podcasts

What do Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and former Vice President Dick Cheney have in common?

In addition to being political power brokers, films about them have now been nominated for Academy Awards, for the documentary “RBG” and feature film “Vice,” respectively. So politics, which has gotten a bit of a bad rap lately, (see shutdown, 2019, for more), can be both interesting, entertaining and profitable for Hollywood? Well, yes and no, says Renee Tsao, vice president of PR Collaborative, who discusses politics and movies on the latest Political Theater podcast. 

The White House is waging a public relations campaign aimed at shifting blame for what could be a lengthy government shutdown to the top House Democrat and away from President Donald Trump even though he just days ago he said he was “proud” to single-handily own it.

Trump and the top two Democratic leaders engaged in a televised war of words on December 11 in an Oval Office confrontation during which the president took ownership of the coming partial shutdown. The president told them he would be “proud to shut down the government for border security,” adding he would “take the mantle” before roaring this: “I’m not going to blame you for it.”

On Roll Call’s Political Theater Podcast, you won’t always get what you want. You won’t always get what you need. But you’ll never be bored. We hope. With that in mind, here are a few of our favorite podcasts from the year that was, which just happened to be our first.

[Subscribe to Political Theater at RollCall.com]Matt Bai, Jason Reitman and Jay Carson talking about Gary Hart and their film “The Frontrunner.”

We’ve entered the homestretch, with Election Day just a week away. Roll Call’s coverage of all things midterms continues with dispatches from the road, the latest polls and ratings changes in competitive Senate and House races, hot takes from our political analysts and much more.

Here are some of our top political stories, videos and podcasts from recent weeks. 

There have been 11 special elections for the U.S. Congress in the last two years, and they all have one thing in common: Democrats have performed better than the partisan breakdown would suggest. Political Theater host Jason Dick breaks it all down with senior political writer Simone Pathé and elections analyst Nathan L. Gonzales.

Ali Lapp spent several hundred thousand dollars trying to defeat Rep. Mark S. Kirk in 2006. The Illinois Republican, whose office was led by Chief of Staff Liesl Hickey, held on.

Fast forward 10 years, and the two women met for the first time at Tonic, a bar in Washington’s Foggy Bottom neighborhood, for what they jokingly call their “blind date.”

Welcome back to Political Theater, Roll Call’s newsletter and podcast on the spectacle of politics and how it fits, or doesn’t, into the nation’s culture. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter here. 

The civil war in Syria. Boko Haram. Russia. Climate change. American foreign policy operates in a high-stakes environment in a very public glare. And in 2016, in the midst of a contentious election year, President Barack Obama oversaw a team of players trying to solidify a legacy in his last year in office. Documentary filmmaker Greg Barker went along for the ride, from the cramped quarters of the West Wing to an emotional speech at Hiroshima, Japan for his new film, “The Final Year.”

CQ budget reporter Paul M. Krawzak explains the negotiations to lift the budget caps by as much as $250 billion over two years.

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Welcome to Political Theater, Roll Call’s podcast and newsletter on the spectacle of politics and how it fits, or doesn’t, into the nation’s culture. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter here. 

President Donald Trump loves football. He played in high school. He owned a USFL team, the New Jersey Generals. He tried to buy the Buffalo Bills. He inserted himself into the NFL imbroglio over players kneeling during the National Anthem. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise he attended part of the College Football Championship Game in Atlanta on Monday between the University of Alabama and University of Georgia. 

The Budget Tracker Extra Podcast is now CQ Budget. New look but same great show. CQ's budget and appropriations reporter Ryan McCrimmon explains the obstacles faced by lawmakers to lifting the spending caps and agreeing to a long-term budget deal.

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