Pre Show Rundown for March 31, 2014

This week we have two local guests joining the show. 

First, Missouri State Representative Ron Hicks will be calling in to discuss the Right to Work legislation that is currently embattled in the Missouri legislature. Rep Hicks owns several franchises in Missouri and Illinois, so we will also be talking about the proposed minimum wage hike in Illinois - $10.65 was the number that came out of committee last week. I may also pick his brain regarding the President's unilateral decision to phase out the Tomahawk and Hellfire missiles.

Second, in light of the recent outbreaks of supposedly eradicated diseases such as measles and whooping cough, we will talk to pharmacist Adam Bohn (@BadtotheBohn) about the celebrity trend regarding refusal to vaccinate and how that plays into those outbreaks.

If we get the chance, we may also to conspiracy theories with @JenEnnenbach - and hopefully something will happen between now and then that we can blame on George W. Bush. I heard the earthquakes that rolled through LA this weekend were his idea.

Pre Show rundown for March 17

After a week of travel, illness, and child-related insanity, I'm back to fighting form for Monday's show. And it's a good thing, since it's St. Patrick's Day and there's likely to be a fight somewhere... There would have been at least one already if I hadn't been on Spring Break this week.

We'll be talking bossiness, scouts, and the feminization of boys with my good friend @JenEnnenbach. And to be honest, we could probably make that last the whole hour - but there are a few other things I want to cover. We're going to talk about unions - but I guess I did already say I planned to talk about bossiness. We'll take a quick look at the Illinois primaries (happening Tuesday, March 18). We'll update you on the situation in Russia/Ukraine, the missing Malaysian 777, and anything else that comes to mind between now and then. And I may or may not talk a little about my grandfather, a WWII veteran who celebrated his 90th birthday this week.

I may even have some Irish music from my talented brother-in-law, @PAKruta. You should be so lucky.

Also, the triumphant return of #BlameBush (we can't let the Koch brothers have all the fun, no matter what Harry Reid says) and the dangers of t-shirts with pictures of guns on them.

Post Show Wrap, March 3

After a few last minute changes, we managed to pull off a fun show last night. Smart Girl Politics founder Stacy Mott had to reschedule, so we can look forward to speaking with her in a few weeks. Surprise guest and good friend Chris Loesch (@chrisloesch) joined us to start out the show remembering Andrew Breitbart. Ruth Vine (@MissRuth1021), blogger, paleo baker, and Misfit Politics contributor talked property rights, conservative women, and bacon brownies. I ranted a little bit about the President's response to goings on in the Ukraine, and compared Putin to Dr. Evil. And we wrapped with Misfit Politics founder/CEO Brandon Morse with a great segment on culture and how conservatives miss the boat when we refuse to engage. 

Check out the podcast here: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/altconradio/2014/03/04/stovetop-politics-with-virginia-kruta

We were having such a great conversation that we ran out of time before we could get to the #BlameBush segment. But you know whose fault that is.

Monday, March 3 Pre-Show Rundown

This is going to be my debut with AltCon Politics Radio, so I figured I might as well start with a bang. It also happens to fall two days after the second anniversary of the passing of the Happy Warrior himself, Andrew Breitbart. I felt that it was only fitting to lead off the show with a brief tribute to Andrew, as he and several of the people he mentored are the main reason that I do what I do. There will be a few surprise guests on with me for that segment.

Smart Girl Politics founder Stacy Mott, and (hopefully) a few other ladies, will be joining me to talk about the important part that women have played in this conservative resurgence, and what made them decide to get involved in the fight.

I will also be talking to Misfit Politics CEO and founder Brandon Morse about the mistakes conservatives make when they attempt to sidestep or ignore pop culture rather than engaging it in order to influence it.

I will be adding content up to the minute, and there may be stories (and guests) who don't get mentioned here - so if you don't want to miss the show, you'll have to tune in Monday at 8pm CST.

(I will add the link to the broadcast here as soon as it is available.)

Live, From the People's Republic of Illinois

In a turn of events that was a surprise even to me, I went from occasional snarky blogger to radio show host. If you had told me three years ago, when I first started blogging, that I would one day be doing a live weekly broadcast from the People's Republic of Illinois, I would have told you where you could stick it. Of course, that was also back when I was still in the Army and I thought Twitter was the devil. On further consideration: I was probably right about Twitter.

After getting a taste of radio from gracious hosts Dana Loesch and Tony Katz, I knew that I wanted to learn more. And much in the same way that I handle the book(s) I intend to write, I put it off. I went to school. I homeschooled kids. I cooked dinner. I did laundry. And I put radio on the back burner.

Well, a few weeks ago I co-hosted The McNally Show with my good friend Tyler McNally of Misfit Politics (where I also contribute on occasion), and I was reminded that there was something I was supposed to be doing. And the next day I set up my show through Blog Talk Radio, Stovetop Politics. 

My show, if you’ll forgive the crude analogy, is different from shows like Hannity's or Beck's in that it's more like soft-core politics, if that makes any sense. That’s not to say that I don’t have hardline positions on certain issues or that I won’t hit hard on the issues I discuss. But part of the reason I came up with the name “Stovetop Politics” is that I want to be able to talk to families who are sitting down to dinner or women who are working in the kitchen about issues that matter without getting so technical policywise that I lose them. I want to focus on the issues that affect the average family - schools, guns, religion, small business regulations, etc. There are so many pundits talking about government overreach and supreme court cases and what have you that average people - particularly women - tend to tune them out because they don’t see how it affects their daily trips to the bus stop and kids’ swim practice or the occasional night out with their husbands. I want my job to be to make them connect the two things by talking about the little things that make all the difference - like the EPA regulations that could shut down small family businesses, or new sex ed standards (and apparently biology assignments) that are teaching kids that promiscuity is normal. They don’t care that John Kerry thinks Global Warming is a weapon of mass destruction - but they do care that their state might ban sack lunches for school kids. 

And thanks to my one-man wrecking crew and totally unpaid (but invaluable) publicist Jimi (you can find him at @Jimi971 on the Twitters), by the end of my first show I was handed an invitation to join the fabulous crew at AltCon Politics Radio.

So starting Monday, March 3, Stovetop Politics with Ginny Kruta will be airing Mondays at 8pm CST. You can always check here for updates and teasers for upcoming shows, and for archived podcasts of previous episodes.