The Political Orphanage

Dr. Tom Jones is an astronaut and the author of "Sky Walking: An Astronaut's Memoir" and joins Heaton to discuss what life is like in space and what the future holds for NASA and the private sector.  Season 2, Ep 23

On this episode we take a big picture view of impeachment--what's it's role in government and what's the nature of the presidency? Michael Baranowski of The Politics Guys podcast joins to discuss, and also, to point out the similarities between the impeachment proceedings and the immortal film "Caddyshack." Season 2, Ep 22

Ken White is a First Amendment litigator, lawblogger at Popehat.com, and the hilarious Twitter personality Popehat. He joins Heaton to talk about Free Speech: what's legally protected and what will prompt the cops to come knocking? How do public decency laws work?  Interview at 5:30 Season 2, Ep 21

There have been three headlines this last week hinting at a resurgent Hillary Clinton campaign in 2020. Heaton thinks it's balderdash. His friend and former producer Jennings is certain she's in. They bet money on it, and discuss.   Season 2, Ep 20

Notable billionaire and possible Keebler elf Michael Bloomberg has thrown his hat into the presidential ring as a Democrat. Meanwhile Bernie Sanders wants to outlaw billionaires, and Elizabeth Warren wants to slowly deflate them, like cash balloons.  Josie "The Red-Headed Libertarian" joins the show to discuss billionaires, wealth taxes, the Laffer Curve, and where to hide in a nasty political cli...

Mike Larsen is a former writer for The Drew Carey Show and Real Time with Bill Maher. He also worked for Congress as the press secretary for Representative Jackie Speier. Now he's running for congress himself in Ohio against incumbent Jim Jordan. He joins Heaton to talk about standup, his campaign, how puppets can influence democracy, and gerrymandering. Season 2, Ep 18

Ben Howe joins to discuss his book "The Immoral Majority: Why Evangelicals Chose Power Over Christian Values." The episodes covers everything from Persia's Cyrus the Great, to Christian socialism, to Buddhist and Evangelical theology. Season 2, Ep 17

Shots fired! Hillary Clinton is accusing Tulsi Gabbard of being a Russian asset. Tulsi Gabbard says Hillary Clinton is a corrupt warmonger. How exactly does this factor into foreign policy? Justin Robert Young joins Heaton for a tactical analysis of the 2020 campaign, and Heaton explains what the hell "unilateral vs multilateral muscular liberalism" means. Season 2, Ep 16

Republicans and Democrats don't just have different goals and platforms, they literally think and organize differently. Dr. Matt Grossmann joins Heaton to discuss his book, "Asymmetric Politics: Ideological Republicans and Group Interest Democrats." Season 2, Ep 15

This month America's ridiculous trade policies are going to jack scotch prices up by 25%! Heaton calls in Reason's Eric Boehm and playwright/free market paladin Jeremey Kareken to sound the alarm over protectionism.  Season 2, Ep 14

Charles Cooke is the editor of National Review Online (Interview begins at 19:55), and an author, pundit, and frequent television guest on programs like "Real Time with Bill Maher" and "Kennedy" on Fox Business. He joins Heaton for a discussion about gun control and the Second Amendment, in a surprisingly wonky but cheerful episode involving heavy analysis of the blunderbuss. Season 2, Ep 13

Comedians Turner Sparks and Brian Sack join Heaton to discuss: The Area 51 Raid The Climate Change Strike Justin Trudeau's makeup choice Donald Trump, Ukraine, and impeachment Season 2, Ep 12

Comedian David Carl and playwright Jeremy Kareken join Heaton to discuss how vaping could save or kill America, the next step for John Bolton's mustache, and the post-debate shakedown in the Democratic primaries.  Season 2, Ep 11

While visiting Iceland for very legal, very unsuspicious reasons, Heaton interviews two prominent Icelandic comedians--Ari Eldjárn and Helgi Steinar--to learn about their country and their politics and also to launch his very own Icelandic political campaign.  Season 2, Ep 10

Burning Man is a giant, 80,000-person party in the desert, complete with a crazy amount of neon, bicycles, and narcotics. Grover Norquist is a powerful Republican, alternately famous or infamous for compelling GOP leaders to pledge never to increase spending, who attends Burning Man every year. He joins the podcast to talk about Burning Man, influential secret societies, his foray into standup com...

Dave Barry (interview at 24:35) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning humorist, the author of scads of books, fellow band member with Stephen King, and Heaton's personal comedy-writing hero. He comes on the podcast to talk about his meteoric presidential campaign, comedy, and politics.  Season 2, Ep 8

Justin Robert Young and Brian Brushwood join Heaton to discuss how and if Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren differ, if at all. Has anyone seen them at the same location at the same time? Are they possibly the same person? Who would win in a cage fight? Plus, if America doesn't buy Greenland, what should it buy? Ep 7

Dominic Frisby is a comedian, musician, and author, and his show at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival is "Libertarian Love Songs." He joins Heaton to discuss British politics, health care, guns, and the deeper motivations of Boris Johnson. He is extremely well dressed.

Leo Kearse is Scotland's Comedian of the Year from 2018, and might well be the only conservative Scottish joke monger. He's presently performing at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where he's reprised his standup comedy show "Transgressive." (A show which got Leo banned from Australian comedy venues for being too transgressive, despite the fact he was dating a transgender woman when he wrote it.) He...

Justin Amash recently bolted from the GOP, either out of protest or to run for president as a Libertarian or both. Former governor, senator, and Democratic presidential candidate Lincoln Chafee has left the Democrats... to become a libertarian. Meanwhile Bill Weld is still primarying Donald Trump and might soon be joined by Mark Sanford. Pundit and former Marvel bigwig Rick Ungar joins Heaton to d...

George F. Will is a Pulitzer-prize winning columnist and the author of the new book "The Conservative Sensibility." He joins the podcast to discuss his latest work, and his hopes to pull back the conservative movement from the brink of insanity.

The US Women's Soccer Team won the World Cup this week, but gets payed less than their male equivalents. Is this blatant sexism? Market efficiencies? Illuminati conspiracy? Comedians Andrea Jones-Rooy and Turner Sparks join Heaton to make sense of it. 

It's the first episode of the new series! Host Andrew Heaton is joined by podcast warlords Brian Brushwood and Justin Robert Young, to discuss: Should the Trump administration continue the trend of relocating federal agencies to the states? Congressmen have *way* more constituents than they used to. Should we create more congressmen? What about *thousands* of more congressmen? Democratic Party Dra...

Heaton comes on the show one last time to conclude 'Something's Off with Andrew Heaton'.

Heaton's producer Jennings sits in on the show to discuss the Fermi Paradox, science fiction, and a host of other fun topics.