Down in the dumps? You weren't named to a Cabinet position or to a vacant Senate seat? You don't understand why tax cuts were bad when Bush did it but good when Obama does it?

Not to worry! This week's "It's All Politics" podcast is up and filled with deep, deep analysis and lame, lame jokes.

And, in the wacky world of homonyms, you can hear it here!

Credits --
Nonstop talkers: Ron Elving and Ken Rudin
Producer: Evie Stone
Door-knocking sound effects: Joe Catapano

Wanna subscribe to the podcast? You can do it through iTunes.

Wanna hear previous episodes? Click here.

Wanna be on my mailing list? Sign up at politicaljunkie@npr.org.

Meanwhile, the Listener, Kharma Foucher of Chicago, has a question:

I am so sorry to contact you for something so frivolous but I am DYING to know what the closing song was from the October 16th podcast. I'd love it if someone could get back to me on this. I still have this show on my player and I occasionally rock out to that 30 second snippet.

I'm so glad you asked this question. Ordinarily, our indefatigable producer, Evie Stone, comes up with the music at the end of the episode (or the clever stuff inside the podcast -- check out her subtle insertion of the Bill Richardson campaign ad in this week's show). But this particular song was my doing. It's "Kitchen Motors" by Crash Course in Science. I was sitting at home one day, maybe 1980 or '81 or thereabouts, working on a cassette mix and listening to WNEW-FM in New York. I still remember the disc jockey, Vin Scelsa, warning us in advance that we're not going to believe what he's about to play. Well, I couldn't believe it either. I taped it at the time and have loved it ever since. You now know more about this than you bargained for.

But here's the good news. You can listen to it here! Rock on!

No more questions, but I can't go without including some podcast fan mail.

Alan Miles, who for obvious reasons has not supplied his city/state, writes:

I love your witty, insightful political commentary. I listen to many news and political podcasts, but "It's All Politics" is MY VERY FAVORITE. I'm always happy to see when it becomes available for downloading and I often listen to it multiple times. Aside from great political insight, the podcast works perfectly as comedy! ("The listener. . . .") My only criticism is that it is too short -- 30 minutes would be better, 60 minutes even better!

Erin Teare Martin of Stoughton, Mass., agrees, at least on the last point:

Time to work harder Ken and do a daily podcast!!

Robin Winning of Santa Rosa, Calif. has also swallowed the Kool Aid:

Between the blog, the podcast, and now these live webchats, I think you're turning NPR's politics coverage into an exciting and interactive place to be. Keep up the good work (and the bad puns).

Matt Leaverton of Roseburg, Ore. adds:

Keep up the good work and I can't wait for the next edition of the podcast with you and Ron. I've been listening to it for over a year, and it's by far my favorite political podcast, of which I have about 100 from all sorts of sources. THANKS!

Susannah Mowris of Paris, France explains why the rest of the world thinks we're odd:

I am the listener of the "Its all Politics" podcast (yes, I know, we all say that). I may be a bit different from many in that I have lived outside the U.S. for over 25 years (I'm in Paris, France, home to an openly gay mayor that no one gets worked up about), but wonderful work like your podcast with Ron Elving allows me to keep up, and keep smiling.

Ditto from Chris McAfee of Belfast:

Keep up the good work! The Political Junkie segment on "Talk of the Nation" and the podcast are the best ways to follow U.S. politics from the U.K.

categories: On The Air

10:19 - January 9, 2009

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