By Shelton Bumgarner
@bumgarls
Because of Donald J. Trump’s completely bat shit behavior, I find myself listening to podcasts significantly more than in the past. I used to a podcast of sorts way back when, but the platform I used — Blab, does not exist anymore.
Given the opportunity, I would do a podcast again, but I am going to kind wait and see about that for the time being.
Regardless, there are a few go-to podcasts that I really enjoy. There is Pod Save America that I really enjoy, even though it fills me with liberal rage whenever I listen to it because it makes me think the end is neigh. Meanwhile, there is the FiveThirtyEight political podcast that I also like. As it is obvious to see, I am pretty much completely obsessed with Trump news.
I have noticed some interesting similarities and differences between these podcasts. Pod Save America is funnier and more loose, while the FiveThirtyEight is a bit more formal and it deals with more wonkish thing. While Pod Save America seems to be a conversations between friend who served in the White House — which is it is — the FiveThirtyEight podcast seems more focused.
In general, I really like Pod Save America more than FiveThirtyEight, but both are really strong. Both of them tend to make me really angry because Trump makes me angry, but I think the Pod Save America fits my own personal world view a little bit better.
Regardless, here is here a handy chart to give you some sense of the differences between the two podcasts.
| Pod Save America | Four Thirty Eight |
| Ring Master: Jon Favreau | Ring Master: Nate Silver |
| Funny Guy With Unique Voice: Jon Lovett | Droll Guy With Unique Voice: Harry Enten |
| Comic Bit: Trying to get through the promos with a straight face | Somewhat witty banter, more of a serious edge. |
| Focus: Giving context relative to Obama | Focus: Polls, polls, polls |
