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Political Beats

National Review

Scot Bertram and Jeff Blehar discuss ask guests from the world of politics about their musical passions.

music music history

All Episodes

02:06:55

Episode 132: Tom Nichols / Boston

Political Beats ·

2024/03/18

Introducing the Band:Your hosts Scot Bertram (@ScotBertram) and Jeff Blehar (@EsotericCD) are with guest Tom Nichols. Tom is a staff writer at The Atlantic and author ofThe Death of Expertise: The Campaign against Established Knowledge and Why it Matters, with a new second edition out soon. Find him on X/Twitter at@RadioFreeTom. Tom’s Music Pick: BostonThis could be our first episode that is longer simply by listening to the entirety of the band's actual discography. Even if true, we still think you

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03:22:51

Episode 131: Jay Cost / The Kinks [Part 2]

Political Beats ·

2024/01/29

Introducing the Band:Your hosts Scot Bertram (@ScotBertram) and Jeff Blehar (@EsotericCD) are with guest Jay Cost. Jay is the Gerald R. Ford senior non-resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and the author of, most recently, James Madison: America’s First Politician. Find him on Twitter/X at @Jay__Cost.Jay’s Music Pick: The KinksHaven’t we done these guys already? We sure did! But this is the part of the Kinks' career we didn't do any real justice to back six or seven years ago when

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03:38:28

Episode 130: Jay Cost / The Kinks [Part 1]

Political Beats ·

2024/01/02

Introducing the Band:Your hosts Scot Bertram (@ScotBertram) and Jeff Blehar (@EsotericCD) are with guest Jay Cost. Jay is the Gerald R. Ford senior non-resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and the author of, most recently, James Madison: America's First Politician. Find him on Twitter/X at @Jay__Cost.Jay's Music Pick: The KinksHaven't we done these guys already? We sure did! For the first (and possibly last) time, Political Beats has done something unprecedented and gone back to

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03:09:39

Episode 129: Mike Long / Joe Jackson

Political Beats ·

2023/11/20

Introducing the Band:Your hosts Scot Bertram (@ScotBertram) and Jeff Blehar (@EsotericCD) with guest Mike Long. Mike is a (very) occasional writer for National Review and was one of the originals back in the early 2000s as NRO was launched. He’s the author of the non-fiction bestseller The Molecule of More and its sequel coming in fall of 2024.Mike’s Music Pick: Joe JacksonAfter running through Elvis Costello and Nick Lowe/Rockpile, it was only a matter of time before we got to covering Joe Jackson

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02:38:14

Episode 128: Hannah Rowan / Blondie

Political Beats ·

2023/10/23

Introducing the Band:Your hosts Scot Bertram (@ScotBertram) and Jeff Blehar (@EsotericCD) are joined by guest Hannah Rowan. Hannah is the managing editor of Modern Age. You can find her on X at @Hannah_Cristine and read her review of Debbie Harry's memoir here.Hannah’s Music Pick: BlondieHere's another artist we get to cross off the list of long-awaited episodes. Both Jeff and Scot have been hot to do Blondie for years and it has nothing (okay, relatively little) to do with the attractive woman

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03:07:36

Episode 127: Eric Kohn / Huey Lewis & the News

Political Beats ·

2023/10/02

Introducing the Band:Your hosts Scot Bertram (@ScotBertram) and Jeff Blehar (@EsotericCD) are joined by guest Eric Kohn. Eric is the Director of Marketing & Communications at the Acton Institute. Check him out on Twitter at @iEricKohn.Eric’s Music Pick: Huey Lewis & the NewsDo you believe in miracles? Yes! After years of lobbying, Jeff has proven that anyone will fold, given enough time and pressure. Here is the Huey Lewis & the News episode of Political Beats.Those of you with us for a while will

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03:11:25

Episode 126: Rory Cooper / Simon & Garfunkel

Political Beats ·

2023/09/05

Introducing the Band:Your hosts Scot Bertram (@ScotBertram) and Jeff Blehar (@EsotericCD) are joined by guest Rory Cooper. He’s a partner at Purple Strategies, a corporate reputation and advocacy agency in Alexandria, Va., a former George W. Bush and Eric Cantor aide, and a longtime Republican strategist. He’s on Twitter at @rorycooper.Rory’s Music Pick: Simon & GarfunkelIf you enjoyed Political Beats’ episode on the solo career of Paul Simon with Rory Cooper from a year and half ago, then kick

