# Serious American political talk shows **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 5, 2015, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-american-political-talk-shows/716875 "2015-04-05T14:29:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Zapp\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ee59a6/32.png) [@Zapp\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zapp_S)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2015, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-american-political-talk-shows/716875/1 "2015-04-05T14:29:22Z")
Hello, I am looking for good talk shows in American (or British) television that deal with politics (international) and other serious social questions with multiple guests from opposing camps. The guests should debate each other, not just be interviewed by the host. The more serious and heavy the discussions the better. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2015, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-american-political-talk-shows/716875/2 "2015-04-05T14:40:27Z")
Are you familiar with _Meet the Press_, _Face the Nation_, _This Week_ or _Fareed Zakaria GPS_? The first three are the longstanding Sunday morning political talk shows on the three major broadcast networks, the fourth is a newer program on CNN. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2015, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-american-political-talk-shows/716875/3 "2015-04-05T14:48:21Z")
I wonder why they don’t re-run these shows after the local news on Sunday nights. The same time slot Letterman and Fallon get on weeknights. There’s nothing on at that time anyways and you’d think lots of people would watch. Instead they put them on Sunday mornings when people are either at church or sleeping off a hangover. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2015, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-american-political-talk-shows/716875/4 "2015-04-05T14:56:01Z")
That is what a DVR (or a VHS machine) is for. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2015, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-american-political-talk-shows/716875/5 "2015-04-05T15:51:46Z")
**Moderator Action** Moving thread from General Questions to Cafe Society. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2015, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-american-political-talk-shows/716875/6 "2015-04-05T15:53:12Z")
_Meet the Press_, _Face the Nation_, _This Week_ are good if you want to know what passes for political debate in America–mostly politicians who don’t know much about policy or aren’t stupid enough to try to talk policy on a program like that, and pundits who are worse. There’s occasionally a good interview or episode, but very rarely do they arise in the context of the “two sides” debating. Far better for actually understanding the real perspectives of different sides on the issues are program like the [Intelligence Squared](http://intelligencesquaredus.org/) debates and similar. Not coincidentally a UK-originated program, where there is a stronger tradition of real political debate and less American bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![Zapp\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ee59a6/32.png) [@Zapp\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zapp_S)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2015, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-american-political-talk-shows/716875/7 "2015-04-05T16:04:30Z")
This is interesting. In my country in Europe, there is no such thing as Sunday morning talk shows. On Sunday mornings, there are cartoons for kids in the television. There are political debates around the noon though. However, the talk show I am looking for is of different format. Here it usually runs weekly in the evening, at around 9 pm, and single episode can run for up to 3 hours. There are usually around 4-8 guests in the studio and they debate freely, while the host controls the direction and pacing of the debate. There are usually one or two topics for the evening about a current controversial (not always political) affair and the guests from different camps often argue quite passionately about it. I know at least three such shows in three different european countries. I am looking for something similar in American television, but I’m poorly informed as I don’t watch it much these days. Do you have something like that in America? ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2015, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-american-political-talk-shows/716875/8 "2015-04-05T16:38:24Z")
Sadly, most of the shows of this type I have seen recently very rapidly become shouting matches. Civilized political discourse is a casualty of partisanship, along with objectivity and rationality. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2015, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-american-political-talk-shows/716875/9 "2015-04-05T17:31:54Z")
Perhaps 60 Minutes is what you are looking for. It’s only an hour and, usually, more than one story is broadcasted, but it does have a more in-depth stories and interviews. Also, for more in-depth reporting, try PBS. Charlie Rose and Newshour immediately come to mind. ---
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2015, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-american-political-talk-shows/716875/10 "2015-04-05T19:06:40Z")
PBS: [http://www.mclaughlin.com/](http://www.mclaughlin.com/) ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2015, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-american-political-talk-shows/716875/11 "2015-04-05T20:10:01Z")
I know you are more focussed on the American angle, but as you mentioned British as well, _Question Time_ sounds exactly what you are looking for in terms of UK/global politics and issues. It airs every Thursday evening at 10.35pm on BBC1 (with breaks at certain times of year), don’t know if you would be able to get it where you are though. ---
**Author:** ![Cayuga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Cayuga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cayuga)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2015, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-american-political-talk-shows/716875/12 "2015-04-05T20:20:47Z")
> [@Zapp\_S](#): > > However, the talk show I am looking for is of different format. Here it usually runs weekly in the evening, at around 9 pm, and single episode can run for up to 3 hours. There are usually around 4-8 guests in the studio and they debate freely, while the host controls the direction and pacing of the debate. We have nothing like this in the US. Especially the 3-hour running time. The shows that have been mentioned here are either 30- or 60-minutes long and cover several different topics in that time. Just as a guess, I’d say 10 minutes on one topic is the most you’re going to find. I’m not familiar with German TV, but I’ve seen similar shows in France. We have nothing like that here. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2015, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-american-political-talk-shows/716875/13 "2015-04-05T21:54:03Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > I wonder why they don’t re-run these shows after the local news on Sunday nights. The same time slot Letterman and Fallon get on weeknights. There’s nothing on at that time anyways and you’d think lots of people would watch. > Instead they put them on Sunday mornings when people are either at church or sleeping off a hangover. “Meet The Press” re-airs several times during the day, and overnight, on MSNBC. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2015, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-american-political-talk-shows/716875/14 "2015-04-06T04:25:29Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Are you familiar with _Meet the Press_, _Face the Nation_, _This Week_ or _Fareed Zakaria GPS_? The first three are the longstanding Sunday morning political talk shows on the three major broadcast networks, the fourth is a newer program on CNN. I’m familiar with them. I stopped watching all of them in the last year or two. I don’t think they’re what the OP asked for. Is there an equivalent to \*Firing Line \*(and its occasional debates) today? ---
**Author:** ![txtumbleweed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/278dde/32.png) [@txtumbleweed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/txtumbleweed)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2015, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-american-political-talk-shows/716875/15 "2015-04-06T15:29:39Z")
The Sunday morning shows are usually your best bet decent discourse, to **Dewey Finn’s** list, be sure to add [Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace](http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/fox-news-sunday-chris-wallace/). It is first run on the Fox over-the-air networks on Sunday morning and then rebroadcast on Fox News Channel Sunday afternoon. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2015, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-american-political-talk-shows/716875/16 "2015-04-06T15:49:34Z")
The only time the Sunday talk shows are any good is the time when the journalists talk among themselves. Political guests are merely there to drive home their talking points, and guy like Chuck Todd are deathly afraid to call them out on their lies lest he no longer be able to book guests from that party. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2015, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-american-political-talk-shows/716875/17 "2015-04-06T16:50:34Z")
CNN used to have a political debate program – [Crossfire](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossfire_%28TV_series%29) – which was cancelled in 2005, then briefly (and unsuccessfully) brought back a couple of years ago. One of the criticisms of Crossfire, at least in its later years, was that it wasn’t really debate, but just yelling and reiteration of talking points. McLaughlin Group is probably the closest on US television to what the OP asks about, but I would wager that most Americans aren’t even aware of it. “Reasoned political debate” isn’t something that we do here anymore, alas. ---
**Author:** ![McDeath\_the\_Mad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a3d4f5/32.png) [@McDeath\_the\_Mad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/McDeath_the_Mad)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2015, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-american-political-talk-shows/716875/18 "2015-04-07T01:45:24Z")
I recommend “Realtime with Bill Maheur”. It’s on HBO, he is very liberal, but his panel is always a liberal and conservative mix. He has great guests and a decent amount of comedy.