The West Wing Thing
The West Wing Thing is a progressive media analysis and commentary podcast created and hosted by the screenwriters Dave Anthony and Josh Olson. First uploaded in 2019β22, the series discusses the TV drama The West Wing on an episode-by-episode basis, from a left-wing political perspective.
Early episodes were recorded in All Things Comedy in Burbank, California prior to the COVID-19 pandemic; later episodes were recorded from the hosts' homes. Heavy metal musician Collyn McCoy provides the theme tunes, which vary each season, as well as theme tunes for regular sections such as "West Wing Brain," "Misogyny Rundown" and "Psaki Bomb." Guests on the show included David Sirota, John Rogers, Wyatt Cenac, Matt Taibbi, Blaire Erskine, Thomas Frank, Jared Yates Sexton, Abby Martin, Eddie Pepitone, Bilge Ebiri, Lee Camp, Katie Halper, several members of Chapo Trap House, Briahna Joy Gray, Gareth Reynolds, Marianne Williamson, Nathan J. Robinson, Adam McKay, Adolph L. Reed Jr., Wil Anderson and Susan Saxe.
Episodes
Season 1
| # overall | # in series | Date released | Episode discussed | Guests and other info |
| 1 | 1 | "Pilot" | β | |
| 2 | 2 | "Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc" | β | |
| 3 | 3 | "A Proportional Response" | β | |
| 4 | 4 | "Five Votes Down" | β | |
| 5 | 5 | "The Crackpots and These Women" | β | |
| 6 | 6 | "Mr. Willis of Ohio" | Title misspelled as "Mr Wills of Ohio" | |
| 7 | 7 | "The State Dinner" | β | |
| 8 | 8 | "Enemies" | β | |
| 9 | 9 | "The Short List" | β | |
| 10 | 10 | "In Excelsis Deo" | β | |
| 11 | 11 | "Lord John Marbury" | with Faisal-Azam Qureshi | |
| 12 | 12 | β | Mid-Season Wrap, with Susan Saxe | |
| 13 | 13 | "He Shall, from Time to Time..." | β | |
| 14 | 14 | "Take out the Trash Day" | β | |
| 15 | 15 | β | "Teaser - A Very Special West Wing Thing" | |
| 16 | 16 | β | "Our Very Special To Kill A Mockingbird episode", with Chris Wade | |
| 17 | 17 | "Take This Sabbath Day" | β | |
| 18 | 18 | "Celestial Navigation" | β | |
| 19 | 19 | "20 Hours in L.A." | β | |
| 20 | 20 | "The White House Pro-Am" | β | |
| 21 | 21 | "Six Meetings Before Lunch" | β | |
| 22 | 22 | "Let Bartlet Be Bartlet" | β | |
| 23 | 23 | "Mandatory Minimums" | β | |
| 24 | 24 | "Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics" | β | |
| 25 | 25 | "What Kind of Day Has It Been" | with Luke Savage, author of the famous "How Liberals Fell In Love With The West Wing" article |
Season 2
| # overall | # in series | Date released | Episode discussed | Guests and other info |
| 26 | 1 | "In the Shadow of Two Gunmen" | with John Rogers | |
| 27 | 2 | "The Midterms" | β | |
| 28 | 3 | "In This White House" | β | |
| 29 | 4 | "And It's Surely to Their Credit" | β | |
| 30 | 5 | "The Lame Duck Congress" | β | |
| 31 | 6 | "The Portland Trip" | β | |
| 32 | 7 | "Shibboleth" | with Katherine Krueger and Will Menaker | |
| 33 | 8 | "Galileo" | with Katherine Krueger and Will Menaker | |
| 34 | 9 | "Isaac and Ishmael" | "9/11 Special" with Matt Christman ; this episode of The West Wing was originally aired before the beginning of Season 3 | |
| 35 | 10 | "NoΓ«l" | β | |
| 36 | 11 | "The Leadership Breakfast" | β | |
| 37 | 12 | "The Drop-In" | with Alex Press | |
| 38 | 13 | "Bartlet's Third State of the Union" | β | |
| 39 | 14 | "The War at Home" | β | |
| 40 | 15 | "Ellie" | β | |
| 41 | 16 | "Somebody's Going to Emergency, Somebody's Going to Jail" | with Luke Savage | |
| 42 | 17 | "The Stackhouse Filibuster" | with Matt Stoller | |
