Shows / The Moment with Brad LaPlante
The Moment with Brad LaPlante
The Moment with Brad LaPlante is a weekly interview show. Each episode features a big idea. Lawmakers, scholars, executives and organizers come on to think out loud about the problems Michigan faces and solutions you rarely hear.
Episodes
- The Moment with Brad LaPlante
Can Michigan actually get money out of politics?
Karley Abramson, a researcher and attorney, talks about Proposal 2.
The Moment with Brad LaPlanteNancy Nagrant Wants to Know What Makes You Tick
Nancy Nagrant was born in Detroit, graduated from Western Michigan University and left for New York, where she's worked as an actor for more than 20 years…
The Moment with Brad LaPlanteWhy do Michigan housing projects get stalled?
Lauren Strickland, executive director of Abundant Housing Michigan, says she avoids the word "affordable" when talking about housing because what gets called…
The Moment with Brad LaPlanteJoanna Whaley says Democrats lost the working class. She thinks she can help win it back
Joanna Whaley spent years as an evangelical megachurch pastor and 15 years in conversion therapy before coming out as transgender. Now she's the Democratic…
- The Moment with Brad LaPlante
Michigan's primary polling miss, explained by a pollster who got it wrong
The pollster whose final survey showed the widest lead for Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan’s Democratic U.S. Senate primary said the industry’s double-digit miss…
The Moment with Brad LaPlanteSarah Anthony thinks Lansing has something to prove. So does she
Sarah Anthony chairs the Michigan Senate Appropriations Committee, which makes her one of the most powerful people in the state. But she doesn't want to get…
The Moment with Brad LaPlanteMichigan's 19-year-old GOP youth chair says both parties leave problems unsolved
As young people start to shift away from Trump, Michigan's GOP youth chair Krish Mathrani discusses what he thinks Trump's wins are, and why — in his words —…
The Moment with Brad LaPlanteMallory McMorrow on money in politics: 'It's just broken'
Mallory McMorrow joined Brad LaPlante in Royal Oak to talk about the Senate race and 'broken' outside spending that reshaped the primary. Thoughts? Email me at…
The Moment with Brad LaPlanteAugust Election 2026 Debrief: Will Republicans discuss affordability?
Today we're sitting down with Liz Nass to discuss the August primary elections. Thoughts? Email me at blaplante@wlns.com Watch our show on YouTube: Watch our…
The Moment with Brad LaPlanteBernie Sanders' former policy adviser on the money flooding Michigan's Senate race
Pro-Israel groups have spent more than $30 million in Michigan's Senate primary in favor of Haley Stevens, but the ads aren't about Israel or foreign policy…
The Moment with Brad LaPlanteA Palestinian refugee on Democrats' biggest test
Rima Mohammad speaks about foreign policy in Israel and the U.S. Senate race in Michigan. Thoughts? Email me at blaplante@wlns.com Watch our show on YouTube…
The Moment with Brad LaPlanteHow do you teach the founding of America to a generation tired of politics?
This weekend, the United States marks 250 years — and the birthday itself has become a fight, with dueling celebrations and competing claims about how the…
- The Moment with Brad LaPlante
MSU's Board Crisis: What trustees are for — and why scrapping elections may not solve it
Hey there, it’s Brad. We’re off this week. So I’m sharing an interview from the past week with Demetri Morgan. I had not originally planned to release this in…
The Moment with Brad LaPlanteRev. Horace Sheffield III on Juneteenth, America 250 and a freedom not yet finished
Sheffield speaks about Frederick Douglass and Dr. King, about fatherhood and power, about whether the Black church still has the force to organize a generation…
The Moment with Brad LaPlanteRema Vassar on power, dissent and MSU's fractured board
Michigan State University trustee Rema Vassar won't sign the new ethics code. She explains why. Thoughts? Email me at blaplante@wlns.com Watch our show on…
The Moment with Brad LaPlanteShe pushed to investigate Epstein. Now she’s paying the price
The East Lansing Democrat died on a hill pushing for an Epstein investigation. Now she’s paying the price. Thoughts? Email me at blaplante@wlns.com Watch our…
The Moment with Brad LaPlanteRebroadcast: In Michigan's race for governor, running on policy is a losing strategy
Brad here. We're off this week, but please enjoy this episode of The Moment: our interview with Tom Leonard. Thoughts? Email me at blaplante@wlns.com Watch our…
The Moment with Brad LaPlanteHow Michigan justice 'do-overs' still leave the innocent behind
A Michigan bill would make it easier for wrongfully convicted people to win state compensation. This week, Wayne County exonerees Roderic Pippen and Eric…
The Moment with Brad LaPlanteAric Nesbitt wants to be Michigan's governor. First, he has to introduce himself
Aric Nesbitt was first elected to the Michigan House of Representatives in 2011. He served as state Lottery commissioner in the final years of Gov. Rick…
The Moment with Brad LaPlanteWill Lawrence says Democrats’ problem isn’t the message. It’s courage.
