Political Theater
415 episodes - English - Latest episode: 3 days ago - ★★★★★ - 40 ratingsHave you ever asked, “WTF?,” about politics? Or, “who are these people making decisions about my life?” Political Theater pulls back the curtain on the stunts, antics and motivations that drive Washington. Host Jason Dick and the Roll Call team spotlight the spectacle, the players and what’s going on behind the curtain in Washington’s long-running drama: Congress.
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Episodes
What if social media was run like a bar?
May 28, 2020 18:00 - 18 minutesSocial media was supposed to connect people by bringing them into a common shared space to exchange views, jokes and news. It has become a dominant force that enhances political and cultural divides, and that is largely a result of its founders being people who never learned how to get along with others, like in a bar, says podcaster and author Brandon Wetherbee. If social media was run like a bar, a place where people gathered and where everyone has to respect each other or get thrown out, t...
'You expected to die of dieseases' — Lessons from past pandemics
May 20, 2020 17:53 - 24 minutesThis isn't the first pandemic the United States, and Washington, has grappled with in the last century. But there are some key differences in our culture, like our ability to eliminate much of the risk of disease to public health. And there is one constant: Congress finds a way to meet amid the outbreak, for better or worse, and no matter who got sick, including speakers, vice presidents and rank-and-file members. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Dulcé Sloan is not a 'celebrity'
May 13, 2020 15:43 - 21 minutesThe comedian and ‘The Daily Show’ correspondent dives into her new podcast ‘That Black Ass Show’, how she keeps her comedy personal and why she still has to wait to be seated. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Not even a pandemic can budge America's political dynamics
May 06, 2020 17:01 - 20 minutesWe're less than six months away from Election Day and the political dynamics have changed little: Donald Trump is a slight underdog for re-election, control of the Senate is a toss-up and conditions favor Democrats to retain the House. CQ Roll Call Elections Analyst Nathan Gonzales explains why not even a pandemic can change the basic facts about the 2020 campaign. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
A formidable coronavirus meets its match: New Jersey gas stations, liquor control boards
April 29, 2020 17:20 - 23 minutesThe coronavirus pandemic has upended daily life as we know. But the coronavirus might have met its match in some truly indelible parts of our culture: full service gas stations in New Jersey, the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board. And voting in person in Congress. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
“Out of the blue … all hell broke loose”: Mario Diaz-Balart on his COVID-19 recovery
April 22, 2020 16:04 - 15 minutesRep. Mario Diaz-Balart was the first member of Congress to disclose he had COVID-19, and he tells Political Theater about those first scary days of self-quarantine, how grateful he was to his neighbors for their kindness and continuing to work to tackle the pandemic as a lawmaker while recovering from it himself. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
What we learned, or didn’t, from the Ebola crisis
April 09, 2020 14:27 - 30 minutesWhat lessons did the U.S. government learn from its success in clamping down on the 2014 Ebola epidemic in fighting the coronavirus pandemic? “We did basically everything that was on the ‘don’t’ list,” Reid Wilson, author of "Epidemic: Ebola and the Global Scramble to Prevent the Next Killer Outbreak," says on the latest Political Theater podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
What happens when you lose track of your own story
April 02, 2020 18:08 - 8 minutesWhen we started realizing how significant the coronavirus pandemic was shaping up to be, we wanted to cover not just the story, but how we covered it. At Political Theater, that meant keeping an audio diary. But sometimes, even when you work in an audio medium, that is easier said than done. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
It's not chaos: This is how debate in the Senate should look
March 26, 2020 04:00 - 19 minutesCongress has worked hard to address the human and economic costs of the coronavirus pandemic. Amid this work, some senators have gotten testy on the floor, leading to what looked like a meltdown in relations. But this is what actual debate in the Congress looks like, according to James Wallner, senior fellow at the R Street Institute and a former aide to several senators. It's just been so long since we've seen an earnest debate, it feels weird. And it's leading to positive results. Learn mor...
One Mike, two Mike, red Mike, blue Mike.
