The West Wing Thing

The West Wing Thing is finished! Come check out our new thing, The Audit! https://the.levernews.com/podcasts/#the-audit

Enough people asked us for the whole story, so here it is - Josh & Dave's full history with Vladimir Putin's most fearsome foe.

We did it. We finished it, and we're not dead.

The one you've been waiting for! Will it live up to your expectations?

With only one episode left to go, the boys are joined by the hosts of one of the very great Citations Needed to enjoy the cast's bout with senior-itis. Will CJ stay on at the White House or go on to make a fortune helping a billionaire whitewash his reputation? And will he or won't he? Time is running out for Bartlett to pardon Toby. Plus - Havinq vanquished the K-Hive, we turn our attention to Ana Kasparian.

Uh oh

Pete & Dave team up to join Josh & Dave as they marvel at one of the most West Wingy moments in the history of The West Wing. Plus - Is there life after Wang? All is revealed!

They did it. Those crazy bastards. They went and did it. One time and one time only... The Newsroom

Wil Anderson comes back to wish us well, only to discover America has rendered all of his jokes moot.

It's the beginning of the new Santos administration, and being a good Democrat, he's lining his administration with Republicans. Our friends T&V make swing by to tell Josh & Dave how much they'll miss them, and we force them to stay and watch an episode of The West Wing. We are bad people.

Katie Halper returns to say adios to Josh and Dave and endure not just one but TWO godawful seventh season episodes. Josh & Donna finally do the deed, Leo croaks, and Santos wins the presidential election, and it's STILL awful.

We continue to wind down with one more visit from our old friend Luke Savage to discuss the dumbest scene ever on The West Wing and to say goodbye to us forever. Also, our NEW friend Blaire Erskine stops by to tell us about her experience discovering the most wonderful people on social media, the K-Hive!

Not sure if you heard, but the Supreme Court shot down Roe last week, so we asked our friend Jared to drop by and talk about whether or not that will have any meaningful impact. And since we're awful, we made him watch another episode of The West Wing. Who's got the briefcase?

Our old pal Tom Sexton stops by to say a find farewell, and we force him to watch another episode of the fucking West Wing. This is the one where Donna finallty acts on all those years of abuse and misogyny and.... for fuck's sake, are you kidding? Hey, did you hear about Roe? That happened after we recorded this. Sorry.

Will the California nuclear power plant blow up, taking most of Southern California with it? Or will the problem just go away? Who could possibly guess? Also, Josh challenges Dan Pfeiffer to a steel cage wrestling match.

Someone or other is having an affair or something, and there's a nuclear war brewing between China and Russia or somesuch shit... Also, even after all those farewell tears AND a new Diesel Boots song... we have a brand new Psaki Bomb. How is this even possible!

Lisa Curry joins Josh and Dave to bag on Bill Maher, say goodbye to Jen Psaki, and watch an episode of The West Wing with Josh. BECAUSE DAVE FUCKING FORGOT TO DO HIS HOMEWORK!

The West Wing finally steps up and challenges Seinfeld - this week's episode is a show about nothing. But don't worry - Will Menaker is here to help us fill the void.

After six and a half seasons, the entirely white writers of the West Wing FINALLY do an episode that touches on racial issues, and it ROCKS even harder than you'd expect it to.

It's the most incredible hour of television you've ever seen! This week.... the legendary LIVE DEBATE. We hate to break it to you... it's not good.

It's our special Trial of the Chicago 7 episode, in whichthe great film critic Bilge Ebiri joins us to battle for the streets of Chicago and the hearts and minds of liberals. Plus, Danny Bessner stops by to talk about being an eyewitness to history.

It's All Abortion All The Time! as the West Wing gang takes on America's ickiest issue. The suspense is killing us! Who will win the election? The vaguely pro-choice Democrat, or the vaguely pro-choice Republican?

At long last! Tobey stands revealed! Heads must roll! We're joined by our pal Pete D'Allessandro to discuss the most notorious episode in West Wing history.

In an effort to shine a light on stories the mainstream media avoids, Josh and Dave discuss the recent Academy Awards, and a thing that happened at them. Plus - did not see this coming - The West Wing comes down on the wrong side of Intelligent Design. Also - Is this the final Psaki Bomb?????

Once again, we dive into the surreal universe where Republicans are hard to beat in California, and Democrats have a lock on the Latino vote.

