Political Theater

President Joe Biden made it official this week: He is running for re-election. The 2024 presidential race will be determined largely in the same battlegrounds it did the last few elections. In some cases, that means the presidential race could have a down-ballot effect on competitive House and Senate races. Nathan Gonzales, publisher of Inside Elections and Roll Call’s elections analyst, joins the...

Ah, the Senate. Anything you think should be simple never really is. Democrats there are trying to figure out what to do about the extended absence of Sen. Dianne Feinstein from committee work. But they cannot just replace her on committees temporarily, as they sought to do this week. Why? Because the Senate is a continuing body subject to organizing resolutions that the chamber has to pass. And i...

The National Press Club is part of the fabric of Washington politics and news. It is a professional and social gathering place for people in the news, or people looking to make news, from Charlie Chaplin to Barack Obama. It’s got a complicated history, but it is also a key part of the battle for press freedoms across the globe. On this episode we’re dipping back into our series of explaining some...

The country’s founders were big fans of separating the powers of the branches of government. The current tussles among Congress, the White House and the courts show that the debate over where one institution’s authority ends and another begins is as lively as ever. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For decades, CQ has studied the votes of members of Congress and lined them up according to party unity, loyalty to the president, participation, and more. There is a lot that goes into it, and people around the world look to these studies to make sense of the legislative branch. Ryan Kelly and Herb Jackson from the CQ Roll Call newsroom discuss CQ’s annual vote studies.  Learn more about your ad...

The Gridiron Club is one of Washington’s longest-standing journalism institutions. Founded in 1885, it is known for its annual dinner, a gathering of club members, fellow journalists and Washington elites. Normally shrouded in secrecy, the Gridiron is making news. National Journal’s George Condon discusses everything you wanted to know about the Gridiron, but were afraid to ask. Learn more about y...

Trump-first Republicans have CPAC. Never Trumpers have Principles First. And on one magical weekend, the two twain did meet, or at least met at roughly the same time. Roll Call political writers Mary Ellen McIntire and Daniela Altimari unpack these two disparate political hootenannies and their implications for the 2024 elections.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The documentary “The Smell of Money” chronicles several North Carolina families’ fight for environmental justice against pork producers whose facilities adversely affect their surrounding land. Senior CQ Roll Call writer Ellyn Ferguson discusses the film with its writer, Jamie Berger. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It might be early in the 2024 election season, but that doesn't mean there aren't significant events, candidates, polling and topics to tune into. Nathan Gonzales, Roll Call’s elections analyst and the publisher of Inside Elections, joins the podcast to discuss why it's so important to pay attention to what's going on now.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Just when you think the State of the Union address is played out, we get one like Tuesday's: A call and response of political spectacle that very clearly defined differences in policy and approach between Democrats and Republicans, and might have previewed the 2024 campaign ahead for President Joe Biden and the GOP. Niels Lesniewski and Jim Saksa join the podcast to discuss the raucous caucus.  Le...

When we say “Hollywood,” it’s kind of like saying “Washington.” There’s more that makes up these places than just – these places. In many cases, the people who make things go in Hollywood, like in Washington, come from somewhere else, and they land in those places after long professional or personal journeys that start all over the globe. And sometimes those Hollywood scripts start in a place like...

It’s a reliable plotline. Old, battle-hardened wrestler left for dead and in exile mounts a comeback, looking to vanquish the people who always seem to underestimate him. Of course, we’re talking about Donald Trump. Or Vince McMahon. Or both. With us to discuss wrestling in politics and politics in wrestling is Brandon Wetherbee, host of the You Me Them Everybody Podcast, founder of Recommend if Y...

The flag of the United States is a worldwide icon. It’s a symbol of liberty with a complicated history. “The Flagmakers” a documentary from veteran filmmakers Sharon Liese and Cynthia Wade, profiles the people at Eder Flags in Wisconsin, a major manufacturer of flags and flagpoles in the United States. They are a diverse lot, in an influential, swing state, and they represent the tapestry of Ameri...