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03:31:11

Episode 125: Matt Murray / Nick Lowe

Political Beats ·

2023/07/31

Introducing the Band:Your hosts Scot Bertram (@ScotBertram) and Jeff Blehar (@EsotericCD) are with guest Matt Murray. Matt is the recently departed editor of the Wall Street Journal, now on assignment for its parent company, News Corp. Check him out on Twitter at @murraymatt.Matt’s Music Pick: Nick LoweOkay, it says “Nick Lowe” right there above this line, but we need to be straight with you -- there’s a lot of other stuff happening in this show. Nick Lowe-adjacent acts are featured prominently,

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02:50:01

Episode 124: Dave Weigel / Pet Shop Boys

Political Beats ·

2023/07/06

Introducing the Band:Your hosts Scot Bertram (@ScotBertram) and Jeff Blehar (@EsotericCD) are joined by guest Dave Weigel. Dave is a founding reporter at Semafor, where he covers the 2024 campaign and writes the Americana newsletter. Check his work out here and find him on Twitter at @daveweigel.Dave’s Music Pick: Pet Shop BoysOpportunities are knocking: I've got the brains, and you've got the looks, so let's make lots of money as we use the post–July 4 week to celebrate the United Kingdom's most

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03:10:19

Episode 123: Dominic Green / The Jam

Political Beats ·

2023/06/12

Introducing the Band:Your hosts Scot Bertram (@ScotBertram) and Jeff Blehar (@EsotericCD) are joined by guest Dominic Green. Dom is a historian and columnist, and he used to be a musician. He is a contributor to the Wall Street Journal and a columnist for the Washington Examiner and Jewish Chronicle. Check him out on Twitter at @DrDominicGreen.Dominic’s Music Pick: The JamIn some ways, this is one of the most necessary episodes of Political Beats ever. In other ways, this is one of the most obscure

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03:02:18

Episode 122: Eric Garcia / Black Sabbath

Political Beats ·

2023/04/18

Introducing the Band:Your hosts Scot Bertram (@ScotBertram) and Jeff Blehar (@EsotericCD) are joined by guest Eric Garcia. Eric is senior Washington writer for the Independent and a columnist at MSNBC. Check him out on Twitter at @EricMGarcia.Eric’s Music Pick: Black SabbathThe storm is upon you; can you hear the peals of thunder in the background, and the bleak clang of the church bell in the sleeping village? Well then break out the most appropriate tritone you can think of as the gang discusses

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02:53:12

Episode 121: Adam Wollner / My Morning Jacket

Political Beats ·

2023/03/23

Introducing the Band:Your hosts Scot Bertram (@ScotBertram) and Jeff Blehar (@EsotericCD) are with guest Adam Wollner. Adam is a Washington-based journalist who has covered national politics for CNN, McClatchy, and National Journal. Check him out on Twitter at @adamwollner.Adam’s Music Pick: My Morning JacketA reverb-laden, indie-country band? Roots rock? Electro-funk? Jam band? All that and much more could be said to describe My Morning Jacket at various stages of their career. The constant has

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02:06:17

Episode 120: Mark Hemingway / Big Star

Political Beats ·

2023/02/27

Introducing the Band:Your hosts Scot Bertram (@ScotBertram) and Jeff Blehar (@EsotericCD) are joined by guest Mark Hemingway. Mark is a writer at RealClearInvestigations and RealClearPolitics and an occasional contributor at The Federalist. Check him out on Twitter at @heminator.Mark’s Music Pick: Big StarHow do you merit an episode of Political Beats when you've released only a handful of albums in your career? When two happen to be among the best pop/rock records ever recorded and a third is a

