The West Wing Thing

Penn & Teller join the West Wing kids to send a powerful message about the horrors of flag burning. Plus - THREE Psaki Bombs!

The West Wing kids accidentally cause an international incident between Taiwan and the Chinese, and our pal Daniel Bessner explains it all to us.

Weirdest episode ever? Might just be. Matt Santos wins one for the insurance industry, and Leo defends corporate malfeasance in India. Or something like that.

We made Briahna Joy Gray apologize for killing Roe V Wade, then we punished her by making her watch a super annoying episode of The West Wing. And that's saying something. Plus, the most adorable college love story ever, and some other stuff.

Lee Camp joins us to watch CJ's first day as the second most important human being on the planet.

Jed's solved the Middle East problem, but those pesky Republicans are standing in the way with some truly insane demands. Also, whither Leo?

We kick off the 6th season with this deep dive into The West Wing's Middle East solution with Abby Martin, and a special report on the California recall with Shanti Singh. Plus, Josh reads Vogue's amazing Jen Psaki profile to Dave.

We felt bad abandoning you for a week, so it's an extra special one for you. We asked the great economist Professor Richard D. Wolff to check our homework on Talking Points, the dreaded NAFTA episode we covered a few weeks ago. We also got the real deal from our good friend Pete D'Alessandro, who was on the ground in Ohio for Nina Turner. Plus, a particularly annoying Psaki Bomb.

It's a two part season finale, as the West Wing gang decides it's time to get serious and fix Israel!

No exit, indeed. The West Wing kids are locked up in a zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz..... Nothing happens. So Josh and Dave talk about some other shit, including the depraved orgy known as the White House Correspondents Dinner. Don't worry, folks - next week's will make up for this shit show.

The West Wing kids take on NAFTA, ten years after it happened. And STILL manage to get it wrong. Plus, Hunter Biden's shitty art.

This was supposed to be about the episode titled "Access," but pretty much nothing happens in it, so we thought we'd celebrate some of the amazing stuff that's happening in Philadelphia with activist Susan Saxe, and talk about the amazing docuseries PHILLY D.A.

This is it, folks. West Wing episode one you've been waiting for. The most Bartlett-y solution ever. We had to bring in the big guns for this one, and we almost broke them. You can thank us for the grueling work we do by joining our Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/TheWestWingThing

This week, it's all Thing, no Wing as Josh and Dave vamp for an hour. Screw you. The dog ate our homework.

Muppets and the relationship between female sexual fantasies and genital stimulation. It doesn't get any better than this, folks!

This week, we zero in on an episode that gives us some fascinating insights into the very weird politics of West Wing writer and all around freak Lawrence O'Donnell as the West Wing gang takes on school vouchers.

Josh and Dave celebrate Memorial Day the Wanglord way. Leo learns a hard lesson about politics that every five year old already knew. Lots of yelling.

There's a new nuclear power in the world, and the West Wing kids have one day to figure out who it is as the show's slow transformation into 24 proceeds apace.

2020 Presidential candidate Marianne Williamson joins us to discuss what is easily one of the most quintessential and pernicious episodes of The West Wing, the one where they go after Social Security. For more on Marianne's candidate summit, go here: https://www.candidatesummit.com

Carcrash Johnson from the Trillbillies returns to help us survive a deep dive into the world of mandatory sentencing minimums and the tragic tale of a rich kid whose parents can't buy his way out of a drug sentence.

This week's episode deals with a Saudi uprising, so who better to come on and scream in horror but Chapo Traphouse's own Felix Biederman?

Just because it's a lousy episode of The West Wing doesn't mean you're not getting another great episode of The West Wing Thing! Our pals Will & Kath come back to help us dissect our favorite show, and to discuss their end of life plans. Special thanks to Nancy Pelosi for her amazing sacrifice. We talk a bit at the end about the Discourse Blog, a worker-owned co-op for culture and news from the left. Highly recommended. To subscribe, go here: discourseblog.com/subscribe

Briahna Joy Gray returns for an epic dissection of one of the weirder West Wing episodes. PLUS we're joined by Adam McKay to discuss the explosion of outrage over his comments about Adam Sorkin's political leanings. Call in sick to work today, folks - this one is packed to the gills with goodness! Bad Faith: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bad-faith/id1531192509 Death At The Wing: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/death-at-the-wing/id1558869948

This is it, folks. This is the episode where The West Wing Thing pisses the shoe. AND a new Misogyny Rundown song from the great Diesel Boots. Plus - GET US THAT SUTTER SCRIPT!!!!

Aaron Sorkin is this week's guest on Michael Moore's Rumble podcast, and it's so absolutely bonkers that we had to bring in Luke and Will to hold Dave down as he listens for the first time. Here's the Jamie Kennedy article referenced in this episode. https://www.thedailybeast.com/comedian-jamie-kennedy-on-how-he-ended-up-in-the-anti-abortion-propaganda-film-roe-v-wade

Robin Marie Averbeck joins us to discuss porn, Airforce One's ability to transcend the laws of physics, Bruce Springsteen, and why women watch The West Wing. Dave gets real angry at one or two points.

