Scot and Jeff discuss Traffic/Steve Winwood with Randy Barnett. Introducing the Band : Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) are joined by guest Randy Barnett. He’s the Patrick Hotung Professor of Constitutional Law at the Georgetown University Law Center where he directs the Georgetown Center for the Constitution. His most recent book, The Original Meaning of the 14th Amendment: Its Letter and Spirit , will be published by Harvard University Press and is now a...
Aug 09, 2021•3 hr 19 min•Ep. 99
Scot and Jeff discuss the third part of Neil Young’s career (1980–2021) with Jeff Dufour. Introducing the Band: Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) are joined by guest Jeff Dufour. Jeff is the editor in chief of National Journal . Find him on Twitter at @dcdufour . Jeff’s Music Pick: Neil Young (Part 3) If you need a podcast to sample and hold or feel rockin’ in the free world, then settle in and prepare to devote a full four hours of your life to the gang’s ...
Jun 21, 2021•4 hr 19 min•Ep. 98
Scot and Jeff discuss the second part of Neil Young’s career (1973–1979) with Jeff Dufour. Introducing the Band: Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) are joined by guest Jeff Dufour. Jeff is the editor-in-chief of National Journal . Find him on Twitter at @dcdufour . Jeff’s Music Pick: Neil Young (Part 2) Grab a bottle of tequila, an inflatable palm tree, and a rack of honey slides to prepare yourself for our discussion of Neil Young’s latter Seventies career,...
May 31, 2021•3 hr 28 min•Ep. 97
Scot and Jeff discuss the first part of Neil Young’s career (1963–1973) with Jeff Dufour. Introducing the Band: Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) are joined by guest Jeff Dufour. Jeff is the editor-in-chief of National Journal . Find him on Twitter at @dcdufour . Jeff’s Music Pick: Neil Young Step aside and open wide as we begin a long journey through the past of the profoundly great career of The Loner himself, Mr. Neil Young. The opening episode of this t...
May 17, 2021•2 hr 47 min•Ep. 96
Scot and Jeff discuss Rilo Kiley/Jenny Lewis with Helaine Olen. Introducing the Band : Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) are with guest Helaine Olen. Helaine is an opinion writer at the Washington Post . Find her on Twitter at @ HelaineOlen . Helaine’s Music Pick: Rilo Kiley/Jenny Lewis So it turns out Hannah Nefler from Troop Beverly Hills and Ronnie Pinsky from “Salute Your Shorts” aren’t played by just talented child actors after all. Those actors, Jenny...
May 03, 2021•3 hr•Ep. 95
Scot and Jeff discuss The Afghan Whigs/The Twilight Singers with John J. Miller. Introducing the Band : Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) are with guest John J. Miller. John is director of the Dow Journalism Program at Hillsdale College and national correspondent for National Review, plus host of the NR podcasts The Great Books and The Bookmonger . Find him on Twitter at @ heymiller . John’s Music Pick: The Afghan Whigs/The Twilight Singers Your attention, ...
Mar 29, 2021•3 hr 36 min•Ep. 94
Scot and Jeff discuss Spoon with Christopher Scalia. Introducing the Band : Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) are with guest Christopher Scalia. Christopher is co-editor of Scalia Speaks: Reflections on Law, Faith, and Life Well Lived and On Faith: Lessons from an American Believer . He’s also the Director of Academic Programs at the American Enterprise Institute . Find him on Twitter at @ cjscalia . Christopher’s Music Pick: Spoon This band from Austin has...
Mar 15, 2021•3 hr 10 min•Ep. 93
Scot and Jeff discuss Nirvana with Mark Hemingway. Introducing the Band : Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) with guest Mark Hemingway. Mark is is a writer at RealClearInvestigations and RealClearPolitics . Find him on Twitter at @ heminator . Mark’s Music Pick: Nirvana Perhaps you’ve heard of these guys. With a single song, Nirvana knocked Michael Jackson off the top of the charts, essentially killed the hair-metal genre, and laid a blueprint that would lau...
Feb 15, 2021•2 hr 38 min•Ep. 92
Scot and Jeff discuss the third and final part of David Bowie’s career (1982-2016) with Damon Linker. Introducing the Band: Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @E sotericCD ) with guest Damon Linker, Senior Columnist for The Week . Read Damon’s work here and follow him at @DamonLinker on Twitter. Damon’s Music Pick: David Bowie Political Beats knows when to go out, and when to stay in, and we’re asking you to stay in and listen to us discuss the brilliant adventure of the ...
Jan 18, 2021•3 hr 20 min•Ep. 91
Scot and Jeff discuss the second part of David Bowie’s career (1974–1981) with Damon Linker. Introducing the Band: Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @E sotericCD ) with guest Damon Linker, Senior Columnist for The Week . Read Damon’s work here and follow him at @DamonLinker on Twitter. Damon’s Music Pick: David Bowie It’s not the side effects of the cocaine, Political Beats is thinking that it must be love as it throws itself into the whirlpool of David Bowie’s latter-Se...