| 43 | 18 | "17 People" | β | |
| 44 | 19 | "Bad Moon Rising" | Podcast episode is titled "Bad Title Rising" | |
| 45 | 20 | "The Fall's Gonna Kill You" | with Tom Sexton | |
| 46 | 21 | "18th and Potomac" | β | |
| 47 | 22 | "Two Cathedrals" | Podcast episode titled "Are you there God, itβs me, Jed?"; with David Sirota |
Season 3
| # overall | # in series | Date released | Episode discussed | Guests and other info |
| 48 | 1 | "Manchester" | β | |
| 49 | 2 | "Ways and Means" | with Amber A'Lee Frost | |
| 50 | 3 | "On the Day Before" | β | |
| 51 | 4 | "War Crimes" | with Tarence Ray | |
| 52 | 5 | "Gone Quiet" | β | |
| 53 | 6 | "The Indians in the Lobby" | with WastΓ©'win Young | |
| 54 | 7 | "The Women of Qumar" | with Savanna LaMaison | |
| 55 | 8 | "Bartlet for America" | β | |
| 56 | 9 | "H. Con-172" | β | |
| 57 | 10 | "100,000 Airplanes" | with Oliver Willis | |
| 58 | 11 | "The Two Bartlets" | with Luke Savage | |
| 59 | 12 | "Night Five" | β | |
| 60 | 13 | "Hartsfield's Landing" | with Josh Androsky | |
| 61 | 14 | "Dead Irish Writers" | with Mary Kate O'Flanagan | |
| 62 | 15 | "The U.S. Poet Laureate" | with Rachel Joy Larris | |
| 63 | 16 | "Stirred" | Also contains a listener mailbag | |
| 64 | 17 | "Enemies Foreign and Domestic" | with Ashley Stevens | |
| 65 | 18 | "The Black Vera Wang" | Podcast episode is titled "Black Vera Wanglord", a reference to the podcast's theme song | |
| 66 | 19 | "We Killed Yamamoto" | with Katie Halper | |
| 67 | 20 | "Posse Comitatus" | with Wil Anderson |
Season 4
| # overall | # in series | Date released | Episode discussed | Guests and other info |
| 68 | 1 | "20 Hours in America" | with Tarence Ray and Tom Sexton | |
| 69 | 2 | "College Kids" | with Virgil Texas | |
| 70 | 3 | "The Red Mass" | with Trevor Beaulieu | |
| 71 | 4 | "Debate Camp" | Leslie Lee III and Jack Allison | |
| 72 | 5 | A West Wing Special to Benefit When We All Vote | with Amber A'Lee Frost and Felix Biederman. A vodcast uploaded to Vimeo. | |
| 73 | 6 | "Game On" | with Briahna Joy Gray | |
| 74 | 7 | "Election Night" | with Briahna Joy Gray; episode released the day before the 2020 United States presidential election | |
| 75 | 8 | "Process Stories" | with Nando Vila | |
| 76 | 9 | "Swiss Diplomacy" | β | |
| 77 | 10 | "Arctic Radar" | with Amber A'Lee Frost | |
| 78 | 11 | "Holy Night" | with Nathan J. Robinson | |
| 79 | 12 | "Guns Not Butter" | with Rob Rousseau | |
| 80 | 13 | "The Long Goodbye" | Bored by the West Wing episode, the duo instead decide to discuss the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Past Tense", renaming the podcast The Star Trek Thing | |
| 81 | 14 | "Inauguration: Part I" | with Daniel Bessner | |
| 82 | 15 | "Inauguration: Over There" | with Daniel Bessner | |
| 83 | 16 | "The California 47th" | with Aaron Thorpe | |
| 84 | 17 | "Red Haven's on Fire" | with Wyatt Cenac | |
| 85 | 18 | "Privateers" | with Tanya Turner | |
| 86 | 19 | "Angel Maintenance" | with Ashley Stevens | |
| 87 | 20 | "Evidence of Things Not Seen" | β | |
| 88 | 21 | "Life on Mars" | with David Sirota | |
| 89 | 22 | "Commencement" | with Branko Marcetic | |
| 90 | 23 | "Twenty Five" | with Katie Halper and Matt Taibbi |
Season 5
| # overall | # in series | Date released | Episode discussed | Guests and other info |
| 91 | 1 | "7A WF 83429" | with Aaron MatΓ© | |
| 92 | 2 | "The Dogs of War" | β | |
| 93 | 3 | "Jefferson Lives" | with Rebecca Bitton | |
| 94 | 4 | "Han" | with Daniel Bessner | |
