CNN political commentator Angela Rye is not a woman you want to tangle with.

CNN political commentator Angela Rye is not a woman you want to tangle with.

Hey, pals!

CNN political commentator Angela Rye was brought up in the world of advocacy. Her father, Eddie Rye, Jr., was long a fixture in the Seattle’s activist community and often took his daughter along to protests. Activism is part of her DNA. And these days what do good activists need? A podcast.

Rye, former head of the Congressional Black Caucus, launched On One with Angela Rye earlier this year. Since then, she’s talked to Rep. Maxine Waters (aka Queen Maxine), actor Jesse Williams, rapper Common and a whole host of other black change-makers.

The podcast seems like a perfect respite for Rye. She is a bulldog on TV, where she is often pitted against Trump surrogates (if you haven’t seen Rye on CNN, stop reading now and YouTube her. Here’s a good starter video.) On the podcast, she can let her hair down and probe a little deeper. Rye refers to the show as “sophistiratchet” — her own portmanteau to mean a mix of highbrow and lowbrow.

Check out this interview with journalist April Ryan from American Urban Radio Networks (you might remember her dust-ups with both the president and his former spokesman, Sean Spicer).

Tell Me More Stuff To Check Out!

  • Bored and Brilliant: How Spacing Out Can Unlock Your Most Productive & Creative Self” — In 2015, Note To Self host Manoush Zomorodi issued a challenge to her listeners. She wanted to help them develop a more balanced relationship with their digital devices. She called the project Bored and Brilliant. It was so successful that she turned it into a book, which is out now. One tip I learned — keep my smartphone in my bag, not on my body, when I’m not using it.
  • Dear Prudence — The history of the newspaper agony aunt is long and storied. But now in a digital age, advice columns have moved from print to podcast. Slate’s iteration is Dear Prudence, which is now dutifully embodied by New York Times bestselling author Mallory Ortberg. Her advice is pretty solid and she often has help answering thorny questions from friends like writers Roxane Gay, Lindy West and Bim Adewunmi.
  • Twenty Thousand Hertz — Dallas Taylor makes a podcast all about sound. Particularly, the world’s most recognizable sounds. So we asked him to join us on a listening adventure at one of Washington, D.C.’s most iconic soundscapes — Union Station. Specifically, we were interested in the Washington Metro. But while on the train with Taylor, we made a shocking discovery — the human voice on the trains has been replaced by a robot voice. And this matters. Because the way our environments sound matters.
  • Very attractive listener recommendations: SickBoy and BirdNote

Call Me!

Do you have a podcast recommendation you’d like to share with us? We want to hear it! Give us a jingle on the Pod Line at 202-885-POD1 and leave a message. Then we’ll put you on the radio and you’ll be famous.

Thanks for listening, pals! ‘Til next time…keep listening, America.

Most Recent Shows

Monday, Oct 08 2018The Big Listen ended production in May 2018. While this site is no longer updated, all the content remains available for archive purposes.

Tegan & Sara, Podcast Super Fans (Encore)

Thursday, May 24 2018Musicians Tegan and Sara are podcast obsessives. This episode, we take a peek at their extensive playlist, plus hear about their own idea for a podcast. Also, the hosts of the LGBTQ show Nancy share their funny and tragic coming out stories. And the Pakistani American host of Beginner walks us through all the things she never learned as a immigrant, like biking and swimming. Plus: saving podcasts for posterity at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Keep reading...

The Big Listen Finale! (Encore)

Thursday, May 17 2018This is the final episode of The Big Listen. Boo! Hiss! Our show is going off the air (read more on that here) and we’re shifting our focus to other projects. So this is last you’ll hear from us. But we’ve so enjoyed getting to share all the great shows we’re listening to with you. Thank you for spending some time with us. Keep reading...

Peering Into Nicole Drespel’s Inbox (Encore)

Thursday, May 17 2018Over the course of your life, you’ve probably had at least a dozen email addresses. And I’m going to go out on a limb and say that at least a couple of those have been super embarrassing. Comedian Nicole Drespel can relate. Not only has she had deeply mortifying email addresses, but she’s also sent more than her fair share of ridiculous emails. Keep reading...