Extreme Mortman

PEPFAR -- The President's Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief. The multi-billion-dollar government initiative to address the global HIV/AIDS epidemic turns 20 years old this week – President Bush signed PEPFAR into law on May 27, 2003. When it was proposed and implemented 20 years ago, PEPFAR was the largest commitment by any nation to combat a single disease in human history. Now, to mark PEPFAR's 20t...

May is Jewish American Heritage Month. It was established by Congress and President Bush in 2006. Since Congress helped create Jewish American Heritage Month, it's as good as chance as any to hear members of Congress speak Yiddish. Actually, to hear members of Congress say one specific word in Yiddish: Chutzpah. In the latest episode of C-SPAN's "The Weekly," to mark Jewish American Heritage Month...

More than 11,000 members of the Writers Guild of America are on strike. It's the first TV writer's walkout in more than 15 years ... and it has halted production on some of the most popular shows in the U.S. One immediate casualty: late-night TV ... The talk shows are shut down. No new episodes. No new words. But there’s one place on TV where the words never stop, where the content is always fresh...

It's time for Cinco de Mayo. Looking for a way to mark the Mexican holiday? Here's one serious thing you can do: Listen to the latest episode of the C-SPAN podcast "The Weekly." You'll hear politicians -- from both parties -- speak Spanish in a variety of public and political venues over the years... with messages targeted both for the Mexican community and other Spanish-speaking communities as we...

How are you marking 30 years of C-SPAN bringing America LIVE coverage of the White House Correspondents Association Dinner? Well, here's how the C-SPAN podcast "The Weekly" is doing it -- with a Top Ten list. If you've watched all the dinners – going back to our first live one in 1993 -- you probably noticed one common thread. The comedians entertaining the dinners often make a joke about C-SPAN....

Mark Russell -- the piano-playing political pundit -- performed on C-SPAN many times. His career as a political satirist spanned half a century.  The latest episode of C-SPAN's podcast "The Weekly" remembers Mark Russell, who died March 30, 2023. But more than just Mark Russell: We celebrate others who have sung their way into political parody stardom. Bipartisan political and musical satire is ha...

George Santos. Everyone's familiar with the controversies surrounding the new Republican House member from New York. But what has he been saying in Congress? That might be less well-known. So, in the next episode of C-SPAN's podcast "The Weekly," we find out. We dive into Rep. Santos' House floor speeches and hear what he's been talking about during these early weeks of his young congressional car...

How closely did you watch C-SPAN's coverage of 2023 State of the State addresses? Can you name the governor who: -- went off site to a remote location to deliver his speech? -- despite being a Democrat, cited two legendary Republicans? -- mentioned chocolate lobsters? -- mentioned crabs? -- cited F. Scott Fitzgerald? -- cited James Baldwin -- cited Ted Lasso? And which governor was inspired both b...

Often after mass shootings, you hear Senators and Congressmen say that more than thoughts and prayers were needed in reaction to the tragedies. That was the case once again after the shooting at The Covenant elementary school in Nashville. But there are people in Congress whose job it is to specifically provide prayers -- the Chaplains. In this episode of C-SPAN's "The Weekly," we hear prayers off...

Quick question – Who said this to the White House press corps in the White House press briefing room on Monday, March 21? "On behalf of myself, everyone here with me today and the numerous other folks that — that it takes to make our show, 'Ted Lasso,' it is sincerely an honor to visit the White House and to have the opportunity to speak to the President and to the First Lady about the importance...

"This is the day that all Irish Americans share their common heritage. It is also a day when just about everyone gets a little Irish feeling. One of the great things in my life has been the opportunity to see the Irish of this country use the power of the ballot box to pull themselves up, to join the front ranks of every profession and every walk of life." That's what House Speaker Tip O'Neill tol...

"Tucker Carlson is a staff writer for the Weekly Standard. Good morning. Thanks for being with us." And that's how Tucker Carlson's first appearance on C-SPAN began ... taking audience calls... December 30, 1995 … Between 1995 and 2015, Tucker Carlson appeared on C-SPAN call-in programs 17 times. In this episode of C-SPAN's "The Weekly," you'll learn personal information Tucker Carlson shared abou...

