The Oval Office Tapes is a scripted podcast that imagines what the conversations in the White House might sound like.

[4] R.J. Cutler describes coming up with the idea for the podcast: "I'm not alone, I think, these days in being fairly obsessed with what's going on in Washington D.C., what's happening at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., and it occurred to me that if we could hear what was going on within the rooms there, the private rooms, it'd be very interesting, and that's what The Oval Office Tapes is.

"[5] In an interview with Hollywood Reporter, R.J. Cutler described the production of the podcast, "We write every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, we record on Thursday, and we drop on Friday.

Instead of reading copy directly from the advertisers, The Oval Office Tapes employs the Ghost of Abraham Lincoln, Totally Real Paid Protestors, and the Backbone of the Republican Party to read the advertisements.

[6][7] The show premiered to positive critical response, with praise from celebrities such as Alec Baldwin and James Carville.