March 18, 2020 04:00 - 14 minutesThere are 24 men named Mike on the Hill. It’s the most popular name up there, followed closely by John. To put that into context, there are more men named Mike than there are GOP congresswomen. What does data like this tell us about congress? Heard on the Hill reporter Clyde McGrady and Data editor George Levines join the podcast to talk about their project on the most popular names in congress. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
"Slay the Dragon" attempts to humanize gerrymandering
March 11, 2020 04:00 - 22 minutesA new documentary, "Slay the Dragon" explores what happens when voters fight back against gerrymandering. Jason Dick is joined by the directors of the film Chris Durrance, Barak Goodman, and one of the film's main subjects, Katie Fahey. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Comedian Margaret Cho makes the personal laughable
March 05, 2020 17:03 - 19 minutesMargaret Cho has been called a political comedian, but to her political comedy is just a part of the authenticity she strives for. On this episode of Political Theater she joins Heard on the Hill reporter Kathryn Lyons to talk about her development as a comedian and where politics fits in, the democratic presidential candidate she thinks could do a 'mean foxtrot' and what she hopes 2020 will bring. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Gearing up for many upcoming Un-Super Tuesdays
March 04, 2020 21:12 - 18 minutesSo it turns out Super Tuesday was pretty spectacular. Race dynamics changed dramatically, several marquee House and Senate races were set up and the stage is set for a long series of primary battles reaching into the summer. CQ Roll Call Politics Editor Herb Jackson helps break it down. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Our Texas-sized Super Tuesday Jamboree
February 27, 2020 17:47 - 20 minutesEverything is bigger in Texas, and Texas is even bigger when it's part of Super Tuesday. And while the Democratic presidential primary gets a lot of attention, we like congressional politics even better. Bridget Bowman discusses the most influential and interesting Democratic and Republican primaries coming up on March 3, including what she learned in her recent reporting trip to the Lone Star State and what else we should pay Super attention to among the more than 100 contests that day. Amon...
Nevada is next: takeaways from the state's early caucuses
February 21, 2020 05:00 - 23 minutesTaco trucks, cookies and a ‘Battle Born’ caucus interview with Julián Castro: CQ Roll Call reporter Niels Lesniewski joins Political Theater to share some of the moments he caught on tape during his long weekend in Nevada, where the state was holding early caucuses. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The upside of populism: A chat with Daron Acemoglu
February 19, 2020 05:00 - 25 minutesWith populist leaders like President Donald Trump and Sen. Bernie Sanders leading their parties' primaries, it seems people are fed up with their current institutions. But what does it mean for the future? Joining us to chat about populist movements and their potential outcomes is Daron Acemoglu, an economics professor at MIT and co-author of "The Narrow Corridor: States, Societies, and the Fate of Liberty". Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
New Hampshire scramble: Dems power into primary with little clarity
February 12, 2020 18:36 - 23 minutesNew Hampshire's 2020 Democratic primary was the mirror image of Republicans' 2016 primary. We're still lacking clarity even as the the field winnows. One thing we do know, according to Reuters political correspondent Amanda Becker, is that the candidates are preparing for a long slog and expect a lot of twists and turns as they head to Nevada, South Carolina and Super Tuesday. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Donald Trump: How to win kitsch and influence people
February 05, 2020 21:06 - 23 minutesPresident Donald Trump's State of the Union was a master class in deploying conservative rhetoric, entertainment kitsch and Americana tropes before a televised audience. Alyssa Rosenberg of the Washington Post discusses Trump's gifts as an entertainer and how he uses it to maximum effect in the political arena. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Wildest caucus ever? Iowa goes down to the wire
January 29, 2020 00:03 - 20 minutesLess than one week to go, and it's anyone's guess who will win the Iowa Caucuses. What's the biggest thing on Iowans' minds as they decide? Impeachment? Electability? Personal likability? Caucus expert and political scientist David Redlawsk , who has spent the last six months on sabbatical in Iowa, talks us through what to expect on Feb. 3. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Comic Maz Jobrani is seriously funny about politics
January 24, 2020 22:07 - 32 minutesIn a special edition of Political Theater, PhD drop out and comic Maz Jobrani takes Heard on the Hill's Kathryn Lyons "back to school" to talk Trump hecklers, the candidates he likes in 2020 and what it's like to be in the fake West Wing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The White House and The Lion King
January 22, 2020 16:26 - 26 minutesThere is a lot to learn from covering the White House for four years. For former CQ Roll Call White House correspondent John T. Bennett, that included the president's aides looking into that "Hakuna matata" thing, whether the president's accessibility is a double-edged sword and how to stay sane in a crazy environment. Now as Bennett takes on a new assignment with the Independent of London, he shares some of the biggest lessons of life in the Executive Mansion. Learn more about your ad choic...