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02:20:55

Episode 119: Noam Blum / Tool

Political Beats ·

2023/01/31

Introducing the Band:Your hosts Scot Bertram (@ScotBertram) and Jeff Blehar (@EsotericCD) are joined by Noam Blum. Noam is Chief Technology Officer at Tablet Magazine and co-host of the Ambitious Crossover Attempt podcast and of All Crossed Out on the Callin app, both of which deal with pop culture, media, and politics. Find him on Twitter at @neontaster.Noam’s Music Pick: ToolSince Political Beats dealt with one of Gen Z's niche musical obsessions last episode in tackling The National, we've

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02:35:50

Episode 118: Phil Wegmann / The National

Political Beats ·

2022/12/19

Introducing the Band:Your hosts Scot Bertram (@ScotBertram) and Jeff Blehar (@EsotericCD) are with guest Phil Wegmann. Phil is White House reporter for RealClearNews and RealClearPolitics. Check him out on Twitter at @PhilipWegmann.Phil’s Music Pick: The NationalLet us tell you, we have had *a bunch* of listeners ask us for an episode on The National, and we are nothing if not responsive to our fans. Neither one of your hosts previously was extremely familiar with the band, which is why we called in

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03:10:19

Episode 117: Andrew Fink / Otis Redding

Political Beats ·

2022/11/07

Introducing the Band:Your hosts Scot Bertram (@ScotBertram) and Jeff Blehar (@EsotericCD) are joined by guest Andrew Fink. Andrew is a member of the Michigan House of Representative (District 35 -- Branch & Hillsdale Counties). Prior to that, he was the district director for Senate majority leader Mike Shirkey. Follow him on Twitter at @AndrewFinkMI.Andrew’s Music Pick: Otis ReddingLadies and gentlemens, we are so happy to be here with the Love Crowd tonight because we gotta gotta gotta gotta turn

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02:44:29

Episode 116: Noah Weinrich / Weezer

Political Beats ·

2022/10/20

Introducing the Band:Your hosts Scot Bertram (@ScotBertram) and Jeff Blehar (@EsotericCD) are with guest Noah Weinrich. Noah is director of communications for Heritage Action, the grassroots and advocacy arm of The Heritage Foundation. Check him out on Twitter at @weinrich_noah.Noah’s Music Pick: WeezerWhat kind of a band starts its career with two stone-cold classic albums, takes a nearly five-year hiatus, and then returns to mixed results for a 20+ year tail? We're about to find out. Covering the

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03:11:43

Episode 115: Jesse Walker / Willie Nelson [Part 2]

Political Beats ·

2022/09/26

Introducing the Band:Your hosts Scot Bertram (@ScotBertram) and Jeff Blehar (@EsotericCD) are with guest Jesse Walker. Jesse is books editor at Reason and author of two books, The United States of Paranoia and Rebels On the Air. He can be found on Twitter at @notjessewalker.Jesse’s Music Pick: Willie NelsonIn Part Two, we pick up Willie’s story at his commercial breakthrough, Red Headed Stranger (1975). This opens a window in which Willie records frequent number one albums on the country charts and

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03:13:45

Episode 115: Jesse Walker / Willie Nelson [Part 1]

Political Beats ·

2022/09/05

Introducing the Band:Your hosts Scot Bertram (@ScotBertram) and Jeff Blehar (@EsotericCD) are joined by guest Jesse Walker. Jesse is books editor at Reason and author of two books, The United States of Paranoia and Rebels On the Air. He can be found on Twitter at @notjessewalker.Jesse’s Music Pick: Willie NelsonSure, in the past here on Political Beats we have dabbled in country-ish music. We've dipped our toes in the water of alt-country and country rock. But this, friends, is a full-fledged belly

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02:22:07

Episode 114: Steve Miller / Mott The Hoople

Political Beats ·

2022/08/15

Introducing the Band:Your hosts Scot Bertram (@ScotBertram) and Jeff Blehar (@EsotericCD) are joined by guest Steve Miller. Steve is a veteran journalist and a reporter at RealClearInvestigations. He's also the author of Detroit Rock City: The Uncensored History of Rock 'n' Roll in America's Loudest City. Steve's Music Pick: Mott The HoopleDo you remember the Saturday gigs? We do, we do! Mott The Hoople are known outside of specialist rock audiences these days either as "one of those weird bands

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