“There will be a slow IV drip of socialism throughout each episode,” Chi Ossé says of his new podcast World War Chi.
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Every political era hatches its media icons. George Stephanopoulos’s time under Bill Clinton led to him to become an ABC regular. The Obama administration produced the millennial speechwriters who went on to host Pod Save America. And it’s hard to imagine that Steve Bannon’s War Room podcast would get the viewership it does without Donald Trump’s first term, to say nothing of fellow Trumpster Laura Loomer’s noxious livestream stemming from Trump II.
Who will come out of the next era? Democrats trouncing Republicans basically everywhere in the 2026 midterms means new left-leaning media figures may join the national spotlight too. Enter Chi Ossé. The 28-year-old Democratic Socialists of America–aligned New York City councilmember is set to host a new weekly podcast for Crooked Media called World War Chi, which will debut in the spring of next year.
The show will vary in its subject matter,
The show will vary in its subject matter, Ossé (whose first name rhymes with “three”) tells us. Sometimes it will be about Love Island USA. Other episodes could start with a focus on the Knicks and then segue into a debate over New York’s best and worst neighborhoods. There will be guests and potentially roundtable debates. The idea, he says, is for the show to be both playful and earnest, mixing culture with politics and internet discourse. “In this time where people are really bogged down by a lot of political stuff,” Ossé says, “I think this will be a nice option within Crooked’s pool of shows to offer a different type of entertainment.”
“This is going to be a show that’s about culture, and it’s a little bit goofier than that too,” says Crooked Media co-founder Jon Lovett. The draw in bringing Ossé on isn’t that he’s a member of an ascendant wing of liberalism in America but that he’s a “funny, charming guy who’s going to have great conversations.”
For Crooked Media, Ossé’s vantage point as a born-and-raised New Yorker is part of the appeal as well. “One thing he does great is demystifies how city politics work.” Lovett says. “Where the pain points are. Where the leverage is. We need to figure out how to keep people’s eyes on City Hall, and part of that is having people not just talking about politics but also about movies, about culture, about music — having silly but great conversations with politicians that get under the hood with them about what they care about outside of politics. It’s for people who may not want to have a deep philosophical conversation in their feed every day.”
World War Chi is the latest example
World War Chi is the latest example of Crooked Media’s efforts to expand its network. Currently, the Crooked Media lineup comprises 11 shows. Crooked has also expanded into cable news through a partnership with MS NOW and free ad-funded streaming through SANEtv that launched on Amazon Prime. Vulture sat down with Ossé ahead of his appearance at Crooked Con, where he’ll be announcing the new podcast alongside Lovett.
Can you talk a little bit about what’s going to make this different from other podcasts?
I see this podcast as a very raw space for me to just speak and engage in conversations that someone within my position of being a politician doesn’t really have the opportunity to do. I think many people are going to go to this podcast and think that’s going to be a political pod. But it’s going to mainly be a space where I talk about my interests. Culture. Things that I find funny with people that I find interesting. It will be different from a lot of the Crooked pods that have politicians as their hosts. In the space where the world seems incredibly chaotic and politics is infused within every single thing that people watch and listen and digest on a daily basis. it will mainly be everything outside of politics. There will still be an element of politics in this. But I think we’ll catch people’s interest and be different.
What’s the kind of cultural topic you want to tackle on this podcast? Is there a dream episode?
I think having Curtis Sliwa come out in support of trans rights is something that I would love to highlight and show the world. I would love to engage in very open discussions with people who are used to answering political questions on a day-to-day basis and are caught off guard by maybe a bit more candor that we will bring to the show.
I want to have the goofiest conversations
I want to have the goofiest conversations with the most serious people that you know. Maybe some very serious conversations with the goofiest people you know. That’s my goal with the show. I hope to make people laugh while also shining a more human side to people who seem like lizards.
Why do it within the Crooked Media universe?
It just seems like a natural fit. I love several Crooked shows. It’s an experiment that we’re both engaging in that I believe will turn out very well. In this time where people are really bogged down by a lot of political stuff, I think this will be a nice option within Crooked’s pool of shows to offer a different type of entertainment.
I think of you as a figure more aligned with the DSA left wing of the Democratic Party rather than Obama Democrats like the Pod Save America crew, whom the DSA set would maybe classify as “neolib.” Is it wrong to see this as how Crooked is looking to fill that vacuum?
I think we as a party as a whole are moving toward the left more, which I think is good. I think this country is moving to the left. We saw that in the midterm elections. I don’t know if you saw that New York Timesblue-arrow shift in terms of where we’re going. but it’s just, like, blue arrows going everywhere! So in a couple years, we’ll all be under socialist rule, and some are saying Sharia law.
This was really the first blue wave —
This was really the first blue wave — really, blue tsunami — that happened during Twitter’s lifetime. Twitter felt different that night.
I was just talking about that with someone, and it felt like old Twitter. I feel like every single tweet of mine over the past couple of years since Trump won again in 2024 has just been bombarded by the biggest assholes with aviator sunglasses in their avatar pics. But Twitter on Tuesday was incredible — we were all libbing out. Even the communists on Twitter were libbing out.
I highly recommend going out and looking at “Haley Stevens crashes out hat” Twitter, which is amazing.
Are you kidding? I’ve tweeted about it. And then there was this journalist who was highlighting people in politics who during their crashouts were wearing funky hats, and I highlighted my favorite politician in the world — not based off of politics but off of looks. Lori Lightfoot had a killer crashout look. Bring her back, only for entertainment reasons. Crooked needs to do a podcast with Lori Lightfoot and Curtis Sliwa as co-hosts. I will. I should bring them. I should bring both of them on the show.
This podcast comes at a time when DSA types are ascendant. Could you talk a little bit like that and how a voice like yours aims to connect that?
Well, I’m a DSA member. I’m a socialist politician, but, you know, I think this show — politics is my day job and often bleeds into my night job. This show is highlighting everything that happens in the space of the show, and I am a socialist outside of that space. Again, I want this to be a place where people can let their hair down and laugh and feel entertained and have open conversations with people who are not fully engaged with our political conversation. But there will be a slow IV drip of socialism throughout each episode.
Can you preview the first few episodes
Can you preview the first few episodes to me? How New York–focused will it be?
We’re trying to go across the board. We’ve only shot the pilot episode and don’t want to speak too much about that yet, but there will be an incredible array of different guests from all over the country. It will not be 100 percent New York–focused, though obviously I am a New Yorker, so there will be significant elements of New York City behavior and lingo and conversation, but I don’t want to spoil too much yet about who we are.
How focused is this podcast going to be on 2028?
I haven’t really thought about that that much. I mean, obviously, I want a Democrat to win in 2028, and any of those candidates who run for president are welcome to come onto the pod. And I’m hoping to have as many of them on. But I think there will obviously be a lot of conversation, more ample conversation, about the need for things to shift come 2028. Politics is a part of our life, it’s a part of our culture, and this show is an intersection between the two. So it’s inevitable for those conversations to be happening.
Is Zohran Mamdani going to be on?
Zohran will be on the podcast at some point, yes.
That’s a very certain response
That’s a very certain response. Hizzoner’s schedule is very busy.
He’s a friend.
How are you gonna juggle this with your day job?
I’m gonna have to figure out some Saturday or Sunday evening to squeeze this in. There’ll be some sacrificing of my personal life, but I think this will be something that will fill a void in my heart and my mind of where my words and my conversations need to go.
