Speaker Profile

Al Franken

Former U.S. Senator, Comedian, and Author

Al Franken

Former Senator Al Franken served Minnesota in the Senate from 2009-2018. He was one of the original writers for Saturday Night Live, where he worked for 15 seasons. He has won five Emmys and two Grammys. He has written four New York Times #1 bestsellers, including Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot and Other Observations; Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them – A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right; and Al Franken, Giant of the Senate. He is the host of The Al Franken Podcast and leads the political action committee Midwest Values PAC, which supports Democrats and a host of other good, nonpolitical things.

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Scheduled Appearances

Podcast

Crooked Media presents: WHAT A DAY

Sat May 31, 2025 | 1:00pm
In-person

If you’re looking for hype, fake outrage, and groupthink, kindly keep moving. Our mission at What a Day is simple: to be your guide to what truly matters each morning (and the fun stuff you might have missed) in just 20 minutes. Host Jane Coaston brings you in-depth reporting and substantive analysis on the big stories shaping today and the creeping trends shaping tomorrow — and when she doesn’t know the answers, she asks someone even smarter to fill us all in. Radical, right?

LISTEN TO WHAT A DAY

Jane Coaston
Al Franken
Featuring: Jane Coaston, Al Franken

Featured Books

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About the Festival

The Cascade PBS Ideas Festival is a full-day event in downtown Seattle, featuring live podcast recordings and studio television tapings from The Atlantic, NPR, CNN, Vox, PBS, Crooked Media, The Gist, Open to Debate, and more. Watch live as journalists, newsmakers, and thought leaders from around the world take on hot topics making news and the biggest issues of our time. Plus, community meetups, speaker meet-and-greets, micro-sessions, food trucks, DJs, and artists.

Don't just listen — be part of it. Join us on May 31 (the weekend after Memorial Day)!

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