‘You Might Be Right’ | Podcast co-hosted by former governors aims to bridge political divide

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) - It’s all being done in the name of former U.S. Senator, Senate Majority Leader, White House Chief-of-Staff, and U.S. Ambassador to Japan, Howard H. Baker Jr.

”The idea is to use Howard Baker’s legacy of finding common ground to really demonstrate for Americans that it can still be done,” said Executive Director of the Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy on the campus of the University of Tennessee, Marianne Wanamaker.

The podcast is co-hosted by former Tennessee Governors Phil Bredesen and Bill Haslam.

The podcast is titled “You Might Be Right,” paying homage to the late Bakers’ prowess and reaching across the aisle to understand how the other side thought and felt about a specific topic.

”I can’t imagine anything more important,” said Wanamaker. “You hear people say it has never been worse in politics. I don’t know that that’s true. We did fight a civil war in this country, but it feels bad. Certainly, in my lifetime it’s not been worse, so we certainly feel like it’s an important undertaking, and it’s something that Howard Bakers Legacy allows us to do.”

The two will host at least one season, filled with eight episodes tackling tough topics that seem to divide people on the opposite aisle, like gun violence, climate change and national debt.

”So it’s public policy, but it’s really fun. They have really good guests, they ask really good questions and I think that was why they were so successful in government is because they asked really good questions,” said Wanamaker.

Bredesen a Democrat and Haslam a Republic will host several guests throughout the series, hoping to prove there’s common ground to be found in politics, even in a political climate like today.

”They’re recognizable names and they’re names our students can recognize and if the two of them can have these conversations in a really civil and constructive kind of way then anyone can,” said Wanamaker.

Debuting Wednesday, Sept. 14, the podcast will be available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Stitcher.

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