Episode 59 – Podcasting Orphans with Andrew Heaton

Versatile author, stand-up comedian, and podcaster Andrew Heaton joins Josh to untangle the complex web of models and metrics for identifying someone’s political persuasions.  Both Andrew and Josh feel uncomfortable with the simply Left/Right scale—and it’s not just because they’re chary of adopting the political paradigm of dead Frenchmen.  No political identification model is perfect, but Andrew and Josh attempt to weigh the merits of some of the more perfectible models. Also discussed: What puts the “OK” in Oklahoma, Heaton’s eventful journey from Goldwater Republican to eventually landing somewhere on a spectrum between George Will and Andrew Yang, the commonality of those who feel alienated from political tribalism, and why Andrew doesn’t want to make America great again by fighting trade wars with China. From Heaton’s website: Andrew Heaton is a comedian, author, and political satirist.  He’s the host of The Political Orphanage comedy and news podcast, and scifi deep dive podcast Alienating the Audience.  He’s a frequent Reason TV contributor and hosted the popular webseries Mostly Weekly.   He’s performed standup comedy at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, as a finalist in the China International Standup Competition, and throughout the United States and Europe.  A former congressional staffer, he’s the best-selling author of “Laughter is Better Than Communism,” as well as two funny novels.  He once opened for William Shatner, who said he’s “very funny.”  So there. As a UCB-trained sketch writer and improviser Andrew Heaton comprises half of the comedy duo Lost History, which has performed improvised historical reenactments at the Del Close Marathon and Austin’s Out of Bounds Comedy Festival.  He’s a founding member of the popular New York indie improv team Lumberon, and an alumni of the sketch troupes 17:38 and First Runner Up. As a political comedian Andrew Heaton has entertained numerous think tanks and advocacy groups, student associations, and sinister political action committees.  He’s a regular at Electoral Dysfunction at the People’s Improv Theater in New York, and the Totally Dishonest Media Show at Stand Up New York.  He hosted the award-winning series EconPop, a comedy show which explained economics through popular culture. Andrew Heaton is the author of the best-selling work of political satire Laughter is Better Than Communism, and two funny paranormal novels: Frank Got Abducted (about aliens) and Happier as Werewolves (a tender coming of age novel involving werewolves). You can follow Heaton on Twitter @MightyHeaton