved from planning for law school to a 26-year career covering Congress and what makes a good congressional reporter. Kane argues that communications technology and the collapse of local and regional news have reshaped Congress, enabling “radical transparency” without reliable context and weakening accountability, illustrated by Rep. Tom Kean Jr. not being seen publicly since March 5th. The conversation covers low legislative output in 2025 and recent Congresses, the Senate’s procedural paralysis and focus on nominations, changing incentive structures favoring fundraising and attention over legislating, and norms that no longer enforce behavior because punishment can be monetized. Kane critiques media’s focus on controversy, highlights Gabe Fleisher’s Wake Up to Politics , and ends with cautious hope in growing, less click-driven journalism and stories like Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester’s. 00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro00:55 Paul Kane Origin Story02:30 Reporting Lessons From Local Politics05:03 What Makes a Great Hill Reporter09:35 How Congress Changed With…

People in this episode

Hosts: Lura Forcum, Lauren Hall

Guest: Paul Kane

Topics covered

• Congressional dysfunction
• Media decline
• Accountability
• Legislative output
• Fundraising
• Transparency

Keywords

• Congress
• media
• transparency
• fundraising
• legislation
• accountability
• reporting

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: NOTUS

More episodes of We Made This Political Podcast

• Ep. 59: Tony Williams on the Debating the Declaration · July 20, 2026 · 45 min
• Ep. 58: Lauren and Lura on Political Grief · July 13, 2026 · 1h 4m
• Ep. 57: [Archives] Fourth of July Special · July 6, 2026 · 52 min
• Ep. 56: Maryam Mehrtash on Reinventing the Village · June 29, 2026 · 53 min
• Ep. 55: Scott Warren and Morgan Ramsey-Elliot on Conservative Voters and Saving Democracy · June 23, 2026 · 1h 2m

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the We Made This Political Podcast podcast page.