The documentary “The Smell of Money” chronicles several North Carolina families’ fight for environmental justice against pork producers whose facilities adversely affect their surrounding land. Senior CQ Roll Call writer Ellyn Ferguson discusses the film with its writer, Jamie Berger.

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It might be early in the 2024 election season, but that doesn't mean there aren't significant events, candidates, polling and topics to tune into. Nathan Gonzales, Roll Call’s elections analyst and the publisher of Inside Elections, joins the podcast to discuss why it's so important to pay attention to what's going on now. 

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Just when you think the State of the Union address is played out, we get one like Tuesday's: A call and response of political spectacle that very clearly defined differences in policy and approach between Democrats and Republicans, and might have previewed the 2024 campaign ahead for President Joe Biden and the GOP. Niels Lesniewski and Jim Saksa join the podcast to discuss the raucous caucus. 

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When we say “Hollywood,” it’s kind of like saying “Washington.” There’s more that makes up these places than just – these places. In many cases, the people who make things go in Hollywood, like in Washington, come from somewhere else, and they land in those places after long professional or personal journeys that start all over the globe. And sometimes those Hollywood scripts start in a place like Washington, where people toil in a variety of pursuits. Political Theater talks to three of those people today on Political Theater, denizens of the DMV, creatures of Washington, whose work just might land them in Hollywood.

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It’s a reliable plotline. Old, battle-hardened wrestler left for dead and in exile mounts a comeback, looking to vanquish the people who always seem to underestimate him. Of course, we’re talking about Donald Trump. Or Vince McMahon. Or both. With us to discuss wrestling in politics and politics in wrestling is Brandon Wetherbee, host of the You Me Them Everybody Podcast, founder of Recommend if You Like magazine and co-author, with Chris Kelly, of the book, The Donald: How Trump Turned Presidential Politics into Pro Wrestling.

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The flag of the United States is a worldwide icon. It’s a symbol of liberty with a complicated history. “The Flagmakers” a documentary from veteran filmmakers Sharon Liese and Cynthia Wade, profiles the people at Eder Flags in Wisconsin, a major manufacturer of flags and flagpoles in the United States. They are a diverse lot, in an influential, swing state, and they represent the tapestry of American society, all while they literally stitch together the tapestry that is the American flag. 

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The Brent Spence Bridge over the Ohio River has long been a symbol of the country's crumbling infrastructure, a familiar prop politicians used as backdrop to call for needed repairs. Now through bipartisan legislation, the old bridge is finally getting a $1.6 billion makeover. And this week, while the House plunged into chaos over the election of its speaker, President Joe Biden and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell gathered at the bridge to tout their records and offer a preview of the bipartisan approach that will be necessary to address the country's difficulties in the months and years ahead. 

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Dror Moreh’s documentary “The Corridors of Power” is a chronicle of the American response to genocide in modern times. It combines difficult footage of atrocities and violence with Moreh’s one-on-one interviews with powerful U.S. officials, from such iconic figures as Colin Powell and Madeline Albright to contemporary ones who are still serving at the highest levels of government like Antony Blinken and Jake Sullivan.

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Matthew Heineman is one of the pre-eminent documentary filmmakers working, and his movies have provided ground level views of the world not available to many: drug cartels in Mexico, journalists working in the Syrian civil war and COVID-19 wards in New York in the early days of the pandemic. His latest project “Retrograde” captures the U.S. withdrawal in Afghanistan last year, and the ensuing fallout among the Afghan military personnel left to fight the Taliban.

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On Dec. 6, the last race of the 2022 campaign will conclude, when voting in Georgia ends in the runoff between Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock and Republican Herschel Walker.

This campaign has been close since the get-go; It is the first time the major parties have nominated Black men to run against each other in Georgia, and who these two are and where they come from means a lot to the state. Joining us on Political Theater is Clyde McGrady, an enterprise reporter at the New York Times (and former reporter at Roll Call), who has deep connections to Georgia. 

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