Five Best Politics Podcasts Of 2024

 Politics podcasts are the most seductive genre of all. Why? Because listeners hit PLAY to receive their daily or weekly dose of confirmation bias. Conservatives and progressives revel in podcasts that demonize the other ideological spectrum, and enable them to remain comfy in their echo chamber.

I am not a hero, but I try to fight that urge. Therefore, I listen to podcasts that attempt to offer perspectives from several political perspectives.

As I've mentioned before, Ear Worthy uses a panel of people from around the U.S., from Texas to California, New Jersey to Oregon, and Alabama to New Hampshire. Also, we do not choose the low-hanging fruit of podcasts with high visibility because of marketing by their podcast network. Just because a podcast has thousands of downloads does not make it a quality, ear-worthy show.

 In no particular order, here are Ear Worthy's Five Best Politics Podcasts of 2024.

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  Left Right & Center

My solution to this quicksand of confirmation basis, political echo chambers, and people pathologically opposed to any compromise or moderation, is KCRW's Left Right & Center podcast. The show bills itself as a "civilized yet provocative antidote to the self-contained opinion bubbles that dominate political debate."

Left Right & Center debuted as a half-hour radio show back in April 1996.

Over the years, it’s become a nationally syndicated broadcast, expanded to a full hour, and became a premier politics podcast. More recently, the show has altered the set panel format to allow for a rotating cast of left and right panelists to bring a wider spectrum of viewpoints.

The show's format is devilishly simple. The moderator is the moderate, or center.  There is a conservative voice and a progressive voice. They typically discuss three topics. 

To be sure, there is often strong disagreement between the two political ideology guests. What's thankfully missing is the MMA-style cage match of debate that Fox News has perfected, where whoever yells the loudest and last is the winner.

As I have listened to the show, I've found myself questioning my political assumptions and ideological purity. I was becoming someone hated by both sides -- a moderate.

After listening to both sides of the issue, I was better able to frame my opinion because I have options to consider. When you only hear one side of an issue, you either reject it totally, or agree with it wholeheartedly. You have no frame of reference to make a modulated judgment.

On Left Right & Center, either side -- conservative or progressive -- is always held accountable when they criticize the other side because David Greene will pressure that person with "so what's your side's idea to fix this problem."

Left Right & Center is not a moderate podcast. Instead, the show simply enables people to hear both sides and perhaps take a tiny step toward a broad spectrum view of politics and society.
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 The Purple Principle

There is no third party in the U.S. that is made up of political moderates. To support bipartisanship and compromise for the greater good is lonely and likely to make you unpopular with Democrats and Republicans. Therefore, there is no “built-in” audience for a moderate podcast.

 As podcast consultant George Witt observes, “Voters today are more interested in assigning blame for a problem than finding solutions to that problem.”

That's why The Purple Principle is such a refreshing change. This New Hampshire-based show bills itself like this: “An award-winning, non-partisan podcast for independent-minded Americans exploring the perils of partisanship in U.S. politics, society, and daily life.”

What I like about the podcast is its focus on being independent-minded. A key theme on the show is that moderates often think more deeply and more analytically than ideologically pure people who simply just mimic their party’s position without much introspection.

Small steps toward change. So what’s my bottom-line here?

Simple. If we ingest news and opinion that promotes only one side of politics, society and culture, we will think only one way, like a machine programmed so that its operating system can only function like, well, a computer.

But if we make the leap to opening the gates to varying opinions, we perhaps can understand better what others are thinking, and why they are thinking that way.

Here’s a two-liner I believe summarizes how polarization has affected us. We have two parts of our brain — left and right. In the left side, there’s nothing right. In the right side, there’s nothing left.”

According to reporter Paul Briand, of The Portsmouth Herald, “The Purple Principle is a podcast seeking political middle ground in the U.S. The podcast interviews media experts, political scientists, neuro and social psychologists, social media experts, comedians, artists and legislators to get a broad perspective on how we got so partisan in the US and what can possibly be done to help.”

The Purple Principle (https://purpleprinciple.com/) is an outgrowth of Fluent Knowledge LLC, created by Robert Pease – the host of the podcast -- about six months ago to explore, as he said, “if our red and blue factions can blend into a healthier shade of purple.”

The Purple Principle is a podcast that promotes healthy dialogue about policy and politics. It's sorely needed in today's world.

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Open To Debate

People still debate, but not that the American public can see. Television has transformed what used to be legitimate debate scenarios on news and information programs where experts from differing political views marshal facts to make their argument.

Today, Fox News, OAN, MSNBC, and other networks create the veneer of debate but instead attack a person with a differing view by screaming sound bite epithets and dismissing the opponent’s facts with condescending howls of “fake news.”

Radio offers politically charged talk show hosts with extreme views designed to capture ears, ratings and make advertisers happy.

There is a podcast that scrupulously follows a formal debate format and offers listeners an intellectually vibrant and fact-based discussion on critical topics in our society.

The Intelligence Squared U.S. Debates podcast changed its name in 2024 to Open To Debate. The show is funded and produced by a non-partisan, non-profit organization, which was founded in 2006 to address a fundamental problem in America: the extreme polarization of our nation and our politics. Their mission is to restore critical thinking, facts, reason, and civility to American public discourse. The award-winning debate series reaches millions of viewers and listeners through multi-platform distribution, including radio, live streaming, podcasts, interactive digital content, and on-demand apps on Roku and Apple TV.

With over 200 debates and counting, Open To Debate has encouraged the public to "think twice" on a wide range of provocative topics. Author and ABC News correspondent John Donvan has moderated the show since 2008.

These debates are not dry and desiccated events but spirited and lively. While debates are not sporting events, the competitive fires burn and the debates crackle with points scored with relevant facts instead of baseball bats or soccer balls.

Open To Debate doesn’t shy away from complex and controversial topics. Witnesses past episodes on the constitutionality of affirmative action in college admissions or a debate on replacing private health insurance with a government-run system.

Don't be afraid to leave your echo chamber. You'd be surprised what you can learn. 

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Slate Political Gabfest

The Slate Political Gabfest is 19 years old. It's a second-generation podcast that is still relevant and intellectually vibrant.

David Plotz is a host and the CEO of City Cast. Emily Bazelon is a staff writer at the New York Times Magazine, the author of Charged and Sticks and Stones, and one co-host.  The other co-host is John Dickerson is the host of CBS News Prime Time With John Dickerson, co-host of the Slate Political Gabfest, host of the Whistlestop podcast, and author of The Hardest Job in the World.

The show tackles three issues every weekly episode and then has a "cocktail chatter" segment at the end to enable the three co-hosts to talk briefly about a book or article they've read. To me, it's John Dickerson who is the lynchpin of the show.

As a political analyst, Dickerson's thermostat runs cool. He investigates before opining. He excels at seeing multiple points of view. He explains the most extreme actions and rhetoric with the sober clarity of a therapist.

Dickerson is not needlessly controversial, although his views can surprise you because of his expansive worldview. He is not opinionated, but he has myriad opinions that are driven by facts and deductive reasoning. He analyzes because his goal is edification, not subordination of any knowledge that does not fit the tribe's mission statement.

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Raging Moderates

We all know elections are won in the middle, so why aren’t politicians giving the people what they want? Bestselling author, professor and entrepreneur Scott Galloway and political strategist and The Five co-host Jessica Tarlov co-host this show to give those of us who reside somewhere between the center-left and the center-right, their takes on the latest politics, all through a centrist lens. 

Scott Galloway is always thoughtful and incisive, And Jessica Tarlov is the one progressive sacrificial lamb that makes her four co-hosts of Fox News' The Five appear to be immature boobs.