Political Beats

Scot and Jeff discuss the second part of XTC’s career (1984-2000) with Andrew Gretes. Introducing the Band: Your hosts Scot Bertram (@ScotBertram) and Jeff Blehar (@EsotericCD) with guest Andrew Gretes. Andrew is a fiction writer teaching creative rhetoric at Georgetown and George Washington University. You can find his work at andrewgretes.com . Andrew’s Music Pick: XTC, Pt. 2 Awaken you dreamers...

Scot and Jeff discuss the first part of XTC’s career (1977-1983) with Andrew Gretes.   Introducing the Band: Your hosts Scot Bertram (@ScotBertram) and Jeff Blehar (@EsotericCD) with guest Andrew Gretes. Andrew is a fiction writer teaching creative rhetoric at Georgetown and George Washington University. You can find his work at andrewgretes.com . Andrew’s Music Pick: XTC There may be no language...

Scot and Jeff discuss The Apples in Stereo with Jack Butler. Introducing the Band : Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) with guest Jack Butler. Jack is deputy editor for  Free Expression , a new newsletter about politics and culture from the Wall Street Journal  opinion page. Previously he was submissions editor for National Review Online . You can follow him o...

Scot and Jeff discuss Deep Purple with Ivan Pongracic. Introducing the Band: Your hosts Scot Bertram (@ScotBertram) and Jeff Blehar (@EsotericCD) are joined by guest Ivan Pongracic, William E. Hibbs & Ludwig von Mises professor of Economics at Hillsdale College. Ivan has a career nearly as storied as Deep Purple’s -- a 1984 immigrant from the former Yugoslavia (Croatia, specifically), an accomplis...

Scot and Jeff discuss The Strokes with Christopher Scalia. Introducing the Band : Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) with guest Christopher Scalia. Chris is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and the author of 13 Novels Conservatives Will Love (But Probably Haven't Read) , a perfect Christmas gift for your favorite person. Find him on X at @...

Scot and Jeff discuss Van Halen with Sean Trende. Introducing the Band: Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) with guest Sean Trende. Sean is senior elections analyst at Real Clear Politics and visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute . His new podcast with co-host (and fellow Political Beats guest) Jay Cost, is Stubborn Things . Find him on X at @ S...

Scot and Jeff discuss Iggy Pop & the Stooges with Dominic Green. 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 @Dr...

Scot and Jeff discuss the second part of Tom Waits’ career (1983-2011) with Damon Linker. Introducing the Band: Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) are joined by guest Damon Linker. Damon is a senior lecturer in political science at the University of Pennsylvania, and publishes a Substack newsletter titled “ Notes from the Middleground .” Follow him at  @DamonL...

Scot and Jeff discuss the first part of Tom Waits’s career (1973-1982) with Damon Linker. Introducing the Band: Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) are joined by guest Damon Linker. Damon is a senior lecturer in political science at the University of Pennsylvania, and publishes a Substack newsletter titled “ Notes from the Middleground .” Follow him at  @DamonL...

Scot and Jeff discuss Jimmy Buffett with Conor Friedersdorf. Introducing the Band : Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) are with guest Conor Friedersdorf. Conor is a staff writer at The Atlantic , where he writes about politics and culture, with a focus on civil liberties, and he's the founding editor of The Best of Journalism , a newsletter on Substack where h...

Your Political Beats hosts Scot Bertram (@ ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar (@ EsotericCD ) get the opportunity to spend a little more time with singer/songwriter/bandleader/advocate/professor David Lowery (@ DavidCLowery ) Now-frequent (two times is frequent, right?) Political Beats guest David Lowery returns to the show to talk about his magnificent new solo record Fathers, Sons and Brothers . For...

Scot and Jeff discuss Bob Seger with Tim Constantine. Introducing the Band: Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) with guest Tim Constantine. Today you see him interviewing presidents and prime ministers on The Capitol Hill Show out of Washington, D.C., but Tim got his broadcasting start in rock radio when he was just 13 years old. Watch Tim Constantine's Capitol...

