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.

146 Episodes

‘Benefit cliffs are real, and they’re a problem’
10/30/2026
Joshua Bandoch on new ways to prevent public assistance from discouraging achievement
‘What is the evidence to show that passing one exam actually protects the public?’
10/16/2026
Deeb D. Eid on states’ efforts to reform regulations on pharmacists and pharmacies
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‘Sometimes people miss this, but congressmen aren't supposed to miss it because it's the law’
10/2/2026
Grover Norquist on spending restraint and the temporary success of the Obama-era ‘sequester’ deal
‘Having chunks of a country where it’s difficult to do business reduces the size of the pie for everyone’
9/18/2026
Investment banker Richard Shinder on unacceptable political risk in America’s largest states
‘Affordability is everywhere this year as a kind of buzzword’
9/4/2026
Center for the American Experiment’s John Phelan on coping with the dollar’s decline
‘It doesn’t matter who is in power; power should be restrained in a clear way’
8/21/2026
Michael Van Beek on the ideas that drove the American Revolution
‘Human bodies and minds are not one size fits all’
8/7/2026
Jaquetta Lee on educating the individual instead of the average
‘Access can change the trajectory of anybody's life’
7/24/2026
Jessica Snowden on Detroit’s educational landscape and opportunities
‘Whichever candidate wins, they’re both promising to get rid of the personal income tax’
7/10/2026
Oran P. Smith on South Carolina’s changing attitudes about taxation
‘The more you ask the computer to do for you, the more power you need’
6/26/2026
Dennis Talluto on the fight over data centers

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The Overton Window

Mackinac Center for Public Policy

146 Episodes

‘Benefit cliffs are real, and they’re a problem’

‘What is the evidence to show that passing one exam actually protects the public?’

‘Sometimes people miss this, but congressmen aren't supposed to miss it because it's the law’

‘Having chunks of a country where it’s difficult to do business reduces the size of the pie for everyone’

‘Affordability is everywhere this year as a kind of buzzword’

‘It doesn’t matter who is in power; power should be restrained in a clear way’

‘Human bodies and minds are not one size fits all’

‘Access can change the trajectory of anybody's life’

‘Whichever candidate wins, they’re both promising to get rid of the personal income tax’

‘The more you ask the computer to do for you, the more power you need’