This week's episode goes out with love to Michael McFaul, who is very much not worse than Hitler.

At long last, we begin the dreaded FINAL SEASON of The West Wing. Will Josh & Dave make it across the finish line? Only time will tell.

Briana and Katie join Josh and Dave to wrap up The Hillary Thing by watching Hillary and Huma discuss the meaning of life. Plus: That amazing victory speech! Plus plus: Lee Camp stops by to talk about the demise of RT, and how opposing war makes you a Commie.

This week, it's all about sexism and ambition. Ashley Stevens & Meagan Day join us as Hillary explains how she managed to persevere in the face of the horrific misogyny of sexist pigs like Bernie Sanders. Also, some war stuff, more COVID ranting, and Josh's head explodes.

Josh & Dave are joined by their pals from The Trillbillies Workers' Party to learn negotiation skills from the master herself. Plus, Shanti Singh stops by to breakdown the school board recall in San Francisco, and to help us prove that Lee Fang is an idiot.

Julia Claire & Kate Willett join Josh & Dave as Hillary explains public speaking and how to handle hecklers.

Ha ha ha ha! People who smoke pot always want to eat stuff. Ha ha ha ha ha! Plus a very special rewrite of The West Wing that fixes everything.

What is it with women and paint, and why must they constantly sit in it?

In which we ask the very wonderful and brilliant Alex Press to watch her very first episode of West Wing, then force her to talk about it.

A good deal of time is spent discussing pancake syrup, but we ignore all that to discuss how The West Wing kids are always losing.

A very special episode, in which we take a break from discussing the terrible effect of The West Wing's politics, and talk about it's equally terrible impact on mental health.

In light of recent events, we put together this special 9/11 episode of The West Wing Thing with special guest, Chapo Trap House's Matt Christman. Let's talk Isaac & Ishmael, folks!

Katherine Krueger and Chapo Trap House's Will Menaker loved it so much, they came back this week to discuss a very smarty pants episode of The West Wing.

West Wing superfans Katherine Krueger and Chapo Trap House's Will Menaker join us to set us straight on the greatest television show in history.

In which Josh (the one on The West Wing, not our beloved co-host) explodes in a fit of misogynistic rage. Hilarity ensues.

"The Lame Duck Congress" In which Sorkin explains the reasons why it's wrong for a politician to do their job.

"And It's Surely To Their Credit" Bartlet comes perilously close to getting laid, and the great John Larroquette gets to say what the rest of us are thinking.

"In This White House" Everybody's favorite Good Republican finally comes to The West Wing. It's Ainsley Hayes, folks! This is how you government!

"The Midterms" Josh finally explodes, but then Dave blows up even more. THE most iconic scene in the history of the show

Episodes 1&2 In the Shadow of Two Gunmen We're back! And we're joined by TV writer/producer John Rogers, creator of LEVERAGE, who explains - among other things - that it's possible to run a TV series withOUT screwing your writers out of money.

Episode 22 "What Kind of Day Has It Been?" It's the action packed finale of the first season of The West Wing, and we celebrate by talking with Luke Savage, whose Current Affairs article HOW LIBERALS FELL IN LOVE WITH THE WEST WING is the seminal work in the field. We'll be taking a brief break, but we'll be back shortly with season 3 of The West Wing Thing, in which we discuss season 2 of The West Wing. Confused? Ask Dave. He'll explain.

Episode 21 "Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics" In which Josh and Dave hype the other West Wing podcast, attempt to bring back the word "pud," reveal who can beat Trump in a debate, and discuss what might actually be the worst line ever uttered on The West Wing. And on The West Wing, the gang sacrifices a live cow to the great god Bipartisanship, and we explain why that's dopey.

Episode 20 "Mandatory Minimums" Joey Lucas is back, Josh wears his special suit, and the mating habits of emotionally stunted man-boys take center stage. Plus, the dark West Wing past of a Democratic presidential hopeful is laid bare for all to see.

Episode 19 "Let Bartlet Be Bartlet" In an obvious response to our many criticisms of the show, Leo and the gang determine to buckle down and get real about using the power of the White House to actually get something done.

Episode 18 "Six Meetings Before Lunch" Josh argues reparations with a new black character, Sam gaslights Mallory with the help of her father, and Zoe (Note to self - confirm character's name before posting!) tells a lie that might have huge repercussions for the White House.