Swansea experts launch new podcast on the US 2020 presidential campaign

Media and Communications staff Dr Allaina Kilby and Dr Richard Thomas will be joining Dr Matt Wall from the Department of Politics and Cultural Studies in a new collaborative podcast…

Researchers from Swansea University have launched ‘Horse Race Politics: The 2020 US Presidential Campaign’, a new podcast series which uses real-time data from political gambling markets to analyse the US 2020 presidential campaign.

Bringing political science and media studies experts from Swansea University together, the weekly Horse Race Politics podcast offers research-driven insight into the 2020 presidential campaign, helping listeners gain a deeper understanding of the lay of the political land as well as the meaning of campaign events and how likely they are to impact on the outcome of the election.

Dr Matt Wall, Associate Professor of Political and Cultural Studies at Swansea University said: “At a time when people are faced with a barrage of political news and round-the-clock production cycles, this podcast will connect the public to a new way of looking at the news – one which not only gives them information about story content, but which does so through the prism of story relevance.”

Dr Allaina Kilby, Lecturer in Journalism in the Department of Media and Communication said: “American TV satire plays an important role in adding context and a critical voice to political news coverage.  Our podcast considers TV satire’s ability to bypass journalistic conventions, providing it with an opportunity to report on election stories that fall outside mainstream news agenda.”

Dr Richard Thomas, Senior Lecturer in Journalism at Swansea University said: “We know that intuitively, the media coverage of elections is important for citizens and the politicians trying to engage and persuade them. Traditionally though, the impact of election news is difficult to determine. Our podcast will identify the news events and stories that are really resonating with the electorate, and will discuss ways in which the reporting of the 2020 campaign fits established models or bucks the trends.”