At some point, close listeners to C-SPAN's podcast "The Weekly" might have wondered: Why have we never done an episode featuring the best-of James Traficant? Well – wonder no more. Because – it's this week's episode! Why now? Two reasons: 1. This podcast is running on May 8th - That's right – Congressman James Traficant's birthday … he was born on May 8th, 1941; 2. We have a very special guest for this podcast … We're joined by one of America's foremost James Traficant experts – he's the editor ...
May 08, 2025•46 min
Can you imagine a time when a U.S. President and a Canadian Prime Minister were friends? ... And said nice things about each other in public? ... And the nice things they said about each other in public were neither remarkable nor newsworthy? Well, here's proof that such a time once existed: "The fact that we go on, we got along, President Reagan and Prime Minister Mulroney, two some said Irish, we were Irish, now that I think of it, and we became friends. But more to the point. We recognized th...
May 01, 2025•25 min
It's time for the annual White House Correspondents Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton. But this year: No comedian. Which means: No jokes about C-SPAN … or about the Washington Hilton. In the past, at every dinner, there seemed to be at least one joke made about one or the other ... or sometimes both in the same joke — Like Conan O'Brien pulled off in 2013... Congratulations to C-SPAN for winning the bid to broadcast this event. They narrowly beat out HGTVQ, TV South America and the Hil...
Apr 24, 2025•13 min
The White House Correspondents Association dinner is just a week away. The big annual media black tie shindig in the basement of the Washington Hilton typically has several surprises. Like this film shown during 2000 dinner. "I want to thank the Academy for this tremendous honor. This may be the greatest moment of my life. I mean, hear since i was a little boy I wanted to be a real actor" That was Bill Clinton, his final dinner as president…. Holding a real-life Oscar and, in front of a mirror, ...
Apr 17, 2025•1 hr 10 min
Thirty years ago, C-SPAN showed the Senate Whitewater Committee hearings. The Special Committee to Investigate Whitewater Development Corporation and Related Matters was created in May 1995. Hearings ran for 300 hours over 60 sessions across 13 months. Did anything concrete come out of those hearings seen on C-SPAN? Well – at least one thing. A hit murder mystery now streaming on Netflix called "The Residence." How do you get from a 1996 Whitewater hearing about possible corruption in politics t...
Apr 10, 2025•35 min
If you're listening closely to the language currently being used by leaders of the United States and Canada about each other -- what a Republican president once said about the two countries might seem unfamiliar. The American people know that putting up walls around our country is a prescription for ruin, not renewal. What the world and the United States need now is more trade and more open trade. And that's why we've pushed for a new GATT round that includes the most ambitious multilateral trad...
Apr 03, 2025•15 min
October 31st, 2019. The U.S. House debates and passes a resolution laying out the rules in the first impeachment inquiry of President Trump. House Democratic Leader Steny Hoyer addresses the House that day — but there's something else on his mind as well: Today is a serious day. Last night was an extraordinary night. I rise for the millions of people who live in the Washington metropolitan area to congratulate and to exalt with all of our region on the extraordinary achievement of the Washington...
Mar 27, 2025•31 min
On the third day of his second administration, President Trump signed six executive orders. One was: Declassifying files pertaining to the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, former Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr. The inclusion of JFK was of particular interest to the C-SPAN podcast "The Weekly." Three years ago -- in March 2022 — we did an episode marking the 30th anniversary of Oliver Stone's movie "JFK." ... That podcast featured only clips from Oliver ...
Mar 20, 2025•35 min
Next week is C-SPAN's 46th anniversary…. On March 19th, 1979, House TV began – for the first time Americans could watch live gavel to gavel coverage of the U.S. House floor on their television. … It was Day One of privately funded C-SPAN. To mark this anniversary on this podcast, we're trying something new. We asked three of America's greatest political podcasters to pick their favorite moment from the House on TV… We'll play the clip they picked… And then we'll talk to each of them about it. It...
Mar 13, 2025•38 min
When presidents come into office, traditionally their first big speech to Congress is about the budget. Like President Trump this past week. Instead of a State of the Union address, new presidents share their economic agenda and vision for the coming four years. And almost always in that big budget speech, they anguish over the escalating national debt. Like President Ronald Reagan in 1981… Our national debt is approaching $1 trillion. A few weeks ago I called such a figure, a trillion dollars, ...
