''Politically Re-Active'' is a political comedy

podcast A podcast is a Radio program, program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an Episode, episodic series of digital audio Computer file, files that users can download to a personal device or str ...

hosted by comedians

W. Kamau Bell Walter Kamau Bell (born January 26, 1973) is an American stand-up comic and television host. He has hosted the CNN series '' United Shades of America'' since 2016, and hosted FXX television series '' Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell'' from 20 ...

and

Hari Kondabolu Hari Karthikeya Kondabolu (born October 21, 1982)Beem, p. 38 is an American stand-up comedian and writer. His comedy covers subjects such as race, inequity, and Indian stereotypes. He was a writer for '' Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell'' and ...

. The left-leaning show, organized around guest interviews, launched in June 2016 and initially focused on the

2016 United States presidential election United States presidential election, Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 8, 2016. The Republican Party (United States), Republican ticket of businessman Donald Trump and Indiana Governor, Indiana governor Mike P ...

, but continued through October 2017. After a hiatus, it resumed in October 2020.

History

Bell and Kondabolu previously worked together on '' Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell'', with Bell hosting and Kondabolu serving as writer and correspondent. The show grew out of conversations the two hosts were having by telephone and backstage at shows over the course of their careers as stand-up comedians. The first two seasons of ''Politically Re-Active'' were produced by First Look Media in collaboration with ''Slate'''s podcasting division, Panoply. The show was First Look Media's first podcast. The third season was produced by Topic Studios and WarnerMedia Podcast Network.

Schedule

The podcast debuted in June 2016. Early episodes focused on the U.S. presidential campaign of 2016, with weekly episodes from June through the election in November. ''Politically Re-Active'' aired two post-election episodes in November 2016, then went on hiatus. Season 2 began on March 15, 2017, and ended on October 5, 2017. The show's third season debuted on October 5, 2020.

Format

The show consists of interviews and political comedy. Bell and Kondabolu "host (typically left-leaning) guests each week to try to understand the different ideologies that are shaping this election." ''Wired'' described ''Politically Reactive'' as "mostly reasonable discussions with guests." Topics of discussion have included dog-whistling, private prisons, presidential debates and the

Olympics The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...

. Interviews are edited to insert occasional explanations from Bell and Kondabolu (introduced by Kondabolu saying, "Hold up, wait a minute!") to give additional context.

Reception

ColorLines ''Colorlines'' is a digital news platform that publishes political content focusing on social justice and progressive activism. History ''Colorlines'' was founded in 1998 as a print publication published jointly by the Applied Research Center ( ...

'' called it a "hilarious new politics podcast" and ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' said of the debut, "Bell and Kondabolu are two of the sharpest, funniest political minds around, and based on the first episode, ''Politically Re-Active'' will be a great addition to the podcast roster." In July ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...

'' said the series had "start doff strong," particularly praising the interview with

Kathleen Hanna Kathleen Hanna (born November 12, 1968) is an American singer, musician and pioneer of the feminist punk riot grrrl movement, and punk zine writer. She is the lead singer of feminist punk band Bikini Kill and fronted the electropunk band Le Tigre ...

: "an altogether enjoyable episode that's also a nice primer on both

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

and mansplaining. If the first three episodes are any indication, Bell and Kondabolu are going to be a podcasting force to be reckoned with." ''

AlterNet AlterNet is a left-leaning news website based in the United States. It was launched by the Independent Media Institute. In 2018, the website was acquired by owners of '' Raw Story''. Coverage Coverage is divided into several special sections re ...

'' called it "a seriously great podcast series...easily one of the most binge-worthy things I've listened to in recent memory, and already a runaway hit." In the first six episodes, ''Politically Re-Active'' made

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

' top 15 chart.

Episodes

Season 1

Season 2

Season 3

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://www.politicallyreactive.com/ Comedy podcasts 2016 podcast debuts Political mass media in the United States Megaphone (podcasting) American podcasts Liberal podcasts