Published June 23, 2025

In order to advance themselves, and their causes, politicians in democracies have always had to appeal to voters by all means possible. Over a century ago, this meant political pamphlets, newspaper interviews and, not least, a massive set of lungs to make themselves heard doing public speaking engagements. One writer made the quip that members of the U.S. House of Representatives had one physical feature in common: a gigantic rib cage, home to gigantic lungs. Without them, good luck getting elected.  

With the advent of radio in the 1920s, politicians whose electability was tied to their ability to be loud, found themselves outmatched and outmaneuvered by candidates who had comfortable, soothing voices. FDR, a famous trailblazer of political communication through radio, used the medium regularly during his presidency for so-called “fireside chats.” There, he slowly but surely swayed public opinion his way, becoming an unchallengeable four-term president while maneuvering an isolationist nation into a world war. 

The 1960 U.S. presidential election saw the entry of television into politics. Now a politician also had to look good on the screen. No tics, enough makeup, the right clothing and a good smile all of a sudden mattered. A few decades down the road, the ability to produce good 20-second sound bites during television performances had become the key to electoral success as the form drifted from 24-hour news networks into social media. 

We’ve now entered yet another stage where long-form podcasts have become a decider of who wins and who loses elections. Instead of 20 seconds, it’s now two hours. That requires a totally different skill set. The posture and demeanour of seriousness, reliability and condensed quotable phrases has been superseded by the ability to appear relaxed, hang out and shoot the shit for hours on end. Podcasts now matter, they sway public opinion, decide elections. 

In this issue, we explore the emergence of podcasts as a force in politics in Iceland, the key Icelandic podcasters and who they are, and discuss to what extent podcasts are driving a cultural and political shift in Iceland. See here. 

Read The Big Vibe Shift: Inside The Icelandic Brosphere here.