Two New Yorkers with a passion for podcasts — and each other — are the voices behind the politically charged series, “Applying It Liberally.”
Keisha Zollar, 36, and Andrew Kimler, 34, met in 2008, wed in 2014 and decided to share their political views and personal stories on a weekly podcast two years later.
“We realized we wanted to do a dedicated project with each other and because we’re both very politically minded,” said Zollar, who writes for “The Opposition with Jordan Klepper.” “It was definitely the events leading up to the election, and then the election, that made us really passionate about this.”
With more than two dozen podcasts under their belt, the duo are breaking their show out from the comfort of their home studio in Harlem to record in front of a live audience during the fourth annual NYC PodFest.
Though the topic of Sunday’s Abrons Arts Center Underground Theater taping ($10 per ticket) hasn’t yet been decided, it’s safe to say it’ll dabble a bit in their usual — the administration, taxes, health care policy and issues involving race, class and gender.
While Zollar and Kimler say they tend to agree in terms of the political opinions they bring to the podcast’s conversations, they aim to equal out the perspective by inviting guests to join the show. Past guests include “Engage Improv for Life’s” Chris Griswold and TruTV writer/producer Dani Leonard.
“One of the things we really enjoy doing is having a diversity of opinions. A lot of time we do reach out to conservatives,” Zollar says. “We did an episode on guns and we brought in people from the left and the right to try to find a common ground,” Kimler adds.
Sunday’s taping will feature guests Abbi Crutchfield of TruTV’s “You Can Do Better” and Allison Kilkenny of the left-leaning podcast “Citizen Radio.” A third guest speaker, stand-up comic Pat Brown, was announced Friday.
“We look to balance it out because we want to have a really good political conversation. It’s not about getting your jabs in,” Kimler noted.
Being an interracial couple, Zollar and Kimler said they often find their own personal stories being intertwined into their political discussions. A podcast titled “100 Days Down” from December chronicled President Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office, but also found the couple delving into whether or not Kimler experienced white privilege.
“We occasionally dive into our marriage, but we’re not airing our dirty laundry in the podcast — not that we have that much dirty laundry,” Kimler said. “We did share a story about how Andrew’s white privilege literally saved my life” when it came to health care issues at a local hospital, Zollar explained.
Keeping the topics as interesting — and often touchy — as possible, the couple said they haven’t really been met with much opposition to their liberal autopsy of society.
“The people who reach out to us are usually people of color or women who are just happy we’re talking about the needs of more representation for these communities,” Kimler said.
Tickets for the taping of Sunday’s podcast, which will be available to stream at applyingitliberally.libsyn.com on Monday, can be purchased at ovationtix.com.
