2.05: And It's Surely to Their Credit

Loosen your tie. Loosen whatever you'd like. But don't get it twisted: leaf peeping is totally a thing.

footnotes —
The "Stolen Valor" episode of the Reply All podcast. 
"Leaf It to Kris," the official leaf peeping blog of New Hampshire, written by Kris Neilsen.
Sideshow Bob singing selections from H.M.S. Pinafore, on The Simpsons.
Topsy-Turvy, a film by Mike Leigh that does not star Kevin Kline

Just one week left to get the West Wing Weekly t-shirt!

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2.04: In This White House (with Emily Procter and Ambassador Deborah Birx)

Ginger, get the popcorn, because we're joined by Emily Procter (@emilyprocter) to talk about her first appearance on the West Wing as Ainsley Hayes. Plus, for some context and perspective on the storyline about AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa, we speak to Ambassador-at-Large Deborah L. Birx, the US Global Coordinator to Combat HIV/AIDS (@PEPFAR).

And introducing The West Wing Weekly t-shirt!

footnotes —
PEPFAR, the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief: pepfar.gov
Brad's lip thingy (a crumb?) [ photo ] 
Emily Procter doing a handstand in the set of the Oval Office [ photo ]
Emily's up-do and brown dress (courtesy of Lyn Paolo) [ photo ]

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2.03: The Midterms

While you may be mistaking this for your monthly meeting of the Ignorant Tight-Ass Club, it's in fact the weekly meeting of the West Wing TV Book Club. (The Ignorant Tight-Ass Club meets down the hall, on the right.)

footnotes —
Hrishi here: I now understand how the math at the end of the episode could make sense, if the Democrats had taken two seats from the Republicans outside of those last twelve races, so it balanced out in the end. Derp. #acalculia

Yankee Doodle Coffee Shop (RIP) in New Haven, CT, purveyor of vanilla egg creams.

As requested by Josh Malina, here's a GIF of Josh Lyman hitting his head against the headboard. [ GIF ]

Dr Jenna Jacobs and her crab brooch. [ photo ]

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2.01 – 2.02: In the Shadow of Two Gunmen (with Thomas Schlamme, Bradley Whitford, and Michael O'Neill)

"In the Shadow of Two Gunmen" was the Season 2 premiere of the West Wing. The two-part episode aired as a special 2-hour broadcast. In honor of that, here's our own two-part episode. 

In Part I, we're joined by director and executive producer Thomas Schlamme, who created the visual language of The West Wing around Aaron Sorkin's words. We ask him about his directorial decisions for the show, and for this cinematic premiere. And we ask: what happened with Mandy? 

[ download - Part I ] [ transcript ]

In Part II of our double header, Bradley Whitford (@WhitfordBradley) makes his West Wing Weekly debut to talk about getting the role of Josh Lyman, and starting the season by getting shot. But first, we speak with Michael O'Neill, who played Special Agent Ron Butterfield. Plus, a few thoughts on Emily's List from its former executive director, Amy Dacey (@AmyKDacey).

[ download - Part II ] [ transcript ]

footnotes –
Josh, Hrishi, and Tommy Schlamme [ photo ]
Josh, Hrishi, and Bradley Whitford [ photo ]
Jerry Parr (Michael O'Neill's adviser) wrote a book: In the Secret Service.

2.00: Special Interim Session (with Aaron Sorkin)

Josh and Hrishi are joined by West Wing creator Aaron Sorkin for a special episode. Aaron reflects on the experience of making the first season of the West Wing while making the second season of Sports Night at the same time. We look back on the previous season, and look ahead to the upcoming one.

footnotes —
Aaron Sorkin with Josh and Hrishi (photo)
The West Wing Weekly is now a part of the Radiotopia podcast network!

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