The Big Listen ended production in May 2018. While this site is no longer updated, all the content remains available for archive purposes.
This photo is not at all a metaphor for the American presidency in 2016. Nope.
Hey, pals! Our long national nightmare is almost over!
This election season has been a doozie, and it’s fair to say we’re all going to need a stiff drink or a long nap after November 8.
While this has been without a doubt one of the most vitriolic presidential campaigns in recent memory, there is at least one good thing that has come from all this noise — podcasts! So many podcasts. Republican presidential candidate Donald J. Trump is the face that launched a thousand podcasts. Without him, shows like Slate’s Trumpcast literally would not exist. We’re going to take a look at just a select smattering of political podcasts in this week’s Election Extravaganza.
Guests
- Sam Sanders Co-host, NPR Politics Podcast
- Margie Omero Co-host, The Pollsters
- Kristen Soltis Anderson Co-host, The Pollsters
- Negin Farsad Host, Fake The Nation
- Sam Stein Co-host, Candidate Confessional
- Jason Cherkis Co-host, Candidate Confessional
What Else Is On This Week’s Show?
At first blush, you might think a podcast about polling research would be about as interesting as watching a herd of turtles. And you would be forgiven for thinking that because you clearly never listened to The Pollsters. Democrat Margie Omero and Republican Kristen Soltis Anderson are political pollsters who love digging into the numbers. Their enthusiasm (READ: nerding out) for polls of all kinds is infectious. Trust me.
For late night comedians, it doesn’t get any better than this election cycle. There’s no shortage of jokes to be made about any of the candidates. They’re like gifts that keep on giving. And that’s a good thing for Negin Farsad. Farsad is the host of Fake The Nation, a podcast like Face The Nation, only with a million more jokes and zero politicians. Each episode, her roundtable of comedians break down the political news of the week as only funny people can. #jokes
With every election comes a loser. Or in the case of this presidential election, almost two dozen losers. But the great thing about losers is they have amazing stories to tell about their respective defeats. Sam Stein and Jason Cherkis of the Huffington Post have bottled up the stories of political also-rans and packaged them into the charming podcast, Candidate Confessional. Regardless of your political affiliation, it’s impossible not to be moved by former Republican presidential candidate and congresswoman Michele Bachmann’s tales of misogyny and sexism on the campaign trail.
Even More Political Podcasts For You News Junkies Out There
Audio Baubles
- Very attractive listener recommendations for this week: Election Profitmakers and FiveThirtyEight Elections, Keepin’ It 1600, MSNBC Rachel Maddow and OPB Politics Now
- As we do each week, let’s check the charts! Or rather, the 289th-ranked podcast on iTunes: With her. This is the official Hillary Clinton Campaign Podcast™. Host Max Linsky chats with Hillary and a number of her surrogates whose last names are also Clinton about why real human woman Hillary Clinton would be a great president.
- Best podcast title of the week: My History Can Beat Up Your Politics
Call Me!
Do you have a podcast recommendation you’d like to share with us? We want to hear it! Give us a jingle on the Pod Line at 202-885-POD1 and leave a message. Then we’ll put you on the radio and you’ll be famous.
Thanks for reading, pals! ‘Til next time…keep listening, America.
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