Macro analytics

The Blindspot Index

Who owns the mic on each topic — measured across thousands of political podcast episodes, classified left to right and mined for what each side is actually talking about.

Window

How it works

Methodology

Every episode is transcribed word for word, then classified by AI into one of five stances — Far Left, Left-leaning, Centrist, Right-leaning, or Far Right — based on that episode's own content rather than a fixed label on the show. Episodes are grouped into left (Far Left plus Left-leaning), center, and right; topics are mined from the analyzed quotes. The Index aggregates these across rolling timeframes by air date. Figures update continuously as new episodes are processed and are current as of July 2026.

What the data shows

Key findings

  • As of July 2026, the large majority of tracked topics — roughly 84% — are covered asymmetrically, with one side of the spectrum giving them far more attention than the other.
  • Left- and right-leaning shows concentrate on different agendas, so the topics that "own the mic" differ sharply by side.
  • Because lean is measured per episode, a show's position on the spectrum reflects the balance of its recent content, not a permanent label.

More on the method in the FAQ.

134Podcasts
15,018Episodes
12,674Hours heard
45,187Quotes analyzed

2025-02-27 — 2026-09-07

The state of the spectrum

How the analyzed corpus splits left to right, and the headlines beneath it.

Left · 5,309Center · 2,612Right · 6,926

Share of analyzed quotes by the political stance of the source episode. The corpus tilts right — a reflection of which shows publish most, not an editorial choice.

Coverage asymmetry

84%

32 of 38 topics are covered lopsidedly

Freshness

27 / 255

episodes analyzed in the last 24h / 7d

Most one-sided topic

Religious freedom

Right +87

Most balanced topic

Corporate accountability

Shared

Biggest mover

Criminal justice

+80%

Movers this week

Biggest shifts in topic coverage vs. the prior four weeks.

Surging

  • Criminal justice+80%
  • Media literacy+47%
  • First Amendment+27%
  • Mental health+21%
  • Reproductive rights+8%
  • Tax reform+7%

Fading

  • LGBTQ+ rights-80%
  • Corporate accountability-68%
  • Social media-65%
  • Tech regulation-54%
  • Gun legislation-45%
  • Digital privacy-45%

Attention by topic

How much each side of the spectrum talks about each topic. Click a row for the full five-point split.

Left Center Right

Bars show each topic's share of quotes by the political stance of the podcast episode. "Left" = Far Left + Left-leaning, "Right" = Right-leaning + Far Right. Lean is the net right-minus-left share of attention. Topics below a minimum volume in the selected window are omitted.

Leaderboards

The podcast spectrum

Every show with 30+ analyzed episodes, placed by its mean episode stance. Bubble size is volume.

Topic
Far LeftCenterFar Right

Who leads · Political polarization

  • The MeidasTouch Podcast
    494
  • The Sean Hannity Show
    372
  • Guy Benson Show
    236
  • The Social Contract with Joe Walsh
    224
  • Adam and Jordana
    208
  • ToddCast Podcast with Todd Starnes
    183
  • The Charlie Kirk Show
    176
  • The Megyn Kelly Show
    170

Lean is the mean of each episode's stance on a −2 (Far Left) … +2 (Far Right) scale. Derived from episode stance because per-show stance is unlabeled in the source data.

Storylines

Narrative bundles

Topic pairs that keep showing up in the same episode — the threads the discourse ties together.

  • Democratic institutions×Political polarization
    1,297
  • Misinformation spread×Political polarization
    928
  • Foreign policy×Political polarization
    919
  • Democratic institutions×Foreign policy
    799
  • Foreign policy×National security
    668
  • Democratic institutions×Misinformation spread
    658
  • Foreign policy×Misinformation spread
    612
  • National security×Political polarization
    439
  • Democratic institutions×National security
    428
  • Democratic institutions×Election integrity
    365
  • Misinformation spread×National security
    364
  • Democratic institutions×Immigration reform
    350
  • Criminal justice×Democratic institutions
    329
  • Criminal justice×Political polarization
    313
  • Election integrity×Political polarization
    288

Demand & voices

What's wanted, and how it sounds

Listener demand for briefings, and how each side actually phrases the fight.

What listeners ask for

Topics users request as on-demand briefings. Directional — a small sample.

  • National security
    49
  • Democratic institutions
    36
  • Iran warfree text
    29
  • Tech regulation
    15
  • Political polarization
    12
  • Economic inequality
    12
  • Foreign policy
    11
  • Trumpfree text
    5
  • US - China relationsfree text
    5
  • Iranfree text
    5
  • Scientific research
    3
  • Social media
    3

In their words · by side

Auto-selected sample lines — machine-picked, not editor-curated.

  • "I need help. My little four-year-old, five-year-old girl. She's very autistic. Just escaped."

    Left-leaning · Childcare accessibility

  • "And so, I think some of the order that came out the other day from the White House was: well, let's just spread the vaccination schedule back out, let parents have an ability to make those decisions for their children with informed consent."

    Right-leaning · Childcare accessibility

  • "You said that gasoline would be below $2 by now. You guaranteed it. That was the 2024 campaign. And you all lied."

    Left-leaning · Consumer protection

  • "The dividend growth investing isn't just a smart strategy. It's the only coherent investment philosophy for people who actually want to own something rather than gamble on it."

    Right-leaning · Consumer protection

  • "The fun in being in corporate media is getting to decide who are the key hires? And more importantly, and more fun for these guys, who are the key fires."

    Left-leaning · Corporate accountability

  • "First up, accountability is finally coming to an agency that spent years leaking, fumbling, and failing the man it is supposed to protect."

    Right-leaning · Corporate accountability

  • "I was a thief. I stole people's lives. And I did someone else's bidding just because they said so. I mean, that is the definition of a monster."

    Left-leaning · Criminal justice

  • "We now have this woman saying that stealing should be legalized. I didn't think I'd hear that in my lifetime, but here we go. That was a new one even for me."

    Right-leaning · Criminal justice