The Overton Window

Mackinac Center for Public Policy

Have you noticed that politicians struggle to enact the things they run on? They find themselves bound by what is popular, or at least their sense of it. The narrow range of policies that they can enact is called the Overton Window. The Overton Window podcast looks at issues around the country and the people changing what is politically possible.

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21 episodes
fortnightly
English

Episodes 21

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August 21 · length unknown
‘It doesn’t matter who is in power; power should be restrained in a clear way’
Michael Van Beek on the ideas that drove the American Revolution
August 7 · length unknown
‘Human bodies and minds are not one size fits all’
Jaquetta Lee on educating the individual instead of the average
July 24 · length unknown
‘Access can change the trajectory of anybody's life’
Jessica Snowden on Detroit’s educational landscape and opportunities
July 10 · length unknown
‘Whichever candidate wins, they’re both promising to get rid of the personal income tax’
Oran P. Smith on South Carolina’s changing attitudes about taxation
June 26 · length unknown
‘The more you ask the computer to do for you, the more power you need’
Dennis Talluto on the fight over data centers
June 12 · length unknown
‘We need to unleash American workers, not protect them’
Dave Hebert on the state of U.S. manufacturing
May 29 · length unknown
‘The harsher the childcare regulations, the fewer kids people have’
Warren Anderson on how Michigan’s childcare apparatus reduces fertility
May 15 · length unknown
‘Affordable housing: No matter what they say in public, they're terrified of it’
Alex Cartwright on the challenge of converting hotel space into housing
May 1 · length unknown
‘You never talk to the people who lost the lottery, right?’
Michael James Clark on a teacher’s role and the impact of Hillsdale College
April 17 · length unknown
‘The difference between having a good idea and having others embrace it’
Joshua Bandoch on using persuasion to get what you want in family life and politics
April 3 · length unknown
‘If we do meet resistance from elected officials in Detroit, we’ll fund a referendum’
Rod Lockwood on the renewed effort to make Belle Isle Detroit’s game changer
March 20 · length unknown
‘People bemoan that they can't trust the news’
Jonah Goldberg discusses building The Dispatch and pushing back against clickbait journalism
March 6 · length unknown
‘All of your data has been stolen’
Who's stealing your tax dollars? Haywood Talcove has the answer, and it's worse than you think
February 20 · length unknown
‘We don't wear capes’
Donald Bryson demonstrates how think tanks help shape public policy for the better
February 6 · length unknown
‘A country where opportunity is still possible’
Justin Callais discusses what helps states improve life outcomes
January 23 · length unknown
‘Everything exploded in the world of online teaching’
Barbara Oakley on the rise, retreat, and future of online learning
January 9 · length unknown
‘People are very bad at managing their own finances’
Chris Surprenant talks integrating financial literacy at the high school level to improve outcomes
Dec 12, 2025 · length unknown
‘I truly believe this will transform education’
Chris Waston discusses how AI can help teachers improve student outcomes
Nov 26, 2025 · length unknown
‘Film production is a stack of gigs’
Michael Brown explains how film subsidies just don’t create jobs
Nov 14, 2025 · length unknown
‘Leadership of these unions has lost their way’
Gene Hamilton discusses shifting The Overton Window back toward the interests of American workers

Showing 1–20 of 21 episodes