Gavin's got a podcast

[ThatRobGuy]

This is Gavin Newsom

Podcast · iHeartPodcasts · I’m Gavin Newsom. And, it’s time to have a conversation. It’s time to have honest discussions with people that agree AND disagree with us. It's time to answer the hard questions and be open to criticism, and debate without demeaning or dehumanizing one other. I will be...

open.spotify.com

Who else has listened to it?

I must say, I found it to be quite interesting and he seems to have a good balance of guests on there.

I listened to the Michael Savage and Ezra Klein episodes; I found both to be pretty good.


Obviously, I think he's using this a vehicle to gear-up for a 2028 run, as what I've noticed is he's definitely pushing more toward the center with some of the things he's saying. And I think he made the conscience decision to do a podcast because he (like many others) now realizes that the "podcast world" was something that Democrats avoided (at their own peril) in the last election and has the hindsight to see that the podcast realm can move the needle a lot more than people assumed it would.

 

[iluvatar5150]

This is Gavin Newsom

Podcast · iHeartPodcasts · I’m Gavin Newsom. And, it’s time to have a conversation. It’s time to have honest discussions with people that agree AND disagree with us. It's time to answer the hard questions and be open to criticism, and debate without demeaning or dehumanizing one other. I will be...

open.spotify.com

Who else has listened to it?

I must say, I found it to be quite interesting and he seems to have a good balance of guests on there.

I listened to the Michael Savage and Ezra Klein episodes; I found both to be pretty good.


Obviously, I think he's using this a vehicle to gear-up for a 2028 run, as what I've noticed is he's definitely pushing more toward the center with some of the things he's saying. And I think he made the conscience decision to do a podcast because he (like many others) now realizes that the "podcast world" was something that Democrats avoided (at their own peril) in the last election and has the hindsight to see that the podcast realm can move the needle a lot more than people assumed it would.

I haven't listened to it, but I struggle to imagine what there is to glean by interviewing professional outrage hucksters and bad faith actors like Charlie Kirk. Last time I listened to Michael Savage (probably 15-20 years ago), he was just this side of Alex Jones, so I wonder what value is there, too. I can see how Steve Bannon could be interesting, but he could also be as bad as the other two, if not worse. EK is always a good interview, and he said Tim Walz was one of the best politician guests he's ever had, so I can imagine both of those being good.

idk... I like listening to interviews with smart conservatives - see Klein's recent interview with Yuval Levin - but what Newsome is doing doesn't really seem like that. He's just going for people who are popular.

 

[Vambram]

Turning Point USA played a very important role in helping President Trump win in November, 2024. But, if liberals think that group and their founder are "bad faith actors and professional hucksters", then I suggest that the liberals could be completely out of touch with large portions of the American voters.

As for Governor Newsom, it is interesting to see whether or not he will be successful in rebranding himself from a progressive liberal into something more moderate.

 

[iluvatar5150]

Turning Point USA played a very important role in helping President Trump win in November, 2024. But, if liberals think that group and their founder are "bad faith actors and professional hucksters", then I suggest that the liberals could be completely out of touch with large portions of the American voters.

Yes, large portions of the voting populace are easily taken in by such hucksters.

 

[Vambram]

Yes, large portions of the voting populace are easily taken in by such hucksters.

I'm sorry that you feel that way.

 

[ThatRobGuy]

I haven't listened to it, but I struggle to imagine what there is to glean by interviewing professional outrage hucksters and bad faith actors like Charlie Kirk. Last time I listened to Michael Savage (probably 15-20 years ago), he was just this side of Alex Jones, so I wonder what value is there, too. I can see how Steve Bannon could be interesting, but he could also be as bad as the other two, if not worse. EK is always a good interview, and he said Tim Walz was one of the best politician guests he's ever had, so I can imagine both of those being good.

idk... I like listening to interviews with smart conservatives - see Klein's recent interview with Yuval Levin - but what Newsome is doing doesn't really seem like that. He's just going for people who are popular.

It could be "skewed history" a bit to compare savage to Alex Jones... Perhaps he seemed "extreme right" to some 20 years ago when just about every candidate and pundit was somewhat "wishy washy".

I queued up a couple interesting snippets.

And this one

...where Savage recounts telling Trump NOT to gut the HHS.

Savage: here's the problem with RFK Jr, he doesn't have the nuance or the subtlety to understand a lot of it and even when he was appointed I was sending messages to Trump saying you can't eliminate the entire Health and Human Services Department there are some good Sciences in the scientists in the NIH you can't throw the baby out with the bathwater... slow down... all revolutionaries as you know left and right want to start from the beginning you can't do it... you can't fire every scientist, I try to tell him that without any luck.

Many people don't realize that Savage is a multi-dicipline PhD from Berkely and was very critical of the "covid downplaying" that right wing pundits were doing:

An April 16, 2020 New York Times feature article credited Savage for being one of the first in the media, especially the conservative media, to take the COVID-19 epidemic seriously. On his radio show Savage used his credentials—a PhD with training in epidemiology—to speak to his fans on coronavirus research: How the virus is transmitted; which treatments were proving effective; and the difference between morbidity and mortality rates. "Savage's views were a departure from those of other conservative commentators, who made a concerted effort to deny that they downplayed the epidemic. Savage attacked their credibility and demanded that they be held accountable for misleading millions of Americans." As early as February 24, 2020, Savage was saying of Limbaugh and Hannity: "How can we not let our side be called on the carpet when they lie to the people?"


That doesn't sound very "Alex Jones-like"


I would say give that episode a chance, it was quite interesting.