Scot and Jeff discuss Jimi Hendrix with Jane Coaston. Introducing the Band : Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) with guest Jane Coaston. Jane is Senior Politics Reporter at Vox with a focus on the GOP, conservatism, the far-right, and white nationalism. Jane is on Twitter at @cjane87 . Jane’s Music Pick: Jimi Hendrix Excuse us while we praise this guy. Jimi Hendrix’s career lasted only four years while alive (with decades of posthumous releases to follow), b...
Dec 09, 2019•2 hr 27 min•Ep. 69
Scot and Jeff discuss The Smashing Pumpkins with James Poulos. Introducing the Band : Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) with guest James Poulos James is the executive editor of The American Mind , author of The Art Of Being Free: How Alexis de Tocqueville Can Save Us from Ourselves , and also the lead guitarist and singer/songwriter for the band Vast Asteroid . Follow James on Twitter at @jamespoulos . James’ musical pick: The Smashing Pumpkins : It’s time ...
Nov 11, 2019•2 hr 22 min•Ep. 68
Scot and Jeff discuss Gram Parsons with Ben Jacobs. Introducing the Band : Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) with guest Ben Jacobs. Ben is senior political reporter for Jewish Insider . Ben is on Twitter at @BenCJacobs . Ben’s Music Pick: Gram Parsons Considered to be one of the godfathers of country rock, Gram Parsons had his own name for what he was trying to achieve: “cosmic American music”. That meant country, blues, soul, rock, and folk all rolled into...
Oct 07, 2019•2 hr 7 min•Ep. 67
Scot and Jeff discuss The Cars with Kevin Madden. Introducing the Band : Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) with guest Kevin Madden. Kevin is the executive vice president of Arnold Ventures. He’s a Republican strategist and former advisor to President George W. Bush, Governor Mitt Romney, and Republican House leaders John Boehner and Tom DeLay. Kevin is on Twitter at @KevinMaddenDC . Kevin’s Music Pick: The Cars The team at Political Beats mourns the death o...
Sep 23, 2019•1 hr 54 min•Ep. 66
Scot and Jeff discuss Elvis Costello (Part 2, from King Of America through to the present day) with Anthony Fisher. Introducing the Band: Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) with guest Anthony Fisher. Anthony is the politics editor for Insider and Business Insider and a producer/co-conspirator for The Fifth Column . You can find him on Twitter at @anthonyLfisher . Anthony’s Music Pick : Elvis Costello This week the gang covers the latter-day adventures of Dec...
Aug 26, 2019•3 hr 17 min•Ep. 65
Scot and Jeff discuss Elvis Costello (Part 1, from My Aim Is True through to Goodbye Cruel World ) with Anthony Fisher. Introducing the Band: Your hosts Scot Bertram (@ScotBertram) and Jeff Blehar (@EsotericCD) with guest Anthony Fisher. Anthony is the politics editor for Insider and Business Insider and a producer/co-conspirator for (what has apparently now become Political Beats’ informal sister podcast) The Fifth Column . You can find him on Twitter at @anthonyLfisher . Anthony’s Music Pick: ...
Aug 12, 2019•3 hr 16 min•Ep. 64
Scot and Jeff discuss The Rolling Stones (Part 2, from 1969 through to the present day) with Jeff Dufour. Introducing the Band : Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) with guest Jeff Dufour. Jeff is the Editor-in-Chief of National Journal . Jeff is on Twitter at @dcdufour . Jeff’s Music Pick: The Rolling Stones This week the gang somehow manages the nifty trick of covering a full FIFTY years of musical history in under three and a half hours as they discuss the...
Jul 29, 2019•3 hr 24 min•Ep. 63
Scot and Jeff discuss The Rolling Stones (Part 1, through LET IT BLEED) with Harry Khachatrian. Introducing the Band : Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) with guest Harry Khachatrian. Harry is a contributor at The Daily Wire and his writing also can be found at harrykhachatrian.com . Harry is on Twitter at @harry1T6 . Harry’s Music Pick: The Rolling Stones The fog of war is thick and heavy, and the storm is threatening my very life today, so allow the Politi...
Jul 22, 2019•3 hr 25 min•Ep. 62
Scot Bertram and Jeff Blehar discuss the second part of The Beach Boys’ career with Matt Welch. Introducing The Band : Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @scotbertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) with guest Matt Welch, former editor-in-chief and current editor-at-large of Reason , and co-host and self-described “provost” of “The Fifth Column” podcast. Follow Matt on Twitter at @MattWelch and check out The Fifth Column podcast (whose members Political Beats likes so much that we’ve had literally ever...
Jul 08, 2019•3 hr 7 min•Ep. 61
Scot Bertram and Jeff Blehar discuss the first part of The Beach Boys’ career with Matt Welch. Introducing The Band : Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @scotbertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) with guest Matt Welch, former editor-in-chief and current editor-at-large of Reason , and co-host and self-described “provost” of “The Fifth Column” podcast. Follow Matt on Twitter at @MattWelch and check out The Fifth Column podcast (whose members Political Beats likes so much that we’ve had literally every...
