| The West Wing Thing | |
| Hosting: | Dave Anthony Josh Olson |
| Genre: | Political podcast |
| Language: | English |
| Length: | typically 60–120 minutes per episode |
| Production: | Brian Siano |
| Theme Music Composer: | Collyn McCoy (Diesel Boots) |
| Opentheme: | "Calling All Wanglords" |
| Audio Format: | MP3 |
| Num Seasons: | 7 |
| Num Episodes: | 167 |
| Provider: | All Things Comedy |
| Related Shows: | The Dollop The Movies That Made Me Chapo Trap House Michael And Us The Audit |
The West Wing Thing is a progressive media analysis and commentary podcast created and hosted by the screenwriters Dave Anthony and Josh Olson. First uploaded in 2019–22, the series discusses the TV drama The West Wing (1999–2006) on an episode-by-episode basis, from a left-wing political perspective.[1] [2]
Early episodes were recorded in All Things Comedy in Burbank, California prior to the COVID-19 pandemic; later episodes were recorded from the hosts' homes.[3] Heavy metal musician Collyn McCoy ("Diesel Boots") provides the theme tunes, which vary each season, as well as theme tunes for regular sections such as "West Wing Brain," "Misogyny Rundown" and "Psaki Bomb."[4] Guests on the show included David Sirota, John Rogers, Wyatt Cenac, Matt Taibbi, Blaire Erskine, Thomas Frank, Jared Yates Sexton, Abby Martin, Eddie Pepitone, Bilge Ebiri, Lee Camp, Katie Halper, several members of Chapo Trap House, Briahna Joy Gray, Gareth Reynolds, Marianne Williamson, Nathan J. Robinson, Adam McKay, Adolph L. Reed Jr., Wil Anderson and Susan Saxe.[5]
See also: The West Wing (season 1).
|
| Date released | Episode discussed | Guests and other info | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Pilot" | – | ||
| 2 | 2 | "Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc" | – | ||
| 3 | 3 | "A Proportional Response" | – | ||
| 4 | 4 | "Five Votes Down" | – | ||
| 5 | 5 | "The Crackpots and These Women" | – | ||
| 6 | 6 | "Mr. Willis of Ohio" | Title misspelled as "Mr Wills of Ohio" | ||
| 7 | 7 | "The State Dinner" | – | ||
| 8 | 8 | "Enemies" | – | ||
| 9 | 9 | "The Short List" | – | ||
| 10 | 10 | "In Excelsis Deo" | – | ||
| 11 | 11 | "Lord John Marbury" | with Faisal-Azam Qureshi | ||
| 12 | 12 | – | Mid-Season Wrap, with Susan Saxe[6] | ||
| 13 | 13 | "He Shall, from Time to Time..." | – | ||
| 14 | 14 | "Take out the Trash Day" | – | ||
| 15 | 15 | – | "Teaser - A Very Special West Wing Thing" | ||
| 16 | 16 | – | "Our Very Special To Kill A Mockingbird episode", with Chris Wade (Chapo Trap House) | ||
| 17 | 17 | "Take This Sabbath Day" | – | ||
| 18 | 18 | "Celestial Navigation" | – | ||
| 19 | 19 | "20 Hours in L.A." | – | ||
| 20 | 20 | "The White House Pro-Am" | – | ||
| 21 | 21 | "Six Meetings Before Lunch" | – | ||
| 22 | 22 | "Let Bartlet Be Bartlet" | – | ||
| 23 | 23 | "Mandatory Minimums" | – | ||
| 24 | 24 | "Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics" | – | ||
| 25 | 25 | "What Kind of Day Has It Been" | with Luke Savage, author of the famous "How Liberals Fell In Love With The West Wing" article |
See also: The West Wing (season 2).
