Andrew Yang bowed out of the U.S. presidential race, but the businessman-turned-politico wants to keep his policy agenda on the national media stage.
Less than two months after ending his 2020 presidential campaign, he’s set plans to launch a new podcast, “Yang Speaks,” in partnership with podcast studio and network Cadence13, Variety has learned.
The weekly show will broadly cover the future of the U.S. economy and society, according to the show’s producers. It will feature in-depth discussions with “thought-leaders” on a range of topics including tech, public policy, sports, entertainment and pop culture — and, presumably, anything else that is on Yang’s mind. The series launch is slated for May 2020.
Since exiting the Democratic race, Yang joined CNN as a political commentator and earlier this month launched Humanity Forward, a non-profit group that will “endorse and provide resources to political candidates who embrace Universal Basic Income, human-centered capitalism and other aligned policies at every level,” according to the org’s website. Those moves, together with the planned podcast, all point to Yang eyeing a future political run for office.
Guests on “Yang Speaks” will include “some of the smartest and most interesting people in the world,” said Zach Graumann, Yang’s former campaign manager and a senior adviser on the project. He added, “The ideas of our campaign have always deserved more airtime than a 60-second answer on a debate stage or a 3-to-5-minute TV hit.”
Cadence13 landed the pact with Yang’s team after reaching out to CAA to express interest in a podcast partnership. “Andrew Yang’s passionate ideas and vision for the future resonate with millions of people,” said Chris Corcoran, Cadence13’s chief content officer.
It’s worth noting that podcasts were a key awareness-booster for Yang’s 2020 presidential campaign, starting with his appearance on the hugely popular “The Joe Rogan Experience” show in February 2019. The businessman and entrepreneur, who previously had no political resume, went from being a long-shot outsider to a legitimate contender by building his base of “Yang Gang” supporters.
Cadence13 is a division of Entercom Communication’s Radio.com, after the radio broadcaster bought full control of C13 last year. Its lineup includes podcasts from Brené Brown, Emma Chamberlain, Jon Favreau, the Dolan Twins and Gwyneth Paltrow. Cadence13’s content partners include Conde Nast, Crooked Media, Meredith, Mythical Entertainment, TNT and UTA.