Welcome to Humber Views and the sixth edition of the Gamechangers series! This season the newsletter is showcasing local and international gamechangers. Today’s gamechanger is Crooked Media. It’s a media company started by former Obama staffers in 2017 to help elect more Democrats during the Donald Trump era. Since then, they’ve created several podcast shows, merchandise, and tools to help organize people to vote and volunteer during elections.
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- Naima and Prabhy
Crooked Media: A political gamechanger
Over the years the left-leaning political media company Crooked Media has been changing the face of media and how we perceive it. Jon Favreau, one of the founders, once said, “I don’t know if it’s a political movement or a media company”. Crooked was founded by Favreau, Jon Lovett, and Tommy Vietor — all previously senior aides to former president Barack Obama.
Crooked was founded in early 2017, after Donald Trump was elected as president. Pod Save America became the centrepiece program of the company, hosted by its founders. It is a liberal political podcast that was launched to encouraging its listeners to engage in left-leaning conversation and anti-Trump political activism.
Within a few weeks, Pod Save America attracted its first million listeners, and it now receives 1.5 million listeners on average per episode.
Later in 2017 the political media company launched their website, Crooked.com, which informed their audience with news on Democratic politics and commentary.
In its first year, Pod Save America directed its listeners to a variety of left-leaning organizations. It collaborated with MoveOn to send nearly 2,000 listeners to Republican town-hall meetings, Swing Left to raise more than $1 million for challengers to California House Republicans in 2018, and supported Indivisible to slam Republican senators with tens of thousands of calls in support of keeping Obamacare.
The popularity of Pod Save America among significant Democratic voting blocs has made it a desirable interview venue for politicians, activists, and journalists on the political left. Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker, current Vice President Kamala Harris and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have all sat for interviews.
Following Pod Save America's success, Crooked Media released a number of related podcasts. Erin Ryan hosts the feminist podcast Hysteria, political journalist Ana Marie Cox hosts With Friends Like These, former Missouri Secretary of State and Democratic politician Jason Kander hosts Majority 54. Early next year they are set to launch “Pod Save the U.K” hosted by comedian Nish Kumar.
Crooked Media also openly engages in progressive political activism, by urging their listeners to educate themselves on different policies and to support policies like Obamacare and gun control. They run campaigns to encourage their audience to vote for Democrats and get involved in demonstrations and protests. The media company engaged in fundraising and turnout campaigns for the 2018 midterm elections. The group is also part of Field Team 6, a partnership that sought to increase the number of Democratic voters in crucial swing states and counties before the 2022 midterm elections.
With their growing success, Crooked Media organized a live tour called "Pod Tours America." Live recordings of Pod Save America and Lovett or Leave It from the tour were made in front of crowds in concert halls and sizable auditoriums, including New York City's Radio City Music Hall. The recordings were made available as episodes of podcasts. They continuously have live shows during important elections to help encourage people to vote. In 2018, “Pod Tour the World” was launched and the hosts spoke about their resistance to Trump in front of international audiences at live performances in Stockholm, Oslo, Amsterdam, and London.
America’s 2022 midterm elections were held in November, and were considered historic for multiple reasons. Democrat Maxwell Frost became the first Gen Z congressperson to be elected and the youngest person in Congress. Vermont elected its first LGBTQ congressperson, Becca Balint. And Summer Lee became the first Black woman elected to congress from Pennsylvania.
At the same time, many of the extreme right-wing candidates backed by former President Donald Trump lost their elections, including Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, and senate candidates Blake Masters and Dr. Mehmet Oz.
Many of the Democratic candidates were able to find a platform to speak on many of the Crooked Media podcasts. With the podcasts, they were able connect with voters, asks for donations and develop a national platform.
What makes Crooked Media a gamechanger is that it was created to give individuals an outlet and a voice. The media company has become a platform to inform and motivate the public about politics and encourage them to vote. Crooked Media helps young people understand the value of their voice — and how to use it.
🎧 Listen to the Humber Views podcast at the top of this issue to learn more about Crooked Media
Related Reading
Crooked Media Strikes This Hollywood Reporter article outlines the company’s multiyear ad sales with SiriusXM. It looks at the future of the company and how they plan to invest in more shows.
Trump-backed Candidates This piece by NBC News looks how the candidates backed by Trump did during the mid-term elections.
Historic Firsts Al Jazeera looks at the candidates that created history as the firsts of their community during this historic mid-term elections.
Stay Crooked
What a Day The Crooked Media Daily Newsletter, where you can find the company’s takes on daily news.
PSA’s Updates Watch the latest Episodes of Pod Save America and many of their other shows like Political Experts React
About us…
Prabhy Rehal (She/Her) is a fourth year Humber journalism student who is passionate about accessible journalism and storytelling. She is a member of the Sikh community, and a daughter of Punjabi immigrants. These identifiers also inform her advocacy for social justice as it allows for an empathetic approach to her work and the need for precision in storytelling. As a BIPOC journalist she understands the importance of hearing every voice and hopes to highlight stories and share the experiences of those outside the mainstream.
Naima Syed (She/Her) is a fourth year Humber journalism student, she is an avid photographer and writer and hopes to get into broadcast journalism when she graduates. She has also been fond of journalism at a young age, and wanted to pursue it, she understands the importance of having a voice and would like to use her platform to talk about important issues. She’s a proud Muslim Canadian and hopes to tell stories about her community.
Pod Saved the Election