The passing of the iconic Aretha Franklin at the age of 76, has many combing through her playlist, playing the songs that bring memories back to life.

From "Day Dreaming" (1972) to "Rock Steady" (1971) and "A Natural Woman" (1967), Franklin's all-time vocal talent brought her fame and fortune and the unforgettable label, "The Queen of Soul."

While she made hundreds of songs, these three translate well into today's divided political climate.

Mental health is a difficult topic to discuss even at the best of times. But when a patient is already suffering from a disease or illness, or when they're recovering from surgery, they're in a particularly vulnerable state of mind. It's during this time — at the complicated intersection between physical impairment and compromised mental health — that we pay some of the heaviest social prices.

San Diego, CA- San Diego Union-Tribune Columnist Michael Smolens  spent a few minutes at our IVN Studios to talk about the political landscape in San Diego.

IVN San Diego's "Beyond the Headlines" will dive deep into the issues impacting San Diegans lives. The goal of the conversation is to elevate our political discourse and look for solutions to make our city a better place.

Georgia's Republican candidate for governor, Brian Kemp, says his state's election system is secure. However, voter advocates disagree and have filed suit in federal court.

Kemp, who oversees elections as secretary of state, is being sued on claims that he allowed a massive breach that exposed the voting records and personal information of millions.

A new report published by the Cook Political Report (CPR) says that Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach's GOP primary victory has moved the governor's race to "Toss Up" status -- painting an uncertain future for the state's top office.

Cook Political Report is a nonpartisan newsletter that is widely used to gauge competitiveness and trends in US House, US Senate, governor's races, and more in the US.

Lately, I’ve been glued to my laptop watching CNN news clips from 1999, when Donald Trump was weighing a possible presidential run in the Reform Party. “Everybody wants me to run for President …” he told the media at the time.  The media smirked, “What vanity!” as they turned their attention to more serious matters.

Three siblings from Austin, Texas are set to make cash off of gerrymandering. No, they're not running for office; they're creating a board game called Mapmaker that educates people about the very serious political game of manipulating voting district boundaries.

It's not a sexy topic for many or one that is easy to understand. But if a game will do it, then why not?

San Diego, CA.

At DefCon, a hacker conference in Las Vegas, savvy computer programmers as young as 8 participated in a contest organized by R00tz Asylum, a non-profit organisation that promotes white hat hacking to improve cybersecurity.

Of the thirty-nine participants aged 8 - 17, thirty-five were able to exploit vulnerabilities in an exact replica of the state of Florida's voting machines, as well as replicas of the election websites of 13 battleground states.

In the latest episode of "In Full Color," I talk with Katie Fahey, the founder and executive director of Voters Not Politicians. Voters Not Politicians -- which started from a single Facebook post -- is a citizens-led, grassroots campaign to get a citizens' redistricting commission passed in Michigan.

With the support of 425.000 voters, the Voters Not Politicians measure qualified for the November ballot.