Jan 11, 2021•3 hr 36 min•Ep. 90
Scot and Jeff discuss the first part of David Bowie’s career (1967–1974) with Damon Linker. Introducing the Band: Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @E sotericCD ) with guest Damon Linker, Senior Columnist for The Week . Read Damon’s work here and follow him at @DamonLinker on Twitter. Damon’s Music Pick: David Bowie Look out, you rock ‘n’ rollers! Pretty soon now, you’re gonna have to turn and face the strange as Political Beats begins a long journey, tackling the career...
Dec 21, 2020•3 hr 12 min•Ep. 89
Scot and Jeff discuss Living Colour with Steve Singiser. Introducing the Band : Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) with guest Steve Singiser. Steve is a contributing editor at Daily Kos Elections . Find him on Twitter at @ stevesingiser . Steve’s Music Pick: Living Colour That riff is indelibly inked on your brain. You know the one. The first musical notes put to vinyl/tape/compact disc by Living Colour, kicking off “Cult of Personality.” That riff that come...
Nov 23, 2020•2 hr 23 min•Ep. 88
Scot and Jeff discuss second part of Genesis’s career (the Phil Collins years) with Brad Birzer. Introducing the Band: Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) with guest Dr. Brad Birzer. Brad is the Russell Amos Kirk Chair in American Studies and Professor of History at Hillsdale College. He’s the co-founder of, and Senior Contributor at, The Imaginative Conservative . And he’s the author of a number of books, including Neil Peart: Cultural (Re)Percussions . Find...
Nov 02, 2020•3 hr 28 min•Ep. 87
Scot and Jeff discuss Genesis (1967-1975) with Patrick Frey. Introducing the Band: Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) with guest Patrick Frey. Patrick has been a blogger of national repute since 2003 and is still committed to the form, even though it has been dead for years. Read his work at Patterico’s Pontifications and follow Patrick on Twitter at @Patterico . Patrick’s Music Pick: Genesis We’ve been waiting here for so long to discuss this band, and all ...
Oct 19, 2020•3 hr 24 min•Ep. 86
Scot and Jeff discuss Ramones with Christian Schneider. Introducing the Band : Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) with guest Christian Schneider. Christian is a reporter for The College Fix, contributor to The Dispatch, The Bulwark, USA Today , and sometimes National Review , and author of 1916: The Blog . Find him on Twitter at @Schneider_CM Christian’s Music Pick: Ramones 1, 2, 3, 4! In an episode we joked should only last two minutes, to honor the band, t...
Sep 28, 2020•2 hr 50 min•Ep. 85
Scot and Jeff discuss The Doors with Steven Levy. Introducing the Band: Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) with guest Steven Levy. Steven is editor at large of Wired magazine and author of Facebook: The Inside Story . Follow him on Twitter at @StevenLevy . Steven’s Music Pick: The Doors It’s been oft-observed that the day destroys the night while the night divides the day, but no matter how much Political Beats tried to run and tried to hide, we could not av...
Aug 31, 2020•2 hr 55 min•Ep. 84
Scot and Jeff discuss Hüsker Dü with Andrew Feinberg. Introducing the Band: Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) with guest Andrew Feinberg. Andrew is a Washington, D.C.-based journalist whose coverage of the White House, Capitol Hill, and other political venues and matters of import has appeared in The Independent , Newsweek , Breakfast Media , and Politico Magazine . Follow him on Twitter at @AndrewFeinberg . Andrew’s Music Pick: Hüsker Dü Is this your celeb...
Aug 17, 2020•3 hr 16 min•Ep. 83
Scot and Jeff discuss the second part of Bruce Springsteen’s career (1980-2020) with Dan McLaughlin. Introducing the Band: Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) with guest Dan McLaughlin. Dan is a Senior Editor at National Review and you can find his work, well . . . here! Just click on that tab over there, it’s not hard to figure out! Find him online at @baseballcrank on Twitter. Dan’s Music Pick: Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band Maybe you had a broth...
Aug 04, 2020•3 hr 42 min•Ep. 82
Scot and Jeff discuss the first part of Bruce Springsteen’s career (1972-1980) with Dan McLaughlin. Introducing the Band: Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) with guest Dan McLaughlin. Dan is a senior editor at National Review and you can find his work, well . . . here! Just click on that tab over there, it’s not hard to figure out! Find him online at @baseballcrank on Twitter. Dan’s Music Pick: Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band Summer’s here and the ...
Jul 20, 2020•3 hr 21 min•Ep. 81
Scot and Jeff discuss The Zombies and Argent with Randy Barnett. Introducing the Band : Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) with guest Randy Barnett. Randy is the Carmack Waterhouse Professor of Legal Theory at the Georgetown University Law Center, where he directs the Georgetown Center for the Constitution. He also writes at The Volokh Conspiracy . Follow him on Twitter at @RandyEBarnett . Randy’s Music Pick: The Zombies and Argent It’s summertime, and the l...
