''Pod Save America'' is an American

progressive Progressive may refer to: Politics * Progressivism, a political philosophy in support of social reform ** Progressivism in the United States, the political philosophy in the American context * Progressive realism, an American foreign policy pa ...

political podcast Political podcasts are podcasts that focus on contemporary politics and current events. Most political podcasts maintain a connection with an existing media source such as a newspaper or magazine. They aim to inform or entertain or advocate a c ...

produced and distributed by

Crooked Media Crooked Media is a progressive American political media company. It was founded in 2017 by Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett, and Tommy Vietor, all former top Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician ...

. The podcast debuted in January 2017 and airs twice weekly, with the Tuesday edition hosted by former

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

staffers

Jon Favreau Jonathan Kolia Favreau (; born October 19, 1966) is an American actor and filmmaker. As an actor, Favreau has appeared in films such as '' Rudy'' (1993), '' PCU'' (1994), '' Swingers'' (1996), '' Very Bad Things'' (1998), '' Deep Impact'' (1998 ...

Tommy Vietor Thomas Frederick Vietor IV (born August 31, 1980) is an American political commentator and podcaster. He was a spokesperson for President of the United States, President Barack Obama and the United States National Security Council from 2011 to 2 ...

, and

Jon Lovett Jonathan Ira Lovett (born August 17, 1982) is an American podcaster, comedian, and former speechwriter. Lovett is a co-founder of Crooked Media, along with fellow former White House staffers during the Obama administration, Jon Favreau and To ...

, and the Thursday edition by Favreau and Dan Pfeiffer. It is the flagship podcast of

, a media company founded by Favreau, Vietor, and Lovett. The show averages more than 1.5 million listeners an episode, and has been downloaded more than 120 million times as of November 2017. Four ''Pod Save America'' one-hour

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

TV specials aired in fall 2018 to cover the U.S. midterm elections. Crooked Media also films the podcasts and releases them on their

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...

channel.

History

The podcast debuted in January 2017 as a successor to '' Keepin' it 1600'', a political podcast produced by

Bill Simmons William John Simmons III (born September 25, 1969) is an American sports analyst, author, podcaster, and former sports writer who is the founder and CEO of the sports and pop culture website '' The Ringer''. Simmons first gained attention wi ...

' The Ringer and hosted by Favreau, Vietor, Lovett, and Pfeiffer which ran from March to December 2016. ''Pod Save America'' maintained the basic format of its predecessor. In an interview with

Recode ''Recode'' (formerly ''Re/code'') is a technology news website that focused on the business of Silicon Valley. Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher founded it in January 2014, after they left Dow Jones and the similar website they had previously co ...

Kara Swisher Kara Anne Swisher ( ) is an American journalist. She has covered the business of the internet since 1994. As of 2022, Swisher was a contributing editor at ''New York'', the host of the podcast ''Sway'', and the co-host of the podcast ''Pivot.'' ...

, the hosts have stated that, rather than continue the previous podcast, the election of

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of ...

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese f ...

of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

spurred them to create a progressive media company with a network of podcasts. Their goal is to inform their millions of fans and viewers that trust them as a reliable source.

Tour

Crooked Media took the podcast on its first live tour, ''Pod Tours America,'' in the fall of 2017. Live shows were recorded and released as podcasts. An international tour, ''Pod Tours the World'', was announced for 2018, with live shows in Stockholm, Oslo, Amsterdam, and London.

Content

The podcast typically covers recent news items relating to politics, including the Trump administration, the US government and the Democratic Party, as well as progressive grassroots activism. The show typically features interviews with politicians, activists and journalists, including Obama's last interview as president. Other guests have included president Joe Biden, former secretary of state

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States senat ...

and senators Bernie Sanders,

Elizabeth Warren Elizabeth Ann Warren (née Herring; born June 22, 1949) is an American politician and former law professor who is the senior United States senator from Massachusetts, serving since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party and regarded as a p ...

Cory Booker Cory Anthony Booker (born April 27, 1969) is an American politician and attorney who has served as the junior United States senator from New Jersey since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, Booker is the first African-American U.S. sen ...

Kamala Harris Kamala Devi Harris ( ; born October 20, 1964) is an American politician and attorney who is the 49th vice president of the United States. She is the first female vice president and the highest-ranking female official in U.S. history, as well ...

, and

Chris Murphy Christopher Scott Murphy (born August 3, 1973) is an American lawyer, author, and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Connecticut since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served in the United States ...

. They have interviewed several former 2020 Democratic presidential candidates, including Sanders, Booker, Harris,

Beto O'Rourke Robert Francis "Beto" O'Rourke ( , ; ; born September 26, 1972) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2013 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, O'Rourke was the party's nominee for the U.S. Senate ...

Andrew Yang Andrew Yang (born January 13, 1975) is an American businessman, attorney, lobbyist, and politician. Yang was a candidate in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries and the 2021 New York City Democratic mayoral primary. He is the co-c ...

Pete Buttigieg Peter Paul Montgomery Buttigieg ( ; ; Sometimes pronounced or , but not by Buttigieg himself. born January 19, 1982) is an American politician and former military officer who is currently serving as the United States secretary of trans ...

Marianne Williamson Marianne Deborah Williamson (born July 8, 1952) is an American author, spiritual leader, and political activist. She has written 14 books, including four ''New York Times'' number one bestsellers in the "Advice, How To, and Miscellaneous" cate ...

, and Amy Klobuchar. Guests are often referred to as "friends of the pod". Pod Save America (30363)

Reception

The show averages more than 1.5 million listeners an episode, and had been downloaded more than 120 million times by November 2017. The ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' described the podcast as "one of the big breakout hits of the nascent resistance movement", and "the left's answer to conservative talk radio... with a shoestring budget and no organizational backing, its hosts seem to have created something that liberals have spent almost two decades, and hundreds of millions of dollars, futilely searching for". The ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The pap ...

'' called it "one of the nation's most popular podcasts". '' GQ'' called it one of the "most popular strategies for coping with the looming death of the republic". ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely ...

'' wrote that the show's hosts "do something far more rare

han political analysis Han may refer to: Ethnic groups * Han Chinese, or Han People (): the name for the largest ethnic group in China, which also constitutes the world's largest ethnic group. ** Han Taiwanese (): the name for the ethnic group of the Taiwanese p ...

which is to make politics entertaining and even fun, without ever downplaying what they see as the threat posed to American democracy by the man elected to defend it."

References

External links