New York– New York (AP) – Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. According to a teaser video first obtained by The Associated Press, he is launching a new podcast that he says will usher in “a new era of radical transparency in government.”
The show, titled “The Secretary Kennedy Podcast,” will launch next week and feature Kennedy, a longtime anti-vaccine crusader, speaking with doctors, scientists and agency staff, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services officials told the AP ahead of the launch. In the teaser video, set in an HHS-branded studio with ominous music playing in the background, Kennedy describes it as a new way to expose the corruption and lies that have sickened Americans.
“We’re going to name the forces that stand in the way of public health,” Kennedy says in the roughly 90-second clip.
Joining the Trump administration last year gave Kennedy a new platform for his views, some of which were at odds with the overwhelming consensus of scientists. A podcast can elevate those ideas further. Administration officials say this will help spread an important message to a broader audience about chronic disease and improving health.
“This is part of our larger strategy to deliver the Make America Healthy Again message to a larger audience,” said Liam Nahill, HHS digital director.
The new communications effort from HHS comes as the department has recently faced a number of setbacks, including widespread Criticism Changes in its vaccine policy, a federal rule last month blocking many of those moves, and Resistance from key Republican senators Which has stopped President Donald Trump’s Surgeon General from assuming office. As such, it could be seen as part of a broader rebranding strategy as the agency redirects its efforts away from vaccine efforts and toward a less controversial agenda on healthy eating ahead of the November midterm elections.
But the show, which has been in the works since the beginning of the second Trump administration, also marks Kennedy returning to a format where he has long felt comfortable. Before entering office, he previously hosted his own podcast and has appeared on dozens of shows to share his perspective in long-term interviews, as recently as this week.
Tyler Berger, HHS digital communications manager and creator of the new podcast, said that while Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Macri has a podcast, officials believe Kennedy will be the first podcast hosted by a sitting Cabinet secretary.
“We’re kind of bringing podcasting into government as an official form and branch of our message,” Burger said. He said that the show’s set was largely cobbled together from what the agency already had in place and has the capacity for a total of four people to sit together and interact.
Because podcasts are now typically composed not only on audio but also video, they are regularly clipped and shared on social media platforms, giving them “massive” reach, according to Melina Mutch, a postdoctoral fellow at New York University’s Center for Social Media and Politics.
The popular podcasts also tend to be more intimate, conversational and friendly than traditional interviews, allowing administration officials to promote themselves without facing much backlash.
While Kennedy’s teaser focuses on exposing lies, HHS spokesman Andrew Nixon said the show’s goal will be to cover potency And other topics that polls show are salient to American voters of both parties ahead of the midterms.
“Americans must be united on the need to urgently tackle chronic disease, improve nutrition, strengthen food quality, and reduce health costs,” he said. “The Secretary Kennedy podcast will cover all of those issues.”