|
| Date released | Episode discussed | Guests and other info | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 | 1 | "In the Shadow of Two Gunmen" (both parts) | with John Rogers | ||
| 27 | 2 | "The Midterms" | – | ||
| 28 | 3 | "In This White House" | – | ||
| 29 | 4 | "And It's Surely to Their Credit" | – | ||
| 30 | 5 | "The Lame Duck Congress" | – | ||
| 31 | 6 | "The Portland Trip" | – | ||
| 32 | 7 | "Shibboleth" | with Katherine Krueger (Splinter) and Will Menaker (Chapo Trap House) | ||
| 33 | 8 | "Galileo" | |||
| 34 | 9 | "Isaac and Ishmael" | "9/11 Special" with Matt Christman (Chapo Trap House); this episode of The West Wing was originally aired before the beginning of Season 3 | ||
| 35 | 10 | "Noël" | – | ||
| 36 | 11 | "The Leadership Breakfast" | – | ||
| 37 | 12 | "The Drop-In" | with Alex Press (Jacobin) | ||
| 38 | 13 | "Bartlet's Third State of the Union" | – | ||
| 39 | 14 | "The War at Home" | – | ||
| 40 | 15 | "Ellie" | – | ||
| 41 | 16 | "Somebody's Going to Emergency, Somebody's Going to Jail" | with Luke Savage | ||
| 42 | 17 | "The Stackhouse Filibuster" | with Matt Stoller (Goliath: The Hundred Year War Between Monopoly Power and Democracy) | ||
| 43 | 18 | "17 People" | – | ||
| 44 | 19 | "Bad Moon Rising" | Podcast episode is titled "Bad Title Rising" | ||
| 45 | 20 | "The Fall's Gonna Kill You" | with Tom Sexton (Trillbilly Worker's Party) | ||
| 46 | 21 | "18th and Potomac" | – | ||
| 47 | 22 | "Two Cathedrals" | Podcast episode titled "Are you there God, it’s me, Jed?"; with David Sirota |
See also: The West Wing (season 3).
|
| Date released | Episode discussed | Guests and other info | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 48 | 1 | "Manchester" (both parts) | – | ||
| 49 | 2 | "Ways and Means" | with Amber A'Lee Frost (Chapo Trap House) | ||
| 50 | 3 | "On the Day Before" | – | ||
| 51 | 4 | "War Crimes" | with Tarence Ray (Trillbilly Worker's Party) | ||
| 52 | 5 | "Gone Quiet" | – | ||
| 53 | 6 | "The Indians in the Lobby" | with Wasté'win Young (of the Dakota Access Pipeline protests) | ||
| 54 | 7 | "The Women of Qumar" | with Savanna LaMaison (sex worker and activist) | ||
| 55 | 8 | "Bartlet for America" | – | ||
| 56 | 9 | "H. Con-172" | – | ||
| 57 | 10 | "100,000 Airplanes" | with Oliver Willis (political blogger) | ||
| 58 | 11 | "The Two Bartlets" | with Luke Savage | ||
| 59 | 12 | "Night Five" | – | ||
| 60 | 13 | "Hartsfield's Landing" | with Josh Androsky (Democratic Socialists of America) | ||
| 61 | 14 | "Dead Irish Writers" | with Mary Kate O'Flanagan (screenwriter and story consultant) | ||
| 62 | 15 | "The U.S. Poet Laureate" | with Rachel Joy Larris (Women's Media Center) | ||
| 63 | 16 | "Stirred" | Also contains a listener mailbag | ||
| 64 | 17 | "Enemies Foreign and Domestic" | with Ashley Stevens (Jog For Good) | ||
| 65 | 18 | "The Black Vera Wang" | Podcast episode is titled "Black Vera Wanglord", a reference to the podcast's theme song | ||
| 66 | 19 | "We Killed Yamamoto" | with Katie Halper | ||
| 67 | 20 | "Posse Comitatus" | with Wil Anderson (TOFOP) |
See also: The West Wing (season 4).
