Politically Re-Active is a political comedy podcast hosted by comedians W. Kamau Bell and Hari Kondabolu. The left-leaning show, organized around guest interviews, launched in June 2016 and initially focused on the 2016 United States presidential election, but continued through October 2017. After a hiatus, it resumed in October 2020.
History Bell and Kondabolu previously worked together on Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell, with Bell hosting and Kondabolu serving as writer and correspondent. The show grew out of conversations the two hosts were having by telephone and backstage at shows over the course of their careers as stand-up comedians.
The first two seasons of Politically Re-Active were produced by First Look Media in collaboration with Slate's podcasting division, Panoply. The show was First Look Media's first podcast. The third season was produced by Topic Studios and WarnerMedia Podcast Network.
Schedule The podcast debuted in June 2016. Early episodes focused on the U.S. presidential campaign of 2016, with weekly episodes from June through the election in November. Politically Re-Active aired two post-election episodes in November 2016, then went on hiatus. Season 2 began on March 15, 2017, and ended on October 5, 2017. The show's third season debuted on October 5, 2020.
Format The show consists of interviews and political comedy. Bell and Kondabolu "host (typically left-leaning) guests each week to try to understand the different ideologies that are shaping this election." Wired described Politically Reactive as "mostly reasonable discussions with guests." Topics of discussion have included dog-whistling, private prisons, presidential debates and the Olympics. Interviews are edited to insert occasional explanations from Bell and Kondabolu (introduced by Kondabolu saying, "Hold up, wait a minute!") to give additional context.
Reception ColorLines called it a "hilarious new politics podcast" and The Guardian said of the debut, "Bell and Kondabolu are two of the sharpest, funniest political minds around, and based on the first episode, Politically Re-Active will be a great addition to the podcast roster." In July The A.V. Club said the series had "start[ed] off strong," particularly praising the interview with Kathleen Hanna: "an altogether enjoyable episode that's also a nice primer on both feminism and mansplaining. If the first three episodes are any indication, Bell and Kondabolu are going to be a podcasting force to be reckoned with." AlterNet called it "a seriously great podcast series...easily one of the most binge-worthy things I've listened to in recent memory, and already a runaway hit."
In the first six episodes, Politically Re-Active made iTunes' top 15 chart.
Episodes Season 1 Date Title June 9, 2016 Introducing Politically Re-Active June 28, 2016 Dog Whistling with Ian Haney López June 30, 2016 Private Prisons with Shane Bauer July 6, 2016 Kathleen Hanna on 3rd Wave Feminism & Why She's "With Her" July 13, 2016 Pastor Michael McBride Says Stop Reaching for Whiteness July 14, 2016 Robert Reich on Min. Wage, the Bern, & His Date with Hillary July 20, 2016 Pramila Jayapal on Majority Minority Districts & Teaching Hari How to Dress Himself July 27, 2016 Democracy Now's Amy Goodman Gives Us the Election Unfiltered August 3, 2016 How Van Jones Keeps His Cool in the Cable News Circus August 10, 2016 dream hampton on Black Liberation in the Hour of Chaos August 17, 2016 David Daley on How Republicans Ratf**ked American Democracy August 24, 2016 Dave Zirin on Loving and Hating the Olympics August 30, 2016 Lindy West on Seeing Women as Real People September 7, 2016 Shaun King on Controversy, Color, and Kaepernick September 14, 2016 Jasiri