Looking for something a bit more academic? Look no further! Launched in June this year, the former Vice President of the United States Joe Biden has begun his own news-centered podcast, Biden’s Briefing. Episodes vary in length from three to fifteen minutes, comprising of various news articles that Biden and his team hand select and curate to suit a particular political agenda.
Each episode is entirely predictable; following the same prescribed formula as the episode before. However, this pattern and familiarity render the episodes listener-friendly as the audience knows exactly what to expect. Joe introduces himself and the articles chosen, a woman’s voice reads out the articles verbatim, Joe concludes the episode and signs off – easy-peasy! There is no grand political discussion or debate, no outstandingly academic terminology that would require a dictionary on hand – just articles and opinions.
That being said, this is a podcast crafted with politically eloquent listeners in mind. In order to get the just of the articles and the overriding correlation between the articles presented, it is necessary to know something about American Politics. That ‘something’ is actually sometimes ‘a lot of things’ – including names, the hierarchy of congress and current bills in office. However, Biden does quite a considerate job of selecting accessible articles, which contribute to some greater message, such as gun control.
Podcasts are on the rise, and it is both amusing and impressive that Joe Biden of all people has decided to jump on board to reach wider audiences and demographics. What’s even more interesting is that articles chosen are from various popular publications including Buzzfeed, The Huffington Post and MSNBC. Whether intentional or not, the use of the aforementioned news agencies is incredibly well done – all of the publications are read daily by younger audiences due to their domination of social media platforms.
Although not exactly a bedtime or easy Sunday listening, Biden’s Briefing is incredibly informative and saves you the time of reading news articles yourself. Dip your toes in and start with Briefing #1 – ‘Taking it down a notch.’
Image: Jha Nikita
