Ben Terris is a feature writer at The Washington Post, where he’s carved out a unique role: reporting on what he calls, “the weirdo beat.” While Ben’s colleagues focus on what’s happening on the main stage in politics, he keeps an eye on the freak show that’s happening just out of sight.
This week, Ben published his much-anticipated book “The Big Break: The Gamblers, Party Animals, and True Believers Trying to Win in Washington While America Loses Its Mind.”
“The Big Break” has a novel argument: that if you want to understand how American politics works in the post-Donald Trump era – then you really, really have to understand Ben’s field of expertise: weirdos.
On this episode of Playbook Deep Dive, Playbook co-author and Deep Dive host Ryan Lizza joins Ben to discuss the rise and fall of the influential oddballs chronicled in “The Big Break,” and what their stories say about the future of politics.
Ryan Lizza is a Playbook co-author for POLITICO.
Ben Terris is a feature reporter covering national politics for The Washington Post.
Afra Abdullah is an associate producer for POLITICO audio.
Kara Tabor is a producer for POLITICO audio.
Alex Keeney is a senior producer for POLITICO audio.
Jenny Ament is the executive producer for POLITICO audio.
Joe Biden's inflation whisperer
Has Twitter warped politics?
Houses on the Hill aren't for living. They're for lobbying
Kiss your swing districts goodbye
CNN's Manu Raju vs. Jeff Flake: Cat and mouse
The strategists who made the “Youngkin Republican”
The activists outside Joe Manchin's houseboat
Meet D.C.'s 'Lobbyist Hunter'
Push it to the (debt) limit
The Biden family's secrets
Regulating crypto: The $2 trillion Rubik's Cube
Pelosi vs. everybody: Dems’ high-wire health care act
Biden’s abortion clash with the Catholic Church
These Republicans are going...big government?
How Kamala Harris is embracing — and changing — the system
The first true foreign policy test of Biden's presidency
Vote-a-rama drama and the national debt
The Democratic ‘civil war’ in Ohio
Strange but true: Bernie's pragmatic turn
Inside Biden’s slow-walk on Cuba
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Tiny Desk Concerts - Video
The Axe Files with David Axelrod
Left, Right & Center
The Jason Stapleton Program
Podcast for America