Mar 06, 2025•13 min
If someone were to ask you: name your favorite moment in Congress involving a character from Saturday Night Live -- how would you respond? There’s a good chance you would say it was this: Chris Farley – as Speaker Newt Gingrich – with Speaker Newt Gingrich –– August 4th, 1995 … It was the 100th day of the new Republican majority in the House of Representatives. And Chris Farley – dressed up as Newt Gingrich and doing a doing masterful and frenetic impression of the Speaker – in front of the enti...
Feb 27, 2025•19 min
"Saturday Night Live" – The comedy show has been on TV for half a century. And it seems like Congress has been talking about it for nearly that long. Like Democratic Senator Al Gore in 1990: "I saw a television show recently called Saturday Night Live, Mr. President. They have the habit of putting on humorous pretend commercials that look like real commercials." And Republican Congressman David Drier in 1993: "Mr. Speaker, more than a few of us in this Chamber are aficionados of a television pro...
Feb 20, 2025•29 min
Americans are celebrating Valentine's Day. So, let's remember – the St. Valentine's Day Massacre. Here's President Bill Clinton, speaking on February 15th, 1994 – the day after Valentine’s Day, to the law enforcement community in London Ohio … In the last three decades, violent crimes have increased by 300 percent. Over the last three years, almost a third of Americans have either had themselves or someone in their families victimized by crime. Yesterday was the 65th anniversary of the Saint Val...
Feb 13, 2025•21 min
You might have seen or heard a new promo spot from C-SPAN – Presidents talking democracy … from Jimmy Carter through Donald Trump …. Carter: "Democracy is always an unfinished creation" Reagan: "Democracy is worth dying for" Bush: "Democracy belongs to us all" Clinton: "We are here in the sanctuary of democracy" Bush: "Great responsibilities fall once again to the great democracies" Obama: "American democracy is bigger than any one person" Trump: "Freedom and democracy must be constantly guarded...
Feb 06, 2025•13 min
Two presidents. Two eulogies. For each other. Political opponents who became friends. Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford. Here's Jimmy Carter's eulogy for Gerald Ford in 2007. For myself and for our nation, I want to thank my predecessor for all he has done to heal our land." Those were the first words I spoke as president. And I still hate to admit that they received more applause than any other words in my inaugural address. And here's Gerald Ford, through his son Steven, in 2025 As for myself, Jimm...
Jan 30, 2025•39 min
During the first two weeks of March 1989, the U.S. Senate debated President George Bush's nominee for Defense Secretary, John Tower. Among the Senators who spoke about former Senator Tower – one of his former colleagues -- Alaska Republican Ted Stevens … "my mind went back again to some Senators I have known here in the Senate who have been impaired. I saved one Senator one day who almost fell in the path of a subway, he was so intoxicated. I have spent time in the steam room with Senators who w...
Jan 23, 2025•39 min
Getting ready for January 20th – and the presidential inauguration? Then you might also be getting ready for fun facts about the swearing-in ceremony. Like in 2009 – when swearing-in President Barack Obama – Chief Justice John Roberts got the oath wrong. What did he get wrong? And -- what are some other inauguration fun facts? Like: • Which Chief Justice has administered the most oaths of office? • Which Chief Justice has administered the second most oaths of office? • Who was the first woman Su...
Jan 16, 2025•27 min
We're just days away from President Joe Biden leaving the White House. Which makes this a good time to remember other departing presidents – and their farewell addresses. Like Richard Nixon speaking to staff, August 9, 1974, the day he resigned the presidency. You are here to say goodbye to us, and we don't have a good word for it in English -- the best is au revoir. We'll see you again. Presidents giving farewell addresses … • Who spoke from the White House? • Who used their State of the Union ...
Jan 09, 2025•33 min
On Monday, January 6, 2025, Congress once again will meet in a Joint Session to certify the electoral votes in the presidential election. As President of the Senate and presiding over that ceremony, Kamala Harris will find herself a unique and rare position –a sitting vice president who ran for the presidency and then had announce his or her own electoral defeat. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jan 02, 2025•21 min
Ever wonder how C-SPAN’s The Weekly comes together? In this special behind-the-scenes episode, we pull back the curtain to explore the making of our podcast. From brainstorming story ideas to interviewing top political insiders, discover what it takes to deliver timely and insightful episodes week after week. Join host Howard Mortman and producer Shannon Rice as they share funny anecdotes, memorable moments, and the challenges of turning complex political topics into compelling audio storytellin...