| 95 | 5 | "Constituency of One" | with Amy Westervelt and Josh Androsky | |
| 96 | 6 | "Disaster Relief" | with Robin Marie Averbeck | |
| 97 | 7 | β | Crossover with Michael and Us discussing Aaron Sorkin's appearance on RUMBLE with Michael Moore | |
| 98 | 8 | "Separation of Powers" | with Tom Sexton | |
| 99 | 9 | "Shutdown" | with Briahna Joy Gray and Adam McKay | |
| 100 | 10 | "Abu el Banat" | with Katherine Krueger and Will Menaker | |
| 101 | 11 | "The Stormy Present" | with Felix Biederman | |
| 102 | 12 | "The Benign Prerogative" | with Aaron Thorpe | |
| 103 | 13 | "Slow News Day" | with Marianne Williamson | |
| 104 | 14 | "The Warfare of Genghis Khan" | with Noah Kulwin | |
| 105 | 15 | "An Khe" | β | |
| 106 | 16 | "Full Disclosure" | with Pete D'Alessandro | |
| 107 | 17 | "Eppur Si Muove" | with Savannah LaMaison | |
| 108 | 18 | β | Podcast episode titled "Vamping"; No The West Wing content, as Olson and Anthony just discuss current events | |
| 109 | 19 | "The Supremes" | with Thomas Frank and Katie Halper | |
| 110 | 20 | "Access" | Episode entitled "Good Things Happen in Philly", with Susan Saxe | |
| 111 | 21 | "Talking Points" | β | |
| 112 | 22 | "No Exit" | β | |
| 113 | 23 | "Gaza" and "Memorial Day" | with Derek Davison | |
| 114 | 24 | "Talking Points" | Podcast episode titled "Season 5 wrap up", with Pete D'Alessandro and Richard D. Wolff |
Season 6
| # overall | # in series | Date released | Episode discussed | Guests and other info |
| 115 | 1 | "NSF Thurmont" and "The Birnam Wood" | with Shanti Singh and Abby Martin | |
| 116 | 2 | "Third-Day Story" | with Shanti Singh | |
| 117 | 3 | "Liftoff" | with Lee Camp | |
| 118 | 4 | "The Hubbert Peak" | with Briahna Joy Gray | |
| 119 | 5 | "The Dover Test" | β | |
| 120 | 6 | "A Change Is Gonna Come" | with Daniel Bessner | |
| 121 | 7 | "In the Room" | with Meagan Day | |
| 122 | 8 | "Impact Winter" | with Josh Androsky and Adolph Reed | |
| 123 | 9 | "Faith Based Initiative" | β | |
| 124 | 10 | "Opposition Research" | with Tom Sexton | |
| 125 | 11 | "365 Days" | with Jared Yates Sexton | |
| 126 | 12 | "King Corn" | with Pete D'Alessandro | |
| 127 | 13 | "The Wake Up Call" | with Amber A'Lee Frost | |
| 128 | 14 | β | Podcast episode titled "Hiatus!"; No The West Wing content, as Olson presents a showcase of Diesel Boots songs, including various theme songs for the podcast | |
| 129 | 15 | β | Podcast episode titled "Mayor Pete Doc special"; No The West Wing content, with Luke Savage and Alex Press | |
| 130 | 16 | β | Podcast episode titled "Special mini Crooked Media episode"; No The West Wing content, with Briahna Joy Gray | |
| 131 | 17 | "Freedonia" | β | |
| 132 | 18 | "Drought Conditions" | with Jen Briney | |
| 133 | 19 | "A Good Day" | with Matt Stoller | |
| 134 | 20 | "La Palabra" | with Eddie Pepitone | |
| 135 | 21 | "Ninety Miles Away" | with Gareth Reynolds | |
| 136 | 22 | "In God We Trust" | with James Fritz and Justin Feldman | |
| 137 | 23 | "Things Fall Apart" | Podcast episode titled "Things ACTUALLY Fall Apart"; with Kate Willett | |
| 138 | 24 | "2162 Votes" | with Walker Bragman | |
| 139 | 25 | β | Podcast episode titled "Meet our free floating agent of chaos!", with Brian Siano, the podcast's researcher | |
| 140 | 26 | β | Podcast episode titled "The Hillary Clinton Master Class Part 1", with Amber A'Lee Frost and Catherine Liu | |
| 141 | 27 | β | Podcast episode titled "The Hillary Clinton Master Class Part 2", with Julia Claire and Kate Willett | |
