Culture Caucus

Journalist Jane Mayer, who co-wrote "Strange Justice: The Selling of Clarence Thomas" joins John Heilemann and Will Leitch to discuss the HBO film Confirmation, a dramatic exploration of the infamous Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings of 1991.

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John Heilemann and Will Leitch look at baseball in the year 2016, including its current cultural conflict, which bears more than a passing resemblance to the forces behind Donald Trump's campaign. Includes an interview with Fox Sports baseball and football broadcaster Joe Buck.

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John Heilemann and Will Leitch discuss the NCAA Basketball Tournament, when even President Barack Obama gets into the spirit and fills out a bracket, and talk with Washington Post sports columnist Sally Jenkins about amateurism and whether or not college athletes should (or even can) be paid.

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Never has the battle to balance fair journalism practices with the commercial realities of the business been put in such stark light: Trump despises the media, but he also loves and needs them, and media loves and (mostly) needs him right back. John Heilemann and Will Leitch discuss the media circus surrounding the Republican front-runner, and speak with Jenna Johnson, Trump reporter for The Washington Post.

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John Heilemann and Will Leitch discuss how the major celebrities in the Obama White House aren't from Hollywood; they're from the music world or, most often, sports. They also interview A.O. Scott, the New York Times film critic and author of the new book "Better Living Through Criticism."

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John Heilemann and Will Leitch discuss the Super Bowl as national holiday and how President Obama -- and other politicians -- come alive during sports-centric interviews in a way that they don't with the political press. They also talk to NBC's Willie Geist about the television business, the connection between sports and politics and more.

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Ever since the financial crisis of 2008, popular culture has attempted to capture the American people’s unique, combustible mix of confusion and rage. John Heilemann and Will Leitch take a look at the sleeper hit "The Big Short" and its predecessors, discuss the new Showtime show "Billions" with its co-creator, Brian Koppelman, and wonder aloud how it all ties in to the votes that will soon be cast in the presidential primaries.

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Bloomberg Politics' John Heilemann and Will Leitch kick off their podcast about the intersection of politics and popular culture with an extended discussion of the tumultuous state of late-night political comedy in the wake of Jon Stewart's exit from "The Daily Show." How's Trevor Noah doing? What's the best show for candidates to appear on? Why is Seth Meyers doing the most political talk show out there? And who's gonna win the Fallon/Colbert/Kimmel battle? Heilemann and Leitch also talk to venture capitalist Fred Wilson, one of the early investors in Twitter, about which candidates have embraced tech and which haven't, how Twitter is affecting the race for president, and whether politics will ever be the same. We're gonna do a lot of these: This is the first one. E-mail: [email protected]. Site: http://www.bloombergpolitics.com. Come say howdy.

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