2.10: Noël (with Bradley Whitford and Ellen Totleben)

sung to the melody of “Carol of the Bells” —
Hark! oh my gosh
Hrishi and Josh
Discuss Noël
Puns and intel

Ellen Totleben
Tells us laymen
All that you see
Was her duty

She was the West Wing Set Decorator
And we’ll talk to Bradley Whitford later

When it’s just us
Things we discuss:
PTSD
Tommy Schlamme

I got a job?
You got a job.
Bush versus Gore
Yo-Yo and more

Merry, Merry, Merry, Merry Christmas!
Bradley Whitford won an Emmy with this

Merry, Merry, Merry, Merry Christmas!
Epic flentl; you don't want to miss this.

[ download ] [ transcript ]

footnotes—
Yo-Yo Ma, at age 7, performs for President Kennedy
“Paper Boi” from Atlanta 
Paperboy by Atari
And from the corrections department: Paxton Whitehead is alive and well, and still performing. An earlier version of this episode Josh suggested otherwise, and he was (ahem) mortified to learn of the error. Apologies to Mr Whitehead!

PS — check out this amazing rendition of the show description above. Thank you to Ralph, Bridget, Anna, and Des!

2.09: Galileo

At this extremely historic moment, we present a very unique episode. (Wow, that really is some terrible writing.) In this episode, we bone up on our Mars with help from NASA Systems Engineer Mallory Lefland, who is working on the Mars 2020 mission at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

footnotes —
Freddie Mercury said it right.
A tour of the West Wing set.

[ download ] [ transcript ]

2.08: Shibboleth

The pressure is on as we discuss one of Hrishi’s all-time favorite episodes. Will his feelings be spared by Josh, or will they be placed on the chopping block and pulled apart like a turkey’s giblets and flentls?!

And…introducing the TWWW University Sweatshirt! You can get one for yourself or for your favorite West Wing Weekly listener at thewestwingweekly.com/sweatshirt. 

footnotes —
Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead – Coin Toss
Sarah Palin’s Turkey Massacre (Warning: not for the faint of heart)

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2.07: The Portland Trip (with Secretary of the Army Eric Fanning, Congressman Brendan Boyle, and Fmr. Congressman Steve Gunderson)

For "The Portland Trip," we try to slip the surly bonds of Earth. We are, in turns, lifted and dragged down by our feelings. In honor of Josh Lyman's conversation with Congressman Matt Skinner, we ask real-life former Wisconsin congressman Steve Gunderson what it was like to be the first openly gay Republican in Congress. And we're joined later by Pennsylvania Congressman Brendan Boyle (@RepBrendanBoyle), as well as the Secretary of the Army, Eric Fanning (@SecArmy) — the first openly gay person to head any service in the U.S. Military.

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2.06: The Lame Duck Congress (with Dave Chameides)

How ya doin, Dalai Lama? In this episode, we're joined by steadicam operator Dave Chameides to talk about the complex choreography of the shooting a walk and talk. Plus, we get a visit from Kevin T. Porter (@KevinTPorter) to talk about his Sorkinisms supercut videos.

footnotes —
Sorkinisms: Part I, II, and III 

[ download ] [ transcript ]