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The Tufts Daily
Where you read it first | Thursday, March 28, 2024

Three political podcasts to get you to November

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By the time this article goes to print, there will be 49 days to go until Tuesday, Nov. 8: Election Day.

After the Democratic National Convention back in July, and on into August, it seemed as if the race was over. Trump’s ignorant, mean-spirited behavior appeared to have eclipsed even Clinton’s dire flaws; all that was left to do was to run out the clock until November. This exhausting race had ended blissfully early.

Oh, how times have changed. As we head into the fall, the race has tightened by virtue of a “basket of deplorables," sound bites, health scares and toothless, humanizing hair-messings. Uncertainty, absent from the race this summer, is back with a vengeance.

After you’ve devoured the politics pages, trying to make sense of the election, a political podcast might be just the thing to quell your gnawing anxiety. After all, if the measured delivery of a policy wonk doesn’t convince you that politics is fundamentally rational and not an enterprise controlled by the unseen tentacles of a shrieking squid-god, nothing will. The Arts & Living section recommends a regular dose of these three shows between now and November. 

The FiveThirtyEight Elections Podcast

FiveThirtyEight founder Nate Silver has built a formidable reputation over the past two election cycles (and many sports seasons) due to his uncannily accurate predictions: his model correctly predicted the outcome of 49/50 states in the 2008 election and 50/50 in 2012.

Although mostly known for Silver’s predictions, the ESPN-owned FiveThirtyEight also publishes a raft of original articles penned by its staff and produces a collection of podcasts. One of these, “The Elections Podcast,” is unsurprisingly focused on the 2016 election season.

“The Elections Podcast” sees Silver and FiveThirtyEight staffers get together every few days to discuss a topical aspect of the election. Episodes range from approximately 20 minutes long to over an hour and feature an easy rapport between hosts as well as articulately-presented opinions on complex subjects. For a podcast produced by a blog celebrated for its use of statistical analysis, numbers are not an overpowering presence on the show, which allows the interested layperson to follow the discussion without too much difficulty.

 

Keepin’ it 1600

Former White House speechwriter Jon Favreau – not to be confused with the “Iron Man” (2008) director of the same name – erupted into the public consciousness in 2013 after an appearance on “The Colbert Report”(2006-2014), where he discussed the presidential speechwriting process at length.

One of Favreau’s post-White House efforts (he also writes for the Daily Beast), is the “Keepin’ it 1600” podcast,which he hosts with fellow former White House staffer, Dan Pfeiffer. As with all great podcasts, there is a clear rapport between the hosts, but the real attraction of “Keepin’ it 1600” is the throng of exceptional guests the podcast features. Past guests include correspondents at Politico and the New York Times, along with President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign manager David Plouffe, who was featured on the show’s Sept. 15 episode. If eminent politicos offering their take on the race sounds like your thing, give “Keepin’ in 1600” a listen.

 

The West Wing Weekly

The Daily reviewed the first episode of this podcast back in March, and we loved it. But, despite giving the inaugural episode 4.5/5 stars, we nevertheless managed to rankle former “West Wing” (1999 – 2006) star and co-host of “The West Wing Weekly,” Josh Malina, who took exception to our characterizing his humor as “hackneyed.”

All spats between the Daily and actors aside, “The West Wing Weekly” has put out a whole season’s worth of episodes since March and has gathered a devoted following in the process. If you’re looking for some political escapism, “The West Wing Weekly” comes highly recommended. As each episode of the podcast dives deeply into an episode of the first season of "The West Wing,” committing to the podcast thus leads one to watching or re-watching the show itself and reliving Jed Bartlett’s unshakable morality and glittering intellect. That might just be what we all need to assuage the melancholic bafflement that comes with following with this election cycle.