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Political Theater

You can't always get what you want, politics edition

Podcasts

You can’t always get what you want, politics edition

Political Theater, Episode 409

By Jason Dick and Nathan L. Gonzales
Posted June 4, 2026 at 3:35pm

Sens. Bill Cassidy, R-La., left, topped Roll Call's Most Vulnerable Incumbent senator list for a few days before losing his primary. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, right, came in at No. 2 on the list and faces a competitive general election contest.

Podcasts

The sometimes fleeting status of Roll Call’s Most Vulnerable Incumbent list

By Jason Dick, Mary Ellen McIntire and Daniela Altimari
Posted May 18, 2026 at 5:52pm
Political Theater host Jason Dick, right, talks with filmmaker Mark Kassen about Kassen's new movie, “PH-1,” a political thriller about a U.S. senator held hostage in his own apartment.

Podcasts

Claustrophobic paranoid thriller? Count us in, ‘PH-1’

By Jason Dick
Posted May 4, 2026 at 2:52pm
Guests and armed security agents are seen during the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner after a gunman tried to enter the ballroom of the Washington Hilton on Saturday.

Podcasts

A White House Correspondents’ dinner like no other

By Jason Dick
Posted April 29, 2026 at 1:32pm
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and podcaster Joe Rogan look on as President Donald Trump shakes hands with W. Bryan Hubbard, CEO of Americans for Ibogaine, during an executive order signing ceremony at the White House on April 18. The executive order aims to further medical research and clinical trials for certain psychedelic drugs. The use of psychedelics is a theme in the Thomas Pynchon novel “The Crying of Lot 49,” one of many parallels in the book to our current time, Political Theater discusses.

‘Shall I project a world?’ — ‘The Crying of Lot 49’ episode

By Jason Dick
Posted April 23, 2026 at 12:09pm
President Donald Trump delivers his State of the Union address to Congress on Feb. 24. Congress is getting more diverse, according to the latest Vital Statistics on Congress. It is also seeing a surge in members leaving the institution.

Vital signs: The numbers that define Congress

By Jason Dick
Posted April 17, 2026 at 10:43am
Spring is in the air, and Congress is in recess — despite a partial government shutdown of the Homeland Security Department.

How much does the Homeland Security shutdown matter to the public?

By Jason Dick and Jessica Wehrman
Posted April 2, 2026 at 11:25am
The public standing of President Donald Trump, left, will continue to be linked to the electoral fate of the House GOP majority, lead by Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., right, according to Roll Call Elections Analyst Nathan L. Gonzales.

March madness, gladness or sadness? Breaking down the month’s congressional primaries

By Jason Dick and Nathan L. Gonzales
Posted March 26, 2026 at 11:24am
(By Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call file photo)

Everything is being disrupted

By Jason Dick and Brody Mullins
Posted March 12, 2026 at 10:48am
From left, Priscilla Chan, Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg, Lauren Sanchez, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Tesla CEO Elon Musk attend the presidential inauguration of Donald Trump in the Capitol on Jan. 20, 2025.

The ‘Bleeding Edge’ bleeds into 2026

By Jason Dick
Posted March 5, 2026 at 1:27pm