Pair team up to make podcast about US politics

Elizabeth Soal. PHOTO: ODT FILES
Elizabeth Soal. PHOTO: ODT FILES
Todd Muller. PHOTO: NZ HERALD
Todd Muller. PHOTO: NZ HERALD
 Former National Party leader Todd Muller has teamed up with an Oamaru academic for a new podcast explaining American politics to Kiwis.

The podcast will see the pair travel to the United States to get on-the-ground coverage of significant events.

Mr Muller will co-host the What’s the Story Old Glory podcast with Elizabeth Soal, a freshwater policy specialist and former chief executive of IrrigationNZ.

The podcast will see the pair explore the American political system and interview political figures in the lead-up to the November 2024 presidential election.

Mr Muller said the purpose was to explain how it all worked to a New Zealand audience.

That included the political process, but also the question of why it was "so full of rancour" compared to other countries.

A lot had changed in the US political scene and historically there was "not that level [of] animosity," he said.

He planned to travel there in the middle of next year, as it was important to speak to the public on the ground as well as professionals.

The American election process took more than a year, so there was a lot to cover and plenty of opportunity to explore it, he said.

After years in Parliament it was exciting to be able to work towards a private interest.

He was also looking to explore politics from a different perspective than usual.

He had been interested in US politics since he was a young child and grew up "a tad obsessed" with US presidents.

"We’re doing it because we genuinely have an interest in politics."

Podcasting was a "very crowded" market, but the goal was to have fun and it did not matter if not many people listened to it.

Ms Soal said while Mr Muller had more first-hand political experience, she would be applying her academic skills to the show.

Campaigns were much larger in the US and it was likely Americans were putting more effort in now, over a year before their election, than New Zealand parties were here a month before ours.

The pair would take a non-partisan approach to their coverage, but would be voicing their thoughts on issues as they arose.

She was planning to be in the US in December and January to cover the Iowa Republican Caucus.

The pair worked together when she was the chief executive of IrrigationNZ and he was agricultural spokesman.

They retained their professional relationship and were both big fans of American politics, which led to the podcast.

There were big plans for guests and they had already lined up an interview with former Arizona state senator Stan Barnes, who would help explain Arizona’s role in the wider election, she said.

Mr Muller farewelled nine years of New Zealand politics as an MP when Parliament dissolved on September 8.

Ms Soal is studying for a PhD at the University of Otago in the geography department, examining freshwater decision-making processes in Canterbury as a means of understanding how collaborative processes can enhance democratic legitimacy.

A trailer for the podcast has already been released and the first episode was recorded this week.

wyatt.ryder@odt.co.nz