The West Wing Thing
The West Wing Thing is a podcast series created by the screenwriters Dave Anthony and Josh Olson. First uploaded in 2019, 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]
| The West Wing Thing | |
|---|---|
 Show logo. It depicts the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, draped with the "Practical Idealism" banner from the episode "Five Votes Down" | |
| Presentation | |
| Hosted by | Dave Anthony Josh Olson |
| Genre | Political podcast |
| Language | English |
| Length | typically 60–90 minutes per episode |
| Production | |
| Production | Brian Siano |
| Theme music composed by | Collyn McCoy (Diesel Boots) |
| Opening theme | "Calling All Wanglords" |
| Audio format | MP3 |
| No. of seasons | 4 |
| No. of episodes | 87 |
| Publication | |
| Original release | March 25, 2019 – present |
| Provider | All Things Comedy |
| Related shows | The Dollop The Movies That Made Me Chapo Trap House |
| Website | westwingthing |
The show was recorded in All Things Comedy in Burbank, California prior to the COVID-19 pandemic; later episodes have been 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" and "Misogyny Rundown."[4] Guests on the show have included David Sirota, John Rogers, Wyatt Cenac, Katie Halper, several members of Chapo Trap House, Briahna Joy Gray, Nathan J. Robinson, Wil Anderson and Susan Saxe.[5]
Episodes
Season 1
| # overall | # in series | Date released | Episode discussed | Guests and other info |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | March 25, 2019 | "Pilot" | – |
| 2 | 2 | April 1, 2019 | "Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc" | – |
| 3 | 3 | April 8, 2019 | "A Proportional Response" | – |
| 4 | 4 | April 15, 2019 | "Five Votes Down" | – |
| 5 | 5 | April 22, 2019 | "The Crackpots and These Women" | – |
| 6 | 6 | April 29, 2019 | "Mr. Willis of Ohio" | Title misspelled as "Mr Wills of Ohio" |
| 7 | 7 | May 6, 2019 | "The State Dinner" | – |
| 8 | 8 | May 13, 2019 | "Enemies" | – |
| 9 | 9 | May 20, 2019 | "The Short List" | – |
| 10 | 10 | May 27, 2019 | "In Excelsis Deo" | – |
| 11 | 11 | June 3, 2019 | "Lord John Marbury" | with Faisal-Azam Qureshi |
| 12 | 12 | June 10, 2019 | – | Mid-Season Wrap, with Susan Saxe[6] |
| 13 | 13 | July 22, 2019 | "He Shall, from Time to Time..." | – |
| 14 | 14 | July 29, 2019 | "Take out the Trash Day" | – |
| 15 | 15 | August 2, 2019 | – | "Teaser - A Very Special West Wing Thing" |
| 16 | 16 | August 5, 2019 | – | "Our Very Special To Kill A Mockingbird episode", with Chris Wade (Chapo Trap House) |
| 17 | 17 | August 12, 2019 | "Take This Sabbath Day" | – |
| 18 | 18 | August 19, 2019 | "Celestial Navigation" | – |
| 19 | 19 | August 26, 2019 | "20 Hours in L.A." | – |
| 20 | 20 | September 2, 2019 | "The White House Pro-Am" | – |
| 21 | 21 | September 9, 2019 | "Six Meetings Before Lunch" | – |
| 22 | 22 | September 16, 2019 | "Let Bartlet Be Bartlet" | – |
| 23 | 23 | September 23, 2019 | "Mandatory Minimums" | – |
| 24 | 24 | September 30, 2019 | "Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics" | – |
| 25 | 25 | October 7, 2019 | "What Kind of Day Has It Been" | with Luke Savage, author of the famous "How Liberals Fell In Love With The West Wing" article |
Season 2
| # overall | # in series | Date released | Episode discussed | Guests and other info |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 | 1 | January 6, 2020 | "In the Shadow of Two Gunmen" (both parts) | with John Rogers |
