Political Beats

Introducing the Band: Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) are with guest Joshua Treviño. Joshua works and writes at the Texas Public Policy Foundation and spent the entire 1990s listening a lot to Matthew Sweet.  Joshua’s Music Pick: Matthew Sweet For listeners of a certain age, just the name Matthew Sweet will evoke a particular memory, and it’s likely one tha...

Introducing the Band : Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) are with guest Tom Nichols. Tom is a staff writer at The Atlantic and author of The Death of Expertise: The Campaign against Established Knowledge and Why it Matters ,  with a new second edition out soon. Find him on X/Twitter at @RadioFreeTom .  Tom’s Music Pick: Boston This could be our first episode...

Introducing the Band: Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) are with guest Jay Cost. Jay is the Gerald R. Ford senior non-resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and the author of, most recently,  James Madison: America’s First Politician . Find him on Twitter/X at  @Jay__Cost . Jay’s Music Pick: The Kinks Haven’t we done these guys already? We sure...

Introducing the Band: Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) are with guest Jay Cost. Jay is the Gerald R. Ford senior non-resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and the author of, most recently, James Madison: America's First Politician . Find him on Twitter/X at  @Jay__Cost . Jay's Music Pick: The Kinks Haven't we done these guys already? We sure d...

Introducing the Band : Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) with guest Mike Long. Mike is a (very) occasional writer for National Review and was one of the originals back in the early 2000s as NRO was launched. He’s the author of the non-fiction bestseller  The Molecule of More and its sequel coming in fall of 2024. Mike’s Music Pick: Joe Jackson After running t...

Introducing the Band : Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) are joined by guest Hannah Rowan. Hannah is the managing editor of  Modern Age . You can find her on X at @ Hannah_Cristine and read her review of Debbie Harry's memoir here . Hannah’s Music Pick: Blondie Here's another artist we get to cross off the list of long-awaited episodes. Both Jeff and Scot hav...

Introducing the Band : Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) are joined by guest Eric Kohn. Eric is the Director of Marketing & Communications at the Acton Institute. Check him out on Twitter at @ iEricKohn . Eric’s Music Pick: Huey Lewis & the News Do you believe in miracles? Yes! After years of lobbying, Jeff has proven that anyone will fold, given enough time...

Introducing the Band: Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) are joined by guest Rory Cooper. He’s a partner at  Purple Strategies , a corporate reputation and advocacy agency in Alexandria, Va., a former George W. Bush and Eric Cantor aide, and a longtime Republican strategist. He’s on Twitter at @ rorycooper . Rory’s Music Pick: Simon & Garfunkel If you enjoyed...

Introducing the Band : Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) are with guest Matt Murray. Matt is the recently departed editor of the Wall Street Journal , now on assignment for its parent company, News Corp. Check him out on Twitter at @ murraymatt . Matt’s Music Pick: Nick Lowe Okay, it says “Nick Lowe” right there above this line, but we need to be straight wit...

Introducing the Band: Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) are joined by guest Dave Weigel. Dave is a founding reporter at Semafor , where he covers the 2024 campaign and writes the Americana newsletter. Check his work out here and find him on Twitter at  @daveweigel . Dave’s Music Pick: Pet Shop Boys Opportunities are knocking: I've got the brains, and you've g...

Introducing the Band: Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) are joined by guest Dominic Green. Dom is a historian and columnist, and he used to be a musician. He is a contributor to the Wall Street Journal  and a columnist for the Washington Examiner  and Jewish Chronicle . Check him out on Twitter at @DrDominicGreen . Dominic’s Music Pick: The Jam In some ways,...

Introducing the Band: Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) are joined by guest Eric Garcia. Eric is senior Washington writer for the  Independent and a columnist at MSNBC. Check him out on Twitter at  @EricMGarcia . Eric’s Music Pick: Black Sabbath The storm is upon you; can you hear the peals of thunder in the background, and the bleak clang of the church bell...

Introducing the Band: Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) are with guest Adam Wollner. Adam is a Washington-based journalist who has covered national politics for CNN, McClatchy, and National Journal. Check him out on Twitter at @ adamwollner . Adam’s Music Pick: My Morning Jacket A reverb-laden, indie-country band? Roots rock? Electro-funk? Jam band? All that...