Introducing the Band: Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) are joined by guest Jeff Pojanowski. Jeff is a professor at Notre Dame Law School, where he teaches and writes about philosophy of law and legal interpretation. He also writes occasional columns for The Pillar . He has been living happily in Northern Indiana after escaping Washington, D.C., 15 years ago....

Introducing the Band : Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) are joined by Andrew Stuttaford. Andrew needs little introduction as the editor of NR's Capital Matters .  Find him online right here at National Review or at  @AStuttaford  on Twitter/X. Andrew’s Music Pick : Brian Eno Here he comes, the boy who tried to vanish to the future or the past. Yes, it's time...

Introducing the Band: Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) are joined by guest Steve Singiser. Steve is formerly a contributing editor at Daily Kos Elections and now is a contributor at The Downballot . Steve’s Music Pick: Def Leppard Do you wanna get rocked? If the answer is yes and the decade was the 1980s, it’s likely Def Leppard was at least partially respon...

Introducing the Band : Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) are joined by guest Eli Lake. Lake is a columnist with the  Free Press  and also a contributing editor at  Commentary.  Find him online  at the  Free Press  or  @EliLake  on Twitter/X. Eli’s Music Pick : Stevie Wonder It’s time to sing some songs in the key of life as we tackle the amazing and iconic se...

Introducing the Band: Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) are joined by guest Eli Lake. Lake is a columnist with the Free Press  and also a contributing editor at Commentary. Find him online  at the Free Press  or  @EliLake  on Twitter/X. Eli’s Music Pick: Stevie Wonder Happy New Year, everyone. 2024 was a mess, 2025 looks to be every bit as much of a mess, and...

Introducing the Band : Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) are with guest Mary Chastain. Mary is a writer and editor at  Legal Insurrection . She's also a sometimes contributor to The Hill , Washington Examiner , and Reason , and FEE . Mary is on X at @ Mchastain81 .  Mary’s Music Pick: Stone Temple Pilots: This is another in a series of episodes (think Daryl H...

Introducing the Band : Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) are with guest Andrew Fink. Andrew lives with his wife Lauren and their five children in Hillsdale County, Mich., and is an attorney, Marine veteran, current state representative, and candidate for Michigan Supreme Court. He's on X at @ AndrewFinkMI , and his website  can be found here . Andrew’s Music...

Introducing the Band: Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) are joined by guest Peter Suderman. Suderman is the features editor at Reason magazine. He also writes the Substack  Cocktails With Suderman , which is about making better cocktails at home. Find him online  at Reason or  @petersuderman on Twitter/X. Peter’s Music Pick: The Dismemberment Plan The name mi...

Introducing the Band: Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) are with guest Nick Lowe. Nick Lowe is . . . wait, you don’t really need a bio for Nick Lowe, do you? If there’s any questions about who he is, please take the time to listen to our lengthy Political Beats episode with guest Matt Murray. In an interview that has been months in the making, your Political...

Introducing the Band : Your hosts Scot Bertram (@ ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar (@ EsotericCD ) with . . . no guest at all! With Jeff moving his belongings to a new abode while also covering the RNC and DNC for National Review and Scot's vacation schedule creating another hurdle, we felt it was time to break the glass on the window marked "VERY SPECIAL EPISODE." For those relatively new around her...

Introducing the Band: Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) are with guest Brad Birzer. Brad is the Russell Amos Kirk Chair in American Studies and Professor of History at Hillsdale College. He is also the co-founder of and senior contributor at  The Imaginative Conservative , and the author of a number of books, including  Neil Peart: Cultural (Re)Percussions ....

Introducing the Band: Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) are with guest Brad Birzer. Brad is the Russell Amos Kirk Chair in American Studies and Professor of History at Hillsdale College. He is also the co-founder of and Senior Contributor at The Imaginative Conservative , and the author of a number of books, including Neil Peart: Cultural (Re)Percussions . Fi...

Introducing the Band: Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) are with guest Guy Denton. Guy is the co-host of  The Wrong Stuff  with Matt Lewis, contributor to The Dispatch and National Review , and until recently took Jonah Goldberg's guff over at  The Remnant . Find him on Twitter/X . . . nowhere, because he is saner than the rest of us. Guy’s Music Pick: Echo &...