| 27 | 2 | January 13, 2020 | "The Midterms" | – |
| 28 | 3 | January 20, 2020 | "In This White House" | – |
| 29 | 4 | January 27, 2020 | "And It's Surely to Their Credit" | – |
| 30 | 5 | February 3, 2020 | "The Lame Duck Congress" | – |
| 31 | 6 | February 10, 2020 | "The Portland Trip" | – |
| 32 | 7 | February 17, 2020 | "Shibboleth" | with Katherine Krueger and Will Menaker (Chapo Trap House) |
| 33 | 8 | February 24, 2020 | "Galileo" | with Katherine Krueger and Will Menaker (Chapo Trap House) |
| 34 | 9 | March 2, 2020 | "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 | March 9, 2020 | "Noël" | – |
| 36 | 11 | March 16, 2020 | "The Leadership Breakfast" | – |
| 37 | 12 | March 23, 2020 | "The Drop-In" | – |
| 38 | 13 | March 30, 2020 | "Bartlet's Third State of the Union" | – |
| 39 | 14 | April 6, 2020 | "The War at Home" | – |
| 40 | 15 | April 6, 2020 | "Ellie" | – |
| 41 | 16 | April 13, 2020 | "Somebody's Going to Emergency, Somebody's Going to Jail" | with Luke Savage |
| 42 | 17 | April 13, 2020 | "The Stackhouse Filibuster" | with Matt Stoller (Goliath: The Hundred Year War Between Monopoly Power and Democracy) |
| 43 | 18 | April 20, 2020 | "17 People" | – |
| 44 | 19 | April 20, 2020 | "Bad Moon Rising" | Podcast episode is titled "Bad Title Rising" |
| 45 | 20 | April 27, 2020 | "The Fall's Gonna Kill You" | with Tom Sexton (Trillbilly Worker's Party) |
| 46 | 21 | April 27, 2020 | "18th and Potomac" | – |
| 47 | 22 | May 4, 2020 | "Two Cathedrals" | Podcast episode titled "Are you there God, it’s me, Jed?"; with David Sirota |
Season 3
| # overall | # in series | Date released | Episode discussed | Guests and other info |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 48 | 1 | May 11, 2020 | "Manchester" (both parts) | with John Rogers |
| 49 | 2 | May 18, 2020 | "Ways and Means" | with Amber A'Lee Frost (Chapo Trap House) |
| 50 | 3 | May 25, 2020 | "On the Day Before" | – |
| 51 | 4 | June 1, 2020 | "War Crimes" | with Tarence Ray (Trillbilly Worker's Party) |
| 52 | 5 | June 8, 2020 | "Gone Quiet" | – |
| 53 | 6 | June 15, 2020 | "The Indians in the Lobby" | with Wasté'win Young (of the Dakota Access Pipeline protests) |
| 54 | 7 | June 22, 2020 | "The Women of Qumar" | with Savanna LaMaison (sex worker and activist) |
| 55 | 8 | June 29, 2020 | "Bartlet for America" | – |
| 56 | 9 | July 6, 2020 | "H. Con-172" | – |
| 57 | 10 | July 13, 2020 | "100,000 Airplanes" | with Oliver Willis (political blogger) |
| 58 | 11 | July 20, 2020 | "The Two Bartlets" | with Luke Savage |
| 59 | 12 | July 27, 2020 | "Night Five" | – |
| 60 | 13 | August 3, 2020 | "Hartsfield's Landing" | with Josh Androsky (Democratic Socialists of America) |
| 61 | 14 | August 10, 2020 | "Dead Irish Writers" | with Mary Kate O'Flanagan (screenwriter and story consultant) |
| 62 | 15 | August 17, 2020 | "The U.S. Poet Laureate" | with Rachel Joy Larris (Women's Media Center) |
| 63 | 16 | August 24, 2020 | "Stirred" | Also contains a listener mailbag |
| 64 | 17 | August 31, 2020 | "Enemies Foreign and Domestic" | with Ashley Stevens (Jog For Good) |
| 65 | 18 | September 7, 2020 | "The Black Vera Wang" | Podcast episode is titled "The Black Vera Wanglord", a reference to the podcast's theme song |
| 66 | 19 | September 14, 2020 | "We Killed Yamamoto" | with Katie Halper |