Jun 29, 2020•2 hr 28 min•Ep. 80
Scot and Jeff discuss Lynyrd Skynyrd with Mark Davis. Introducing the Band : Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) with guest Mark Davis. Mark is a talk show host at 660 AM The Answer in Dallas-Ft. Worth and can be heard filling in on shows nationally for the Salem Media Group. He’s also a columnist for the Dallas Morning News and Townhall.com . Find him online @markdavis on Twitter. Mark’s Music Pick: Lynyrd Skynyrd What song is it you want to hear? If you ans...
Jun 15, 2020•2 hr 42 min•Ep. 79
Scot and Jeff discuss Crowded House with Jeff Pojanowski. Introducing the Band : Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) with guest Jeff Pojanowski. Jeff is a professor of law at Notre Dame Law School. He also writes about administrative law, legal interpretation, and philosophy of law. Find him online @pojanowski on Twitter. Jeff’s Music Pick: Crowded House You might think of Crowded House as a one-or-two-hit wonder in the U.S., but by the end of this episode yo...
May 18, 2020•2 hr 31 min•Ep. 78
Scot and Jeff discuss The Byrds with Nick Gillespie. Introducing the Band : Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) with guest Nick Gillespie. Nick Gillespie is an editor at large at Reason and the co-author of The Declaration of Independents: How Libertarian Politics Can Fix What’s Wrong with America . Find him online at @nickgillespie on Twitter. Nick’s Music Pick: The Byrds Today the gang is soaring high in the friendly skies as they contemplate the career of ...
Apr 27, 2020•2 hr 51 min•Ep. 77
Scot and Jeff discuss Fountains of Wayne with Cam Edwards. Introducing the Band : Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) with guest Cam Edwards. Cam is the editor of Bearing Arms , the host of Bearing Arms’ Cam & Co , and the 40 Acres & A Fool podcast. Find him online @camedwards on Twitter. Cam’s Music Pick: Fountains of Wayne Are you alone now? Did you lose the monkey? Good. Then you’re prepared for the Political Beats dive into the music of Fountains ...
Apr 13, 2020•2 hr 21 min•Ep. 76
Scot and Jeff discuss the second part of The Who’s career (from 1970 to 1982 and afterwards, thereabouts) with Ben Domenech. Introducing the Band: Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) with guest Ben Domenech. Ben is the publisher of The Federalist and also writes a daily newsletter, The Transom , which you can subscribe to at thetransom.com . Follow Ben on Twitter at @bdomenech . Ben’s Music Pick: The Who Today the gang resumes its discussion of the greatness ...
Apr 06, 2020•2 hr 56 min•Ep. 75
Scot and Jeff discuss the first part of The Who’s career (from 1964 to 1970) with Ben Domenech. Introducing the Band: Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) with guest Ben Domenech. Ben is the publisher of The Federalist and also writes a daily newsletter, The Transom, which you can subscribe to at thetransom.com . Follow Ben on Twitter at @bdomenech . Ben’s Music Pick: The Who Today the gang is talkin’ ’bout its generation as they cover the first part of the ca...
Mar 30, 2020•3 hr 5 min•Ep. 74
Scot and Jeff discuss The Pogues with Alfred Schulz. Introducing the Band: Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) with guest Alfred Schulz. Alfred is a former SiriusXM host and producer and current podcast producer and, for eight years was the senior producer and on-air contributor to Stand Up with Pete Dominick and host of Sit Down with Alfred and Chris, covering the 2012 and 2016 Republican and Democratic conventions, the elections, and debates. Find him onlin...
Mar 16, 2020•2 hr 14 min•Ep. 73
Scot and Jeff discuss Tears For Fears with Sean Hackbarth. Introducing the Band : Your hosts Scot Bertram (@ScotBertram) and Jeff Blehar (@EsotericCD) with guest Sean Hackbarth. Sean is a long time blogger — so long they were called, “weblogs,” — and currently is a writer and editor at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Find him online @seanhackbarth on Twitter. Sean’s Music Pick : Tears For Fears There are some (many?) out there who might only think of Tears For Fears as a one- album wonder. Songs f...
Feb 24, 2020•1 hr 56 min•Ep. 72
Scot and Jeff discuss Rush with Brad Birzer. Introducing the Band : Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) with guest Dr. Brad Birzer. Brad is the Russell Amos Kirk Chair in American Studies and Professor of History at Hillsdale College. He’s the co-founder of, and Senior Contributor at, The Imaginative Conservative . And he’s the author of a number of books, including Neil Peart: Cultural (Re)Percussions . Find him online at bradbirzer.com or @bradleybirzer on ...
Jan 20, 2020•2 hr 36 min•Ep. 71
Scot and Jeff discuss Roxy Music with Vincent Caruso. Introducing the Band: Your hosts Scot Bertram ( @ScotBertram ) and Jeff Blehar ( @EsotericCD ) with guest Vincent Caruso. Vincent is a writer and community manager at the Illinois Policy Institute , a nonpartisan state-based think tank focused on fiscal policy and good government. Vincent is on Twitter at @vin_jc . Vincent’s Music Pick: Roxy Music We wish you a Ferry Christmas and a Roxy New Year as Political Beats closes out its third (!) ye...
Dec 23, 2019•2 hr 18 min•Ep. 70
