Most of the podcasts i listen to are politics-related (like most posts on this blog) and Left, Right and Center is no exception!
As someone that likes to listen to both sides of an argument and then making up my own mind, a show that describes itself as a "civilized yet provocative antidote to the screaming talking heads that dominate political debate" was always going to appeal to me - and it does.
The podcast is a 30 minute (never enough!) public radio show, produced weekly by KCRW in California. It normally covers about three topics and ends with each host having a mini rant on the topic of their choice.
It is moderated by Matt Miller, representing the centre. He is a Democrat and and worked in the Clinton White House but is willing to criticise the Democrats and the Republicans. I like his evidence-based what-works approach to policies (as that is generally my approach to things!).
Bob Scheer is the voice of the left. His passion is clear and he is able to draw on his personal history of political reporting from all over the world. He has his hobby horses (normally banking regulations or lack thereof) but they are normally relevant to the discussion.
When i started listening , the voice of the right was Tony Blankley. He was an articulate advocate for conservative politics. Unfortunately he died from cancer in 2012. Since then, the show has had various guest hosts representing the right. One of the more frequent ones is Rich Lowry. Given i am a centre-left englishman, his politics were never going to be my cup of tea but i appreciate his ability to criticise President Obama for every action he does or does not do.
The show regularly has special guests, providing a fourth voice. Originally this role was mainly filled by Arianna Huffington whose politics had moved from right to left and then somewhere in between over the last 20 years. The show has a good record of finding interesting people to fill this fourth role, although they do tend to slant more on the left than on the right.
I have previously compared the House of Comments podcast to this show. This is clearly a professional produced radio show compared to the amateur British version. However both shows generally succeed in getting a range of political views expressed and challenged without voices being raised (too much).
In summary, if you are interested in american politics but dislike politicians just ranting at each other, this this is a good place to start.
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