X: Hip Hop and the Movement September 15, 2016 BONUS EPISODE: NoDAPL, Mailbag, & Our Old Pal Adam Mansbach September 21, 2016 Presidential Debate Tailgate with John Dickerson September 28, 2016 Rachel Maddow on Donald Trump, Dick Cheney, and River MonstersOctober 5, 2016Rosa Clemente on Third Parties in a Broken SystemOctober 12, 2016Comedian Zahra Noorbakhsh & Chicano Band Las CafeterasOctober 19, 2016S. E. Cupp on being an Anti-Trump ConservativeOctober 26, 2016Dr. Jill Stein on Investing Your VoteNovember 2, 2016Comedian Hasan Minhaj on New Brown America and His SuperpowersNovember 8, 2016Voting Day Update about This Week's Show!November 10, 2016Roxane Gay on Anger after the ElectionNovember 17, 2016Facing the Future with CNN's Jake TapperNovember 23, 2016Presenting Maeve in America
Season 2 Date TitleMarch 15, 2017Season Two?March 29, 2017Patrisse Khan-Cullors on Black Lives Matter & Resistance Under 45April 5, 2017YouTube's Akilah Hughes on #BlackWomenAtWork & Feeding the BuzzApril 12, 2017Journalist Alia Malik on What We're Missing When We Talk About SyriaApril 19, 2017Michael Skolnik on Being a White Woke GuyApril 27, 2017Aasif Mandvi on the Gaslighting PresidencyMay 4, 2017Getting Adversarial with Journalist Jeremy ScahillMay 11, 2017Political Analyst Angela Rye Calls It Like It IsMay 18, 2017Kate Schatz and Miriam Klein Stahl on Rad American WomenMay 25, 2017Rashad Robinson & Color of Change Cancels Bill O'ReillyJune 1, 2017Jill Filipovic on the Feminist Pursuit of HappinessJune 8, 2017Comedy in the Trump Era: 3 Comedians, a Professor, and Kamau's MomJune 15, 2017Naomi Klein Says "No Is Not Enough"June 22, 2017Janet Mock on Surpassing CertaintyJuly 6, 2017BONUS! Phoebe Robinson, Lindy West, Shane Bauer-Live at ClusterfestJuly 13, 2017Street Heat w/ Congresswoman Barbara Lee & Linda SarsourJuly 20, 2017Hold Up, Wait a Minute: Twitter Feuds & Threat ModelsJuly 27, 2017Killer Mike of Run the Jewels on Allyship, Equity, and Apocalypse PreparationAugust 3, 2017Lewis Black, legendary political comedian is so angry, he won't even talk about 'you know who'. Now THAT'S angry!August 10, 2017Is this what democracy looks like? Jake Tapper & Jessica Byrd give their takeAugust 17, 2017Charlottesville: Why did this happen and how do we move forward?August 19, 2017Bonus! Listeners respond to CharlottesvilleAugust 24, 2017Smashing the Confederacy in the streets and on the screenAugust 31, 2017Roy Wood Jr. and Franchesca Ramsey fighting trolls with truth and satireSeptember 7, 2017Disaster Capitalism and How To Fight It, with Dr. Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor and Mustafa Santiago AliSeptember 14, 2017Speaking with bell hooks and talking DACASeptember 21. 2017Neil de Grasse Tyson brings the universe down to EarthSeptember 28, 2017Writing for very smart brothas (including President Obama)October 5, 2017What did we learn? With Alicia Garza and Wyatt Cenac
Season 3
Date Title October 5, 2020Catching up with Kamau & Hari October 7, 2020 The Four-Letter Word for 2020? Hope (with Alexandra Rojas and Desmond Meade) October 14, 2020 Insiders + Insurgents with Jon Lovett and Cori Bush October 21, 2020 Maria Hinojosa + The Case for Court-Packing October 28, 2020 Katie Porter! + Caroline Giuliani + Hari's Dad November 4, 2020 Election Re-Action with Alicia Garza November 11, 2020 Phoebe Robinson + The Electoral College's Slaveholder Math November 18, 2020 Sarah Cooper + Dr. Peter Hotez December 2, 2020 Ijeoma Oluo + Sarah Silverman December 9, 2020 The Georgia Episode with LaTosha Brown December 16, 2020 Daveed Diggs January 6, 2021Georgia! + What the hell? January 13, 2021Defund the Police 2021 + Trump's Twitter
See also
Political podcast
References
External links