Twice-failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton will launch her own podcast amid the heat of the 2020 election, according to Politico.
Clinton, who served as secretary of State and a U.S. Senator from New York, plans to begin the program in the spring, though the name for her show remains untitled. It will be produced by the Texas-based iHeartMedia, which hosted popular podcasts such as Hollywood actor Will Ferrel’s Ron Burgundy Podcast and The Joe Rogan Experience.
Clinton opted to start her own podcast after she and her daughter Chelsea appeared on an episode of Conan O’Brien’s audio show Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend.
“Conan just exudes enthusiasm about this platform and he does these interviews that are really evergreen and the idea with her, in part inspired by that experience, is to do the same thing,” a Clinton insider told Politico. “She wants to try to have a wider-ranging conversation that will be lasting, so you can listen to it in a year or you can listen to it tomorrow and it will be interesting. And then of course she’ll do some ranting and raving about news of the day.”
Politico adds: “Clinton has brought in two podcast veterans to produce the show, which will be recorded from a studio in Manhattan: Kathleen Russo, executive producer of Tina Brown’s “TBD” and creator of Alec Baldwin’s “Here’s the Thing,” and Julie Subrin, who also produces for Brown’s show. Clinton has already spent some time in the studio, and on Friday, she’s recording an interview with an author promoting a book out in the spring. She’ll continue interviews over the coming months until there’s enough material for a splashy launch.”
News of Clinton’s entry into the world of podcasting comes as the longtime Democrat is promoting her autobiographical documentary, Hillary.
Hillary chronicles Clinton’s education, during which time she met Bill Clinton, and her career in politics. Looking back gave her some insight into how the public viewed her over the years.
“I became a kind of Rorschach test for women and women’s roles as soon as I burst onto the public scene when Bill was running for president,” Clinton said. “I’d lived more than 40 years before that, and I had no real understanding of what it meant to be thrust into this highest, brightest platform.”
As the first lady of Arkansas when Bill Clinton was governor, Clinton led statewide political initiatives. She also practiced law in the state before entering politics.
“When Bill asked me to lead our efforts on universal healthcare, it seemed pretty standard to me because I had done similar things in Arkansas on education,” Clinton said. “Little did I know that it would create the most extraordinary backlash that the first lady would be involved in trying to make sure everybody had quality, affordable healthcare in our country.”
The docuseries brought back some painful memories for Clinton. Burstein found footage of protesters burning Clinton in effigy over her healthcare policy. Clinton believes timing played a role in negative perceptions of her that began brewing during President Clinton’s two terms from 1993 to 2001.
“I was the sort of ‘first first lady’ of my generation and had been working ever since I was a young woman in the professional workforce,” Clinton said. “I’m sure there were personal reactions, but I think it was even more rooted in the time we were in and the kind of challenging impression that people had of me at that time.”
Revisiting the 2016 election was painful, too. Clinton acknowledged that negative feelings toward her had grown strong enough to cost her votes.
The UPI contributed to this report.