Clay Aiken hosts new Politicon podcast How The Heck Are We Gonna Get Along

Los Angeles CA, USA—Politicon -- the annual bipartisan “Unconventional Political Convention” -- this week announced the launch of its new podcast “How The Heck Are We Gonna Get Along!”, hosted by American Idol runner-up and former Congressional candidate from North Carolina Clay Aiken.

The podcast is based on the popular Politicon panel of the same name that brings together people from all sides of the political spectrum – from thought leaders and changemakers to comedians and politicians – to answer questions from a live studio audience on the hot button issues of the day. Each new episode is released on Thursdays on iHeartRadio and anywhere podcasts can be heard.

Panelists for this week’s podcast include comedian Jena Friedman, writer Joel Stein, Never Trump GOP Strategist Rick Wilson and Millennial Trump-supporting blogger Wayne Dupree. The first episode that debuted on March 5 included BlazeTV’s Lauren Chen, The Young Turks’ John Iadarola and NewsBusters Founder and Host of the “Theory of Change” podcast Matthew Sheffield. Future scheduled guests include: Touré, Rep. Ted Lieu, Joel Pollak, Rick Wilson, Sam Seder, Antonia Okafor and many others.

“I can’t remember any point in my lifetime when we’ve been so divided as a country,” said Clay Aiken. “We’ve withdrawn into our own respective ideological corners and folks are having a hard time being in the same room with each other, much less listening to each other. I think pundits, politicians and politicos want to fight and argue, but the general public is sick of the media spin and would like to see something actually get done. What I’m excited about with this new show is the opportunity to not only put people with differing positions into a room together, but also make them face a live audience’s questions – where I come from, we might call it a “come to Jesus meeting” – and figure out how the heck are we gonna get along!”

Aiken is a longtime staple at the annual convention. In 2019 at the convention in Nashville, TN, Aiken moderated a debate between Ana Kasparian and Tomi Lahren, led a panel discussion on speechwriting with David Frum and Sarada Peri and chaired the college debate between Tennessee State University and Vanderbilt University.

“We debuted 'How The Heck Are We Gonna Get Along!' as a panel at the very first Politicon in 2015, and it’s been a staple every year since,” says Politicon co-founder Simon Sidi. “It’s an important topic as there’s certainly a lot of divisiveness to repair. Now in 2020, when politics feels more polarizing than ever, we’re excited to unveil the concept as a podcast with a live studio audience asking the questions.”

“As election season heats up, there’s no better time for a show like this one,” said Conal Byrne, President of the iHeartPodcast Network. “Similar to the popular Politicon panel, this series genuinely tries to bridge the gap between the extremes of American politics, with a little something for everyone, and a great, unique format with live audience participation.”

iHeartMedia-- the No. 1 podcast publisher globally-- and KMG served as the official audio partners of Politicon 2019. There they launched the first, live, 24/7 audio channel dedicated to covering the 5th annual bipartisan convention, Politicon on iHeartRadio, that featured real-time podcasts featuring Politicon speakers.

About Politicon

Politicon is the annual, non-partisan “Unconventional Political Convention” that brings Republicans, Democrats, and people of all political stripes together to banter and spar over the most topical issues in smart and entertaining ways that often poke fun at both sides of the aisle. Launched in 2015, attendees have the opportunity to enjoy a full weekend of debates and panels, radio and TV broadcasts, podcasts, Q&A’s, comedy shows, book signings, interviews and meet-and-greets. With rooms ranging from 50-seaters to large-scale auditoriums, attendees can get up close and personal with political heavyweights, revel in the endless humor, dissect documentaries and parodies with filmmakers, and possibly even interact with a few of history’s greatest leaders.