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INSANE: Political theater | Vintage Vibes

Digesting the midterms with The 2026 Cheesecake Index - Roll Call

Jason Dick chews over the midterm results by considering Roll Call Factba.se’s tabulation of how Democrats and Republicans fared in every county that has a Cheesecake Factory. Factba.se founder Bill Frischling and producer extraordinaire Alan Tuszynski help nibble over the trends. Show Notes:

Roll Call · Nov 6

Taxidermy, attack ads, early voting and more: On the road in Iowa and Texas - Roll Call

Jason Dick talks with former Roll Call Editor in Chief Christina Bellantoni, now director of USC Annenberg’s Media Center, about her students’ recent political reporting trips to Iowa and Texas, where the battle for the House and Senate majorities could be decided. Show Notes:

Roll Call · Oct 29

How Sha Na Na could help determine the House majority

Jason Dick talks with the latest Roll Call on the Road mission crew, Mary Ellen McIntire and Tom Williams, about what they learned on their reporting trip to Pennsylvania, including interacting with candidates from Scranton to Harrisburg, as well as Sha Na Na frontman and Social Security advocate Jon “Bowzer”…

Roll Call · Oct 15

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Gathering threads: The stories defining the midterm elections

Jason Dick talks with Roll Call campaign writers Daniela Altimari and Mary Ellen McIntire about their on-the-ground reporting as the midterm general election kicks into high gear; the latest batch of polling in key races; the crazy money being raised and spent; why we’re still not done with redistricting; and…

Roll Call · Sep 24

What a long, strange primary season it’s been

Jason Dick and Nathan Gonzales dive into what they learned now that the 2026 congressional primary season is over, whether re-redistricting and midterm conventions will be the new norm, if we can trust polls and how, ultimately, it might still be the economy, stupid. Show Notes:

Roll Call · Sep 18

Congress punts on big issues

Congress avoided a shutdown fight until December, but passed on several sticky problems it will need to address after Election Day. CQ Roll Editor in Chief Jason Dick and CQ Roll Call Budget Editor David Lerman outline the major fights looming in November in a very special Political Theater and…

Roll Call · Sep 8

Congress punts on big issues

Congress avoided a shutdown fight until December, but passed on several sticky problems it will need to address after Election Day. CQ Roll Call Editor in Chief Jason Dick and CQ Roll Call Budget Editor David Lerman outline the major fights looming in November in a very special Political Theater…

Roll Call · Sep 4

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Sean Astin on being a leader during a time of upheaval

Jason Dick talks with film legend Sean Astin, the president of SAG-AFTRA, about his deep connections to Washington, D.C., public service, the issues he is advocating on Capitol Hill and meeting the moment at a pivotal time in human history. Show Notes:

Roll Call · Jul 2

DC/DOX Film Festival: A kaleidoscope of America and beyond

Jason Dick talks with Sky Sitney about this year’s DC/DOX documentary film festival, which brings to Washington a slate of more than 100 nonfiction movies about Billie Jean King, Earth Wind and Fire, AI, a Washington Commanders superfan, Sea Monkeys and even Yugoslavian leader Josip Tito’s parrot. Show Notes:

Roll Call · Jun 9

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

Jason Dick talks with Mark Kassen, the director, writer and star of the new movie “PH-1,” a contemporary political drama whose mix of mystery, social media and taut pacing make it a pretty good encapsulation of our fraught time. Show Notes:

Roll Call · May 4

Political Theater’s conversations with filmmakers and other people who dig movies - Roll Call

We like to put the theater in Political Theater every so often. George Orwell, Ukrainian artists, the Christmas Adventurers Club. Movies don’t have to be overtly political to say something about politics. Sometimes just documenting what life is like can become inherently political. What the best films do — be…

Roll Call · Dec 29, 2025

Can Congress save itself? - Roll Call

Despite its propensity for making itself look bad, some of the inner workings on Capitol Hill reveal lawmakers who are finding ways to work together. Can they cut through the noise and solve some real problems? Jason Dick and Justin Papp discuss the changing Congress and the people who make…

