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WonkTalk Podcast

by The Washington Post

Featuring the Washington Post's Ezra Klein, Neil Irwin, Sarah Kliff, Brad Plumer, Suzy Khimm, and Dylan Matthews, along with guests from inside the newsroom and outside Washington, WonkTalk is a substantive and irreverent conversation on the top policy news of the day. It's politics, but without all the stupid stuff.

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Episodes

  1. Reasons for (some) optimism during a terrible week -- WonkTalk

    The Washington Post's Ezra Klein and Jim Tankersley try to find some good news amid a week of horrible events.

  2. What's the right conclusion to draw from the deficit? -- WonkTalk

    WonkBlog's Neil Irwin and Brad Plumer discuss Carmen M. Reinhart's findings in her book "This Time is Different," and the right conclusions to draw on national debt.

  3. WonkTalk: Is there a way to find out if laws actually work?

    The government does very little to find out which programs produce the best results for the money spent on them.The Washington Post's Brad Plumer and Dylan Matthews of WonkBlog discuss the merits of an evidence-based government.

  4. The White House's war on smokers -- WonkTalk

    The Washington Post's Sarah Kliff and Brad Plumer of WonkBlog discuss President Obama's proposed cigarette tax that would help fund early childhood education.

  5. Obama's budget: The $4.6 trillion difference -- WonkTalk

    The Washington Post's Ezra Klein and Dylan Matthews of WonkBlog discuss President Obama's budget proposal.

  6. What the brain map tells us about the state of American science -- WonkTalk

    The Washington Post's Brad Plumer and Sarah Kliff of WonkBlog discuss President Obama's government-sponsored initiative to map the human brain.

  7. How Ezra Klein offended Twitter -- WonkTalk

    The Washington Post's Ezra Klein and Brad Plumer debate the usefulness of Twitter and call for a better way to distill the overload of information.

  8. What role does central banking policy play in the economy? -- WonkTalk

    The Washington Post's Ezra Klein and Neil Irwin of WonkBlog discuss central banking policy after the financial crisis and the opposing views about its role in the state of the economy.

  9. Is the EPA ready to tackle climate change? -- WonkTalk

    The Washington Post's Sarah Kliff and Brad Plumer discuss the Environmental Protection Agency's new rule that would require cleaner gasoline and lower-pollution vehicles nationwide.

  10. Does disability insurance create a culture of dependency? -- WonkTalk

    WonkBlog's Dylan Matthews and Brad Plumer discuss a recent NPR story about the extraordinary growth of America's disability system.

  11. Gay marriage, abortion and the impact of public opinion -- WonkTalk

    The Washington Post's Sarah Kliff and Suzy Khimm of WonkBlog discuss the shifting public opinion of gay marriage, and the reason why fiscal conservatives might want to support legalizing same-sex unions..

  12. Will SCOTUS make a broader same-sex marriage ruling? -- WonkTalk

    Wonkblog's Sarah Kliff and Dylan Matthews discuss the Prop 8 musings at the Supreme Court Tuesday, and preview what Wednesday's DOMA hearing could bring.

  13. Wonktalk: Happy Birthday Affordable Care Act!

    The Washington Post's Ezra Klein and Sarah Kliff talk about the third anniversary of the Affordable Care Act. Even though Ezra forgot the cake, Sarah Kliff talks about how this is the year that the health care industry needs to figure out how to exactly implement the new law.

  14. Should Americans be concerned by the Cyprus crisis? -- WonkTalk

    The Washington Post's Neil Irwin and Brad Plumer of WonkBlog talk about Cyprus' financial mess and whether it could impact the American economy.

  15. Is this the end of the budget wars? -- WonkTalk

    Do we need another big budget deal? Join WonkBlog's Brad Plumer and Suzy Khimm as they talk through the no longer impending government shutdown.

  16. Wonktalk: Ducks, horses and what Ben Bernanke thinks

    Join Ezra Klein and Neil Irwin as they talk monetary policy and how Ben Bernanke's view of the world could influence Wednesday's press conference.

  17. The United States' near-failing grade in infrastructure -- WonkTalk

    The Washington Post's Brad Plumer and Suzy Khimm of WonkBlog discuss a new report card that gives U.S. infrastructure a slightly less dismal grade.

