US journalist revisits political fiascos

We’re in the midst of an election year for New Zealand and the United States, so there’s a swathe of political podcasts coming your way.

But before you get into current day political scandals, take the chance to listen to recent history podcast Fiasco, which has just launched its second season.

Fiasco is created and presented by American journalist Leon Neyfakh, formerly of Slate, before leaving in 2018 to join subscriptiondriven podcast app, Luminary. At Slate, Neyfakh and his producing partner Andrew Parsons, created the excellent Slow Burn podcast series, which covered the Watergate scandal in season one and the Clinton impeachment in season two.

Launched last year, season one of Fiasco explored the back story of the Bush versus Gore election in 2000 when Gore lost the presidency in the Florida recount by 537 votes.

Ronald Reagan’s administration and presidency comes under the spotlight in Fiasco’s second season, with a look at the Iran-Contra deal, the secret agreement that traded missiles and other arms to free American hostages in Lebanon, but also used funds from the arms deal to support armed conflict in Nicaragua. The agreement, and the ensuing political scandal, threatened to bring down the presidency of Reagan.

Neyfakh’s podcasts have brilliant narrative structure, and are a masterclass in revealing diverse points of view.

Even though the listener is introduced to a lot of different characters, the narrative builds, offering plot points and milestones for you to follow, as well as cliffhangers for the next episodes to resolve.

The first two seasons of Slow Burn are available free on all podcast apps, but seasons one and two of Fiasco are only available on the subscription Luminary premium service.

The subscription podcast service isn’t available yet in New Zealand, but that’s set to change, with plans to launch here soon.