Usually, when a governor gets briefed on new information by a key adviser, it happens behind closed doors. Not so for Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear this week.
“How is ‘skibidi’ different than ‘fire’?” the second-term Democrat asked his son on the first episode of his new podcast.
“Fire is, like, it’s really good,” Will Beshear, 15, explained. “‘Skibidi’ is just, like ‘Oh, OK.’”
This week’s launch of “The Andy Beshear Podcast” is part of a broader series of moves by Beshear — and by a number of other high-profile Democrats — to expand their regular modes of communication. Though he is a potential 2028 presidential candidate and has been an elected politician in his state for a decade, Beshear told NBC News in an interview that he wants to create a space where people can take a break from the daily firehose of political news and instead listen to what Beshear called “a conversation between friends.”
“We want this to be something that’s more like people’s everyday lives, where you’re going to talk about politics for 20 minutes and then you’re going to switch to entertainment or sports, family or faith,” Beshear said, adding that he did not expect the podcast to be “overtly political.”
The podcast’s first episode featured several segments, including an interview with attorney and Democratic donor John Morgan; a conversation with guests and Beshear’s son about name, image and likeness rules for college athletes; and a few minutes of Beshear’s son teaching his father about Gen Z slang.
It’s part of a broader move among high-profile Democrats to change the way the party communicates with Americans after a 2024 election that exposed a strain of deep voter discomfort with the party’s brand.
Even before launching the podcast, Beshear was test-driving other ways to engage with an audience. For a long time, his social media feed looked much like the average politician’s: a thread here about recent legislation, some one-off blocks of text there outlining a political position, maybe the occasional photo from a recent event in the state capital or out among constituents.
Then, in January, Beshear started to pepper his feed with short, direct-to-camera selfie videos, in which he told viewers what was on his mind that day. Some of the videos were taken outside, some were in the car and some were in his office, but each one started with Beshear telling the camera, “Hey everybody, it’s Andy.”
“That’s how people communicate with each other,” the governor said. “Not through something scripted, not through polling data, but to actually be real and authentic.”
He said he’s been recording the videos on his own phone, though “I think others sometimes wish it was a different one,” Beshear joked, adding that the videos are about “what’s on my heart and mind.”
Dueling Democratic podcasts?
Beshear is the second Democratic governor this year to launch a podcast, following California's Gavin Newsom, who started “This is Gavin Newsom” last month. Plenty of other politicians have launched them in recent years, too, including GOP Sen. Ted Cruz, of Texas.
Newsom billed his podcast as a space where he would be “tackling tough questions, engaging with people who don’t always agree with me [and] debating without demeaning.” But the governor’s decision to host a pair of pro-Trump figures, Charlie Kirk and Steve Bannon, in two of his early episodes generated criticism from some Democrats.
Beshear said he has a slightly different aim for his podcast, but still lauded Newsom for his efforts.
“While Governor Newsom has gotten some criticism for who he’s had on, his idea to launch a podcast, I think, is very important. And, [it's important] to be able to communicate, to be able to discuss ideas with people who may disagree with you,” Beshear said.
Both men started their podcasts in the months after Democrats faced a bruising defeat to President Donald Trump in November, with some criticizing their party’s nominee, former Vice President Kamala Harris, for not participating in enough unscripted interviews and other conversations.
Trump sat for interviews with 20 conservative-leaning podcasts, while Harris appeared on just eight, according to Edison Research.
Beshear said that the goal of his podcast and the selfie-style videos wasn’t necessarily to make up for the lack of a Democratic new-media landscape but to create spaces where his constituents could hear from him directly.
“I think that’s just so important right now,” the governor said, “when Americans don’t trust certain institutions, or at least want to be able to verify what they’re hearing through messages directly from their officials.”
Fueling rumors of presidential aspirations
Beshear and Newsom are often considered contenders for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination, part of a speculative list that includes more than a half-dozen Democratic governors.
In the months since the 2024 election, party leaders have scrambled to find a way to respond to Trump and to satisfy rank-and-file Democrats — 65% of whom said in a recent NBC News national poll that they want congressional Democrats to stick to their positions even if that risks sacrificing bipartisan progress rather than compromising with Trump.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., took their “Fighting Oligarchy” tour across several states. And Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., delivered an impassioned anti-Trump speech for over 25 hours on the Senate floor last week. But several Democratic governors have so far sought to lean into compromise or bipartisanship.
In a lengthy speech in Washington on Wednesday, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, also often cited as a possible presidential contender, criticized the president’s plan for tariffs but emphasized areas in which she would seek common ground with Trump, like restoring manufacturing in Michigan.
Beshear argued that the Democratic Party needs a platform beyond opposing Trump.
“I think it’s important that the Democratic Party is not simply against someone, but for something,” the governor said. “It’s not that Democrats shouldn’t be pushing back against President Trump, it’s that we should be telling people what our values are and what we’re focused on while we’re doing it.”
Beshear added that the podcast joins an arsenal of other forms of communication that he already uses to deploy his messaging — including his direct-to-camera selfie videos and news conferences.
“People now get their news from more different sources than, than ever,” the governor said, adding, “It just means you need to be able to communicate in so many different ways."
The podcast “is about processing what’s going on in the world through conversations with other people in a format that is hopefully inviting and hopefully enjoyable,” Beshear added.
It’s not clear at this point whether any other rising Democratic stars plan to join the California and Kentucky governors in the podcast booth.
When asked about whether any others would be picking up a microphone in the near future, one national Democratic strategist told NBC News, “The better question is who won’t have a podcast soon.”
