If you didn’t already know, you’d probably never guess that our very red state is home to a left-leaning podcast that has surged in popularity during Donald Trump’s second term as president.
Co-hosts Angie Sullivan and Jennifer Welch launched the I’ve Had It podcast in 2022 as a place to humorously vent about their petty grievances. Think annoying public displays of affection and rule-breakers in grocery store express checkout lanes. It wasn’t until a high-profile male podcaster advised them to stay away from talking politics that they added in rants on national current events.
Since then, they’ve interviewed former President Barack Obama, former Vice President Kamala Harris and a slew of pop culture figures, all while making their own national media appearances. Next up: a self-help book to be released in May.
While you may not be familiar with their podcast, you may know Sullivan as an Oklahoma City family law attorney and Welch as the owner of local Jennifer Welch Interior Design. Or you may recognize them both from their time as Bravolebrities in Sweet Home Oklahoma (2017) and Sweet Home (2018). Like those reality shows, their podcast is driven by their friendship, humor and strong opinions, and it’s gained a wide audience.
Fearless females
Welch describes I’ve Had It as a podcast for “free thinkers, people who traffic in facts, have a sense of humor and are interested in what’s going on in the world of politics.” This year’s guests include comedians Chelsea Handler and Roy Wood, Jr., self-help author Mel Robbins and several U.S. congressional representatives and senators.
The co-hosts’ colorful language earns the show an explicit rating on audio podcast platforms. From its beginnings, the show has had more listeners in cities like Sydney, Australia, and large U.S. cities than in their home state.
The longtime friends don’t hold back while advocating for human rights, social justice and reproductive freedom on hourlong I’ve Had It and a second podcast launched in December 2023. On IHIP News, they cover recent national events in two 15-minute installments each weekday, often using video clips, media headlines and social posts as a jumping-off point. In recent episodes of both shows, they’ve described Trump as a “white trash con man” and Elon Musk as a deadbeat dad and government parasite.
As progressives accustomed to living with conservative politics, they’ve become essential listening for many on the left in Trump’s America and beyond. By the end of March, the two podcasts combined had more than 135 million downloads, including YouTube videos and an audio-only version. On YouTube alone, they have more than 600,000 subscribers.
From her experience living here, Welch knows that when a red state is led by a blue executive branch, its people are protected from the worst political impulses that further marginalize people.
“But now, Trump is every bit as crazy as [State Superintendent of Public Instruction] Ryan Walters,” she said. “It’s really terrifying.”
While Oklahoma residents tend to vote red, the pair rarely meet critics in their daily routines in our purple city. As Sullivan shared in an appearance on The View, in Oklahoma City, she often meets fans who whisper their encouragement to her.
“Everywhere I go, I will have someone lean into me and say, ‘Keep doing what you‘re doing. Thank you for making us look better,’” Sullivan said. “I think it gives us the perspective of ‘This is needed.’ People need to know that just because this is what the power of the government is doing, that we do not have to sit by and watch discrimination on an institutional level.”
Welch rarely encounters critics in her real life, saying that internet bullies are much less likely to say the same things in person. But she admits to being discouraged when the state continues to elect politicians whose policies have proven to make us a bottom-five state.
“It weighs on me,” Welch said. “I don’t know if it’s the Fox News effect or if it’s evangelical Christianity, but it definitely keeps people from advancing.”
“Patriots, gaytriots and theytriots”
Guests often express surprise that a popular progressive podcast hails from Oklahoma. While the pair didn’t set out to create an “Oklahoma podcast,” it has helped broaden the perspectives people across the country have of the Sooner State.
The shows have long had listeners who self-identify as members of the rainbow community, but it wasn’t until they met many of them on tour that they understood how strongly the show resonates with gay and transgender fans. The tour had stops across the U.S.; an appearance at New York Comedy Festival; and shows in London, Toronto and Vancouver.
“In every single stop we had were these young members of the LGBTQ+ community who had been bullied by their community, by their town, by the churches, by their families, and they found a sense of belonging with us,” Welch said.
Many of them are blue dots in red states, hungry for alternative political perspectives. Welch said some feel a real sense of connection to the co-hosts with accents and ages similar to their parents, relating to them as an aunt or a mother.
New release
In their upcoming book Life Is a Lazy Susan of Sh*t Sandwiches (Hanover Square Press), Sullivan and Welch take a more personal approach. They author alternate chapters on how they were raised, the history of their 30-something-year friendship and marriage and divorce. Hanover Press set the release date as May 27, making April a great time to place a preorder.
“We use anecdotes from our personal lives to say, ‘Here’s something we really screwed up on, what was difficult about adulthood, and here’s what we learned about it,’” Welch said.
Sullivan writes about her experience of being raised religious then deconstructing her faith as an adult, while Welch describes her experience of not being religious while living in the buckle of the Bible belt. They cover career successes, parenthood and how addiction has touched their lives.
Welch admits that she’s questioned if this spring is the best time to release this kind of personal book as Trump lays waste to the federal government. She determined it is “because human suffering and problems of addiction and problems of marriage and problems of personal growth continue. And if anything, will be exacerbated by the serious political position that he’s put us in.”
Progressive message
Do the podcasters have a message for progressives during the dark timeline of Trump’s second term?
“The one thing that this second Trump term has done is eliminate the left versus right. For me, it’s the Nazis against the people who want democracy,” Welch said. “It’s the autocrats against people who want liberty.”
While she saw some paralysis when the new president came into office, she now sees local and national resistance building. She urges Oklahomans discouraged by the way national politics is trending to stay engaged. She said we still have agency over the news and political opinions we take in, and “we the people” still have power.
“Let’s keep going,” she said, “because what they’re doing — taking away Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid, all of this — is going to disproportionately hurt a poor, red state like Oklahoma more than it is a blue state.”
Visit ivehaditpodcast.com.
This article appears in OKC Ballet Shorts.