Impeachment Clouds Hang over Iowa Debate
January 15, 2020 20:05 - 26 minutesThis week's Democratic presidential debate in Iowa was the last chance for the significantly winnowed field to make a big impression -- not just before the Feb. 3 caucuses but also before the Senate impeachment trial of President Donald Trump. Herb Jackson and Jason Dick break down the biggest takeaways as candidates tried to get in one last look, and what voters can expect as the trial drags on. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Waiting for Pelosi: The Senate theater of the absurd
January 09, 2020 00:23 - 12 minutesSenators are getting a little antsy waiting for Speaker Nancy Pelosi to deliver articles of impeachment of Donald Trump so they can start a trial. We spent the first full day Congress was back in the Capitol talking to Senators, and we got an earful of their frustrations, suggestions and theories about what happens next. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Picture perfect: CQ Roll Call's photographers explain their favorite images of 2019
December 18, 2019 05:00 - 16 minutesFrom Jon Stewart’s smirk to a scrum at the Iowa State Fair to the frenzy surrounding former presidential aide Hope Hicks, CQ Roll Call photographers explain their favorite images of 2019, how they got them and what goes into getting the shot they need. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sitting at 'Desk 88' with Sen. Sherrod Brown
December 10, 2019 20:30 - 21 minutesDemocrat Sherrod Brown was first elected to the House in 1992 and just won a third Senate term in 2018. Perhaps aware of the history that surrounds him and his own place in it, he has a new book out, Desk 88. That is where he sits in the Senate, and the book is a series of portraits of the senators who sat there before, a list that includes Hugo Black, Bobby Kennedy and George McGovern. Political Theater spoke with him about the likely coming impeachment trial, when the senator would be expec...
The ‘center’ of Mitch McConnell's legacy building
December 04, 2019 20:21 - 20 minutesSenate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is not shy about using his namesake McConnell Center at the University of Louisville as a platform for showcasing his allies, adversaries and his own ability to steer the national conversation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Off-year election debrief: Trump 'always makes it about him'
November 20, 2019 05:00 - 22 minutesIt is tempting to read into 2019's off-year elections for clues into next year’s big political brouhaha. Since President Donald Trump campaigned in many of this year's races, some key data points have emerged: a growing rural-suburban partisan divide and the president's tendency to make things about himself. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
When Art Imitates Life: "The Report"
November 12, 2019 15:33 - 24 minutesThe new movie "The Report" turns to real life to create art. The film is based on the Senate Intelligence Committee's torture report of 2014. Senate investigators took seven years to detail the CIA's use of its "enhanced interrogation techniques" on suspected terrorists. The political thriller is based on efforts led by Intelligence Committee staffer Daniel J. Jones, who joins the podcast this week along with the film's director and screenwriter Scott Z. Burns and CQ Roll Call reporter Niels ...
The four most likely scenarios for 2020 elections, explained
November 05, 2019 05:00 - 14 minutesThe 2020 elections are shaping up as the most significant in memory, but predicting them is a handicapper's nightmare. Nevertheless, CQ Roll Call Elections Analyst Nathan Gonzales gave it a whirl, offering these four scenarios: 1) Eviction at 1600 2) Blue Washington 3) Status Quo 4) Red Revival. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The most vulnerable 2020 House and Senate incumbents, explained
November 04, 2019 18:54 - 27 minutesOne year out from Election Day 2020 and Senate Republicans and House Democrats find themselves in parallel universes. The GOP is on defense in Senate races, where more Republicans are on the ballot, and it's the opposite in the House, where many Democrats who won in hostile territory in 2018 find themselves in tough races. CQ Roll Call’s campaign team, Simone Pathé, Bridget Bowman and Stephanie Akin, run through the 10 most vulnerable members of both the House and Senate. Learn more about you...
From Impeachment's High Solemnity to High Farce
October 30, 2019 20:59 - 13 minutesEvery impeachment inquiry has its own distinct identity. CQ Roll Call contributor Finlay Lewis discusses the first impeachment inquiry he covered, that of Richard Nixon in 1974, and how it contrasts with the 1998 impeachment of Bill Clinton, and how those stack up to the current one of President Donald Trump Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Inside the unique tributes to Elijah Cummings
October 25, 2019 20:05 - 8 minutesThe memorials for the late Rep. Elijah E. Cummings illustrate the unique way the nation remembers figures like him, a tradition of grieving both in public and private in places important to the deceased. Longstanding rituals in the Capitol, and in also in his hometown of Baltimore, give his family, friends, colleagues and constituents a way to celebrate his life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Between a Trump and a hard place
October 16, 2019 04:00 - 15 minutesRepublican senators up for re-election in swing states have a delicate balance to strike. They need to get almost all Republican voters in their column while reaching out to independents and Democrats. And President Donald Trump does not make that easy. CQ Roll Call Elections Analyst and Inside Elections Publisher Nathan Gonzales explains the politics. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Supreme Court is ready for its closeup
October 03, 2019 04:00 - 17 minutesHot topics? The Supreme Court’s got ‘em this term. LGBTQ rights. Guns. Immigration. With the High Court's new term starting Monday, CQ Roll Call legal affairs reporter Todd Ruger joins the podcast to take a closer look at the biggest cases they will consider and how the justices have become political fodder themselves in the 2020 race. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
This is not your father's impeachment
September 25, 2019 19:56 - 13 minutesThe conventional wisdom is that impeachment could imperil Democrats in 2020. But beware the conventional wisdom, and relying on dated data and small sample sets, like 1998's impeachment of President Bill Clinton. CQ Roll Call's elections analyst Nathan Gonzales joins the show to explains why he thinks things might be a little different for democrats today than they were for republicans in 1998. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
That 70s show: Biden Edition
September 19, 2019 21:40 - 15 minutesJoe Biden is among the most recognizable politicians. But even he was an upstart once. In 1972, he was just a 29-year old lawyer running an uphill race against a veteran senator. And, improbably, he won. Here's the story of that seminal campaign Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
K Street doesn't want your retired and hungry lawmakers
September 11, 2019 04:00 - 23 minutesLobbying firms on K Street and trade associations used to be a sure bet for retiring members of Congress. Not anymore. Julian Ha, a recruiter on K Street and advisor of FiscalNote the company that owns CQ Roll Call, joins the podcast along with CQ Roll Call senior writer Kate Ackley to talk about the current state of lobbying positions for former lawmakers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
2018 election wraps up in NC with poll showing Democrat in lead
September 04, 2019 04:00 - 17 minutesWhen voters in North Carolina's 9th district vote in the Sept. 10 special election, the 2018 election cycle will finally conclude. Democrat Dan McCready is making it a competitive race against Republican Dan Bishop in a GOP district. Why? Simone Pathe and Nathan Gonzales explain. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Stage managing ’The Trump Show on the Road’ in Biarritz
August 28, 2019 04:00 - 18 minutesHow do you plan for the unplanned? That was the challenge for advance teams paving the way for the recent G-7 summit in Biarritz, France, and for President Donald Trump’s upcoming trip to Poland and, until recently, Denmark. That includes CQ Roll Call White House Correspondent John Bennett, who helped plan press logistics for the trips, and was as surprised as anyone at the way things worked out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mysteries of the Senate, bathtubs and beyond.
August 21, 2019 09:00 - 16 minutesPoliticians and pundits are fond of saying that Washington has never been more polarized and that the Senate in particular may never recover from hyper-partisanship and rule-bending. But it is assistant Senate historian Daniel S. Holt's job to remind us all that Senate disputes could result in pistols at dawn instead of dueling tweets. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Iowa State Fair: Our hits, misses and lessons learned
August 16, 2019 09:00 - 18 minutesFor all its quaintness and fun, the Iowa State Fair does a pretty good job of approximating politics at the national level, be it questions about electability and charisma or trade and agricultural policy. Political Theater also gives our hits and misses, surprises and letdowns, of our time in Iowa. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Iowa State Fair: Why do you have to come here to be president?
August 15, 2019 09:00 - 19 minutesIowa plays a big role in presidential politics because of its first in the nation caucuses. Even by that standard, though, this time around feels busier, and the Iowa State Fair has been flooded with candidates for offices from the presidency on down. We talked to David Redlawsk, a political psychologist who is spending his ENTIRE sabbatical in Iowa, about why this is all happening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Iowa State Fair: A day in the deep-fried life
August 13, 2019 09:00 - 15 minutesYes, there are lot of politicians who attend the Iowa State Fair to court voters. But there is so much else to this unique event, from the almost 70 fried foods on a stick, to giant slides, sea lions, butter cows and butter Big Birds; even arm wrestling. A day in the life of the Iowa State Fair with Political Theater. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Iowa State Fair: Our pro-active primer on politics, pork and public officials
August 07, 2019 09:00 - 23 minutesPolitical Theater is heading to the Iowa State Fair to check out how the 2020 races for president, Senate and four competitive House races are shaping up in this bellwether state. Why Iowa? Because that's where the candidates are! Here’s what we’ll be looking for in our trip to the Midwest, including what fried foods on a stick we might eat. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
'The Great Hack,' Cambridge Analytica and our blurred reality
July 31, 2019 09:00 - 16 minutesHow do you make a story about data interesting? That was the challenge of documentary The Great Hack. Filmmaker Karim Amer discusses the challenges and human tragedies behind chronicling the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Robert Mueller was sobering. That spilled over to D.C. bars
July 24, 2019 22:10 - 13 minutesThe Mueller Report might animate members of Congress and political operatives, but when it comes to drawing people to the bar in D.C., it's no contest: They'd rather be watching The Bachelorette. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Get used to it: Trumpism with or without Trump
July 17, 2019 21:23 - 25 minutesWhy does President Donald Trump attack his opponents so viciously, sometimes using racist tropes? Because it’s effective. And Republicans know that. Our conversation with Shadi Hamid of the Brookings Institution is about Trumpism, norms and how it all fits into a political strategy. “I think you’ll have Trumpism without Trump to some extent at least, even if Trump is voted out of office in 2020," Hamid tells host Jason Dick. “Why? Because Trumpism is effective. And Republicans see that. And ...
Harry Reid in winter: still grappling, and dabbling, in politics
July 10, 2019 15:09 - 22 minutesHarry Reid might have retired from the Senate in 2017 and started battling cancer in 2018, but the former Democratic leader doesn’t seem to be the retiring type, especially when it comes to Nevada politics. “I’m a political junkie to say the least,” he tells CQ Roll Call's Niels Lesniewski in a wide-ranging interview in Las Vegas that we've excerpted for this edition of the Political Theater Podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
‘Mike Wallace is Here‘ shows how we got here
July 03, 2019 14:00 - 19 minutesThe new film “Mike Wallace is Here,” shows how legendary journalist Mike Wallace shaped modern journalism and politics. But this world is one where journalists are in danger and their credibility is in question. What happened? Director Avi Belkin discusses the arc of Wallace’s career, and where things started to shift. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Field notes from a North Carolina runoff and a reparations hearing
June 26, 2019 18:58 - 22 minutesA North Carolina House race is dividing the GOP in Washington, D.C., reports CQ Roll Call's senior political reporter Simone Pathé. And Clyde McCrady talks about the emotional House hearing on reparations and why it was a significant moment in U.S. history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices