Andrew Yang to launch issues-based podcast

Former Democratic presidential hopeful Andrew Yang is starting a new podcast called “Yang Speaks,” which he says will highlight economic and societal issues in the U.S., according to according to Variety.

The former candidate known for his “Freedom Dividend,” or universal basic income, policy dropped out of the presidential race in February and has recently joined CNN as a political commentator.

The show will be released weekly and will cover news about the future of the U.S. economy and society, according to the show’s producers. Discussions will feature “thought-leaders” discussing a variety of topics including tech, public policy, sports, entertainment and pop culture, according to Variety. The series launch is slated for May 2020.

The podcast is in partnership with Cadence13, a podcast studio and network.

“Andrew Yang’s passionate ideas and vision for the future resonate with millions of people,” said Chris Corcoran, Cadence13’s chief content officer.

Podcasts were a key publicity boost for Yang during his 2020 presidential bid, with large spikes in the candidate’s popularity appearing after talks on popular podcasts such as “The Joe Rogan Experience,” an episode recorded in February 2019 that garnered more than 5.2 million downloads.

Guests on “Yang Speaks” will feature “some of the smartest and most interesting people in the world,” according to Zach Graumann, Yang’s former campaign manager and a senior adviser on the project. He said, “The ideas of our campaign have always deserved more airtime than a 60-second answer on a debate stage or a 3-to-5-minute TV hit.”

Yang announced on Twitter that his new podcast will include guests such as media specialists Van Jones, Krystal Ball of Hill.TV and celebrities including Ken Jeong. 

He also recently launched a nonprofit group called Humanity Forward, focused on providing “resources to political candidates who embrace Universal Basic Income, human-centered capitalism, and other aligned policies at every level,” according to the organization’s webpage.