Dec 26, 2024•25 min
The Washington Post recently published a 10-page special section called, "A half-century of George F. Will: The Iron Man of America's op-ed pages."… George Will’s first syndicated column for the Washington Post was January 4, 1974…. Inspired by the Washington Post marking five decades of reading George Will …. the C-SPAN podcast “The Weekly” is marking mark four decades of hearing about George Will… Like from Republican Illinois Congressman Henry Hyde –– during the Iran-Contra hearings … July 19...
Dec 19, 2024•32 min
January 6, 2006. On the C-SPAN morning call-in program, the topic is lobbying and money and politics. The guest is from the American League of Lobbyists… Here’s one of the calls. Good morning, so, you are either stupid or naive, or whatever. If you are a low-level aid, you know good and well that if I were to call my congressman, who is Frank Wolf, I'm not going to get an audience with him unless I take him to Charlie Palmer's steakhouse right down on 101 Constitution Avenue. I am not going to g...
Dec 12, 2024•16 min
The 119th Congress will have 12 new Senators. And if you heard election night victory speeches on C-SPAN, you might have learned something new about many of them. DLike the new Democratic Senator from New Jersey, the first Korean American in the Senate -- Andy Kim: "As I prepare to take on this job, a job that only 2,000 Americans in this history of this country has ever had the honor to do." And the new Republican Senator from Montana, Tim Sheehy, who was on stage with his wife Carmen: "We were...
Dec 05, 2024•17 min
Why would President Bush talk about broccoli at a prayer breakfast? Where are other places he told his audience how much he disliked broccoli? And what did First Lady Barbara Bush think about her husband’s broccoli hatred – and what stunt did she pull to retaliate? Find out in C-SPAN’s “The Weekly” annual Thanksgiving food episode. Because it’s our first-ever podcast about a side dish. Find C-SPAN’s “The Weekly” wherever you get podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adch...
Nov 27, 2024•14 min
President-elect Trump wants former Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz to head the Justice Department. If Matt Gaetz does become Attorney General – the 87th Attorney General in U.S. history -- he’d likely appear before the House Judiciary Committee for oversight hearings. What would that sound like? It might go something like this…. GAETZ: And meanwhile, the judge is making money on it. The judge is making money on it -- or the judge's family is making money on it for stuff that you yourself would...
Nov 21, 2024•28 min
The peaceful transfer of power. It’s something outgoing presidents traditionally talk about when turning over the White House to an incoming president … Like Bill Clinton in 2001 – his final radio address: “The peaceful transfer of power from one administration to the next, from one party to another, may confound others around the globe. But it reflects the underlying strength of our Constitution and rule of law.” And George H.W. Bush in 1992 – after he lost re-election to Bill Clinton: “ I can ...
Nov 14, 2024•15 min
Is it possible to use one word to remember or describe the 2024 presidential campaign? If so, that one word might start with the letter S. This year on the campaign trail, the S word seemed to be everywhere. What were candidates talking about that required foul language? How did the crowds react to all the cussing and cursing? And did the candidates express any regrets about using vulgarity and profanity? Find out in the latest episode of C-SPAN’s podcast “The Weekly.” It’s our first-ever podcas...
Nov 07, 2024•20 min
Getting ready for election night 2024? Excited to hear presidential candidates give victory and concession speeches? First, refresh your memory with top lines from speeches in years past! Like Democrat Jimmy Carter losing in 1980 … “I promised you four years ago that I would never lie to you. So, I can't stand here tonight and say it doesn't hurt. The people of the United States have made their choice, and, of course, I accept that decision but, I have to admit, not with the same enthusiasm that...
Oct 31, 2024•27 min
Getting ready for Halloween? Well, while you're digging out the old costumes and candy … here's one more Halloween staple you need to brace yourself for: Scary Halloween rhetoric on the presidential campaign trail. “It’s good to be in Tampa. And of course, today is Halloween. All the kids are dressing up, doing scary things. That’s the way it is in the White House every day.” That was Republican Bob Dole in 1996. And here's Democrat Michael Dukakis in 1988: “You're going to see ads about crime a...
Oct 24, 2024•12 min
The date: September 20th, 2024… The place: The White House Rose Garden…. The speaker: actor Martin Sheen.. “You know, the Irish tell the story of a man who arrives at the gates of heaven and asks to be let in. Saint Peter says, ‘Of course. Just show us your scars.’ The man says, ‘I have no scars.’ Saint Peter says ‘What a pity. Was there nothing worth fighting for?’ We are rightly called to find something in our lives worth fighting for Something that can unite the will of the spirit with the wo...
Oct 17, 2024•24 min