| 67 | 20 | September 21, 2020 | "Posse Comitatus" | with Wil Anderson (TOFOP) |
Season 4
| # overall | # in series | Date released | Episode discussed | Guests and other info |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 68 | 1 | September 28, 2020 | "20 Hours in America" (both parts) | with Tarence Ray and Tom Sexton (Trillbilly Worker's Party) |
| 69 | 2 | October 5, 2020 | "College Kids" | with Virgil Texas (Chapo Trap House) |
| 70 | 3 | October 12, 2020 | "The Red Mass" | with Trevor Beaulieu (Champagne Sharks) |
| 71 | 4 | October 19, 2020 | "Debate Camp" | Leslie Lee III and Jack Allison (Struggle Session) |
| 72 | 5 | October 21, 2020 | 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. |
| 73 | 6 | October 26, 2020 | "Game On" | with Briahna Joy Gray (Bad Faith) |
| 74 | 7 | November 2, 2020 | "Election Night" | with Briahna Joy Gray; episode released the day before the 2020 United States presidential election |
| 75 | 8 | November 9, 2020 | "Process Stories" | with Nando Vila (Weekends) |
| 76 | 9 | November 16, 2020 | "Swiss Diplomacy" | — |
| 77 | 10 | November 22, 2020 | "Arctic Radar" | with Amber A'Lee Frost (Chapo Trap House) |
| 78 | 11 | November 30, 2020 | "Holy Night" | with Nathan J. Robinson (Current Affairs) |
| 79 | 12 | December 7, 2020 | "Guns Not Butter" | with Rob Rousseau (49th Parahell) |
| 80 | 13 | December 14, 2020 | "The Long Goodbye" | Bored by the West Wing episode, the duo instead decide to discuss the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Past Tense", renaming the podcast The Star Trek Thing |
| 81 | 14 | December 21, 2020 | "Inauguration: Part I" | with Daniel Bessner (Jacobin, advisor to the Bernie Sanders 2020 presidential campaign) |
| 82 | 15 | December 28, 2020 | "Inauguration: Over There" | |
| 83 | 16 | January 4, 2021 | "The California 47th" | with Aaron Thorpe (@posadist_trapgd; Trillbilly Worker's Party) |
| 84 | 17 | January 11, 2021 | "Red Haven's on Fire" | with Wyatt Cenac (The Daily Show; Wyatt Cenac's Problem Areas) |
| 85 | 18 | January 18, 2021 | "Privateers" | with Tanya Turner (Trillbilly Worker's Party) |
| 86 | 19 | January 25, 2021 | "Angel Maintenance" | with Ashley Stevens |
| 87 | 20 | February 1, 2021 | "Evidence of Things Not Seen" | — |
Reception
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.[7]"
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."[8]
Veteran Irish journalist and former Washington correspondent Carole Coleman described The West Wing Thing as "irreverent and very funny."[9]
References
- "Forget The Politics, Enjoy The Drama: The West Wing Celebrates 20 Years". December 7, 2019.
- "The West Wing Thing". Comedian Dave Anthony.
- Comedy, All Things (June 16, 2020). "The West Wing Thing". All Things Comedy.
- https://twitter.com/MccoyCollyn/status/1321512804289929216
- FM, Player. "The West Wing Podcasts". player.fm.
- Saxe, Susan (August 10, 2019). "Neoliberalism: My episode of "West Wing Thing"". Medium.
- "The West Wing Thing Podcast review". Book and Film Globe. May 16, 2019.
- Berkowitz, Joe (October 15, 2020). "Before you watch HBO Max's 'The West Wing' reunion special, listen to skeptics of the beloved series". Fast Company.
- "At home with... RTÉ's Carole Coleman". September 9, 2020 – via www.rte.ie. Cite journal requires
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External links
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