The West Wing Weekly

AARON BURR: How does a podcast, web thing,  Recap and chat on The West Wing,  Dropped on the internet by nostalgic pals On a fake President—it makes no sense! How do Josh and Hrish, on balance, Manage to land two major Broadway talents? The two gallants, Lin-Manuel and Tommy Kail, Got a lot farther by working a lot harder By being a lot smarter, by being self-starters By watching Bartlet, who's ba...

Please set your cell phones to airplane mode, it’s Angel Maintenance time. In this episode we’re joined by former Acting Secretary of the Air Force (and former Secretary of the Army) Eric Fanning for lots of juicy details about Air Force One, including the fact that there’s more than one Air Force One. And Josh looks back fondly on filming this episode, for reasons involving Vaseline. For more, vi...

Privateers has a special place in our hearts because we love the scene where Allison Janney can’t stop laughing - and she’s here with us to talk about the fugue state necessary to create such memorable giggles. We’re also joined by Josh’s Scandal costar Jeff Perry , and Helen Slayton-Hughes, who played Marion Cotesworth-Haye of Marblehead. And we get the final word on the privateer question from B...

The Laurens make good! West Wing writer Lauren Schmidt Hissrich joins us to recap Red Haven's on Fire and share stories of the real world Lauren confusion behind this episode. And Senator Tammy Duckworth tells us what to expect when you're a senator who's expecting. For more, visit thewestwingweekly.com/417 Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Ah, Miss Hamantaschen! It's the California 47th. Josh and Hrishi discuss the linguistic nuance of Rice Krispies and what one calls the treats made from them. And, Mrs Hottentot, Hrishi introduces a handy online tool for President Bartlet: the Debbie Fiderer nickname generator . For more, visit thewestwingweekly.com/416 Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

A live Big Block of Cheese Day from San Francisco Sketch Fest! Hrishi and Josh are joined by Dulé Hill to answer questions from fans - including a semi-surprise guest. Nate DiMeo of The Memory Palace ( @thememorypalace ) podcast tells the history of the big block of cheese, and Helen Zaltzman of The Allusionist ( @AllusionistShow ) gets VERY salty with her language as she explains the origin of th...

For our discussion of Inauguration: Over There, Josh regales Hrishi with tales of shooting in his underwear and throwing snowballs at Janel Moloney. Plus, we’re joined by West Wing writer and former Director of the National Economic Council Gene Sperling ( @genebsperling ). He tells us how the Clinton administration's regrets over the handling of the Rwandan genocide led to the Bartlet administrat...

Inauguration: Part I is the first part of our two-part series about a two-part series of West Wing episodes. Josh and Hrishi dig up fun facts about presidential bibles, and cast a critical eye on CJ's flirting and Josh's mean sass about Jack Reese. They also talk with Danica McKellar ( @danicamckellar ) about how a character named Tracy became Elsie Snuffin. For more, visit thewestwingweekly.com/4...

As the West Wing takes a trip to Dayton, OH, for The Long Goodbye, Josh and Hrishi talk to playwright Jon Robin Baitz, who playwrought the episode. He talks about how his own father's illness informed the script in ways he didn't realize at the time, and gets props from our hosts for finally letting C.J. get some. For more, visit thewestwingweekly.com/413 Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx....

For our discussion of Guns Not Butter, Josh and Hrishi go on a hunt for Hrishi’s Hebrew name that is almost as intense as Donna’s quest to get Josh’s phone into the hands of Senator Hardin. Tom Hart of ONE ( @OneCampaign ) makes the case for foreign aid, and MAZON’s CEO & President Abby Leibman (@ MAZONusa ) backs Charlie up on the subject of food stamps on the military, but not one single per...

On the West Wing, it’s Toby’s birthday (December 23), and his father visits. On the West Wing Weekly, it’s Josh’s birthday (January 17), and HIS father visits. We turn to Mr Robert Malina for some Yiddish info and some Joshish insights. Plus, we’re joined by a couple of the Yale Whiffenpoofs who appeared in "Holy Night" to tell us about how they ended up singing for President Bartlet. For more, vi...

