C-SPAN's The Weekly

When is it time to call a recession -- a recession? Sometimes it's not just about the hard data ... For a president, it could be a rhetorical and messaging challenge, as well. It is for President Joe Biden in 2022 ... and it was for President George W. Bush in 2008. President Bush began 2008 in his State of the Union address by describing "a period of uncertainty." As the year went on, "period of uncertainty" became "slowdown" ..."downturn" ..."rough patch" ..."tough times" ... even...

In this episode of C-SPAN's podcast "The Weekly," we remember Katharine Graham by learning from her -- Specifically, her leadership secrets. The personal skills that brought the legendary Washington Post executive great media and corporate success -- and the enormous respect she still has today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wondering if inflation will be a theme in this year's mid-term election campaign ads -- and ads for the 2024 presidential campaign? If political history is any guide, yes, it will be – and the ads will be tough and personal. In this episode of C-SPAN's "The Weekly" podcast, we go through presidential campaigns ads since Eisenhower's on consumer prices 70 years ago … and hear how inflation– both good news and bad news – was used. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Biden has proposed a gas tax holiday. Here's one politician who has dismissed the idea of a gas tax holiday: his former boss, Barack Obama. In this episode of C-SPAN's "The Weekly," we return to the 2008 presidential campaign when John McCain proposed a gas tax holiday and Obama called it "a gimmick." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Few pieces of landmark legislation in contemporary time are as interesting to examine as the 1994 Crime Bill -- both for the policy implications and the politics driving its passage. A key component of that bill: the 10-year assault weapons ban. In this episode of C-SPAN's "The Weekly" -- with guns still very much in the news, part of the national debate, and part of Congress' current legislative agenda -- we look back at the legislative maneuvering and dramatic Senate floor debate than...

At least 6 U.S. Presidents recorded conversations while in office. Hear those conversations on this C-SPAN podcast. Season 2 focuses on President Richard Nixon's secretly-recorded private telephone conversations. Through eight episodes, hear Richard Nixon talk with key aides about Watergate strategy, potential Supreme Court Nominees, and hear his reaction to the leaked publication of the Pentagon Papers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Marking the Fourth of July Independence Day holiday with fireworks? Before you join the festivities, hear what Presidents since Ronald Reagan have said about fireworks. Or, as John Adams, called them: illuminations. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Who was Deep Throat? That was the mystery that swirled around media and political circles for decades. In this episode of C-SPAN's "The Weekly" -- the second of two podcasts in which we mark the 50th anniversary of the Watergate break-in -- we remember all the speculation, guesses, and flat-out finger-pointing over who was the Washington Post's secret Watergate source. We now know who supplied Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein with inside information ... but only after he lied about it. Learn...

Marking the 50th anniversary of Watergate? This episode of C-SPAN's "The Weekly" joins the memories, reflection, and nostalgia by remembering ... G. Gordon Liddy. After the Watergate break-in and a jail sentence, the "Plumbers" leader reinvented himself as a nationally syndicated radio talk show host. That's where we pick up the story. The late Watergate mastermind G. Gordon Liddy -- broadcaster. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It seems that Roe v. Wade is always in the news, always a part of the political debate. It's been that way for nearly 50 years since the Supreme Court decided the landmark abortion case. Justice Harry Blackmun wrote the opinion legalizing abortion. In this episode of C-SPAN's "The Weekly" we look back at Justice Blackmun -- what he said about his legacy being forever associated with that famous opinion.... and the big prediction he flat out got wrong. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit...

Often after mass shootings, you hear Senators and Congressmen say that more than thoughts and prayers were needed in reaction to the tragedies. That was the case once again after the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Texas. But there are people in Congress whose job it is to specifically provide prayers -- the Chaplains. In this episode of C-SPAN's "The Weekly," we hear prayers offered by Chaplains opening the House and Senate following decades' worth of mass shootings in America's...

Presidents are no strangers to getting booed. But what about getting booed by war veterans when making a speech at a war memorial on Memorial Day? In this episode of C-SPAN's podcast "The Weekly" -- themed for Memorial Day -- we remember the rough reaction President Bill Clinton faced when he spoke at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in 1993. Clinton was the first president to visit the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on Memorial Day. But was met with boos and catcalls from war veterans who weren't...

When P.J. O'Rourke died recently, he left behind a legacy of very funny articles, very funny books ... and very funny C-SPAN appearances. In this episode of C-SPAN's podcast "The Weekly," we play some of the conservative writers best moments on C-SPAN and BookTV -- and try to find out what he considered himself: a reporter, a satirist, or both. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Orrin Hatch was the longest-serving Republican in U.S. Senate history. But his legacy was more than longevity. Orrin Hatch was close friends with Ted Kennedy... The Kennedy-Hatch bipartisan friendship ... The Odd Couple, as Senator Hatch called it ... That's the part of Orrin Hatch's Senate legacy we'll explore in this episode of C-SPAN's "The Weekly" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week. a look back at 30 years of Supreme Court justice nominees being asked about their positions on abortion and Roe v. Wade. This topic is particularly noteworthy right now because the Supreme Court recently heard an oral argument about a Mississippi law that is a direct challenge to the Court's 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade, which established the legal right to abortion in the United States. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With President Biden set to appear at the April 30 White House Correspondents' Association dinner (watch/listen LIVE on C-SPAN Networks), the C-SPAN podcast "The Weekly" looks back at past media dinners: Jokes told about Joe Biden, jokes told by Joe Biden. A special all comedy podcast to prepare you for the first presidential appearance at the WHCA dinner since 2016. No ticket or proof of vaccination required to listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Biden and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell rarely see eye-to-eye on politics and policy. Yet over the years both have publicly remarked about their friendship, and have praised each other personally. In this episode of C-SPAN's "The Weekly," we remember the nicer things President Biden and Senator McConnell have said about each other. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Rep. Don Young (R-AK) died recently, he left behind several records: longest-serving Republican in the history of the House, Alaska's only U.S. House member from 1973 until his death, and last remaining member of the House who was there on March 19, 1979 -- when live TV coverage of Congress began. But one element of Rep. Young's legacy remains earmarks. They're back, under a different name and different rules, but still, they're back. In the next episode of C-SPAN's podcast "The...

How to mark the Opening Day of the new Major League Season? The most obvious way possible: by remembering the 2005 House hearing into alleged steroid abuse and cheating. In this episode of C-SPAN's podcast "The Weekly," we replay what some of baseball's biggest stars told Congress about steroid use among Major League players. And how important it is to be a role model for the kids. Today, none of them are in the Hall of Fame. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Biden recently says he thinks Russian president Putin is a war criminal. It's not the first time he's called a foreign leader was a war criminal. In the latest episode of C-SPAN's podcast "The Weekly," we return to the mid-90s -- and the war in Bosnia. Then-Senator Biden met with Slobodan Milošević. Out of that meeting came a story Biden would repeatedly tell -- how, to his face, he called the Serb leader a "damn war criminal." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit...