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I'm totally shocked to be enjoying these political podcasts so much!
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It's that time of year, Americans: time for lawn signs, robocalls, and mailboxes stuffed full of wasteful flyers.
That's right: it's an election year. Whether you like it or not, you'll be bombarded with information, and now— more than ever— you'll be extra suspicious of its validity.
Personally, I keep my consumption of political media to a minimum. I used to be a news junkie, but that wasn't working out great for my mental health (I'm a worrier by nature, and I'm easily riled up).
Now, I'm the type of person who opts for studying the entire language of a bill/amendment before entering the voting booth. I think I stay well enough informed, without falling down any of the political rabbit holes.
Until recently, the most politically-charged podcast I listened to on a regular basis was The West Wing Weekly. But then I found the five shows below.
Why did I decide to add more politics to what is sure to be an already hard-to-digest election year?
Because these aren't your typical podcasts. Four of the five shows listed below don't even have a real opinion about the 2020 election. Three of them are more about history than they are about the current political situation in the U.S.. Two are investigative, and one aims to help you approach the election with humor.
These shows really get into the nuts and bolts of how our system works, how we got to where we are today, and the detailed stories of the people, scandals, and consequences.
Apologies to my history and American Government teachers, but I've learned SO much more from these podcasts than I ever did in high school. I bet you will, too.
Check Out These 5 Political Podcasts
Raise The Dead
I don't normally repeat podcast recommendations, but I admit that this show was recently featured in my Best Podcasts of 2019 post.
Raise the Dead aims to find the similarities between the 1960 and 2016 presidential elections. Because if you thought 2016 turned out differently than everyone said it would, 1960 is the OG of plot twists and surprising results.
Host Justin Robert Young has a very different sound from my usual podcast listening, which makes this show all the more fun to listen to. If you don't love him after the first few minutes, stick with episode 1; the story might be enough to get you hooked.
All episodes for Season 1 are now available for binging (be sure to listen in order).
Stranglehold
I was born and raised in the state of Maine, and no matter where I live, New England will be my true home.
You'd think this means that I know all about the famous New Hampshire Primary and all its history. I do not.
That's why I've been loving New Hampshire Public Radio's podcast called Stranglehold. It untangles the history of the primary, its significance to presidential candidates, and— most of all— the constant power struggle to keep the nation's first primary in New Hampshire.
The team behind this show clearly put a lot of thought into the types of questions they wanted to ask and answer about the primary. They cover the topic from several different angles and appear to have driven all over their (small) state to do so.
Stranglehold has the typical public radio sound (think Planet Money), which makes all the names and facts easy to digest. And once you get an episode or two in, you really start to understand why the title of the show is so spot-on
American Elections: Wicked Game
I truly meant no disrespect to my 9th grade American Government teacher (above), but few podcasts have ever taught me more about my own country than this one.
American Elections: Wicked Game is slated to release 58 episodes; one for each of the 58 U.S presidential elections. The first episode was released October 8, 2019, 58 weeks out from the 2020 election.
Aside from having a truly unique concept for releasing the show, this podcast is amazing. It's a mix between detailed narration and reenactments of some of the country's most important historical moments.
Host Lindsay Graham's pacing allows you to keep up with the many different "characters" and events. He provides plenty of context (in case your high school education was also lacking in details), and he sticks to the facts (I couldn't tell you what his political affiliations are).
If you like the Imagined Life podcast from Wondery, you should definitely check out this show.
Listen to American Elections: Wicked Game
Reply All: The Real Enemy (Parts 1-3)
If you've ever listened to Reply All (and you should), you know that this show is mostly about technology in culture, not straight-up politics.
But true fans/subscribers of the show know that sometimes Reply All dips into serious societal issues, whether there's a strong connection to technology or not. Once you're hooked on their brand of storytelling, it doesn't really matter.
That's the case with their latest episodes (#152, #153, #154), all of which were reported by producer Emmanuel Dzotsi.
Like me, Emmanuel finds political fighting tiresome, but is interested in the stories behind the fighting. And he found a doozy out of Alabama that is seriously hard to believe.
Throughout the three episode arc, Emmanuel explains the issues plaguing the Alabama Democratic Party, and the historical events that created those problems.
In true investigative reporter fashion, Emmanuel goes to Alabama, meets the key players in the story, attends their meetings, and keeps following up. If you like a tightly written ending, this story has it.
Worst Year Ever
I love the title of this podcast, even if the cover art gives me anxiety. But I suppose that's the point.
Worst Year Ever acknowledges that 2020 is going to be hard on all of us, whether your candidate is leading in the polls or not.
With this in mind, the hosts—Katy Stoll and Cody Johnston from the Some More News podcast and Robert Evens from Behind the Bastards—discuss and poke fun at the issues and the (many) democratic candidates.
This is the only podcast in this list that has a political slant to it; the hosts are clearly not Trump supporters, but they also don't stand behind every democratic candidate. They've got opinions, which they communicate through heavy sarcasm.
I didn't love the 8 minute trailer for this show, and it almost stopped me from listening to it at all. I recommend skipping right to episodes 1 & 2, and then you can skip around a little if you're so inclined
Bonus Recommendation
Michael Moore has recently come out with a new podcast, titled Rumble. It's aimed at ridding the country of the current administration (and the system that allowed it come to power).
If you're even slightly a fan of Moore, you'll find episode 1 of interest. The first 10-15 minutes feature Moore speaking directly to listeners about his youth, the effects of the Kennedy assassination, and coping with having watched the murder of Lee Harvey Oswald live on TV. It's an interesting look into a the formative years of this famous and controversial man
Your Turn to Recommend
What political podcasts do you recommend? Share them with me and other podcast fans by commenting below.