This column first appeared in The Amendment, a biweekly newsletter by Errin Haines, The 19th’s editor-at-large. Subscribe today to get early access to future analysis.

Wednesday was another historic day at The 19th: We launched our first podcast, and I’m your host. I want to talk about why I wanted to create The Amendment podcast as an extension of the journalism we do here and the conversation I want us to continue together.

Even before The 19th existed, I hoped a podcast could be part of our editorial strategy. Why? Because our goal is to create a more nuanced narrative about who and where we are as a country. Written articles are just one way to disrupt how our industry has historically approached political journalism. 

While we didn’t launch our newsroom with a podcast, my work here evolved: from being The 19th’s first reporter to leaning into my role as editor-at-large and continuing to shape our editorial vision and direction. That role also included a shift in my editorial contribution, going from a core member of our reporting team to our first columnist, taking many of the ideas and high-profile interviews you’ve come to expect from me and sharing them in what eventually became this newsletter. 

Finding and sharpening my voice in The Amendment made me believe even more strongly that we needed a podcast — particularly headed into this consequential election year. I wanted to more deeply unpack the asterisk in our logo, to create even more space for the voices who are still being excluded from mainstream storylines about our democracy. 

The Amendment, in both newsletter and podcast form, is an extension of my journalism and who I am as a Black woman journalist working to tell the truth. It is also part of my commitment to all of you and the trust we have built together since The 19th launched in 2020. 

Now that I’ve explained a bit about how we got here, what can you expect? 

First, if you read my newsletter, it isn’t going anywhere! You can still get me in your inbox every other week and read my thoughts on what’s happening in our political landscape and why it matters. You’ll also hear from me weekly in the podcast, with interviews featuring the people shaping our politics and culture, and my colleagues — at The 19th and beyond — who are covering them. Many of these people will be known to readers of my work, including a lot of the folks who have made me a smarter journalist; others we’ll meet together. But each week the goal is the same: a journey of curiosity that ends in new insights about efforts to amend and perfect our union. 

I hope you’ll agree that our first episode helps set this tone. My guest is journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones, my sister in this work, whom I have known for more than a decade. Nikole and I talk often about the power and the cost of seeing the world and reporting on it as Black women. We also support and encourage each other through that work and reflect on the state of our democracy and our profession. Our years of conversations partly inspired this episode as many of our colleagues in journalism are contemplating the same questions in an election year that feels both familiar and uncertain. 

Like all of the journalism at The 19th, our podcast is for the emerging small-d democratic majority in our country, and for lovers of a politics that hears and sees us all. Our profession needs editors, and so does our democracy — which is why amendments have always been necessary in our quest for a more free, fair and equal society. I hope you’ll find The Amendment is necessary listening — and something you want to share with your friends — as we navigate this year together. 

Listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.