The Brent Spence Bridge over the Ohio River has long been a symbol of the country's crumbling infrastructure, a familiar prop politicians used as backdrop to call for needed repairs. Now through bipartisan legislation, the old bridge is finally getting a $1.6 billion makeover. And this week, while the House plunged into chaos over the election of its speaker, President Joe Biden and Senate Minorit...

Dror Moreh’s documentary “The Corridors of Power” is a chronicle of the American response to genocide in modern times. It combines difficult footage of atrocities and violence with Moreh’s one-on-one interviews with powerful U.S. officials, from such iconic figures as Colin Powell and Madeline Albright to contemporary ones who are still serving at the highest levels of government like Antony Blink...

Matthew Heineman is one of the pre-eminent documentary filmmakers working, and his movies have provided ground level views of the world not available to many: drug cartels in Mexico, journalists working in the Syrian civil war and COVID-19 wards in New York in the early days of the pandemic. His latest project “Retrograde” captures the U.S. withdrawal in Afghanistan last year, and the ensuing fall...

On Dec. 6, the last race of the 2022 campaign will conclude, when voting in Georgia ends in the runoff between Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock and Republican Herschel Walker. This campaign has been close since the get-go; It is the first time the major parties have nominated Black men to run against each other in Georgia, and who these two are and where they come from means a lot to the state. Joi...

Things we know about the 2022 midterms: There will be a House Republican majority and a Senate Democratic majority. Elections went pretty smoothly. Incumbents for the most part held on. Things we don't know: How big those majorities will be. What governing will look like in the coming 118th Congress. And what lessons public officials will take away from an anomalous campaign. Roll Call Elections A...

As we prepare for Election Day, what are the things we know that we know about the 2022 midterm election? As the late Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld once said, there are known knowns, known unknowns, and unknown unknowns. Let's apply that to this campaign season with Nathan L. Gonzales, Roll Call’s election analyst and the publisher of Inside Elections. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit m...

The history of The Lincoln Project is a flash point in contemporary politics. A superPAC founded by high-profile Republican strategists who opposed then-President Donald Trump, the group set out to peel away GOP voters and deny Trump a second term in 2020. Filmmakers Karim Amer and Fisher Stevens chronicled their campaign and its aftermath in their documentary series "The Lincoln Project" on Showt...

There has never been a better time to see how elections work. With intense interest in campaigns, and with the foundations of representative democracy at stake, filmmakers Sara Archambault and Margo Guernsey have brought us “No Time to Fail,” a behind-the-scenes look at the 2020 election that chronicles the experiences of election officials in Rhode Island, from the state level to the cities of Pr...

Congress is in its pre-election recess lull. The president is signing a bunch of bills people can’t remember. But the Supreme Court is running at full speed. Its last term is defined by the overturning of Roe versus Wade and the nationwide right to an abortion. The current term will likely continue redefining Americans’ participation in state and federal government and elections. Since the court c...

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell prefers to work behind the scenes. Rick Scott, chairman of Senate Republicans’ campaign arm is an outspoken, outgoing salesman for the GOP. Like with Neil Simon's "Odd Couple" -- Felix the neat freak and Oscar the slob -- we're asking: Can McConnell and Scott live together without driving each other crazy? Roll Call Editor at Large John Bennett, joins Politic...

Elections always come down to a choice. Someone wins, someone loses, and Roll Call has long chronicled the path to Election Day by reporting on Congress' most vulnerable incumbents. It’s an evolving cast, and with roughly a month-and-half to go, we take measure on Political Theater with our Politics Team, Herb Jackson, Kate Ackley and Mary Ellen McIntire.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit m...

Filmmaker Sierra Pettengill’s documentary, “Riotsville, USA,” examines the history of the government’s efforts to crack down on protest movements. The title refers to the ersatz towns the military built for counter-protest training, and the film's archival approach is a chronicle and meditation on politics then and now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices