Skip to content

Politicon 2015: An Overview by 'Other Side' Director Joe McGovern

Published:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCckmqImkyA

Politicon, which was held at the Los Angeles Convention Center on October 9 and 10, was billed as a nonpartisan, comic-con style event for politics and entertainment. There were panels, debates, TV & movie screenings, live radio and podcasts, comedy shows, Q&A’s, book signings, interviews, art exhibitions, and music.

Trevor Noah was there. So was Newt Gingrich, James Carville, Ann Coulter, David Axelrod, Cenk Uygur from The Young Turks, Michelle Bachmann, Dennis Kucinich… They programmed the event like a music festival – with different events happening at the same time.

There wasn’t an official goal or aim for Politicon, at least not one that I could find, and they were careful to mention that it was not affiliated with any political organizations, parties, or PACS, and ticket sales did not support any political affiliations.

They scheduled a good mix of conservative and liberal speakers and panelists (the full lineup is still available here) and it seemed like an interesting idea, so I took a break from editing my documentary, The Other Side: a liberal democrat explores conservative America, to cover Politicon for IVN. I recently submitted "The Other Side" to the Sundance Film Festival.

Read More: Documentary: Why Are We So Angry at The Other Side?

Read More: The Other Side: How to Understand Our Addiction to Outrage

Joe McGovern

Progressive Democrat turned independent-minded filmmaker. Created The Other Side, traveling 20,000 miles across 35 states and conducting 82 interviews to bridge partisan divides in America.

IVN is rated Center by AllSides and High Credibility by MBFC — follow our independent journalism in your feed.

Add IVN on Google

Contact IVN

Questions about this article or our coverage? Send us a message. A free IVN member account is required.

Message sent

Thanks, we’ll review it and get back to you if needed.

Message not sent

Sorry, something went wrong. Please try again.

Sign in to send a message

Messages are tied to your IVN member account. Signing in is free and takes a few seconds.