Ben and Joel welcome Eric Boehlert, a senior fellow at Media Matters for America and the author of "Bloggers on the Bus: How the Internet Changed Politics and the Press," out this month in paperback.

Questions addressed in this podcast:

• How has the Internet changed politics and the press?
• Do the "netroots" deserve credit for Democratic electoral victories in 2006 and 2008 -- or would the left have been victorious anyway?
• How did liberals get their online advantage? Are conservatives finally catching up?
• Why did Obama bypass the netroots during his campaign? Are they getting in the way of his governance now?
• What's all this Tea Party stuff about, anyway?
• Would today's National Review make Bill Buckley cry?

Music heard in this podcast, all by The Bad Plus:

• "Smells Like Teen Spirit"
• "Heart of Glass"
• "Barracuda"
• "Feeling Yourself Disintegrate"

Next week's podcast guest: Will Bunch, author of "Tear Down This Myth: How the Reagan Legacy Has Distorted Our Politics and Haunts Our Future."