|
| Date released | Episode discussed | Guests and other info | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 68 | 1 | "20 Hours in America" (both parts) | with Tarence Ray and Tom Sexton (Trillbilly Worker's Party) | ||
| 69 | 2 | "College Kids" | with Virgil Texas (Chapo Trap House) | ||
| 70 | 3 | "The Red Mass" | with Trevor Beaulieu (Champagne Sharks) | ||
| 71 | 4 | "Debate Camp" | Leslie Lee III and Jack Allison (Struggle Session) | ||
| 72 | 5 | A West Wing Special to Benefit When We All Vote | with Amber A'Lee Frost and Felix Biederman (Chapo Trap House). A vodcast uploaded to Vimeo.[7] | ||
| 73 | 6 | "Game On" | with Briahna Joy Gray (Bad Faith) | ||
| 74 | 7 | "Election Night" | with Briahna Joy Gray; episode released the day before the 2020 United States presidential election | ||
| 75 | 8 | "Process Stories" | with Nando Vila (Weekends) | ||
| 76 | 9 | "Swiss Diplomacy" | — | ||
| 77 | 10 | "Arctic Radar" | with Amber A'Lee Frost (Chapo Trap House) | ||
| 78 | 11 | "Holy Night" | with Nathan J. Robinson (Current Affairs) | ||
| 79 | 12 | "Guns Not Butter" | with Rob Rousseau (49th Parahell) | ||
| 80 | 13 | "The Long Goodbye" | Bored by the West Wing episode, the duo instead decide to discuss the episode "Past Tense", renaming the podcast The Star Trek Thing | ||
| 81 | 14 | "Inauguration: Part I" | with Daniel Bessner (Jacobin, advisor to the Bernie Sanders 2020 presidential campaign) | ||
| 82 | 15 | "Inauguration: Over There" | |||
| 83 | 16 | "The California 47th" | with Aaron Thorpe (@posadist_trapgd; Trillbilly Worker's Party) | ||
| 84 | 17 | "Red Haven's on Fire" | with Wyatt Cenac (The Daily Show; Wyatt Cenac's Problem Areas) | ||
| 85 | 18 | "Privateers" | with Tanya Turner (Trillbilly Worker's Party) | ||
| 86 | 19 | "Angel Maintenance" | with Ashley Stevens | ||
| 87 | 20 | "Evidence of Things Not Seen" | — | ||
| 88 | 21 | "Life on Mars" | with David Sirota | ||
| 89 | 22 | "Commencement" | with Branko Marcetic (Jacobin) | ||
| 90 | 23 | "Twenty Five" | with Katie Halper and Matt Taibbi (Useful Idiots) |
See also: The West Wing (season 5).
|
| Date released | Episode discussed | Guests and other info |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 91 | 1 | "7A WF 83429" | with Aaron Maté (The Grayzone, The Nation) | |
| 92 | 2 | "The Dogs of War" | — | |
| 93 | 3 | "Jefferson Lives" | with Rebecca Bitton (Surviving Limbo) | |
| 94 | 4 | "Han" | with Daniel Bessner (Jacobin) | |
| 95 | 5 | "Constituency of One" | with Amy Westervelt (Drilled) and Josh Androsky (Democratic Socialists of America) | |
| 96 | 6 | "Disaster Relief" | with Robin Marie Averbeck (Liberalism is Not Enough) | |
| 97 | 7 | — | Crossover with Michael and Us (Luke Savage and Will Sloan) discussing Aaron Sorkin's appearance on RUMBLE with Michael Moore | |
| 98 | 8 | "Separation of Powers" | with Tom Sexton (Trillbilly Worker's Party) | |
| 99 | 9 | "Shutdown" | with Briahna Joy Gray and Adam McKay (The Big Short, Vice) | |
| 100 | 10 | "Abu el Banat" | with Katherine Krueger (Splinter, Elle) and Will Menaker (Chapo Trap House) | |
| 101 | 11 | "The Stormy Present" | with Felix Biederman (Chapo Trap House) | |
| 102 | 12 | "The Benign Prerogative" | with Aaron Thorpe (Trillbilly Worker's Party) | |
| 103 | 13 | "Slow News Day" | with Marianne Williamson (2020 U.S. presidential candidate) | |
| 104 | 14 | "The Warfare of Genghis Khan" | with Noah Kulwin (Jewish Currents) | |
| 105 | 15 | "An Khe" | — | |
| 106 | 16 | "Full Disclosure" | with Pete D'Alessandro (Iowa Bernie Sanders organizer) | |
| 107 | 17 | "Eppur Si Muove" | with Savannah LaMaison | |
| 108 | 18 | — | Podcast episode titled "Vamping"; No The West Wing content, as Olson and Anthony just discuss current events | |
| 109 | 19 | "The Supremes" | with Thomas Frank and Katie Halper | |
| 110 | 20 | "Access" | Episode entitled "Good Things Happen in Philly", with Susan Saxe | |
| 111 | 21 | "Talking Points" | — | |
| 112 | 22 | "No Exit" | — | |
| 113 | 23 | "Gaza" and "Memorial Day" | with Derek Davison (American Prestige) | |
| 114 | 24 | "Talking Points" (revisited) | Podcast episode titled "Season 5 wrap up", with Pete D'Alessandro (Iowa Capital Dispatch) and Richard D. Wolff | |
See also: The West Wing (season 6).
