Media has played a valuable role in both political campaigns for the 2024 election. Both parties have tried to use social media and news outlets to their advantage to gather as much support as possible. One of the main concerns for both parties in this election was the swing states, as well as specific demographics of people. One of the unique media outlets that both candidates used during their campaigns was podcasts. Kamala Harris has been trying to introduce herself as a person and policy maker ever since her Democratic nomination in August. Despite being the vice president, one of her main criticisms is that voters feel as though they didn’t know her or her politics well enough to vote for her. She attempted to stabilize her image and used podcasts to do so, with the hopes of reaching audiences who didn’t interact with mainstream news outlets. 

Harris went on Call her Daddy, a podcast hosted by Alex Cooper in early October. Cooper’s podcast is very popular amongst millennial and Gen Z women and is mainly a comedy podcast with a focus on dating and relationship advice for young women. She chose to take a new angle when she invited the vice president onto her podcast for a 40-minute interview. Cooper has shown immense interest in the pro-choice movement and, after the reversal of Roe v. Wade, she made a trip to a Planned Parenthood in the South and discussed the effects that this would have on women all over the U.S. Cooper had a clear agenda for her conversation with the vice president and the two had an in-depth conversation about women’s reproductive rights and the value of reproductive care. Cooper also added a disclaimer before beginning the podcast. She acknowledged that the episode may seem partisan, but she revealed that she had also invited Donald Trump onto the podcast and had not heard back from his team. 

Trump’s team has also recognized the benefits that podcasts can bring to a campaign and Trump was the guest on a few well-known shows run by popular figures such as the Nelk Boys and Logan Paul. His most recent was a three-hour episode on Joe Rogan’s podcast The Joe Rogan Experience, where their conversation led in various directions, such as policy decisions and global warming. Rogan’s fan base is entirely different from Cooper’s, as his audience is typically young men, and his content covers topics such as UFC, sports and frequently discusses controversial politics. Rogan typically doesn’t have time limits on his episodes, and they can last multiple hours depending on the conversation. His episode with Trump lasted three hours and didn’t seem to have a clear agenda aside from a few clear questions from Rogan aimed to clarify some of Trump’s claims over the past few years. Like Cooper, Rogan has also invited Harris on his podcast with the same goal of simple unedited conversation but stated that her team didn’t agree to the conditions that he proposed. 

Podcast listenership has increased significantly over the past few years, and the political campaigns have used this to their advantage. When this episode comes out the election will be over and there will be a winner. It will be interesting to see if the demographics that these two podcasts direct their media towards were reached and whether it provided the poll boost they wanted. One can find these two podcasts on Spotify, as well as Apple podcasts. Happy listening.