Talking with Jon Lovett – Laughing Through Political Chaos

Steve Duffy READ TIME: 10 MIN.

In 2016 speechwriter and Hollywood screenwriter Jon Lovett joined his fellow politicos Jon Favreau and Tommy Veitor to form Crooked Media, a progressive media network with shows, analysis, and sweet, sweet content that informs, entertains, and inspires action. Their first outing – the twice-weekly podcast "Pod Save America" – was an immediate hit with an audience rivaling that of Anderson Cooper's. Wired Magazine called the boyish Lovett the show's breakout star. Soon after, Lovett became host of his own podcast, "Lovett or Leave It," and joined Favreau and Veitor on sold-out shows throughout the country.

What has help make Lovett such a sensation is his sense of humor. During his tenure in the nation's capital he was called "Washington's funniest celebrity," equally at ease for writing speeches for President Obama as write jokes for the President's appearance at the White House Correspondents Dinner. When he left Washington for Los Angeles, he wrote for HBO's "The Newsroom" and the NBC series "1600 Pennsylvania Avenue," a well-reviewed sitcom about a wacky First Family that was canceled after one season. But he was pulled back into politics – if on the entertainment side – when the day after Trump's election, Favreau, Veitor and Lovett ran out of gas on a Sunset Boulevard. While pushing their SUV, they came up with the idea of a network aimed at a liberal audience.

A New York Times profile put it this way: "More than 1,600 political podcasts – most of them anti-Trump – have appeared since the 2016 election, according to RawVoice, a podcast hosting and analytics company. 'Pod Save America, with nearly 120 million downloads to date, is the undisputed king of the field. But the show's numbers alone do not quite capture the nature of its accomplishment. With a shoestring budget and no organizational backing, its hosts seem to have created something that liberals have spent almost two decades, and hundreds of millions of dollars, futilely searching for: the left's answer to conservative talk radio."

Lovett brings "Lovett It and Leave It" to Boston's Boch Center Wang Theatre on April 10, then joins Favreau and Veitor the following night at the Wang for an evening of "Pod Tours America." For a complete list of dates,