Late-night host says podcasts have become better format to interview politicians

Liberal NBC “Late Night” host Seth Meyers offered a theory on Wednesday about why the era of politicians being interviewed on talk shows is coming to an end.

The digital landscape has rapidly changed in the era of social media, and both politicians and media personalities have taken notice. Some have referred to the 2024 election as the “podcast election,” arguing that podcaster Joe Rogan and others like him turned the tide for President Donald Trump by having him on their shows.

Meyers famously roasted Trump for his political ambitions at a White House correspondents’ dinner in 2011, a few short years before he went on to win the presidency. Now in the second Trump term, 14 years later, Meyers spoke to Variety magazine about how the media landscape has changed.

After the interviewer noted the trend of politicians appearing on comedians’ podcasts, Meyers agreed they have turned out to be a far better platform for them than television interviews ever were. 

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“We’ve kind of weaned ourselves off politicians as guests to begin with, because we have more fun talking about politics than talking to politicians,” Meyers said of his show which hosted then-President Joe Biden in February 2024 and then-Vice President Kamala Harris in October 2022. 

“I actually think there’s more value in a politician going on a podcast and not feeling the rush to just hit talking points, which sometimes they might have on a show like mine,” he added. “I think it’s good for the politicians and good for the voters for them to go someplace where there’s more time and less of a race to hit whatever their PR team has come up with.”

While Meyers argued that podcasts don’t necessarily infringe on the type of comedy he does, he noted that they do have one key advantage. 

“If there’s anything that podcasts have affected, it’s that you realize that when you’re talking to somebody for eight minutes, it’s very unlikely you’re going to get deeper than a podcast host does with them over the course of an hour and a half,” he said. He contrasted this with television interviews, where “You want to move quickly and be funny, because it has to be a different thing than a long-form podcast interview.”

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The interviewer noted a prediction from veteran talk show host Jimmy Kimmel that there might not be late-night hosts in 10 years, and Meyers said it may indeed turn out to be true.

“Unless some major sea change happens, I don’t think there’s going to be a whole new wave of network hosts, in the way there always has been,” Meyers said. “Nobody understands this business and this format better than Jimmy Kimmel, so when he talks about it, I tend to share his opinion.”

He added further that podcasts continue to be as big as ever, because people are simply going to adapt to the best technological format that carries their message. 

“Interesting voices are always going to use the technologies they have at hand to find an audience. So, if you’re a great lover of the institution of late-night talk shows, there’s probably some sadness in your future,” he said. “But if you love funny people telling funny jokes and talking to people in interesting ways, that’s always going to be available.”