Hillary Clinton Set to Launch Her Own Podcast After Being Inspired by Conan O’Brien, Howard Stern

By Todd Spangler

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Hillary Clinton — former U.S. senator, secretary of state, presidential nominee and first lady — is coming back to podcasting with an original series that will undoubtedly have a political angle.

Clinton is teaming with iHeartMedia to co-produce an original podcast series, which is currently untitled. The series will premiere on the iHeartPodcast Network early in the second quarter of 2020, according to a company rep. More details on format, guests, series length and official launch date will be announced in the next few weeks.

According to Politico , which first reported the news, Clinton is interested in pursuing “deeper conversations with newsmakers” in the podcast. Per the report, Clinton was inspired to launch the show after appearing with daughter Chelsea on Conan O’Brien’s podcast “Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend” last fall — and after being impressed with Howard Stern’s interviewing skills when she came on his radio show for the first time last December.

The Clinton Foundation didn’t respond to a request for comment, but the org’s website includes a link to the Politico piece in its news section. Clinton previously recorded a few podcasts in the series “With Her,” which was launched during her 2016 presidential run.

Other political figures have tapped into podcasting, including Sen. Ted Cruz, while former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama inked a pact last year with Spotify under which their Higher Ground Pods. will produce exclusive podcasts. Meanwhile, former President Bill Clinton and Chelsea Clinton last year launched a podcast under the auspices of the Clinton Foundation, “Why Am I Telling You This?” and, according to the foundation, explain why we should be optimistic about the future.

Clinton’s podcast will join iHeartPodcast Network’s 750-plus original podcasts spanning multiple categories. Those include Will Ferrell’s “The Ron Burgundy Podcast,” “Disgraceland,” “Chelsea Handler: Life will be the Death of Me,” “Noble Blood” and “Committed.” The company has announced a comedy podcast venture with Ferrell as well as a deal with prolific TV producer and writer Shonda Rhimes .

News of Clinton’s podcast plans comes ahead of the March 6 debut of Hulu docu-series “Hillary,” which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival last month (and for which Clinton has been making numerous appearances to promote). The four-part docu-series spans five decades of Clinton’s career, including previously unreleased behind-the-scenes footage from her 2016 presidential campaign.

Variety critic Caroline Framke, in her review of the series , called it a “CliffsNotes version” of Clinton’s life and career. “As a whole, ‘Hillary’ is a fittingly messy, compelling portrait of an equally messy, compelling person with some moments,” Framke wrote.