| 142 | 28 | β | Podcast episode titled "The Hillary Clinton Master Class Part 3", with Tom Sexton and Aaron Thorpe | |
| 143 | 29 | β | Podcast episode titled "The Hillary Clinton Master Class Part 4", with Ashley Stevens and Meagan Day | |
| 144 | 30 | β | Podcast episode titled "The Hillary Clinton Master Class Part 5", with Briahna Joy Gray, Katie Halper and Lee Camp |
Season 7
| # overall | # in series | Date released | Episode discussed | Guests and other info |
| 145 | 1 | "The Ticket" | with Kath Barbadoro | |
| 146 | 2 | "The Mommy Problem" | Podcast episode titled "Mommy Problem"; with Derek Davison and Daniel Bessner | |
| 147 | 3 | "Message of the Week" | with Alex Fumero | |
| 148 | 4 | "Mr. Frost" | Podcast episode titled "The Leak" | |
| 149 | 5 | "Here Today" | with Pete D'Alessandro | |
| 150 | 6 | "The Al Smith Dinner" | with Lisa Curry | |
| 151 | 7 | β | Review of The Trial of the Chicago 7, with Danny Bessner and Bilge Ebiri | |
| 152 | 8 | "The Debate" | with Matt Christman | |
| 153 | 9 | "Undecideds" | with Vida Starr and Trevor Beaulieu | |
| 154 | 10 | "The Wedding" | with Will Menaker | |
| 155 | 11 | "Running Mates" | with Lisa Curry | |
| 156 | 12 | "Internal Displacement" | with Ashley Stevens | |
| 157 | 13 | "Duck and Cover" | with Gareth Reynolds | |
| 158 | 14 | "The Cold" | with Tom Sexton | |
| 159 | 15 | "Two Weeks Out" | with Jared Yates Sexton | |
| 160 | 16 | "Welcome to Wherever You Are" | with Luke Savage and Blaire Erskine | |
| 161 | 17 | "Election Day" | with Katie Halper | |
| 162 | 18 | "Requiem" | with Vida Starr and Trevor Beaulieu | |
| 163 | 19 | "Transition" | with Wil Anderson | |
| 164 | 20 | β | Review of "We Just Decided To", pilot episode of The Newsroom; with Wil Anderson | |
| 165 | 21 | "The Last Hurrah" | with Pete D'Alessandro and David Sirota | |
| 166 | 22 | "Institutional Memory" | with Nima Shirazi and Adam Johnson | |
| 167 | 23 | "Tomorrow" | a 3:12 episode consisting of the intro song, a brief observation that there was no political content in the episode, and the outro song | |
| 168 | 24 | "Tomorrow" | with Briahna Joy Gray | |
| 169 | 25 | β | "Special Appendix Episode - What's the deal with Louise Mensch?"; with Arthur Tiersky |
Reception
Writing for Book and Film Globe, Kevin L. Jones praised The West Wing Thing, saying that the hosts "gleefully tear apart each episode of the West Wing for its smugness and centrist politics and Iβm all for it. And they donβt just troll the show either; they lay down a solid case for every criticism they lob. They know how show business works, they know their American history and theyβre certain they know whoβs to blame for all of the West Wingβs issues: West Wing creator Aaron Sorkin."In Fast Company, Joe Berkowitz wrote that "Anthony and Olson donβt approach their subject with reverence. Instead, their aim is to present The West Wing as a singularly corrosive force in American politics that has perpetuated incalculable and irreparable harm on society," saying that they "offer a compelling counter-narrative to the seriesβ nostalgia-soaked civic celebration."
Veteran Irish journalist and former Washington correspondent Carole Coleman described The West Wing Thing as "irreverent and very funny." Irish newspaper the Athlone Advertiser said, "If you find Aaron Sorkin's smug, centrist, sexist, childish waffle infuriating you can listen along to the podcast and watch a few episodes β which is what I have been doing and finding it quite cathartic."