|
| Date released | Episode(s) discussed | Guests and other info | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 115 | 1 | "NSF Thurmont" and "The Birnam Wood" | with Shanti Singh (Democratic Socialists of America) and Abby Martin | ||
| 116 | 2 | "Third-Day Story" | with Shanti Singh | ||
| 117 | 3 | "Liftoff" | |||
| 118 | 4 | "The Hubbert Peak" | |||
| 119 | 5 | "The Dover Test" | — | ||
| 120 | 6 | "A Change Is Gonna Come" | with Daniel Bessner (Jacobin) | ||
| 121 | 7 | "In the Room" | with Meagan Day (Jacobin) | ||
| 122 | 8 | "Impact Winter" | |||
| 123 | 9 | "Faith Based Initiative" | — | ||
| 124 | 10 | "Opposition Research" | with Tom Sexton (Trillbilly Worker's Party) | ||
| 125 | 11 | "365 Days" | with Jared Yates Sexton | ||
| 126 | 12 | "King Corn" | with Pete D'Alessandro (Iowa Capital Dispatch) | ||
| 127 | 13 | "The Wake Up Call" | with Amber A'Lee Frost (Chapo Trap House) | ||
| 128 | 14 | — | Podcast episode titled "Hiatus!"; No The West Wing content, as Olson presents a showcase of Diesel Boots songs, including various theme songs for the podcast | ||
| 129 | 15 | — | Podcast episode titled "Mayor Pete Doc special"; No The West Wing content, with Luke Savage and Alex Press (Jacobin) | ||
| 130 | 16 | — | Podcast episode titled "Special mini Crooked Media episode"; No The West Wing content, with Briahna Joy Gray | ||
| 131 | 17 | "Freedonia" | — | ||
| 132 | 18 | "Drought Conditions" | with Jen Briney (Congressional Dish) | ||
| 133 | 19 | "A Good Day" | with Matt Stoller (Goliath: The Hundred Year War Between Monopoly Power and Democracy) | ||
| 134 | 20 | "La Palabra" | with Eddie Pepitone | ||
| 135 | 21 | "Ninety Miles Away" | with Gareth Reynolds | ||
| 136 | 22 | "In God We Trust" | with James Fritz (comedian) and Justin Feldman (epidemiologist) | ||
| 137 | 23 | "Things Fall Apart" | Podcast episode titled "Things ACTUALLY Fall Apart"; with Kate Willett (Dirtbag Anthropology) | ||
| 138 | 24 | "2162 Votes" | with Walker Bragman (Paste, Jacobin) | ||
| 139 | 25 | — | Podcast episode titled "Meet our free floating agent of chaos!", with Brian Siano, the podcast's researcher | ||
| 140 | 26 | — | Podcast episode titled "The Hillary Clinton Master Class Part 1", with Amber A'Lee Frost (Chapo Trap House) and Catherine Liu (Virtue Hoarders: The Case Against the Professional Managerial Class) | ||
| 141 | 27 | — | Podcast episode titled "The Hillary Clinton Master Class Part 2", with Julia Claire and Kate Willett (Reply Guys) | ||
| 142 | 28 | — | Podcast episode titled "The Hillary Clinton Master Class Part 3", with Tom Sexton and Aaron Thorpe (Trillbilly Workers Party) | ||
| 143 | 29 | — | Podcast episode titled "The Hillary Clinton Master Class Part 4", with Ashley Stevens and Meagan Day (Jacobin) | ||
| 144 | 30 | — | Podcast episode titled "The Hillary Clinton Master Class Part 5", with Briahna Joy Gray, Katie Halper and Lee Camp |
See also: The West Wing (season 7).
