The Purple Principle: A Podcast On The Perils Of Polarization

There is no third party in the U.S. that is made up of political moderates. To support bipartisanship and compromise for the greater good is lonely and likely to make you unpopular with Democrats and Republicans. Therefore, there is no “built-in” audience for a moderate podcast.

The two political parties have ended all outreach to voters other than their bases years ago. So even the best podcast that fosters greater understanding like Left Right & Center has no actionable endgame. The Republicans rhetorically pistol whip their moderates with the “RHINO” tag (Republican in name only) and Democrats accuse their moderates of a host of crimes ranging from corruption to treason.

The way to attract attention in today’s media landscape is to scream the loudest and say the craziest things. It’s the Rush Limbaugh strategy, and he employed it quite effectively. These politically charged podcasts have learned that the more “crazy they exhibit” the higher their downloads because the political base now takes notice.

Finally, moderate podcasts often spend their air time talking about solutions. Crime? Child care costs? Housing shortage and affordability? Climate change?

As podcast consultant George Witt observes, “Voters today are more interested in assigning blame for a problem than finding solutions to that problem.”