Alex Cooper traveled to Washington to interview Harris and was given 40 minutes, with no topic off limits. Photo via Instagram/@callherdaddy

Politics

Three BU Alums—Alex Cooper, Howard Stern, Bill Whitaker—Land Interviews with Kamala Harris

The Call Her Daddy podcaster, media titan, and 60 Minutes journalist have some of the biggest media audiences in the country

In a crazy coincidence, three Boston University alums, who have some of the biggest digital and media audiences and platforms in the country, have landed sit-down interviews with Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate for president, all in the span of a few days.

• Alex Cooper (CGS’15, COM’17), whose Call Her Daddy podcast is the country’s fifth most popular and the highest rated among women listeners, posted her interview with Harris on Sunday. The two talk mostly about female reproductive rights.
• Bill Whitaker (GRS’74), a longtime correspondent on CBS 60 Minutes, has a primetime interview with Harris that airs Monday night. (Find a clip from that interview here.)
• Howard Stern (CGS’74, COM’76), host of the Howard Stern Show on SiriusXM, interviews Harris on Tuesday at 1 pm.

“It’s always terrific—although never surprising—to see our accomplished COM alumni at the top of their game in shaping critical national conversations on all topics,” Mariette DiChristina (COM’86), dean of BU’s College of Communication, told BU Today Monday. “It’s especially meaningful when the topic is our national leadership. Bravo to Alex Cooper and Howard Stern: We are so proud.”

In a social media post promoting the interview, Cooper says she reached out to former president Donald Trump, the Republican candidate running against Harris, for an interview and did not hear back. And 60 Minutes, the country’s most-watched TV newsmagazine, says “former President Donald Trump backed out after previously indicating he would be on the show.” Trump famously walked out on a 60 Minutes interview with Leslie Stahl in 2020, when he was president.

Although Stern and Whitaker are longtime media figures and landing an interview with a presidential candidate is not necessarily surprising, Cooper’s interview reflects the changing ways candidates are trying to reach new audiences. Her podcast, mostly about relationships, life, sex, mental health, and advice, has seen a meteoric rise since its launch in 2018. 

She’s built a multimillion-dollar brand around her casual interview style and unfiltered candor. She reportedly signed a $60 million Spotify deal, only to break that off and sign a $125 million, three-year deal over the summer with SiriusXM. 

In one social media post Monday, Cooper, wearing a sky blue sweatshirt and curled up on a couch with her legs tucked beneath her, explains why she invited Harris on her podcast when she typically avoids politics. “I will be honest, I have been going back and forth with this decision for a while, to get involved or not get involved,” she says in the post. “At the end of the day, I couldn’t see a world where one of the main conversations in this election is women and I am not a part of it.”

Cooper went to Washington for the interview and was given 40 minutes with Harris. No topic was off limits. She says she decided to focus her interview on “women’s bodies and how we are treated and valued in this country,” and that she was not the right person to quiz Harris on issues like fracking and the economy.

In an exchange with Harris early in the interview, Cooper asks why the vice president agreed to the interview. Harris says, “You and your listeners have got this thing right, which is, one of the best ways to communicate with people is to be real, to talk about the things that people really care about. Your voice and your show is about your listeners.”

Stern, whose first radio station gig was at WTBU, is best known these days for his long, wide-ranging conversations with legends from the worlds of music, comedy, entertainment, and occasionally, politics. Among his recent guests: actor Aubrey Plaza, Pearl Jam, and Saturday Night Live stars Michael Che and Colin Jost.

In a release, 60 Minutes says Harris will discuss the war and tensions in the Middle East, as well as immigration, the economy, her record under President Joe Biden, and “the differences between herself and Trump.”