Inside Canada’s Politician Podcasting Boom
This excerpt from CBC News describes the variety of podcasts hosted by Canadian politicians, including Senator Omidvar’s podcast, Moving the Needle on Wicked Problems.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Canada has sparked a curious boom: a flurry of podcasts created and hosted by politicians.
Members of Parliament, senators and others have gotten in on the action, with more than a dozen new audio offerings hitting the virtual airwaves since last spring.
The CBC’s Madeleine Cummings investigated the phenomenon for a segment that aired Saturday on The House.
New podcasts are hosted by politicians who run the political gamut. There’s Moments with Mumilaaq, hosted by NDP Nunavut MP Mumilaaq Qaqqaq; The Blueprint with Conservative MP Jamie Schmale; and Points of Order with Liberal MP Kody Blois. The list goes on.
Blois said the effects of the pandemic on politics were what inspired him to start the podcast as a way to reach out to his constituents.
“You’re not able to go to the pancake breakfasts or the bean suppers. So for me, this was a way to build relationships with not only people we brought on the podcast but of course provide engagement into my riding and my region and my part of the country.”
Politicians hosting politics isn’t completely new, but the trend has accelerated recently, especially south of the border.
U.S. President Joe Biden hosted a seven-episode series called Here’s the Deal during his run for the White House last year, while the current U.S. charts feature feeds from Republicans Ted Cruz and Dan Crenshaw. Then there’s former president Barack Obama’s deluxe podcast series with Bruce Springsteen.
Reaching out to constituents is one motivation, but another is going beyond the confines of the partisan political system or the legislative process, politician-hosts say.
“We are all hamstrung at this moment, and even in the best of times, the Senate focuses on legislation before it,” said Ratna Omidvar, an independent Canadian senator who hosts the podcast Moving the Needle on Wicked Problems.
Click here to read the full article on CBC News
Click here to listen to Madeleine Cummings’ segment on The House
Click here to listen to episodes of Senator Omidvar’s podcast, Moving the Needle on Wicked Problems