Will Lawrence grew up in East Lansing watching soccer fields give way to subdivisions. He spent years trying to stop that kind of development, or at least…
The Moment with Brad LaPlanteTom Leonard: In Michigan's governor's race, running on policy is a losing strategy
Tom Leonard joins the Moment after he's dropped out of the governor's race.
The Moment with Brad LaPlanteSchuette v. Nessel (Part II): The fight over the state Supreme Court
Attorney General Dana Nessel is suing Eli Lily for alleged price gouging in Michigan. A bill in the Michigan House would eliminate Nessel's legal theory for…
The Moment with Brad LaPlanteDemocrats plan to paint Mike Duggan as a Republican who won't stand up to Trump
Curtis Hertel's job, as chair of the Michigan Democratic Party, is to put Democrats in the best position to win elections. But the party is railing against…
The Moment with Brad LaPlanteMatt Maasdam said he sees 'no evidence' for a war in Iran
Matt Maasdam, a Democratic candidate in Michigan’s 7th Congressional District, says the Trump administration’s war in Iran is a personal litmus test. He traces…
The Moment with Brad LaPlanteMallory McMorrow says she'll 'actually deliver' if elected to the Senate
State Sen. Mallory McMorrow says she wants Democrats to deliver results for the people who elected them.
The Moment with Brad LaPlanteMichigan GOP chair casts Democrats as soft on immigration ahead of convention
Michigan Senate Republican Jim Runestad, now in his second year as chair of the state GOP, is using his role to sharpen criticism of Democrats on immigration…
The Moment with Brad LaPlanteAntisemitism and Islamophobia are on the rise. So what do we do?
Barely more than a week ago, a synagogue in West Bloomfield, Michigan, was attacked. In the aftermath, elected leaders are posting Islamophobic tweets, and…
- The Moment with Brad LaPlante
'We hate war': How Michigan's largest Arab American city is feeling the Iran war
Michigan state Rep. Alabas Farhat (D-Dearborn) says his district doesn't want war with Iran.
The Moment with Brad LaPlanteMichigan Sen. Chang: 'These are our neighbors' being deported
State Sen. Stephanie Chang says Michigan can’t wait to rein in immigration agents she and other Democrats describe as increasingly aggressive and opaque, so…
The Moment with Brad LaPlanteFormer Ukraine Ambassador: U.S. democracy 'literally at stake right now'
Former Ukraine Ambassador Bridget Brink joins The Moment to discuss foreign policy, how she would reform Congress and why she believes U.S. Democracy is at…
The Moment with Brad LaPlanteHow Mark Tisdel convinced Republicans and Democrats to ban cellphones in schools
State Rep. Mark Tisdel, R-Rochester Hills, sat down with Brad LaPlante to discuss his landmark K-12 cellphone ban, how politics influences the media and what's…
- The Moment with Brad LaPlante
Michigan's top health official on breaking from MAHA
Gary Peters talks retirement from the Senate, health care and bipartisanship. Also, Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian joins the show to discuss vaccine policy.
The Moment with Brad LaPlanteTom Leonard says Republicans need to stop focusing on Democrats to win in 2026
Republican governor candidate Tom Leonard, in many ways, is your typical conservative: small government, lower taxes and focuses on job growth. He also says…
The Moment with Brad LaPlante‘Cowardice in the face of it’: Abdul El-Sayed says most Dems ‘too weak’ for Trump era
Abdul El-Sayed is a progressive. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., endorsed him in the 2018 Democratic primary for governor, a race he eventually lost to Gretchen…
The Moment with Brad LaPlantePalestinian activist: Israel-Hamas ceasefire doesn’t hold Israel accountable
Brad LaPlante sits down with Nasim Barghouti, a Palestinian student attending Michigan State University. He has family in the West Bank. He talks about the…
The Moment with Brad LaPlante'It's going to get worse': Haley Stevens on the shutdown standoff in Washington
U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens talks the shutdown, Israel and more. Thoughts? Email me at blaplante@wlns.com Watch our show on YouTube…