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

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Author: Joe McGovern
Published: 14 Oct, 2015
Updated: 18 Oct, 2022
1 min read

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

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