The Occasional Show

It's part two of The Occasional Show's two part series on the 2026 midterms. First, John joins Daniel to talk about elections in the South and some Halloween stuff. Then, Daniel is joined by Democratic strategist Dan Kanninen. The two Dans share their final thoughts about 2026 and what we all learned along the way.  Links:  Phony TV show The Lowdown Wildwood Ron Fournier Substack GWU panel with Ha...

Thorne is giddy about the New Jersey Devils' new goalie, Connor Hellebuyck. Daniel and Thorne then talk about doing Halloween as parents of young children. Finally, Daniel interviews Republican strategist Keith Schipper in the first of a two part series on the midterm elections since Daniel can't resist politics.  Note this episode was taped Friday before Halloween and when a bunch of wild stuff h...

Thorne, Daniel, and John Hammontree give the best rankings of the best TV shows ever.  Then Democratic strategist Jesse Lehrich of Nobody Knows Anything joins the podcast to talk about 2026 and 2028.  Spoilers below: Dylan's list: 1. Deadwood 2. The Wire 3. LOST 4. Arrested Development 5. Mad Men 6. Twin Peaks: The Return 7. 30 Rock 8. Breaking Bad 9. Slow Horses 10. The Traitors   John's list: 1....

One part about being an adult Daniel and Thorne both love is that you can do some of the things you loved to do as a kid but there's no adult to tell you you can't. That means eating as many gummies as you want, playing Starcraft 2 as long as you want, or reading as much R.A. Salvatore as you want. Shoutout to never quite growing up.  Today's guest is the duo behind the Valyrian language...and one...

Journalist and fellow former Nieman John Hammontree joins the program where he confesses that despite being a diehard Alabama fan he's "the least excited" he's been about football this year. Daniel and John also discuss HBO's Lanterns and Dolly Parton's legacy.    Today's guest is writer and journalist Adam Harris, author of The State Must Provide: Why America's Colleges Have Always Been Unequal―a...

The show is back for a new season! Which is really another way of saying Daniel and Thorne finally carved out some time to podcast again. Andrew is still trying to get Daniel to read Red Rising . Daniel remains skeptical. Andrew shares why he should be cast in the new Baywatch reboot. Today's guest is Harvard history professor Sven Beckert. Beckert talks about capitalism, his book Capitalism, and...

Daniel and Ray delayed taping so they could watch the Argentina game. They came on this episode and reacted. Daniel marvels at Toniebox technology.  Daniel and Ray then trade questions. Ray asks Daniel if Mitch McConnell is still with us? Daniel asks Ray if Inde Navarrette is about to be the next cinema superstar.  Guest: Author Kelsey James, author of: The Colony of Lost Souls The Woman in the Co...

Vox's Dylan Scott joins Daniel for this episode of The Occasional Show. Dylan explains to Daniel why the movie Obsession is a big deal. Daniel and Dylan talk about the World Cup and why it's so fun and why House of the Dragon hasn't been bad but hasn't been great. Plus: It's really really hot this summer.  Guest: Historian Manisha Sinha. Her most recent book is The Rise and Fall of the Second Amer...

Thorne and Daniel discuss the Knicks celebrations and what's fun about the World Cup.  Guest: McKay Coppins and Daniel talk about civic engagement and the good ol' days of blogging.  Links: The Obama reelection campaign focused on Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty, and Jon Huntsman ( The Hill ) McKay's book Romney: A Reckoning   The Senegal away jersey ( Footy Headlines )

Winter is Podcasting is dead, long live The Occasional Show!  Daniel and Thorne talk all things sports: The Knicks! The World Cup! Daniel unloads about the worst show AppleTV is giving a season two. Then, Fonda Lee comes on to talk about her fantastic new book, the Last Contract of Isako .  Plus Daniel and Thorne talk about parenting and Lee gives her own Mom Flex.  Take a listen. 

Ray Rahman, senior editor at New York magazine's Vulture, makes his Winter is Podcasting debut. Daniel and Ray talk about streaming services, why AppleTV regularly has the best programming even when you haven't heard about it, and HBO's "shock premium" tv. Daniel and Ray disagree on Netflix's The Boroughs. Then Ray and Daniel debate whether Washington D.C. is anywhere near as good as New York.  To...

This week Daniel and Thorne discuss cruise ships and the Hantavirus, Thorne's new favorite video game obsession, why the show Citadel deserves your attention, and what we know about White Lotus season 4.  Today's guest is Theo Baker, the author of How To Rule The World: An Education in Power at Stanford University. The book is a fascinating look into the exclusive world within Stanford University...

This week's guest is journalist Cole Stangler, a Marseille based journalist who has written for The New York Times, The Guardian, The Nation, and The Atlantic among others. Cole talked about what it's like to be a journalist in France, the upcoming French elections and what you may not know about Marseille.  But there's more! This week is the debut of Winter is Podcasting contributor Andrew Thorne...

From an early age Will Ritter had an interest in politics. As a kid he used to watch political debates and found political ads fascinating. That's what propelled Ritter to get into the political arena. He ended up serving as an advance man for Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, a body man for Romney during the governor's 2008 presidential campaign, and then Director of Advance for the 2012 presidenti...

Daniel nerds out with Dr. Hugh Doherty, the historical adviser for A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. Hugh explains why regular folks in the 14th Century would have loved A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. Then, Doherty gives a behind the scenes look at what conversations with showrunner Ira Parker and the team were like. Daniel and Doherty also talk about how realistic being a Hedge Knight was in the m...

In the inaugural episode of Winter is Podcasting, Daniel talks with Ty Frank and Daniel Abraham, the two halves that make up the super successful science fiction author James S.A. Corey. They talk about how a character in The Expanse was partially based on Rahm Emanuel, their writing process, and their new upcoming book, The Faith of Beasts. This interview was taped well in advance of publishing t...