Firing Line with Margaret Hoover

Tanner '88

September 2025 •English

In 1988, renegade filmmaker Robert Altman and Pulitzer Prize–winning Doonesbury cartoonist Garry Trudeau created a presidential candidate, ran him alongside the other hopefuls during the primary season, and presented their media campaign as a cross between a soap opera and TV news. The result was the groundbreaking Tanner ’88, a piercing satire of media-age American politics.

Mister Sterling

September 2025 •English

Mister Sterling is an American television serial drama created by Lawrence O'Donnell that ran from January to March in 2003. It starred Josh Brolin as an idealistic United States Senator, and featured Audra McDonald, William Russ, David Noroña, and James Whitmore as members of his staff. Despite mostly positive reviews, the show, which aired on NBC on Friday nights, was cancelled after 10 episodes after the show only ranked 58th in the yearly ratings Although it had numerous similarities to The West Wing in style and tone, it was not set in the same universe as O'Donnell's other political show. It is unknown if a cross-over would have ever occurred had Mister Sterling not been cancelled; however Steven Culp played presidential aspirant Sen. Ron Garland on Mister Sterling and House Speaker Jeff Haffley on The West Wing, and Democrats appeared to be in the majority in the US Senate on Mr Sterling, while in The West Wing consistent Republican control of both Houses of Congress was a key plot point. James Whitmore was nominated for a 2003 Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for playing former Governor Bill Sterling, the senator's father.

The World Wars

September 2025 •English

The story of three decades of war told through the eyes of various men who were its key players: Roosevelt, Hitler, Patton, Mussolini, Churchill, Tojo, DeGaulle and MacArthur. The series examines the two wars as one contiguous timeline starting in 1914 and concluding in 1945 with these unique individuals coming of age in World War I before ultimately calling the shots in World War II.

Madam Secretary

September 2025 •English

After years away from the CIA, Elizabeth McCord is pulled back into the political arena. The newly appointed Secretary of State is tough, fair, and smart, driving international diplomacy, wrangling office politics, and circumventing protocol as she negotiates global and domestic issues, both at the White House and at home.

Washington Journal

September 2025 •English

Washington Journal is an American television series on the C-SPAN network in the format of a political call-in and interview program. The program features elected officials, government administrators and journalists as guests, answering questions from the hosts and from members of the general public, who call into the studio or submit questions via e-mail and social media. The three-hour program airs every day of the year beginning at 7 a.m. Eastern Time, except when special events or coverage of Congress preempts all or part of the program. The audio of the program also airs on WCSP-FM as a simulcast with the television broadcast.

Décrypteurs

September 2025 •French

Backstairs at the White House

September 2025 •English

Behind the scenes at the White House during eight administrations, as told by the people who work there.

The Roosevelts: An Intimate History

September 2025 •English

Chronicles the lives of Theodore, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, three members of the most prominent and influential family in American politics. It is the first time in a major documentary television series that their individual stories have been interwoven into a single narrative. This seven-part, fourteen hour film follows the Roosevelts for more than a century, from Theodore’s birth in 1858 to Eleanor’s death in 1962.

Designated Survivor

September 2025 •English

Tom Kirkman, a low-level cabinet member is suddenly appointed President of the United States after a catastrophic attack during the State of the Union kills everyone above him in the Presidential line of succession.

Real Time with Bill Maher

September 2025 •English

Each week Bill Maher surrounds himself with a panel of guests which include politicians, actors, comedians, musicians and the like to discuss what's going on in the world.

Slow Burn

September 2025 •English

In this adaptation of the award-winning podcast, Slow Burn’s Leon Neyfakh excavates the strange subplots and forgotten characters of recent political history—and finds surprising parallels to the present.

The Bold Ones: The Senator

September 2025 •English

Hays Stowe is a new senator who comes to Washington DC with his wife Erin and daughter Norma. He arrives full of optimism that being on the side of justice can help him change things for the better… The characters originally appeared in the 2 hour TV-movie/pilot film A Clear and Present Danger (1970).

Top of the Hill

September 2025 •English

Top of the Hill is a short-lived political drama series aired by CBS as part of its 1989 fall lineup.

First Ladies Revealed

September 2025 •English

See how our first ladies have defined presidencies, reimagined the White House, and left their mark on American history.

Favorite Son

September 2025 •English

Favorite Son is a miniseries about political intrigue that aired on NBC in 1988 a week before that year's presidential election. It starred Harry Hamlin, Linda Kozlowski, James Whitmore, Robert Loggia, John Mahoney, Ronny Cox, and a pre-Seinfeld Jason Alexander. The miniseries was adapted from the 1987 novel of the same written by Steve Sohmer, who also wrote the teleplay.

Washington Week with The Atlantic

September 2025 •English

Journalists participate in a round-table discussion of news events in this award-winning public affairs series. It first aired in 1967, making it the longest-running prime-time news and public affairs program on television.

Pod Save America

September 2025 •English

Covering the 2018 midterm elections, podcast hosts Jon Favreau, Tommy Vietor, Dan Pfeiffer and Jon Lovett bring a “no bullsh*t conversation about politics” to the campaign trail in a four-part special.

Can't Get You Out of My Head

September 2025 •English

In six films, Adam Curtis traces the different forces across the world that have led to now. It covers a wide range—including the strange roots of modern conspiracy theories, the history of China, opium and opioids, the history of Artificial Intelligence, melancholy over the loss of empire and, love and power. And explores whether modern culture, despite its radicalism, is really just part of the new system of power.

Oliver Stone's Untold History of the United States

September 2025 •English

Oliver Stone's re-examination of under-reported events in American history.

First Ladies

September 2025 •English

Blending in-depth interviews, rare archival footage, and cinematic recreations, this docuseries on the lives of America's most iconic First Ladies is a bold revision of each woman's traditional portrayal, revealing how they were impacted during their time in the White House, and how their achievements fundamentally shaped American and global history.