Ed Koch died ten years ago this week, But it feels like his feuds live on. Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani, his own Democratic Party -- he picked fights with all of them. In this episode of C-SPAN's "The Weekly," we remember New York City Mayor Ed Koch and his feuds-- ten years after he died. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"My name is Jimmy Carter, and I'm running for President" ... ... And that's how Jimmy Carter began his speech accepting the presidential nomination ... at the Democratic Convention ... July 15, 1976. But in this episode of C-SPAN's podcast "The Weekly," that's the only clip you'll hear of Jimmy Carter talking about himself. Because this episode is all about what President Carter said ... about oth...

Ever hear of the Battle of Saratoga? Volodymyr Zelenskyy has. When the Ukrainian President addressed Congress, he reached back to American Revolutionary War days to make his plea -- Ukraine needs more military assistance. It wasn't the first time a foreign leader addressing a Joint Meeting of Congress went deep into American history -- particularly from the Revolutionary War days -- to make a rhet...

Government secrecy. It's in the news now because classified documents were discovered at the homes of former President Donald Trump, President Joe Biden, and former Vice President Mike Pence. Secrecy also was in the news a quarter century ago because of Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-NY). He chaired a commission investigating excessive government secrecy and classification of documents. He even w...

How closely do you watch State of the Union addresses on C-SPAN? Test your State of the Union knowledge with the C-SPAN podcast "The Weekly" -- We play the most-viewed clips in the C-SPAN Video Library for each President who has given a State of the Union speech since C-SPAN began. Do you know: • Which SOTU clip is also the most viewed of any clip in the C-SPAN Video Library? • Which topic that is...

First votes are scheduled to be cast in the 2024 Democratic presidential primary in just about a year. South Carolina goes first. If President Joe Biden gets his way.  But there was a time, in fact, several times, that presidential candidate Joe Biden was happy with Iowa and New Hampshire going first. In this episode of C-SPAN's "The Weekly," we go back to prior Joe Biden campaigns for president a...

What's new in Congress? How about over 70 new faces -- new members of the House with new stories, new perspectives, and new thoughts. Many have already given their first House floor speeches. Hear what they said in this best-of roundup of the first speeches from new members of the new 118th Congress. This episode of C-SPAN's podcast "The Weekly" is all about the new.  Learn more about your ad choi...

Four days and 15 votes. You know the outcome But how closely did you watch the historic contest for House speaker? Pop quiz: • Who mentioned the New York Yankees? • Who mentioned the Detroit Lions? • Who mentioned the Green Bay Packers? • Who mentioned a Bill Murray film? • And how many times was popcorn talked about? • What did this House speaker contest have in common with three others from the...

Ah, the "Yes or no" question. A staple of any congressional hearing. Congressmen and Senators often demand witnesses quickly answer questions as yes or no. They frequently cite time constraints -- perhaps after giving lengthy statements. But does "yes or no" provide Congress or the public deeper understanding, broader explanation, or even nuance? In this episode of C-SPAN's "The Weekly," hear some...

Missed any of the farewell speeches from Senators and Representatives leaving Congress in 2022? Good news -- Fret no more! The C-SPAN podcast "The Weekly" special farewell-to-2022 episode has you covered. Learn: -Which Senator mentioned owls -Which Congressman mentioned clowns -Which Senator had a major piece of legislation named after him -- voting for it in one of his final votes -And which Cong...

Lots of people -- politicians very much included -- have lots of things to say about Elon Musk, now that he owns Twitter. But what did politicians say about Elon Musk before he bought Twitter? Find out in C-SPAN's podcast "The Weekly."  Hear from members of Congress talking about Elon Musk in the pre-Twitter days, back when Democrats celebrated him for SpaceX, Republicans recommended he join Presi...

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema and the Six Senate Party Defectors. A new indy band out of Arizona? Nope -- it's the new episode of C-SPAN's podcast "The Weekly." First, some fun facts: • Of the six most recent Senate independents, Kyrsten Sinema is only the second from a state not in New England. • The Senate now has three Independents serving at the same time -- the most ever. • And Sinema is the first inde...

Merriam-Webster declared gaslighting to be 2022 word of the year, based on searches on its website. Here's another place gaslighting was word of the year: Congress. In 2022, both sides filled their rhetoric with mentions and accusations of gaslighting. How did Congress define gaslighting? Who said what in Congress citing gaslighting? And how did one member of Congress connect gaslighting -- to big...