Do you feel like January flew by? It feels like just yesterday we were bringing in the New Year, but in reality, the first-in-the-nation New Hampshire Primary is quickly approaching—now less than two weeks away! If you (understandably) have been too busy to decide your vote in the presidential primary, you’ve come to the right place. Below are some podcast suggestions that are easy to listen to on the way to school or work, or while you are studying or making dinner. Embrace your civic duty and head into the primary feeling as politically educated as possible with this guide.
Just as a refresher, the following major candidates are left in the running on the Democratic side: Amy Klobuchar, Andrew Yang, Bernie Sanders, Deval Patrick, Elizabeth Warren, Joe Biden, John Delaney, Michael Bennet, Pete Buttigieg, Tom Steyer and Tulsi Gabbard. (Former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg is running, but will not be on the ballot for the NH primary). On the Republican side, the incumbent President Donald Trump is seeking reelection, with minor challengers Bill Weld and Joe Walsh. It is worth noting that in order to receive any of the 22 delegates in New Hampshire, Republican candidates must earn at least 10 percent of the vote. Democratic candidates must receive 15 percent of the vote to receive any delegates.
WMUR’s The Trail: From New Hampshire to the White House
As each episode opens with, “Anyone who wants to be president has to come through New Hampshire first.” This podcast, hosted by Adam Sexton is a great way to get to know each of the candidates. There are around 75 episodes, with some repeats of candidates as they have become more serious contenders. Their “candidate cafe” segments tend to be fairly brief, usually around 10 to 20 minutes, while they have some longer episodes as well on topics such as Episode 47’s “Sanders’ staff shake-up; De Blasio’s exit from race.” Sexton sits down with the candidates, talks about the issues, their positions and any recent news surrounding the candidate or the race in general, such as an unexpected drop-out. To watch all of the episodes with each major candidate, it would take you between two and three hours. If you take just half an hour each morning, you would be through all of them in a week. And, you would be feeling prepared, maybe even excited about voting in the New Hampshire primary.
The Daily
This very popular podcast, produced by The New York Times, is a bit different than a traditional daily news podcast. Each day, it discusses a certain issue, topic, case or person. Interspersed with its regular content, it has been doing segments on the “top four” 2020 democratic hopefuls. The episodes are titled, for example, “The Candidates: Joe Biden,” and are around 40 minutes in length. These are in-depth looks at the lives of the candidates, at the pivotal moments that they feel have shaped their lives. They have done episodes with Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg. Obviously, this podcast would ideally cover all of the candidates, from both sides and of all “rankings.” This might be a good one to listen to if you are deciding between two of these four, for example.
The NPR Politics Podcast
For those who have not been paying much attention to politics in general, this might be a good place to start. This podcast discusses the candidates often, but it also digs into the going-ons in Washington, foreign and economic policy, impeachment and much more. Some examples of episodes are “With a Debate Looming, Progressives Feud and Cory Booker Drops Out” or “Senate Impeachment Trial Begins with Partisan Rules Fight.” Before choosing your candidate, it is good to have some background info on current events and how candidates stand on these important issues. Most of these podcast episodes are only around 15 minutes in length, so it will not take long at all to brush up on political news and dive into learning about specific candidates.
As a final note, anyone who is domiciled in the state of New Hampshire is able to vote in the primary. Also, New Hampshire offers same-day voter registration, so there is truly no excuse for anyone over 18 not to participate in this election. Happy voting!
