Politics and podcasts

I worked in politics for two years from 2019 to 2021 (yeah those pandemic years). I was Chief of Staff for a Member of Parliament in Canada and spent time in Nova Scotia and in Ottawa. Adrian (my husband) used to comment about the fact I could spend all day (and many evenings) working in the field and then I would listen to Canadian political podcasts in my downtime. The CBC radio show The House was a Saturday morning staple and I particularly liked Party Lines a cancelled CBC podcast with Rosemary Barton and Elamin Abdelmahmoud.

This continued even after I finished working in politics. But the constant exposure to hearing Pierre Poilievre and the preoccupation in Canadian politics journalism with focusing on the minutiae rather than the bigger picture had me drifting away.

United Kingdom Politics

I also follow UK Politics as I lived there for 38 years and was a Labour Party member for 20 of those. That got too depressing in the Boris Johnson years and although I followed what was happening with Jeremy Corbyn, the analysis in the polarized world of party politics and the battles within Labour, made it difficult to watch and analyze from the outside without it becoming a full time occupation¹.

I managed a good understanding of the Westminster system based on my Economics and Public Policy studies² in the 1980s, following British politics and suddenly having to navigate a Private Members Bill³ through the House of Commons in Canada in 2020.

United States Politics

U.S. politics, however, has always been a little bit of a mystery to me. I lacked understanding of the system, the context and the mental bandwidth to rectify that. The awful years of the 45th and watching the lack of ability by Hilary Clinton and the Democrats to see what was happening. The relief when Joe Biden became president but still no spark of excitement in any of it. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC), Bernie Sanders, and at one time Barack Obama are the exceptions.

In July 2024 things were looking pretty bleak on the U.S. politics front. Joe Biden had a disastrous debate performance⁴, the failed assassination attempt on Trump⁵ boosted his supporters⁶ and the Democrats started to fall behind in the polls⁷. I switched off. I could not watch. I had an overwhelming feeling of doom.

And then, the announcement from Biden⁸ and at first I was a little annoyed that he endorsed Harris so quickly so it looked like a coronation not an election. But then I started to pay attention and the listening to podcasts began. Then veraciously reading The Guardian and their election coverage. I even found myself over on MSNBC watching Rachel Maddow and other’s commentary.

My podcast playlist

So my podcast playlist is looking a little different at the moment and includes (links are to Spotify):

• Podsave America – one of my favourites at the moment with frequent shows and a healthy Democratic leaning.
• The Rest is Politics: US – a different perspective including Anthony Scaramuccie – former Trump Whitehouse spokesperson – now a Republican against Trump
• The Guardian – Politics Weekly America – Brit eye view from my favourite newspaper.
• NPR Politics Podcast – NPR – solid, balanced but a little dull at times.

I am enjoying my new found interest in U.S. political podcasts although I am not sure how long it will last. November is going to be a very interesting election but that mark the end of my interest in politics south of the border. If things do not go as I hope it may be the last time I feel comfortable opening up a news website, let alone diving into U.S. politics.

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1. I listened to the audio book of This Land by Owen Jones which although came from a particular perspective was interesting background to this period of time. I listened on Spotify now they have audiobooks available to subscribers. ↩︎
2. Thank you to Bob Leach – I really did listen and learn. ↩︎
3. Environmental Racism bill C230 https://www.parl.ca/LegisInfo/en/bill/43-2/c-230 ↩︎
4. Biden interview https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jul/04/biden-interview-debate-trump ↩︎
5. Shooting at Trump https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attempted_assassination_of_Donald_Trump ↩︎
6. Republicans put bandages on their ears https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/video/9.6451731 ↩︎
7. Polling shows the Republicans in the lead until Biden steps down https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nationwide_opinion_polling_for_the_2024_United_States_presidential_election ↩︎
8. Biden steps down and endorses Harris https://apnews.com/article/biden-drops-out-2024-election-ddffde72838370032bdcff946cfc2ce6 ↩︎