Jun 24, 2019•2 hr 53 min•Ep. 60
Scot and Jeff discuss their favorite soundtracks. Introducing the Band : Your hosts Scot Bertram (@ ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar (@ EsotericCD ) with . . . no guest at all! Yes, this is a Very Special Episode of Political Beats , in which Arnold learns to avoid the local bike shop and Jessie finds out about the very real dangers of caffeine pills. In other words, this is PB’s second format-bucking episode where, instead of having on a guest to discuss her favorite artist, the subject is Scot an...
Jun 11, 2019•2 hr•Ep. 59
Scot and Jeff discuss Randy Newman with Matt Murray. Introducing the Band : Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) with guest Matt Murray. Matt is editor in chief of the Wall Street Journal and is the author of the book The Father And The Son: My Father’s Journey Into Monastic Life . Matt is on Twitter at @murraymatt . Matt’s Musical Pick: Randy Newman It’s lonely at the top when you’re one of America’s greatest modern songwriters, but the case of Randy Newman i...
May 20, 2019•2 hr 29 min•Ep. 58
Scot and Jeff discuss Ben Folds Five with Michael Brendan Dougherty. Introducing the Band : Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) with guest Michael Brendan Dougherty. Michael is a senior writer at National Review and is the author of the new book My Father Left Me Ireland: An American Son’s Search for Home . Michael is on Twitter at @michaelbd . Michael’s Music Pick: Ben Folds Five Were you never cool at school? Are you a fan of Elton John, Billy Joel, Bruce H...
May 06, 2019•2 hr 20 min•Ep. 57
Scot Bertram and Jeff Blehar discuss Marvin Gaye with Kmele Foster. Introducing The Band: Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @scotbertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) with guest Kmele Foster, co-host of “The Fifth Column” podcast and a partner at “Freethink,” where he helps produce original content about the people and ideas helping to reshape the word. Follow Kmele on Twitter at @kmele and check out The Fifth Column podcast (whose members Political Beats likes so much that we’ve had literally every...
Apr 22, 2019•2 hr 15 min•Ep. 56
Scot Bertram and Jeff Blehar discuss LCD Soundsystem with Tim Miller. Introducing The Band : Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @scotbertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) with guest Tim Miller, communications consultant, GOP operative, contributor to The Bulwark , and co-founder of America Rising. Follow Tim on Twitter at @Timodc . Tim’s Music Pick: LCD Soundsystem This week, Political Beats is selling its guitars and buying turntables, and then selling its turntables and buying guitars, as we explor...
Apr 08, 2019•2 hr 10 min•Ep. 55
Scot and Jeff discuss Jackson Browne with Cameron Joseph. Introducing the Band : Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) with guest Cameron Joseph. Cameron is Talking Points Memo’s senior political reporter, where he covers Congress and the permanent campaign. You can find him at talkingpointsmemo.com and at shows standing back by the soundboard. Cameron is on Twitter at @cam_joseph . Cameron’s Music Pick: Jackson Browne One of the faces of the 1970s west coast s...
Mar 25, 2019•2 hr 13 min•Ep. 54
Scot and Jeff discuss The Black Crowes with Jay Cost. Introducing the Band : Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) with guest Jay Cost, visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and co-host of National Review’s Constitutionally Speaking podcast. Jay is on Twitter at @ JayCostTWS . Jay’s Music Pick: The Black Crowes They’ve been called the “The Most Rock ‘n’ Roll Rock ‘n’ Roll Band in the World,” and The Black Crowes did their best to live up to the ...
Mar 11, 2019•2 hr 29 min•Ep. 53
Scot and Jeff discuss Pavement with Jeff Pojanowski. Introducing the Band : Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) with guest Jeff Pojanowski, professor at Notre Dame Law School. Jeff is on Twitter at @ pojanowski . Jeff’s Music Pick: Pavement Political Beats has been dressed for success for a long time, but success it never comes. Finally it arrives with their episode on Pavement, a band that Jeff (Blehar, that is) considers to be the single greatest of the ent...
Feb 18, 2019•2 hr 29 min•Ep. 52
Scot and Jeff discuss U2 with Stephen Miller. Introducing the Band : Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) with guest Stephen Miller. He is a contributor to National Review, Fox News, and a well known social media raconteur. Stephen is on Twitter at @redsteeze where he will calmly insult your music tastes, among other things. Stephen’s Music Pick: U2 : The gang gets its Irish up this week as we cover a small Hibernian band of little renown known to the world as...
Feb 04, 2019•3 hr 51 min•Ep. 51
Scot and Jeff discuss The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) with Jack Butler, host of Ricochet’s Young Americans podcast, sidekick of The Remnant with Jonah Goldberg, and a freelancer writer living in D.C. Introducing the Band : Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) with guest Jack Butler, host of Ricochet’s Young Americans podcast, sidekick of The Remnant with Jonah Goldberg, and a freelancer writer living in D.C. Jack is on Twitter at @ jackbutler4815 . Jack’s M...
