This is the full, human-edited Mad Men C to Z podcast transcript for Season 1, Episode 12, Nixon vs. Kennedy.
You can listen to the episode here.

Please visit the episode webpage for more details - offer your insights and vote on your favorite lines.

Mad Men C to Z  Podcast Transcript for S1E12 Nixon vs. Kennedy
 
Jenna: Hi, I'm Jenna.
Steve: And I'm Steve. Welcome to All Things Mad Men, from Chip and Dip to Zou Bisou.
 
Jenna: We started this podcast to connect to Mad Men fans like us, who pick up something new with every rewatch.
 
Steve: Be advised, this podcast will include spoilers so we can talk about character arcs all the way through the final season of the series.
 
Jenna: We're breaking down each episode of Mad Men, discussing the big and small moments, and posing questions to listeners so we can get your insights. Let's get started with Mad Men, C to Z.
 
Welcome. Today, we're talking about season one, episode 12, Nixon versus Kennedy. This episode was directed by Alan Taylor.
 
It's election day, November 8, 1960.
Senator John F. Kennedy and his running mate, Lyndon Johnson, versus Vice President Nixon and his running mate, Henry Cabot Lodge, the UN Ambassador.
 
Steve: This episode opens with a news broadcast talking about the election.
 
Jenna: As Don walks Duck Phillips into Bert’s office,
it's important to recognize that Don does bring Duck into Sterling Cooper. He might have wished he'd gone with Pete when all is said and done.
 
And speaking of Duck Phillips, this is Mark Moses, the actor.
You might have seen him in Desperate Housewives, Homeland, and Platoon.
When Don brings Duck in to meet Bert Cooper, it's a very brief measure of the man, a formality, and a weird non-interview.
 
You can see that Duck understands the assignment here. He's ready with the sales pitch, and he's hungry, and he can read the room.

It happens. Sometimes you get to the end of the seventh season of Mad Men and you're looking for something different. So you try a new show, and it feels hollow because the gap between the writing in Mad Men and the writing in the new show is too big. You might decide to re-watch Mad Men again (and we support that)! However, if you are looking for something good and new-to-you, we've pulled together a few of our recommendations.

Of course we like shows like The Office, Schitt's Creek, Ted Lasso, The Princess Bride, Breaking Bad, and The Sopranos, but those are such huge hits they don't need any amplification from us. We decided to include titles that modern audiences might not know, especially shows that are near and dear to us.

When we were thinking about some of our favorite shows, we had to acknowledge we're old, and we're owning it. But we still think they hold up and have value, even if nothing is quite like Mad Men.
Here's the short list - see details below.

Steve & Jenna's Choices:
The Wire, Lonesome Dove, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Jenna's Choices:
Never Have I Ever, What Dreams May Come, Juno

Steve's Choices:
High Noon, Lawrence of Arabia, Snatch

We have eclectic tastes over here at Mad Men C to Z, so while the subset of people who immerse themselves in both Mad Men and Animal Crossing, New Horizons might be limited to a few dozen, we're here for it (and by "we," we mean Jenna).

So please enjoy what the world didn't know it needed - Mad Men characters and their ACNH counterparts:

If you haven't tried Animal Crossing: New Horizons, it's a comfort game that feeds your inner collector or designer. I don't love spammy pop-up videos, but Polygon does have a guide for almost every ACNH question if you're a beginner or intermediate player.

Which Mad Men/ACNH match is your favorite?

Our Mad Men C to Z podcast for Season One, Episode 8 is live now, and we invite you to comment on our Double Dip question and vote for your favorite Sterling Lines on this episode. The Hobo Code is a darker episode of Mad Men, so to lighten things up a little, here is a re-telling of the episode in fairy tale format. Warning: spoilers lurk below!

Once upon a time, a corporate boss gave a worker $2500, which the worker brought home to his beautiful wife.
"Betty, let us use this money to invest in your hopes and dreams," the worker said, as they embraced.
Just kidding.
He took the check to his mistress and asked her to go to Paris, but she turned him down so she could get high with her friends and listen to Miles Davis. He gave her the money anyway and he never went to Paris.

The End

Once upon a time, a young girl got a new job and found the beginnings of success. An evil troll put a spell on her and she made some poor decisions that indulged his never-ending selfishness and greed. One day all the forest creatures were celebrating, and the girl sought out the troll, who slammed his club into her heart and crawled back into his cave, where he continued to mutter about everyone who had ever wronged him. The girl tried to keep dancing.
The End

Don't watch Mad Men . . . or listen to our Mad Men podcast, unless, of course, you know what a fantastic show this is! We kept finding ourselves talking about various episodes of Mad Men days and weeks later as we talked about other movies, books, and stories. Lines from Mad Men kept working their way into our conversations. And much like a favorite book you feel the need to re-read, it felt like time to re-visit this amazing series.

We have a lot of friends who have varying tastes in media, including a number who have watched the show, but we haven't connected with any dedicated fans. This Mad Men podcast was born because we wanted to find those people - the re-watching fans - and to get a chance to talk and think more about each episode. Part of what's great about Mad Men is that you experience it differently at different times of your own life, and you're able to find new details with each re-watch. We also love the idea of new fans discovering this incredible show, so we stared our podcast creation process with a question:

Here's a link to our bonus episode, advising you not to watch Mad Men. After all:
1) It's dark. It's depressing. Characters can and will disappoint you with shocking regularity - even, or perhaps especially - the ones you most want to be heroes. You've got enough going on in your life and you probably want a little escapism when you turn on the TV . . . who wants to see petty co-workers or bad marriages or cruel parents when they're already dealing with those things in their own lives?

2) Do you really want to keep up with all the unique characters in the massive ensemble cast? Why not have a hero and a villain and call it a day? Instead, every minor character in Mad Men has a backstory and a future, and every conflict gives each character a chance to fight for their goals and fend off their fears - even if they're pretending to be fighting a nobler cause than self-interest.

3) You can't watch this show and multi-task - it requires your full attention to appreciate. You can't start in the middle of an episode (or the series) and understand all the dynamics. Your brain can't coast.

4) Nothing happens. It's almost entirely dialogue. If you're looking for car chases, battle scenes, or heart-pounding heists, you're in the wrong place.

5) This show will give you a life-long aversion to things you never thought you'd fear, like oysters and orange sherbet. Don't say we didn't warn you.

If, however, you're beyond hope and you're determined to ignore our advice, we're happy to enable your Mad Men re-watch habit! Find our Mad Men Season One podcast episode guide here. We hope you love it. That's what the podcast's for!