How the AJC and WABE combined forces for the upgraded ‘Politically Georgia’

The show now features Nigut, AJC political reporters Greg Bluestein and Patricia Murphy in Atlanta and Tia Mitchell, the AJC’s political correspondent out of Washington D.C. Nigut is primary host Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Bluestein leads Tuesday’s show, while Murphy handles Thursday.

Dorian said this new show gives WABE’s audience, already interested in politics, more in-depth coverage and provides the public radio station an extra hour of local content without negatively impacting her budget.

“All of us have to think creatively to sustain and amplify one another’s work,” she said.

Morse said this partnership benefits the AJC “because it gets the show in front of a new audience for us. We had been planning on expanding the show, and when Bill was available, we jumped at the chance to add him to the team.”

Credit: Bill Nigut/AJC

Credit: Bill Nigut/AJC

Nigut already knows all three AJC reporters well because they were regular “Political Rewind” visitors at GPB. “I respect them all so much,” he said in a brief interview with the AJC at WABE Atlanta headquarters after the first show. “I love politics. Doing a radio show about politics with these folks is literally the best job I’ve had in my life.”

During the first three weeks, they interviewed Sen. Jon Ossoff, former Republican U.S. Congressman Adam Kinzinger and Georgia Speaker of the House Jon Burns. Topics during the past week ranged from demonstrators marching on the Atlanta police training construction site, how Georgia Republicans are already positioning themselves for the 2026 race and why Major League Baseball is bringing the All-Star Game to Atlanta in 2025 after pulling out in 2021 over an outcry over a new voting rights law.

Given that Mitchell, Bluestein and Murphy are often on the road reporting and writing, Nigut is expected to be at the mic every day.

“Bill is able to be the glue of the show,” said AJC Editor in Chief Leroy Chapman.

The origins of “Politically Georgia” go back to 2017 when Bluestein began recording the podcast solo. After the AJC hired Murphy in 2020, it became a two-person team. “We really gelled,” he said. “We would tape two episodes a week but when it was really busy, we’d do more. We’d tape the show on the fly in our cars or in coffee shops.”

Bluestein, who joined the AJC in 2012, said reaction to the radio version of “Politically Georgia” has already been strong, given how big the audience is at WABE.

“After one of our shows, I had to go over to Georgia Tech for an event and everyone was buzzing over what had just happened on the show,” he said. “We had a lawmaker [state rep] Saira Draper on and the whole time her phone was buzzing. Everyone was texting her because they were hearing her on the air. It’s a reminder of the power of radio for us. It’s cool to have another forum to tell stories we’ve learned.”

Mitchell, the AJC’s D.C. correspondent since 2017, has contributed to both “Politically Georgia” and “Political Rewind” for years and is a guest host on C-SPAN’s ‘Washington Journal.” She was in Atlanta for the show’s first week but will primarily be working remotely from D.C.

“I think all four of us work well together,” she said.

Murphy said having WABE involved “professionalizes the operation. And we’re in a real radio studio, which is wonderful.”

HOW TO LISTEN

“Politically Georgia,” 10 a.m. weekdays on 90.1/WABE-FM and available as a podcast on ajc.com, WABE’s website and app, as well podcast outlets like Apple and Audible.