Council Podcast and Radio Show Reaches Impressive 100-Episode Milestone

Today, the DC Council released the 100th episode of its "Hearing the Council" podcast. This is a landmark achievement, with only one in a thousand podcasts ever reaching the rare 100-episode threshold.

Each "Hearing the Council" episode consists of a conversational interview between a sitting member of the DC Council and Council Director of Communications Josh Gibson. Podcast episodes can only occur when a Councilmember agrees to sit for an interview, which makes hitting the 100-episode milestone all the more impressive.

Since the first interview was conducted in 2018, at least one interview has been conducted with every single one of the twenty Councilmembers who have held office since then. Some Councilmembers have sat for over a dozen Hearing the Council interviews.

All together, the 100 interviews total 3,558 minutes, or nearly sixty hours, of content.

Hearing the Council currently ranks 24^th on FeedSpot's ranking of 90 Best Washington, DC Podcasts. According to the "Million Podcasts" podcast database, in 2025, Hearing the Council ranked #24 on the list of Best 100 Local Government podcasts. Thusfar in 2026, Hearing the Council is ranked by "Million Podcasts" in the Top 60 of Civics podcasts, Civic Engagement podcasts, and Democracy & Governance podcasts in the nation.

Each Councilmember's very first "Hearing the Council" interview is a "getting to know you" deep dive on the individual's background and history prior to joining the Council. Subsequent interviews focus on a broad range of subjects, including successes/failures, role models, specific pieces of legislation that deserve more of a public spotlight, and even theme episodes on topics like DC's music and pizza scenes.

Famously, every episode of "Hearing the Council" ends with a "fun round," where Councilmembers can let down their hair while being asked offbeat questions, such as how they rank their favorite desserts, or to pick which of their Council colleagues they would pick to tackle a quirky task, like dealing with a cranky customer service phone call, driving cross-country, or putting on a puppet show.

The podcast was born as, and remains, a radio show. It is produced and distributed in partnership with the District's municipal radio station, DC Radio (96.3 FM HD4). Since 2020, all "Hearing the Council" interviews are also posted in video form on the Council's YouTube channel. Interviews also continue to air in abbreviated audio form on DC Radio on weekdays at 3PM. All past interviews are available online wherever you get your podcasts-just search under "Hearing the Council." Be sure to subscribe!

Every episode of the podcast notes in it introduction, "This is not a Council hearing. This is 'Hearing the Council.'" We are grateful that across eight years and 100 episodes, our podcast has provided an opportunity to bring a different, more personal perspective to the important work the Council does.