Congressional Dish

Congressional Dish is unlike any other political podcast you will find. Jennifer Briney does something almost nobody else does: she actually reads the bills. Not summaries, not talking points, not press releases -- the actual text of legislation moving through Congress. Then she breaks it down in plain English so you can understand what your representatives are really voting on. Episodes publish monthly and range from 40 minutes to nearly two hours depending on the complexity of the legislation being covered. Briney walks through congressional hearings, reads relevant provisions, and provides context that makes dense legal language understandable. The pace is deliberate, and she takes the time to explain terms, trace funding streams, and connect legislative provisions to real-world consequences. This is an independent production with no corporate backing or party affiliation, and that independence shows. Briney follows the legislation wherever it leads, criticizing both parties when the text warrants it. She has been doing this since 2012, and the depth of knowledge she has accumulated about how Congress actually operates is remarkable. With a 4.6 rating from over 1,100 reviews, the audience is smaller than the mega-shows but fiercely loyal. If you are tired of political commentary that never gets past the horse race to talk about what government is actually doing, Congressional Dish is the antidote. It requires more attention than most podcasts, but the payoff is real understanding.