  18. How the Cyprus bank bailout would work -- WonkTalk

    The Washington Post's Ezra Klein and Neil Irwin of WonkBlog discuss a Cyprus bailout proposal that would tax all deposits in Cypriot banks.

  19. The cautiously optimistic economic report from the White House -- WonkTalk

    The Washington Post's Neil Irwin and Dylan Matthews of the WonkBlog discuss the Economic Report of the President, the annual paper that gives a rundown on what the president's in-house economics team thinks about the forces shaping the U.S. economy.

  20. Does the death of Google Reader signal the end of RSS? -- WonkTalk

    The Washington Post's Brad Plumer and Dylan Matthews discuss the announcement from Google that it will shut down its RSS service on July 1. What does the move tell us about how we consume information?

  21. The conundrum of the $1,800 MRI -- WonkTalk

    The Washington Post's Brad Plumer and Sarah Kliff discuss the range in prices for basic medical services and how transparency in health care prices could change the way consumers make choices.

  22. The mysterious Ryan budget -- WonkTalk

    The Washington Post's Ezra Klein and Neil Irwin of WonkBlog discuss what's left unanswered by the proposd 2014 budget released on Tuesday by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.).

  23. The demise of Intrade: Does it matter? -- WonkTalk

    The Washington Post's Neil Irwin and Brad Plumer discuss the end of the Ireland-based betting market that was most famous for letting people wager on news events.

  24. The country's most restrictive abortion ban -- WonkTalk

    The Washington Post's Suzy Khimm and Sarah Kliff of WonkBlog discuss Arkansas's 12-week abortion ban.

  25. Are happy days here again? -- WonkTalk

    The Washington Post's Neil Irwin and Dylan Matthews of WonkBlog discuss the upturn in the market and what that means for the economic forecast.

  26. Is the American economy doomed? -- WonkTalk

    The Washington Post's Ezra Klein of WonkBlog talks with economic reporter Jim Tankersley about his recent piece that explores whether America's slow economic growth is the new normal.

  27. The impending robot takeover? -- WonkTalk

    The Washington Post's Sarah Kliff and Brad Plumer of WonkBlog talk about the use of robots in medicine and the latest Atlantic cover story that suggests doctors could become obsolete.

  28. Wonktalk: Is the GOP giving Obama the power to direct sequester cuts?

    Senate Republicans have introduced a bill that would seemingly give the White House the power to reallocate the sequester cuts as President Obama sees fit. But the administration isn't biting. Find out why with Ezra Klein and Sarah Kliff on today's Wonktalk.

  29. What we learned from the 1991 sequester -- WonkTalk

    The Washington Post's Brad Plumer and Dylan Matthews of Wonkblog discuss how federal agencies can approach the series of automatic spending cuts set to go into effect on March 1.

  30. Ezra Klein and Brad Plumer wonder if anyone will notice sequester cuts -- WonkTalk

    The Washington Post's Ezra Klein and Brad Plumer of Wonkblog discuss the looming spending cuts and why we've seen little movement toward making a deal to avoid them.

  31. Why the cost of American health care is so high -- Wonktalk

    The Washington Post's Ezra Klein and Sarah Kliff of Wonkblog talk about how the American health-care system does not use rate-setting, and how that impacts health care consumers.

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ABOUT THIS SHOW

Featuring the Washington Post's Ezra Klein, Neil Irwin, Sarah Kliff, Brad Plumer, Suzy Khimm, and Dylan Matthews, along with guests from inside the newsroom and outside Washington, WonkTalk is a substantive and irreverent conversation on the top policy news of the day. It's politics, but without all the stupid stuff.

HOSTED BY

The Washington Post

Frequently Asked Questions

How many episodes does WonkTalk Podcast have?

WonkTalk Podcast currently has 31 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.

What is WonkTalk Podcast about?

Featuring the Washington Post's Ezra Klein, Neil Irwin, Sarah Kliff, Brad Plumer, Suzy Khimm, and Dylan Matthews, along with guests from inside the newsroom and outside Washington, WonkTalk is a substantive and irreverent conversation on the top policy news of the day. It's politics, but without...

How often does WonkTalk Podcast release new episodes?

WonkTalk Podcast has 31 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.

Where can I listen to WonkTalk Podcast?

You can listen to WonkTalk Podcast on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.

Who hosts WonkTalk Podcast?

WonkTalk Podcast is created and hosted by The Washington Post.
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