Jan 21, 2019•2 hr 47 min•Ep. 50
Scot and Jeff discuss The Clash with CJ Ciaramella, a criminal justice reporter for Reason Magazine. Introducing the Band : Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) with guest CJ Ciaramella. He is a criminal justice reporter for Reason Magazine. CJ is on Twitter at @cjciaramella and you can read his work at reason.com . CJ’s Music Pick: The Clash : The gang wraps up its second year of Political Beats with a discussion of The Only Band That Matters! From rock to po...
Dec 17, 2018•2 hr 39 min•Ep. 49
Scot and Jeff discuss Queen with Adam White, law professor and a think-tank researcher. Introducing the Band : Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) with guest Adam White. He is a law professor and a think-tank researcher, writing on law and democracy for outlets like the Wall Street Journal, the Weekly Standard, National Affairs, many other publications, and occasional legal journals. Adam is on Twitter at @ adamjwhitedc . Adam’s Music Pick: Queen Could examin...
Dec 03, 2018•3 hr 13 min•Ep. 48
In this episode, Scot and Jeff discuss Radiohead with Molly Ball, TIME magazine’s national political correspondent and a political analyst for CNN. Introducing the Band : Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) with guest Molly Ball ( @mollyesque ). She is TIME magazine’s national political correspondent and a political analyst for CNN. Molly’s Music Pick: Radiohead : Ahoy! In the deepest oceans, the bottom of the sea, Captain Ahab (aka Jeff) finally goes after h...
Nov 19, 2018•3 hr 17 min•Ep. 47
In this episode, Scot and Jeff discuss Elton John with Jamie Kirchick, author of The End of Europe . Introducing the Band : Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) with guest Jamie Kirchick ( @JKirchick ). He’s a Brookings Institution Visiting Fellow, author of The End of Europe , and columnist for Tablet magazine. Jamie’s Music Pick: Elton John : Allow us to simply quote from this recent Vulture piece on Sir Elton: He had seven No. 1 albums in a row in the U.S. ...
Oct 29, 2018•2 hr 40 min•Ep. 46
In this special episode, Scot and Jeff discuss Camper Van Beethoven and Cracker with David Lowery, the main singer/songwriter and bandleader for both groups. Introducing the Band : Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) with guest David Lowery ( @DavidCLowery ). He’s the main singer/songwriter and bandleader for Camper Van Beethoven and Cracker. David also is lecturer in music business at the University of Georgia, chief muckraker at The Trichordist, an artist r...
Oct 15, 2018•3 hr 28 min•Ep. 45
Scot and Jeff discuss Old 97s with Jessie Opoien, political reporter with the Capital Times in Wisconsin. Introducing the Band: Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) with guest Jessie Opoien ( @JessieOpie ). She’s a political reporter for the Capital Times in Wisconsin and host of the Wisconsin politics podcast, “ Wedge Issues ,” featuring interviews with candidates, strategists and other players in the Wisconsin politics world. Jessie’s Music Pick: Old 97s: On...
Oct 01, 2018•2 hr 39 min•Ep. 44
Scot and Jeff discuss King Crimson with Dave Weigel, political reporter for the Washington Post . Introducing the Band: Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) with guest Dave Weigel. He is a political reporter for the Washington Post, writer of the new campaign newsletter, The Trailer , and author of the recent book The Show That Never Ends: The Rise and Fall of Prog Rock . Follow him on Twitter @daveweigel . Dave’s Music Pick: King Crimson: This week the gang s...
Sep 17, 2018•2 hr 21 min•Ep. 43
Scot and Jeff discuss Guns N’ Roses with Robert VerBruggen, deputy managing editor of National Review Online. Introducing the Band: Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) with guest Robert VerBruggen. He is deputy managing editor of National Review Online. Follow him on Twitter at @ RAVerBruggen Robert’s Music Pick: Guns N’ Roses : You know where you are? You’re in the jungle, baby. But if it’s a jungle with wi-fi, you’re in luck! This week the crew tackles the ...
Sep 03, 2018•2 hr 1 min•Ep. 42
Scot and Jeff discuss Bob Dylan with Andrew Kirell, a senior editor at The Daily Beast overseeing breaking news, political media, and occasionally music coverage. Part 3 of 3. Introducing the Band: Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) with guest Andrew Kirll. He is a senior editor at The Daily Beast overseeing breaking news, political media, and occasionally music coverage. Follow him on Twitter at @ andrewkirell Andrew’s Music Pick: Bob Dylan: In this part th...
Aug 20, 2018•2 hr 56 min•Ep. 41
Scot and Jeff discuss Bob Dylan with Andrew Kirell, a senior editor at The Daily Beast overseeing breaking news, political media, and occasionally music coverage. Part 2 of 3. Introducing the Band: Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) with guest Andrew Kirll. He is a senior editor at The Daily Beast overseeing breaking news, political media, and occasionally music coverage. Follow him on Twitter at @ andrewkirell Andrew’s Music Pick: Bob Dylan: In this part tw...
Aug 13, 2018•2 hr 18 min•Ep. 40
