The West Wing Weekly

The West Wing Weekly is an American podcast hosted by Hrishikesh Hirway and Joshua Malina. In each episode, the hosts discuss one episode of the popular television program The West Wing, which originally aired on NBC from 1999 to 2006. The podcast has featured various cast and crew members including series creator Aaron Sorkin, director Tommy Schlamme, series actors Martin Sheen, Rob Lowe, Bradley Whitford, Richard Schiff, Janel Moloney, Marlee Matlin, and Dulé Hill, longtime series writer-producers Eli Attie and Lawrence O'Donnell, and many former government officials, academics, and pundits, among others.
The New York Times described the podcast as "taking a fine-tooth comb to each episode of [the] political drama.
==History==
Joshua Malina, who played Will Bailey in The West Wing, said, "I've been a frequent guest on other people's podcasts, and I have always wanted to find something that I could call my own," collaborating with his friend and the host of the podcast Song Exploder, Hrishikesh Hirway, to start the podcast. The first episode was released on 22 March 2016 and new episodes are released weekly on Wednesdays, the night on which The West Wing originally aired. In September 2016, the podcast was added to the Radiotopia network.
==Episodes==
===Season 1===
The podcast debuted on March 22, 2016 with an episode discussing the pilot episode of The West Wing. The first guest of the podcast was Dulé Hill, who played the role of Charlie Young on the series. Other guests during the season included cast members Janel Moloney, Richard Schiff, Melissa Fitzgerald, William Duffy, Peter James Smith, Liza Weil, Kathleen York, Bill O'Brien, and Tim Matheson, series writer-producer Eli Attie, series costumer Lyn Paolo, and other guests such as Ronald Klain, Senator Bob Casey Jr., former White House spokesperson Jay Carney, Patrick Murphy, and Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson. The season also included a 10 year reunion episode with The West Wing cast at the ATX Television Festival and a discussion panel with the FiveThirtyEight team.
===Season 2===
The second season episodes began on September 20, 2016 with a discussion with series creator Aaron Sorkin. The second season included Tommy Schlamme, set decorator Ellen Totleben, cast members Bradley Whitford, Emily Procter, Michael O'Neill, Dave Chameides, Kim Webster, Nina Siemaszko, Rob Lowe, Marlee Matlin, Oliver Platt as well as other guests including Eric Fanning, Congressman Brendan Boyle, Congressman Steve Gunderson, former White House Communications Director, Donald A. Baer. The season also featured a Q&A episode with the hosts, called "Big Block of Cheese", named after the eponymous day from the episode "The Crackpots and These Women", and a live episode at SF Sketchfest with Bradley Whitford.
===Season 3===
The third season began on April 5, 2017 with the discussion of 9/11 special episode Isaac and Ishmael, with Ajay Naidu and former White House Press Secretary, Mike McCurry. It included interviews with guest star Mark Harmon, composer W. G. Snuffy Walden, writer Eli Attie, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, a previously unaired interview with John Spencer and a live taping for the season finale episode with Aaron Sorkin and Allison Janney.
===Season 4===
The fourth season began on October 4, 2017 with a special episode featuring Martin Sheen. It has featured interviews with guest stars John Gallagher Jr., Clark Gregg, and Aimee Mann, director Christopher Misiano, and former Education Secretary John King Jr..
==Reception==
The New York Times called it "A podcast with a ringer". The Guardian also reviewed it positively calling it, "The new West Wing podcast is a tonic to Trumpmania".
==References==
== External links ==
* Official Website
Category:Audio podcasts
Category:English-language podcasts
Category:Film and television podcasts
Category:2016 podcast debuts
Category:Radiotopia