Political Theater Podcast
1) A most consequential year for Congress
The first session of the 119th Congress has been consequential: the legislative branch ceded much of its constitutional responsibilities to the executive branch, senators changed the process for confi...Show More
2) Buy the 'Shadow Ticket,' take the ride
Thomas Pynchon's latest novel, "Shadow Ticket," has a lot to say about politics, so Jason Dick checks in with Sean Carswell, the official Pynchon scholar of the Political Theater podcast. Learn more ...Show More
3) Can Congress save itself?
Despite its propensity for making itself look bad, some of the inner workings of Congress reveal lawmakers who are finding ways to work together. Can they cut through the noise and solve some real pro...Show More
4) The re-re-redistricting chronicles
Jason Dick and Nathan Gonzales talk about how multiple rounds of redistricting congressional boundaries and the lawsuits surrounding them are making a weird year and weird election cycle even weirder....Show More
5) There is no such things as an off-year in politics
Jason Dick talks with Daniela Altimari and Mary Ellen McIntire about the new Roll Call Most Vulnerable Incumbent list, Tuesday night's election results and the latest rounds of redistricting. Learn m...Show More
6) Taking the ‘Vineland’ express to ‘One Battle After Another’
Jason Dick and Sean Carswell discuss how Thomas Pynchon’s novel “Vineland” led to Paul Thomas Anderson’s movie “One Battle After Another,” the conversation those two works have about American culture ...Show More
7) Immigration, race and ‘One Battle After Another'
Jason Dick and Chris Johnson talk about how immigration and racial issues frame the action and plot in the Paul Thomas Anderson movie "One Battle After Another," the salience of those issues in Americ...Show More
8) An Orwell movie for Orwellian times
Jason Dick talks with filmmaker Raoul Peck about his documentary "Orwell: 2+2=5," the importance of stepping back from the news cycle to keep things in context and how degrading language leads to degr...Show More
9) The great 'meh': Scenes from a shutdown
Jason Dick and Mary Ellen McIntire talk about how the government shutdown hasn't created much urgency on Capitol Hill, even though the effects could be significant, why each party thinks they have the...Show More
10) Let’s get existential
Jason Dick and Molly Reynolds talk about the most significant things Congress has done this year and what kind of ripple effects could follow, as well as how lawmakers disenfranchise themselves when i...Show More