Lively, smart, occasionally hilarious interviews & analysis on news and politics (plus some science, finance, and culture too)

Paul's a former New Hampshire Congressman. He was National Co-Chair of Barack Obama's 2008 campaign. And he's a rock musician (no, really). Matt's a former Congressional chief of staff and campaign manager who now writes for publications like Newsweek (https://www.newsweek.com/authors/matt-robison) when he's not obsessing about basketball, soccer, and movies. We're really interested in the "why" of things: why has American politics gotten so screwed up? Why do Americans act and think the way we do? Why the heck don't we use the metric system? Every week we interview journalists, members of congress, scientists, authors...all kinds of fascinating people, to try to get some answers. And because we don't think our own political tribe is always right (just mostly), we do a weekly panel show with Republican political consultant Alicia Preston where we show that Democrats and Republicans can actually still agree on stuff and still have a good time when we don't. We're passionate about science, music, and going down interesting rabbit holes, so we'll pull people like the lead scientist for the James Webb Space Telescope onto the show one week, and the world's leading analyst of UFO videos the next. And to truly go "beyond" just politics, we do a weekly personal finance episode where a certified financial planner explains all the hacks and tools that help people make their lives easier (and wealthier). Our listeners tend to be people who are tired of the usual chatter, and want to hear something a little deeper, more thoughtful, and entertaining.
 

Paul started doing a weekly hour-long radio show in New Hampshire, which became 6 hours of shows a week for Matt and Paul, which became the podcast in 2021. We're both passionate about helping people see what's happening in America a little more clearly. We have our own insider expertise on politics and government to share -- along with a big network of insiders who can give people insights on what's really going on. But we're also both just really curious. So for us, the show name "Beyond Politics" means a lot. We have a lot to offer when it comes to politics, but we like to go beyond the way politics is discussed nowadays (too many people just dunking on each other), and beyond just talking about politics.
 

We do 3-4 episodes most weeks, and it usually takes a couple hours of prep plus an hour or two of post production. That's partly because we post not just the audio pod, but also video clips and full videos on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwrlwX0IuyPmI1RvqiiuxgZapzmZO89Pw). We do both have other businesses and professional work, but we're able to stay flexible and we are passionate about making it. Plus, as we've gotten into the top 5% of pods and beyond, we do get ad revenue.
 

As we made the switch from radio to podcasting, we didn't actively seek sponsorship at first because we were sponsored on the radio (though we did start running ads this year, which we get placed automatically through the Spotify hosting platform). We do the show first and foremost because we love doing it, and because we get to talk to fascinating people and learn new things every week. But there are other benefits, including generating topics for Matt's writing and allowing Paul to reconnect with colleagues in Congress. But, of course, we do also have an ambition to break into the top tier of shows in our genre this year, and yes, generate more revenue.
 

We use Descript for transcription and audio/video editing, and a variety of mics and webcams for recording (Paul's music career is a big help on the audio engineering side), and we usually record over Zoom. We are fortunate to have a great network of former colleagues and professional contacts who are active insiders in politics, but frequently, especially for guests outside of politics, we just ask, It is helpful that guests can listen to the kinds of interviews we do and see that our show is a forum for upbeat, smart, nuanced discussion. We prep episodes by staying up to date on news and working with guests to think about what topics we will cover together. Our goal is to give our listeners the most interesting experience, the most surprising and new information, the best insider stories...so we like to work with guests to help them bring those things out.
 

We're on all the podcast listening platforms (Apple, Spotify, Google, etc.), on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwrlwX0IuyPmI1RvqiiuxgZapzmZO89Pw), and on our website https://beyondpoliticspodcast.com (undergoing remodeling right now!). We do use email and Twitter to market, but have not found social media to be super effective. The best marketing source seems to be word of mouth and appearances on other shows.
 

Three key lessons:

• Use a good program like Descript to edit...it saves so much time and improves your show quality.
• Do your homework before shows. If you write your prep, write for the ear, not the eye.
• Connect with other shows and be a guest. It helps the market and you learn a lot from colleagues.
   

https://beyondpoliticspodcast.com/about
https://twitter.com/MattLRobison
https://twitter.com/paulhodes1
robisonmatt@gmail.com