Politicians Are Bad at Podcasting

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[Commentary] On their podcasts, our representatives are doing something almost journalistic: They’re moderating discussions with other political figures, interviewing experts on North Korea or monopoly power and staging interactions with the public. Except there are no actual journalists around to ask any pesky questions. The lawmaker podcast boom is just another way that our political news is becoming less accountable to the public and more personality driven. But that’s not the only thing wrong with it. The podcasts are also boring.

If politicians really want to excel at podcasting, maybe they should quit their day jobs. For lawmakers, the podcast is rarely undertaken in the legitimate pursuit of good content but is instead a dull, modern version of constituent outreach. These shows are an attempt to signal that they are listening to us. But that doesn’t mean that we should listen to them.


Politicians Are Bad at Podcasting