|
| Date released | Episode(s) discussed | Guests and other info |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 145 | 1 | "The Ticket" | with Kath Barbadoro (comedian) | |
| 146 | 2 | "The Mommy Problem" | Podcast episode titled "Mommy Problem"; with Derek Davison and Daniel Bessner (American Prestige) | |
| 147 | 3 | "Message of the Week" | with Alex Fumero (writer and producer) | |
| 148 | 4 | "Mr. Frost" | Podcast episode titled "The Leak" | |
| 149 | 5 | "Here Today" | with Pete D'Alessandro (Iowa Capital Dispatch) | |
| 150 | 6 | "The Al Smith Dinner" | with Lisa Curry (Long Story Long) | |
| 151 | 7 | — | ||
| 152 | 8 | "The Debate" | with Matt Christman (Chapo Trap House) | |
| 153 | 9 | "Undecideds" | with Vida Starr and Trevor Beaulieu (Champagne Sharks) | |
| 154 | 10 | "The Wedding" | with Will Menaker (Chapo Trap House) | |
| 155 | 11 | "Running Mates" | with Lisa Curry (Long Story Long) | |
| 156 | 12 | "Internal Displacement" | with Ashley Stevens (Jog For Good) | |
| 157 | 13 | "Duck and Cover" | with Gareth Reynolds (The Dollop) | |
| 158 | 14 | "The Cold" | with Tom Sexton (Trillbilly Worker's Party) | |
| 159 | 15 | "Two Weeks Out" | with Jared Yates Sexton | |
| 160 | 16 | "Welcome to Wherever You Are" | with Luke Savage and Blaire Erskine | |
| 161 | 17 | "Election Day" (both parts) | with Katie Halper | |
| 162 | 18 | "Requiem" | with Vida Starr and Trevor Beaulieu (Champagne Sharks) | |
| 163 | 19 | "Transition" | ||
| 164 | 20 | — | ||
| 165 | 21 | "The Last Hurrah" | with Pete D'Alessandro (Iowa activist) and David Sirota | |
| 166 | 22 | "Institutional Memory" | with Nima Shirazi and Adam Johnson (Citations Needed) | |
| 167 | 23 | "Tomorrow" | a 3:12 episode consisting of the intro song, a brief observation that there was no political content in the episode, and the outro song | |
| 168 | 24 | "Tomorrow" | with Briahna Joy Gray | |
| 169 | 25 | — | "Special Appendix Episode - What's the deal with Louise Mensch?"; with Arthur Tiersky (screenwriter) | |
Writing for Book and Film Globe, Kevin L. Jones praised The West Wing Thing, saying that the hosts "gleefully tear apart each episode of the West Wing for its smugness and centrist politics and I’m all for it. And they don’t just troll the show either; they lay down a solid case for every criticism they lob. They know how show business works, they know their American history […] and they’re certain they know who’s to blame for all of the West Wing’s issues: West Wing creator Aaron Sorkin.[8] "
In Fast Company, Joe Berkowitz wrote that "Anthony and Olson don’t approach their subject with reverence. Instead, their aim is to present The West Wing as a singularly corrosive force in American politics that has perpetuated incalculable and irreparable harm on society," saying that they "offer a compelling counter-narrative to the series’ nostalgia-soaked civic celebration."[9]
Veteran Irish journalist and former Washington correspondent Carole Coleman described The West Wing Thing as "irreverent and very funny."[10] Irish newspaper the Athlone Advertiser said, "If you find Aaron Sorkin's smug, centrist, sexist, childish waffle infuriating you can listen along to the podcast and watch a few episodes — which is what I have been doing and finding it quite cathartic."[11]