John Edwards is launching a Podcast
The website johnedwards.com announces that ex-vice presidential candidate John Edwards will soon have a Podcast. [No Podcast RSS feed just yet] This is interesting to me not only because it’s a politician who is clearly listening to his techie staffers [ 
] but because he’s a resident of the same county and state I am. (Orange County, North Carolina) So in a whole hearted sincere way I say, “WELCOME to Podcasting Mr. Edwards!“. I’ll be listening. If you or your staff have questions please ask me. Thanks to podcastnews.com for pointing this out.
March 15th, 2005 at 11:05 pm
Hello, my name’s Chris Winn and I work with One America Committee. (I also served as a staff member to John Edwards’ presidential campaign.) I just wanted to personally thank you for making note of this exciting news. I am personally very excited that John Edwards is embracing this great medium (one that I am already addicted to - I never thought I would find a way to actually fill up my iPod until podcasting came along!).
I’d like to personally invite you to participate in the podcast by e-mailing John@OneAmericaCommittee.com and submitting your question.
Again, thank you! Get excited for the podcast!
March 15th, 2005 at 11:46 pm
Thanks Chris. The fact that your commenting on a blog is awesome. Now ask Mr. Edwards to do it. Please!
SO many people are just starving for a real person, a public leader, to make a personal connection with them. For example Sally Green, one of our fantastic Chapel Hill town council members, blogs wonderfully. She’s keeping it real!
It’s like shaking hands and kissing babies. Make that personal connection. Commenting on a blog can be an incredibly positive human experience. I understand the concerns with a public person blogging. But take the leap Mr. Edwards! The same goes for your podcast. Keep it real!
I’ll send questions.
March 16th, 2005 at 10:39 am
This should be interesting. I’m curious about what Mr. Edwards has to say.
June 3rd, 2005 at 8:36 pm
Chris Winn wrote: “I’d like to personally invite you to participate in the podcast by e-mailing John@OneAmericaCommittee.com and submitting your question.”
John Edwards unfortunately has not been as open as promised. For months, in various ways, including a podcast form, I’ve been trying to elicit his positions on the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act and the DMCA. No luck. I’m delighted to see politicians using the new media, but not to see them ducking legitimate questions, whether submitted via print, email, audio, video, holography or ESP.
Not just Brian Russell but also Ed Cone and UNC Law Prof. Eric Muller have commented on Prof. Edwards’ bizarre silence. This is the same populist who says: “The Republicans value one thing and one thing alone–wealth. And they want to make sure that those who have it keep it.” Draconian copyright laws “keep it”; they steal both money and freedom from society at large. Why, then, does Prof. Edwards remain mute? Here John Edwards has been awarded a Distinguished Professorship at UNC and heads an anti-poverty center, but refuses to connect the dots.
Prof. Edwards and others should read J.D. Lasica’s Darknet: Hollywood’s War against the Digital Generation if they doubt the need for the Professor and others to defend Net-related liberties. We’re talking about the ability to use your iPod or DVD player as you choose or use the Net for the most robust political debate, or start your own business online without Hollywood looking over your shoulder. If nothing else, just why isn’t Prof. Edwards speaking out against near-eternal copyright–a goal of Jack Valenti, the master lobbyist for the copyright gentry? And what about the extra billions of dollars that existing copyright laws from the Clinton years will redistribute from ordinary people to the copyright elite? I believe that if Prof. Edwards supplies some moral leadership, then perhaps other politicians will follow him in speaking out against such injustices. There are even civil-rights-related reasons. Draconian copyright legislation actually resulted in the withdrawal of the documentary Eyes on the Prize from the market, and it makes it harder to resurrect the works of brilliant minority writers whose estates do not exist or cannot be located. American-inspired copyright laws, moreover, often the result of bullying in trade negotiations, will be a disaster for the Third World.
I would love for Prof. Edwards to come out swinging against the Bono Act and the existing DMCA so I can feel more comfortable voting for him in 2008 than I did in 2004. Actually I like the guy. In fact, I expect more of him than a garden-variety politician. Why is he letting us down? If Prof. Edwards has struck a Faustian bargain with lobbyists and campaign donors such as the Hollywood producer who gave the Professor’s PAC more than $900,000–well, I’d remind him of the spate of promises he has made to mill-town families to work for economic justice. Shouldn’t the former neighbors of Johnny Edwards (yes, that was his original first name) come first? About which America does he care more? I don’t mind Johnny Edwards’ old $6-million house in Georgetown or his new 100-acre place in Chapel Hill; I do mind his persistent silence on issues that should be very dear to a man once promoted as “the People’s Senator.”
For a few more thoughts, see The Manchurian Candidate for 2008? Email him and find out for yourself. If enough people email Prof. Edwards or fill out the podcast form–be polite about it–he’ll get the message. Hey, y’all: do your part to encourage Johnny Edwards to live up to his modest but proud roots and populist rhetoric.
Oh, and don’t be bashful about pasting this post into emails and spreading it around to interested friends–no spam!–who you think would like to act on it. Promise. I’m not Jack Valenti and won’t sue you for a copyright violation.