Coles District Radio Broadcast (Threat Program)

A crackling, low-fidelity AM radio program carrying a clipped announcer voice and a recorded caller issuing a specific violent threat. Static and local geographic markers give the audio a regional texture; staff listen, flinch, and treat the broadcast as an audible artifact passed through the room like evidence.

5 appearances

Purpose

To transmit talk-radio content to a local audience — in this instance, to air a caller’s threat and thereby disseminate a provocative message across Congressman Coles' district.

Significance

Functions as the catalytic piece of evidence that converts political celebration into crisis: the broadcast supplies a tangible threat narrative that undermines the gun-control bill's momentum and forces the White House team into immediate damage control.

Appearances in the Narrative

When this object appears and how it's used

5 moments

S1E3 · A Proportional Response

A Private Plea Interrupted by the Press

The Coles district radio broadcast is the off‑stage source invoked by reporters; it supplies the content that triggers the reporters' questions and the administration's procedural response, existing as an audible but out‑of‑frame catalyst for the lobby exchange.

Before: Broadcast/recording exists externally; a printed transcript or hearsay circulates among staff and press.

After: Remains the subject of inquiry and the evidentiary basis for press questions and potential Secret Service attention.

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S1E3 · A Proportional Response

Measured Silence: Toby Deflects the Press

The Coles District Radio Broadcast is the offstage audio source referenced by reporters; its transcript or content is the reason the press swarms and the Secret Service protocol is invoked, functioning as the inciting artifact of the media confrontation.

Before: Existing as an external broadcast circulating in the district and known to press; Sam has presumably seen a transcript earlier in the day.

After: Remains an active public artifact; its existence continues to drive reporter inquiries and administrative caution.

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S1E3 · A Proportional Response

Closed Door: Retaliation vs. Restraint

A printed transcript / memory of Bertram Coles' local radio broadcast is brought into the conversation as concrete evidence of a public threat. The broadcast functions as an audible artifact that escalates the domestic political stakes and forces operational response (Toby 'on it').

Before: Aired on local radio and known to senior staff; a transcript or report has reached Leo's office.

After: Logged as intelligence/political problem; staff assigned to counter it (Toby mobilized).

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S1E3 · A Proportional Response

Retribution and Restraint: A President's Fury, A Chief's Counsel

The Coles District Radio Broadcast is invoked by Leo as an evidentiary artifact: he reports Coles' on‑air threat to the President's safety, turning rumor into a concrete political problem that requires staff action and shapes the discussion about escalation and optics.

Before: Aired on local radio; transcript/summary in staff hands.

After: Has become a piece of operational intelligence prompting staff to respond (Toby 'on it') and influencing the President's sense of personal peril.

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S1E3 · A Proportional Response

Laughter Between Thunder: Bartlet and Leo Recalibrate

The Coles District radio broadcast is quoted by Leo as evidence of political threat and childish grandstanding. The radio remark transforms abstract threat into a concrete, quotable provocation that reorients the conversation toward damage control and legal/political response.

Before: Aired on a local station (existence reported to staff); a printed/transcribed version is in-hand or in memory.

After: Becomes part of the administration's dossier on public provocation; prompts action from staff (Toby 'on it').

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