The West Wing Weekly returns
A new election-season special series.
From 2016 to 2020, I co-hosted The West Wing Weekly podcast with my friend Josh Malina, who played Will Bailey on The West Wing. We recapped and discussed every episode of the series, and it was a wonderful experience, and it took us places I never imagined, like England, Ireland, and Norway. The podcast was incredibly fun to make, but it was limited by the number of episodes of The West Wing. Well, we decided to reunite and start the podcast again in a new form. For the moment, and it might be a very brief moment, the political theater of the real world has a glimmer of hope. Buoyed by that, we thought it might be fun to look back at some of our favorite fictional political films. So next month, on our Patreon page, we’re launching a new podcast series, The West Wing Weekly Political Film Fest. We’ve already started recording, and Josh has already made me cry with laughter again, so I hope you’ll join us.
Speaking of crying with laughter, I received a press release last week about H. Jon Benjamin’s new jazz album. You might know him as the voice of Bob from Bob’s Burgers, or Archer. Getting that email made me want to revisit the NPR segment that has made me laugh harder than anything else I’ve heard on public radio. I should say re-revisit, because I go back to listen to this piece regularly.
Early in 2016, Robert Siegel conducted an interview with Jon Benjamin about his very first jazz album, Well, I Should Have…* (*Learned How To Play Piano). And Robert Siegel—the calm, measured voice of All Things Considered from 1987 to 2018—can NOT keep it together. Please, enjoy.
And one last item from podcastland: I wanted to highlight a Song Exploder episode from earlier this summer, with Neil Finn of Crowded House talking about their landmark hit “Don’t Dream It’s Over.” It was a special episode for me, because of how significant that song was for me when I was a kid. I’ve been surprised to hear from friends and listeners who have gotten in touch to tell me that their kids also love that song. I had no idea, but it really warms my cold, black heart to imagine an 8 year old in 2024 feeling the same feelings I had in 1987.
Thanks,
Hrishikesh
The gag reel is too good! “That bagel is… everything.” Love TWWW!
Just listened to the H. Jon Benjamin/NPR interview...OMG!! That's hilarious!! I adore Archer and Wet Hot so can't even listen to that man's voice without hearing Archer or a can of vegetables. But to hear his lack of piano playing talent is next level. Thank you for sharing!!