Introducing the Band: Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) are joined by guest Mark Hemingway. Mark is a writer at RealClearInvestigations and RealClearPolitics and an occasional contributor at The Federalist . Check him out on Twitter at @ heminator . Mark’s Music Pick: Big Star How do you merit an episode of Political Beats when you've released only a handful...

Introducing the Band : Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) are joined by Noam Blum. Noam is Chief Technology Officer at  Tablet Magazine  and co-host of the  Ambitious Crossover Attempt  podcast and of  All Crossed Out  on the Callin app, both of which deal with pop culture, media, and politics. Find him on Twitter at  @neontaster . Noam’s Music Pick : Tool Sin...

Introducing the Band : Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) are with guest Phil Wegmann. Phil is White House reporter for  RealClearNews and RealClearPolitics . Check him out on Twitter at @ PhilipWegmann . Phil’s Music Pick: The National Let us tell you, we have had *a bunch* of listeners ask us for an episode on The National, and we are nothing if not responsi...

Introducing the Band : Your hosts Scot Bertram (@ScotBertram) and Jeff Blehar (@EsotericCD) are joined by guest Andrew Fink. Andrew is a member of the Michigan House of Representative (District 35 -- Branch & Hillsdale Counties). Prior to that, he was the district director for Senate majority leader Mike Shirkey. Follow him on Twitter at @AndrewFinkMI. Andrew’s Music Pick : Otis Redding Ladies and...

Introducing the Band : Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) are with guest Noah Weinrich. Noah is director of communications for Heritage Action , the grassroots and advocacy arm of The Heritage Foundation. Check him out on Twitter at @ weinrich_noah . Noah’s Music Pick : Weezer What kind of a band starts its career with two stone-cold classic albums, takes a ne...

Introducing the Band : Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) are with guest Jesse Walker. Jesse is books editor at Reason and author of two books, The United States of Paranoia and Rebels On the Air . He can be found on Twitter at @ notjessewalker . Jesse’s Music Pick : Willie Nelson In Part Two, we pick up Willie’s story at his commercial breakthrough, Red Heade...

Introducing the Band: Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) are joined by guest Jesse Walker. Jesse is books editor at Reason and author of two books, The United States of Paranoia and Rebels On the Air . He can be found on Twitter at @ notjessewalker . Jesse’s Music Pick: Willie Nelson Sure, in the past here on Political Beats we have dabbled in country-ish musi...

Introducing the Band: Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) are joined by guest Steve Miller. Steve is a veteran journalist and a reporter at RealClearInvestigations . He's also the author of Detroit Rock City: The Uncensored History of Rock 'n' Roll in America's Loudest City .   Steve's Music Pick: Mott The Hoople Do you remember the Saturday gigs? We do, we do!...

Introducing the Band: Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) are joined by guest Andrew Heaton. Andrew is a comedian and political satirist you might know from Reason TV. He is the host of The Political Orphanage , a funny policy analysis show for people tired of tribalism. You can find him on Twitter at @mightyheaton . Andrew Music Pick: “Weird Al” Yankovic You s...

Introducing the Band : Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) are joined by guest Scott Immergut. Scott is the CEO of  Ricochet.com and the Ricochet Audio Network. He is the long-time producer of the  Ricochet Podcast and the  GLoP Culture podcast with Jonah Goldberg, Rob Long, and John Podhoretz. He’s also the Executive Producer of The Hoover Institution’s  Uncom...

Introducing the Band: Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) are joined by Eli Lake. Eli is a contributing editor at  Commentary , and fellow at the Clements Center at UT-Austin. Follow him on Twitter at  @EliLake . Eli’s Music Pick: Prince, Pt. 3 (1992-2016) Eli rejoins the gang as they resume their discussion of the career of Prince Rogers Nelson, or as he was k...

Introducing the Band: Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) are joined by Eli Lake. Eli is a contributing editor at  Commentary , and fellow at the Clements Center at UT-Austin. Follow him on Twitter at  @EliLake . Eli’s Music Pick: Prince, Pt. 2 (1985-1991) Join us once again as we deepen our Strange Relationship with Prince! Eli rejoins the gang as they pick up...