Podcast Spotlights

Podcast Spotlight: The Monday American

July 20, 2017 8:01 am

With US politics arguably never been at a more tumultuous time, it’s more imperative than ever to stay informed. With the convenience and mobility of podcasts, political podcasts help supply the news to a large (and growing) group of society. I wrote earlier how podcasts might be the new talk radio.

Regardless of your political affiliations, there is a breadth of polical podcasts out there that vary on the spectrum between far left liberal and the conservative right. The Monday American aims to be a true moderate in the field, using historical examples to help us put recent events into context.

I got a chance to speak with The Monday American‘s creator and host, Andrew, about how the podcast got started and some of the flack he’s received from both parties despite remaining neutral. See below for our full dialogue.

Discover Pods: What’s your podcast about and what makes it unique?

Andrew: Taking history and current events, looking at them separately and together. Using history to understand the present.

I take as much of a middle ground politically as I can. I provide a depth of research that is rare to find these days.

DP: Do you have a background in history and/or politics? How’d you decide to get into this space?

Andrew: I have always been a “history buff” going back as long as I can remember. My mom remembers me sneaking out of my room at night to watch the History Channel so its always been an interest. I went to Clemson University and decided to major in History and I focused on 20th Century American History; WWII was always my biggest fascination. Studying that era obviously included a period of enormous political and cultural growth for the country and I think it helped to get me where I am today. I started my show to help educate, promote and encourage anyone interested in politics, history or government.

DP: Why did you choose to podcast?

Andrew: Podcasts are growing and continuing to do so. You can reach more people than ever before and that trend is continuing exponentially

DP: How do you differentiate yourself from the other politically-focused podcasts out there?

Andrew: I try to differentiate my show from the swarm of other political or historical shows out there by relying heavily on the old adage “those who don’t learn from history are bound to repeat it;” in the sense that we can use pieces of our nations past in order to better understand our present surroundings. So for example we can look back and see how we handled a situation in the past that is similar to a present one and be able to see how that worked or didn’t. Its a unique spin I try to maintain by viewing the present through the lens of the past.

DP: Have you taken any backlash from one party or the other for seeing biased despite your best efforts?

Andrew: I have received backlash from both sides of the political spectrum actually. After I did an episode on Neil Gorsuch’s nomination and hearings I actually got my first death threat via email; I took it as a sign that I had “made it” in terms of listener’s (it wasn’t a very convincing threat to begin with).

The whole bias issue is really something most people don’t realize is actually one that doesn’t have a true middle ground. Every person in the world has their own bias and history itself is biased. I try my very best to make sure I see things from every point of view possible but I also realize that I have my own bias and its something that you can’t just put aside easily. So yes, I get some backlash from one side or the other despite my best efforts to stay middle ground, but that is to be expected.

DP: Anything else you’d like to add?

Andrew: All I’d add is that no matter what issue, problem or obstacle we are facing as a nation or as a people, there is a solution or a way to make it work. The only single thing that has no way to cure and can poison a nation from within is when the people become apathetic to politics, government, or country in general. When the citizens don’t care about their role in the system, the system won’t work.

DP: Where can listeners find you?

Andrew: You can always listen to every episode on the website at themondayamerican.com, as well as iTunes stitcher and all the podcast apps, you can follow us on Twitter @mondayamerican, and you can check us out on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/themondayamerican/. If you’d like to reach out and let us know of a topic request, complaint, compliment or have anything to say at all send an email to contact@themondayamerican.com