Ro Khanna floods the zone

Since the 2024 election, a major conversation among Democrats in Washington has been the influence of podcasts and long-form interview shows on the American electorate. During the campaign, Donald Trump sat for hours-long conversations with dozens of podcasts—both political and nonpolitical—to chat casually, attack opponents, and, most importantly, reach audiences who might never tune into CNN or Fox News. Savvy Democratic officials have noticed Trump’s success with the medium, and in 2025 many have begun to follow his lead, appearing on podcast platforms and YouTube in new and surprising ways. Some have even launched their own shows, with mixed results.

One Democrat, however, has been ahead of this trend. Rep. Ro Khanna, the progressive congressman representing Silicon Valley, has been a fixture on the podcast circuit for years, and in 2025 he’s seemingly everywhere. Since January, Khanna has appeared on at least 53 podcasts and YouTube shows—more than any other elected Democrat. 

Khanna’s appearances have run the gamut from grassroots Democratic shows like The MeidasTouch Podcast and Brian Tyler Cohen, to “manosphere” staples like FLAGRANT and Theo Von, to apolitical programs like Hasan Minaj, and right-wing shows hosted by Glenn Beck, Bill O’Reilly, and Patrick Bet David. 

I first noticed Khanna’s flood the zone strategy while reading Jesse Lehrich’s new “Nobody’s Listening” newsletter tracking Democrats’ media appearances, which you can check out here. The breadth of his podcast strategy and his comfort sitting down with pretty much anyone is striking, so I reached out to the Congressman’s Communications Director (and Chaotic Era reader), Sarah Drory, who had lots to share about her team’s work. 

The below Q&A has been edited for length and clarity:

Kyle Tharp: There’s been a big conversation happening in the Democratic Party following the 2024 election about the rise of podcasts and new media, and elected officials have started taking many nontraditional media outlets more seriously. Was there a moment around the 2024 election that either the Congressman or your team got together and decided that you were going to focus on doing more podcasts?

Sarah Drory: I think Ro has always made independent media a very big priority, and he's always wanted to do podcasts on both the Left and the Right to speak to everyone. When that conversation started happening within the Democratic party, it was really exciting to see, and we decided to continue doing what we were doing and to do even more. It just naturally fit pretty well with our strategy. 

Kyle Tharp: You all have done more than 50 podcasts this year - tell me more about the “why” behind your strategy - why not stick to beltway rags, local press, and CNN?

Sarah Drory: They [podcasts and web shows] allow you to cover a much bigger range of topics and have a more in-depth conversation. He can talk about foreign policy and tech and all these different topics that might not come up in a normal news of the day interview or broadcast appearance. Some of these podcasts are two-hour conversations, and you can cover so much ground. Depending on the podcast host, they might have a topic they’re both passionate about, and it's a good way to dive into things that [Khanna] is interested in.

Kyle Tharp: If you’ve read my newsletter, you know I’m always doing research and charting out creators and new media voices by audience growth, views, clout, etc. I imagine there’s a lot of research your team is doing to find and determine what shows to go on? How do you choose?

Sarah Drory: Sometimes, it's just because someone on our team really likes this podcast or show and we're like, “Oh, that would make a great interview.” Other times, it may be something that Ro’s listening to. The suggestions just come from everyone. It’s really cool, we just try to be as authentic as possible, make sure it's a good fit, and determine that there will be a lot in common to discuss. We're always exchanging different ideas about these things. For example, one of my colleagues, Cooper, is a big Adam Friedland fan, so when he suggested it, a few of us already knew about him, and it became an obvious choice. 

Kyle Tharp: How many of these appearances have been outbound pitching vs. fielding inbound interview requests?

Sarah Drory: It's a mix, but I think a good number of them have been outbound requests. It has taken a lot of relationship building and having conversations ahead of time to make sure it's the right fit, and that both sides are really interested in making it work. 

Kyle Tharp: Which podcasts were some of your favorites, and which ones did the Congressman enjoy the most?

Sarah Drory: Theo Von was really great. On foreign policy, on getting money out of politics… there are so many areas where they really connected, and ahead of time, I really felt that that would be the case. That was one where I got to travel to Nashville and watch the recording in person, so it was just cool to see it come together. 

He [Rep. Khanna] also loved that one. I think he's especially enjoyed the longer-form shows just because he gets to talk about so many topics that he's passionate about. Adam Friedland was also really great - he’s just very funny and passionate about foreign policy and these other topics. Because we’ve put in so much thought ahead of time, we’ve had great experiences, and I've been really lucky with that.

Kyle Tharp: I know the Congressman has been a leader on the Epstein issue, and I saw him on Ryan Grim’s podcast talking about AIPAC. Have there been any issues or topics that have really resonated with different podcast audiences? 

Sarah Drory: We’ve seen that transparency and trust in government is a huge issue for both the Left and the Right. [Rep. Khanna] can talk about getting money out of politics, reigning in lobbying, and special interest groups. That broad set of issues has been interesting to a lot of people. 

Kyle Tharp: What does your team’s preparation for these types of interviews look like? How does it differ from, say, a random CNN or broadcast news hit? 

Sarah Drory: It's a lot of watching or listening to previous issues of the podcast. I think before you pitch these kinds of things, anyone should be watching or listening to hours and hours to make sure, especially for the long-form podcasts, that you really understand the format and what the host is interested in. You need to think about not just how to be prepared, but how you are going to make sure this a good interview that people actually want to watch.

Kyle Tharp: The Congressman has done some friendly pro-Democrat podcasts like MeidasTouch, but he’s also done a wild amount of right-wing podcasts - like Glenn Beck, Patrick Bet David, Tim Pool - why has he (or your team) made that a priority? What kind of feedback has he gotten from those hosts, their producers, or their audiences?

Sarah Drory: And actually, Ro did Ben Shapiro's show a few years ago, back when no one was really talking about Democrats going into these spaces. He used the appearance to debate him on the minimum wage, which turned out pretty awesome. 

I think a lot of respect comes out of [adversarial appearances] from both sides. Sitting down and having a conversation with someone who disagrees with you, you're able to open your own perspective to something new. Even if you don't agree, you're able to see how someone with a massive audience thinks and maybe better understand the people in their audience and how they think. It both opens you to new ideas and also gets some of your ideas into those audiences’ algorithms. 

Kyle Tharp: What else have you learned from doing all this? 

Sarah Drory: I've worked for Ro since 2021, and I think he’s really unique in that he's so open to trying these new things and wants to go everywhere. The biggest thing I've learned is the importance of relationship building and taking a moment to ask yourself, “Does this make sense? Will it be a good interview?” I think there’s sometimes a tendency to rush into some of these interviews, maybe just because its with a big name.  

I think Democrats should continue doing this in a way that's productive and authentic. We’ve had good experiences and feedback, and a lot of that takes prep and thoughtfulness with each appearance. We shouldn't slow down, and Democrats should keep trying new things and taking risks - I think it's worth it.

Next year’s U.S. Senate race in the Lone Star State is officially getting interesting. Yesterday, Democratic rising star James Talarico, a 36-year old state representative, threw his hat in the ring to challenge incumbent Republican Sen. John Cornyn. The race should be a wild one, as Talarico must first beat 2024 Democratic Senate nominee Colin Allred in a primary election while Cornyn fends off a primary challenge from far-right Attorney General Ken Paxton. Watch Talarico’s campaign launch video below:

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