One of us! One of us! Will Bailey finally arrives in the West Wing and we've got a trio of guests to welcome him. Former Cabinet Secretary Chris Lu ( @ChrisLu44 ) talks about the (nonexistent) precedent for cabinet resignations; director John David Coles breaks down his unusual camera choices; and Richard Schiff ( @Richard_Schiff ) reveals what song Toby had stuck in his head the first time he met...

Eli Attie ( @EliAttie ) and Kevin Falls ( @KevinFalls ) are our guests to talk about the “break glass in case of emergency” writing that went into “Swiss Diplomacy”, a rare episode without a Sorkin writing credit. These guys have stories! And they’ll tell you why, when in doubt, you should always run for president. For more, visit thewestwingweekly.com/409 Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx...

Stock up on Cheetos, because Joanna Gleason ( @TheRealJGleason ) is our guest and she’s got a drinking game - sorry, an eating game - for anyone who loves to pick apart Bradley Whitford’s acting technique. Needless to say, Josh is on board. It’s a probable impossibility that by the end of this episode we’ll all understand what an improbable possibility is, and why Sam is so down on it. For more, v...

As the characters anxiously await election results and Donna tries to swap votes with Christian Slater, Josh and Hrishi interview Clark Gregg ( @ClarkGregg ) about how everybody wants to call him Agent Something. And, Josh looks back fondly on the mighty superpowers that allowed him to summon rain from a clear sky. For more, visit thewestwingweekly.com/407 Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx...

Hrishi and Josh welcome special guest Joshua Malina to talk about Joshua Malina’s first episode as Will Bailey. [fanfare] With special appearances by Bradley Whitford, Rob Lowe, and Joshua Malina. For more, visit thewestwingweekly.com/406 Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

To discuss the Bartlet Administration's debate camp, we're joined once again by Ronald Klain, who has been in charge of debate prep for every Democratic presidential candidate since 2004. For more, visit thewestwingweekly.com/405 Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Pretty much one long “ai yi yi.” For more, visit thewestwingweekly.com/404 Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

This week, we’re joined by former Secretary of Education John King, Jr. ( @JohnBKing ) and Aimee Mann ( @aimeemann ) to discuss “College Kids”. For more, visit thewestwingweekly.com/403 Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Josh and Hrishi discuss second part of Season 4 premiere with episode director, Christopher Misiano. West Wing Weekly love episode! For more, visit thewestwingweekly.com/402 Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Our discussion of Season 4 begins! We’re joined by John Gallagher, Jr., who made his Sorkin debut in the premiere, years before he would go on to star in The Newsroom. Here we go, cuties! For more, visit thewestwingweekly.com/401 Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Martin Sheen joined Josh and Hrishi for a conversation about The West Wing, The American President, Aaron Sorkin, and more. For more, visit thewestwingweekly.com/400 Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Before we dive into Season 4, we're answering some pressing listener questions like: why hasn't Martin Sheen been on the podcast yet? Plus questions about music, musicals, and underwear. (Don't be scared.) And to go along with our new Bartlet's Army challenge coin, we present an episode of 99% Invisible that explains what challenge coins are, where they come from, and what to do with them. For mor...

To discuss the Season 3 finale, we traveled to San Francisco to record a live episode at the Castro Theatre. We'd announced the show would be with a special guest: Aaron Sorkin. But what we didn't tell anyone was that we'd also be joined by a couple of surprise guests: Allison Janney ( @AllisonBJanney ) and Melissa Fitzgerald ( @MaffyFitz ). You can hear the audience go crazy when they come out; y...

Josh and Hrishi discuss a few conflicts central to this episode and its making: Amy vs Josh, President Bartlet vs moral absolutes, and script deadlines vs directing schedules. For more, visit thewestwingweekly.com/321 . Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices