As you’ve probably noticed if you pay attention to political media—and right-of-center political media, especially—Ted Cruz has done something a bit novel relative to other big names in politics. He’s not merely interested in guesting on major podcasts as a way of disseminating message (a 2022-2024 version of what every candidate has done since the invention of radio). He actually launched his own podcast, “The Verdict,” in 2020.
To my knowledge, no other active officeholder of similar or greater stature did this as early. And with more and more Americans tuning into podcasts, a heavy focus on them—including in this very active, not passive, way seems smart. Cruz has ensured he is not dependent on getting on other people’s podcasts to talk about whatever he wants to talk about. He can simply take to his own, and people will listen.
A lot of people, it turns out. According to Apple podcast’s chart, Cruz’s podcast is the 22nd most-listened to political podcast in America. That puts it ahead of a cast of Never Trumpy and popular lefty podcasts, Fox’s “The Five” podcast, Benny Johnson’s podcast, Brian Kilmeade’s show, and a host of others. Ted’s podcast comes in just one place behind Steve Bannon’s podcast—no mean feat—and it certainly performs better than Gavin Newsom’s more recently-launched endeavor (points to Newsom for trying this, too, but he is a bit late to the proverbial party).
As a phenomenon, I find this super interesting for several reasons. And I think you should, too.
Let’s start with the personal.
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