What do your ex, your colleague, your colleague’s roommate’s cousin, and President Biden have in common? They’ve all got a podcast.
Well, sort of.
The New York Times reported Friday that President Biden is reviving the weekly presidential address in an of-the-moment format. Each week, the White House will release “A Weekly Conversation” in which Biden speaks to the public, and even chats with citizens in what the Times described as “recreating the informal style of popular podcasts.”
MC Joe on the mic!
The first edition dropped Saturday as a YouTube video and on social media. In it, Biden speaks on the phone with a California woman about her experience of being laid off and trying to acquire benefits during the pandemic.
Millions of Americans like Michele have been laid off due to COVID and are in need of direct relief. She wrote a letter to President Biden to share her story. He called to check in. pic.twitter.com/mBuhmWltml
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) February 6, 2021
While the addresses will contain a series of phone conversations à la podcast, Press Secretary Jen Psaki said it could be in multiple formats, including a direct address from the president.
This series is the latest iteration of the weekly presidential address, first made popular by Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s “fireside chats” on the radio in the 1930s and ’40s. President Reagan later championed the format in the ’80s, and President Obama revived them as a YouTube address during his administration. President Trump nixed the tradition early into his term.
Biden’s take as a conversational YouTube video isn’t exactly revolutionary. That mantle goes to Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who has been Instagram Live-ing and Twitch streaming her personal experiences, conversations with experts, and even games of Among Us.
Biden also had a podcast on the campaign trail cringe-ily titled “Here’s the Deal.” It wasn’t exactly regular, but at least Joe has already cut his teeth as a host.