Rahm's Podcast Isn't Practice For TV Gig; He Stinks On TV (VIDEO)

Lame-duck mayor Rahm Emanuel seems to be angling to become America’s next lefty political talk show host after leaving office — and last month he promoted his podcast on billboards all over the city, boosting his media brand.

You’ve probably never heard of Rahm’s interview show “Chicago Stories” because almost nobody listens to it.

Only 166 people follow the show on Soundcloud. Some episodes get fewer than 100 listens, according to podcast analytics that I had to get from a Freedom of Information request last year because City Hall keeps the podcast’s click count private online.

The mayor was inspired to launch “Chicago Stories” by Chicago First Lady Amy Rule, who listens to a lot of podcasts.

“At a certain point I said, ‘You know what?’” Rahm recalled telling his wife on Episode 32. “Maybe we should just interview the people I meet and let them tell their stories, because … they're pretty extraordinary people. Or ordinary people doing pretty extraordinary things, or beating the odds, or doing something I think you'd like to know."

When I spotted the electronic promotions for Rahm’s interview show glowing high above the Dan Ryan, I wondered if the mayor had wasted taxpayer cash on billboards to promote a floundering pet project which may have been created so his podcast-loving wife would listen to him.

Well, that’s not what happened.

As things turn out, Emanuel took advantage of a clause in the city’s deal with electronic billboard operator Interstate JC Decaux to get word out about “Chicago Stories” so Chicagoans could get some culture straight from the mayor’s mouth.

A City Council-approved ordinance allows the city to post free messages every four minutes, every day — and up to 25 percent of all “uncommitted” advertising time — on the company’s 60-sign network to get word out about “Chicago Stories.”

The ad space is supposed to be reserved for emergencies, including severe weather warnings, amber alerts and other urgent announcements, and public service messages, according to the ordinance.

Emanuel spokeswoman Shannon Breymaier said all city departments can use the ads to promote “services, programs and initiatives,” things like Taste of Chicago, flu-shot reminders and park district program deadlines.

How does the Rahm-cast fit in?

“The Chicago Stories podcast, which highlights the city's arts, cultural, historical, educational and business achievements, provides a city service by informing the public through a diversity of people and topics about what makes Chicago singular and unique,” Breymaier said.

That’s right, if you listen to “Chicago Stories” you’ll learn cultural things — like Rahm’s love of craft beer, Four Moon Tavern in Roscoe Village, scuba diving and fly fishing, laughing at his own jokes and, above all else, his own opinion on, well, everything. There’s more, but it’s not really that interesting. If you care, check out the Chicago Reader's "Chicago Stories" feature by Maya Dukmasova, and send her a thank-you note. She listened to a grip of Rahm-cast episodes, so you don’t have to.

After I called to ask about podcast ads polluting my morning commute, City Hall pulled the plug on the Rahm-cast public service messages.

“The podcast announcement ran for a month, but has just ended its run and is not currently appearing on billboards,” Breymaier said. “To be clear, the city is able to run as many announcements as it would like within the allotted space, so no other requests were tabled in favor of running the podcast announcement.”

I asked Breymaier if Rahm would talk to me about the podcast. After all, the only time I’ve seen the mayor mention it in an interview was when CBS "The Late Show" host Stephen Colbert dissed an invitation to be a Rahm-cast guest.

I told Breymaier I wanted to ask Rahm if the podcast interviews were practice for a future TV career, which Sun-Times columnist Lynn Sweet called the mayor’s "second act."

“Your … question is insane,” Breymaier said, rather than answering my question.

You know what, she's right. The mayor's no George Stephanopoulos.

Remember when Rahm farted on the Charlie Rose Show?

He stinks on TV.

Mark Konkol, recipient of the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for local reporting and Emmy-nominated producer, was a producer, writer and narrator for the Chicagoland series on CNN.

photo credit: Associated Press file photo