We're joined by journalist and podcaster Amy Westervelt to discuss the fact that coal is the only source of energy in the West Wing universe. Also, Josh Androsky stops by to discuss what's happening in Echo Park and how it ties into West Wing Brain. Many resources this week: Street Watch LA https://streetwatchla.com Groundgame LA https://www.groundgamela.org Selah https://www.selahnhc.org DSA https://www.dsausa.org NolympicsLA https://nolympicsla.com Knock LA https://knock-la.com https://www.curbed.com/2021/03/echo-park-homeless-camp-lapd.html

Danny Bessner returns to discuss North Korea, lighting, and the dumbest thing Donna has ever said on The West Wing. Except not, apparently.

Josh and Dave are joined by Rebecca Bitton to make sense of the post-Sorkin, post-assassination, post-25th amendment, post kidnapping West Wing world.

Josh and Dave grapple with the realities of a Sorkin-less universe. Less misogyny, perhaps, but even more racism!

Aaron Maté joins us to usher in the new era of West Wing, as we greet our new overlords, and clean up the mess Aaron Sorkin left when he took off. And, of course, a new theme song from Diesel Boots!

We're joined by the hosts of the great Useful Idiots podcast to say goodby to Aaron Sorkin, as we discuss the Great Man's final episode of The West Wing. We also break down some fashion Don't, and discuss how to stalk and terrify women into marrying you.

We're joined by Branko Marcetic to break down the penultimate Sorkin episode and talk about the very incredibly good relationship between the Bartlett administration and the press, and how it reflects the very incredible good relationship between the press and the Biden administration. Plus, stalking and misogyny and Chekhov's No Bottle. Here's the piece we discuss on the show: https://jacobinmag.com/2021/02/for-profit-cable-news-misinformation-trump-cnn

Donna is perplexed by a bird, and we encounter some peak West Wing Brain as the great man's tenure winds down. Only two more Sorkin episodes!

Josh and Dave fly naked this week. Misogyny, stalkerish behavior, two thousand dollar checks, and Michael Meyers all make appearances.

A brief chat about the slow news week we just had, then we dive into a white knuckle episode of The West Wing. Will everyone die in a fiery plane crash? Who could possibly guess how this episode turns out?

We're joined by the Trillbilly's Tanya Turner to discuss Aaron Sorkin's courage in pointing out that whistle blowers are terrible people.

Slow news week. Not much to cover. Wyatt stopped by to talk sports.

The gang flies to Orange County to help Rob Lowe exit the show gracefully. Plus, FUCK THE FRENCH, AM I RIGHT? THOSE GODDAM COWARDS!!!!

Daniel Bessner is back for Inauguration Part 2, as we dive deep, deep, deep into Aaron Sorkin's rewrite of Rwandan genocide.

We're joined by Bernie Sanders' foreign policy advisor to explain why Aaron Sorkin's handling of the genocide in Rwanda is less brilliant than you might think. Plus - Jed Bartlet, Contra-lover!

In the middle of recording, a transporter accident sends Josh and Dave into a mirror universe where they find themselves hosts of The Star Trek Thing, a podcast in which Josh & Dave break down every episode of every Star Trek series and dissect them for their good politics. In this world, we're all still at brunch.

The gang deals with an important foreign aid bill that will go nowhere, a situation with a soldier on foodstamps that will go nowhere, and the fact that voters are stupid, and only people who can read read the New York Times.

Jewish gangsters! SATs! Israeli hardware stores AND the world famous, beloved Whiffenpoofs! Life doesn't get better than this. Here are the two articles Nathan wrote that we referenced in the show. https://www.currentaffairs.org/2019/03/the-obama-boys https://www.currentaffairs.org/2020/10/what-happens-in-the-west-wing/

Heavy on the misogyny this week, plus Star Trek content, AND Josh does a reading of some hot and steamy West Wing fanfic. This week has everything!

The West Wing gangs yoks it up over how backwards and stupid everyone who's not white and American is. Also, Josh and Dave discuss how right and proper it is to wish death on anyone who lives in a state your candidate didn't win.

It's our first post-election episode, and we welcome the brave new world of bipartisanship and civility with... well, not gonna lie... another episode of The West Wing Thing. Nando Vila joins us to explain the few tiny things Aaron Sorkin doesn't quite understand about the coup in Venezuela, and boy, oh boy, is this one horny!

One day before Election Day in America, it's Election Night on The West Wing. So we brought back West Wing hate-watching champ, the amazing Briahna Joy Gray to have our last vigorous political discussion before we all go back to brunch on Wednesday. All this AND a very special, one time only Election Day theme song from the great Diesel Boots! And, be sure to check out our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/TheWestWingThing

We swear on a stack of bibles, we only asked her to watch ONE episode! The great Briahna Joy Gray joins us to discuss the 114 episodes of West Wing she's watched in the last week, and to talk about Jeb Bartlett's final debate. Also, Star Trek is better than Star Wars. Also also! If you're so inclined, check out our new Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/TheWestWingThing Also also also! Check out our West Wing Thing Reunion Thing! https://vimeo.com/470708483

Well, we had to do something, right? We went completely overboard with a special video presentation of our West Wing Thing Reunion Thing, with special guests Amber A'Lee Frost and Felix Biederman of Chapo Trap House. It's a massive chunk of entertainment AND the announcement of our Patreon. Here's the link to the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/TheWestWingThing And here's the link to the video: https://vimeo.com/470708483