Roll Call · Dec 4, 2025

The re-re-redistricting chronicles - Roll Call

Jason Dick and Nathan Gonzales talk about how multiple rounds of redistricting congressional boundaries and the lawsuits surrounding them are making a weird year and weird election cycle even weirder. Show Notes:

Roll Call · Nov 20, 2025

There is no such things as an off-year in politics - Roll Call

Jason Dick talks with Daniela Altimari and Mary Ellen McIntire about the new Roll Call Most Vulnerable Incumbent list, Tuesday night’s election results and the latest rounds of redistricting. Show Notes:

Roll Call · Nov 6, 2025

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Roll Call · Oct 31, 2025

Taking the ‘Vineland’ express to ‘One Battle After Another’ - Roll Call

Jason Dick and Sean Carswell discuss Thomas Pynchon’s novel “Vineland,” how it leads to Paul Thomas Anderson’s movie “One Battle After Another,” the conversation those two works have about American culture and politics, as well as the 1960s left, the Nixonian right, Reaganism, the drug war, Trumpism and, for good…

Roll Call · Sep 23, 2025

Let’s get existential - Roll Call

Jason Dick and Molly Reynolds talk about the most significant things Congress has done this year and what kind of ripple effects could follow, as well as how lawmakers disenfranchise themselves when it comes to putting in the work. Show Notes:

Roll Call · Sep 18, 2025

Revisiting friendly advice for the House, Senate - Roll Call

Back in December, before the current Congress convened, Jason Dick and Molly E. Reynolds discussed simple fixes the House and Senate could implement to make Congress work better for the public, the government and the institution. As they prepare for next week’s podcast to take stock of how things have…

Roll Call · Aug 7, 2025

How Democrats hope to flip the script on energy as a campaign issue - Roll Call

This episode of Political Theater delves into how energy affordability could become a sleeper issue in next year's midterm elections.

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Roll Call · Jun 25, 2025

A short history of hoping people will change their minds - Roll Call

Jason Dick and Jessica Wehrman talk about how unpopular the “One Big Beautiful Bill” is, why Republicans will likely pass it anyway and the short history of how, regardless of how hard politicians try, sometimes the public won’t go along with their public relations efforts. Show Notes:

Roll Call · Jun 4, 2025

The ‘predicament and necessity’ of documentary movies - Roll Call

Jason Dick talks to Sky Sitney, co-founder of DC/DOX, about this year’s documentary festival, as well as how grants being canceled and studios pulling back on the genre are playing out as both challenge and opportunity. Show Notes:

Roll Call · May 27, 2025

Taking the grand tour of Washington - Roll Call

This episode of Political Theater discusses the value of just talking to people and how the years change your perspective on Washington.

Roll Call · May 20, 2025

That’s a lot of Supreme Court there - Roll Call

Jason Dick and Todd Ruger discuss their (and some public officials’) race times at the ACLI Capital Challenge, then delve into the Supreme Court’s internal dynamics, how its workload has evolved, what big decisions are expected before the end of the term and a little about David Souter. They cap…

Roll Call · May 13, 2025

Call it the Most Not Invulnerable List - Roll Call

Jason Dick and Nathan L. Gonzales discuss House and Senate races that could be competitive, but aren’t quite yet. Basically, what would it take for someone like Brian Fitzpatrick or Raul Ruiz to be in tough races. They also riff on how “Andor” and “Return of the Jedi” fit into this…

Roll Call · May 8, 2025

Still vulnerable, even while batting .400 - Roll Call

Jason Dick, Daniela Altimari and Mary Ellen McIntire discuss the first Roll Call Most Vulnerable Incumbents list of the 2026 cycle, why House freshman frequently have the blues and how even gobs and gobs of money can’t always buy you an election. Show Notes:

Roll Call · Apr 3, 2025

Much ado about special elections - Roll Call

Jason Dick, Mary Ellen McIntire and Andrew Menezes discuss the election results this week in Florida and Wisconsin.

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