Why Am I Telling You This? with Bill Clinton

“Why Am I Telling You This? with Bill Clinton” will showcase the former president’s wide range of interests, experiences and belief in the power of stories to break down barriers; Show will support the work of the Clinton Foundation

NEW YORK – February 4, 2021 – iHeartMedia, the No. 1 podcast publisher globally, and the Clinton Foundation announced today that President Bill Clinton’s new podcast will launch February 4th on iHeartRadio and will be available across all major podcast platforms. Listen to the first episode, “How Jazz Explains Democracy” with Wynton Marsalis now.

“Why Am I Telling You This? with Bill Clinton” will showcase the president’s gift for storytelling, and ability to explain complex issues in a relatable way. Each episode will feature his wide range of interests and well-known intellectual curiosity through conversations and stories with some of the most interesting people he knows about the ideas and issues that shape our interconnected world. In the premier episode of the podcast, President Clinton will sit down with one of the world’s most influential jazz artists, Wynton Marsalis, to hear powerful stories about Wynton’s life, how his recent works “The Ever Fonky Lowdown” and “The Democracy! Suite” are blueprints to help us decode and overcome the forces that divide us, and what he learned from his father, who he lost to COVID-19 early in the pandemic.

“Growing up in Arkansas just after World War II in a family that didn't have a lot of money, most of our entertainment revolved around storytelling. Listening to my relatives and neighbors tell stories showed me that everyone has a story, and that everyone's story has value,” said President Clinton. “I always thought that the main point of my work was to give people a chance to have better stories. Once you’ve heard a person’s hopes and fears, where they’ve been and where they want to go, your differences slip away—you become people first. Now more than ever, we need those kinds of connections.”

“We are excited and honored to partner with President Bill Clinton on his new podcastlaunch. He has the rare gift of having both a deep intellect and an innate ability to relate to people from all walks of life,” said John Sykes, President of Entertainment Enterprises for iHeartMedia. “He is a born storyteller and his curiosity about the people and ideas that make up our world is contagious.”

President Clinton, who has won multiple Grammy Awards for Best Spoken Word Album and resurrected the weekly presidential radio address, has long been at the forefront of using new platforms to engage audiences. This includes being the first presidential candidate to participate in televised town halls with MTV and interactive internet forums, partnering with the entertainment industry to advance the Clinton Foundation’s early childhood literacy efforts, and creating an Emmy-nominated virtual reality film to take audiences inside the Foundation’s rural development work in Africa. Additionally, President Clinton is a bestselling author of both fiction and nonfiction, including the No. 1 bestselling novel “The President is Missing” with James Patterson.

The collaboration with iHeartMedia benefits the Clinton Foundation’s work to improve public health, create economic opportunity and empower the next generation of leaders, and builds on President Clinton’s history of bringing compelling, diverse voices together through the Clinton Global Initiative, which transformed the landscape of modern philanthropy.

The new podcast builds on the success of the original version of “Why Am I Telling You This?” distributed by the Clinton Foundation with episodes hosted by President Clinton and Chelsea Clinton featuring conversations with President George W. Bush from the 2019 Presidential Leadership Scholars Graduation, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg with Nina Totenberg, humanitarian and co-founder of World Central Kitchen José Andrés, Pulitzer Prize winning author David Blight, Former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy, NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship coach Dawn Staley and others.

“Why Am I Telling You This? with Bill Clinton” is a co-production of iHeartRadio, the ClintonFoundation and At Will Media and is distributed by the iHeartPodcast Network.

About iHeartMedia

iHeartMedia (NASDAQ: IHRT) is the number one audio company in the United States, reaching nine out of 10 Americans every month – and with its quarter of a billion monthly listeners, has a greater reach than any other media company in the U.S. The company’s leadership position in audio extends across multiple platforms, including more than 850 live broadcast stations in over 160 markets nationwide; through its iHeartRadio digital service available across more than 250 platforms and 2,000 devices; through its influencers; social; branded iconic live music events; other digital products and newsletters; and podcasts as the #1 podcast publisher. iHeartMedia also leads the audio industry in analytics, targeting and attribution for its marketing partners with its SmartAudio product, using data from its massive consumer base. Visit iHeartMedia.com for more company information.

About the Clinton Foundation

Building on a lifetime of public service, President Clinton established the Clinton Foundation on the simple belief that everyone deserves a chance to succeed, everyone has a responsibility to act, and we all do better when we work together. For nearly two decades, that premise has energized the work of the Foundation in overcoming complex challenges and improving the lives of people across the United States and around the world.

As an operating foundation, we work on issues directly or with strategic partners from the business, government, and nonprofit sectors to create economic opportunity, improve public health, and inspire civic engagement and service. Our programs are designed to make a real difference today while serving as proven models for tomorrow. The goal of every effort is to use available resources to get better results faster – at the lowest possible cost.

We firmly believe that when diverse groups of people bring resources together in the spirit of true cooperation, transformative ideas will emerge to drive life-changing action.

About AT WILL MEDIA

One of the fastest growing independent audio production companies in the U.S., AT WILL MEDIA is an award-winning, full-service media production company with offices in Manhattan and Los Angeles, founded in 2016 by CEO Will Malnati. With decades of combined experience in storytelling and sound design, they set the pace for the podcast industry as a partner for production services and hub for successful and critically acclaimed originals.

In addition to co-creating and producing Season 1 of The Clinton Foundation's Why Am I Telling You This, some of their partners and clients include The New York Times, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Marriott, Verizon, Entertainment Weekly, GQ, Morgan Stanley, Bleacher Report, and Viacom/CBS. They received a nomination for “Best Branded Podcast” at the iHeartRadio Podcast Awards for The Atlantic Magazine’s podcast The Future According to Now, Season 2.

Their originals include the webby-award nominated scripted series 14 Days with Felicitystarring Jordan Klepper and Helene York, and the highly anticipated Sorry Charlie Miller in February 2021.