
The West Wing Weekly
An episode-by-episode discussion of The West Wing, one of television’s most beloved shows, co-hosted by one of its stars, Joshua Malina, along with Hrishikesh Hirway of Song Exploder.
Latest episodes

Oct 2, 2019 • 41min
0.16: Annabeth Schott (with Kristin Chenoweth)
This week, the great Kristin Chenoweth joins us to discuss her role as Annabeth. She's an Emmy and Tony Award winning actress and singer, and we’re so glad she’s finally joining us!
For more, visit thewestwingweekly.com/016
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Sep 25, 2019 • 1h 9min
7.10: Running Mates (with Matthew Del Negro)
This week, we discuss the beautiful performance by John Spencer in "Running Mates," the first episode of his to air posthumously. We’re also joined by Matthew Del Negro to discuss Bram, telebrams, and more.
For more, visit thewestwingweekly.com/710
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Sep 18, 2019 • 58min
7.09: The Wedding (with Nina Siemaszko)
Today, we’re talking about "The Wedding" (or The Marriage, or The Espousal, or The Nuptials, or The Union). We’re joined by Nina Siemaszko, who tells us about the twist in this subplot that she didn’t see coming.
For more, visit thewestwingweekly.com/709
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Sep 11, 2019 • 44min
7.08: Undecideds
In "Undecideds," Santos gives a speech meant to uplift and inspire, but Josh and Hrishi are "Unconvinceds." Plus, we look at Toby’s apartment, Godwin’s Law, and Will’s butt.
For more, visit thewestwingweekly.com/708
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Sep 4, 2019 • 58min
7.07: The Debate (Part II, with Ronald Klain and Beth Myers)
How did Santos and Vinick do in the debate? To help us judge the candidates on both substance and style, we’ve enlisted the people in charge of debate prep on either side of the 2012 Presidential election. Ronald Klain led President Obama’s debate prep, and Beth Myers was in charge of Senator Mitt Romney’s prep. It was fascinating to speak to both of them together for this bipartisan episode of our podcast.
For more, visit thewestwingweekly.com/707-part2
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Aug 28, 2019 • 1h 1min
7.07: The Debate (Part I, with Lawrence O'Donnell)
In our first of two episodes on "The Debate," we talk to Lawrence O’Donnell, who took on the challenge of writing a live episode — one that takes place entirely in the context of a Presidential debate.
For more, visit thewestwingweekly.com/707
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Aug 21, 2019 • 51min
7.06: The Al Smith Dinner
At long last, everyone is ready to unleash their negative ad campaigns. Here's one Hrishi came up with. JOSH MALINA—he's not nearly as mean as he makes himself out to be! He says he "ruined The West Wing," but even Richard Schiff says 'Arctic Radar' is one of the best episodes of the series. What else is Josh hiding? JOSH MALINA—actually pretty nice. (My name is Hrishikesh Hirway, and I approve this message.)
For more, visit thewestwingweekly.com/706
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Aug 14, 2019 • 1h 14min
7.05: Here Today (with Richard Schiff)
Richard Schiff joins us to discuss this gorgeous, eerie, heartbreaking episode and to tell us his true feelings about Toby’s storyline.
For more, visit thewestwingweekly.com/705
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Aug 7, 2019 • 54min
7.04: Mr. Frost
Joshua Malina and Hrishikesh Hirway (collectively, “The Hosts”) have been served a subpoena to appear on this episode of the podcast, to testify in regards to the above television episode. Pursuant to this agreement, you (“Listener”) are required to listen to our nonsense. Failure to do so may result in missing out on some dumb thing that gets called back later, like a reference to a 2004 movie about dance battles.
For more, visit thewestwingweekly.com/704
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Jul 31, 2019 • 52min
0.15: Alex Graves
At long last, West Wing director and executive producer Alex Graves joins us to talk about his time on the show. From "In Excelsis Deo" to "17 People" to our current episodes in Season 7, we discuss some of the big moments in the series that he helped shape.
For more, visit thewestwingweekly.com/015
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