‘Tall man for the small man’: Podcaster to show political documentary in Syracuse

By Ashley M. Casey

Associate Editor

In 2017, Ben Kissel ran for Brooklyn Borough President — but that is probably not why you’ve heard his name.

Along with researcher Marcus Parks and actor Henry Zebrowski, Kissel is the co-creator and co-host of true crime/comedy juggernaut The Last Podcast on the Left. Between recording multiple shows each week (he also co-hosts the political roundup Abe Lincoln’s Top Hat and wrestling show Kinda Fun), touring and wrapping up “The Last Book on the Left,” which comes out next month, Kissel somehow found time to run for office and make a documentary about it.

Kissel will host a screening of his documentary “Hail Yourself, America!” March 9 at the Funny Bone Comedy Club & Restaurant in Syracuse. The 39-minute “slice of life,” as Kissel calls it, offers “a how-to for people who want to get involved in running for office.”

“A lot of folks like to sit there and I’m just a big proponent of being active and being the change you want to see and encouraging people to get their voices heard,” Kissel said.

A native of Stevens Point, Wisconsin, Kissel moved to Brooklyn in 2006. The 2016 presidential election was a catalyst in his decision to get involved in Brooklyn politics.

“It was horrible. The 2016 election was nasty and everyone was playing to the worst parts of human nature,” he said. “I just wanted to know about the process a little bit more. I’ve got to know more about what’s going on on the ground floor so I can make heads or tails of what the hell happened in 2016.”

Among his platform priorities in his 2017 run for office were rent control, preventing the shutdown of the L train during subway repairs, and criminal justice reform. He ran on the Reform Party line against incumbent Democrat Eric Adams and Republican challenger Vito Bruno. While Adams was reelected with nearly 83% of the vote, Kissel was proud to run without connections or corporate backers. The tagline for “Hail Yourself, America!” is “It takes a ‘tall man for the small man’ to stand up for Brooklyn!” (Kissel is 6’7”.)

“Politics are local and it’s all about making small, incremental changes in your community,” Kissel said. “It was really surprising how available a lot of people were to talk about the things that were aggravating them and the things that make them happy.”

During his run for office, Kissel learned a lot about the confusing world of campaign finance. The documentary will touch on the many regulations candidates face.

“Campaign finance is a very interesting thing: How do you get funded? How do you do all these things legally?” He said. “Not all of it makes sense. You’re just like, ‘Why is this…?’”

For Kissel, the hardest part of campaigning was asking for donations.

“Asking for money is difficult and it is not something that comes easy to me or a lot of people,” he said. “Soliciting money is probably the most difficult part because you’re not talking policy, you’re not talking to people.”

While “follow the money” is an old cliché, Kissel said it rings true in the American political system.

“You can tell a lot about a person’s true political self if you look at who’s funding them,” he said.

For instance, if Amazon has donated to a candidate’s campaign, he said, “You know for a fact that they’re going to be a proponent of having Amazon corporate headquarters in Long Island City jacking up the rent even more.”

Kissel tried to keep his campaign positive, lampooning typical mudslinging commercials in a video that proclaimed “Ben Kissel sucks.”

“My robocalls were mostly about getting out to vote,” he said.

As for the March 9 engagement in Syracuse, Kissel plans to have a Q&A following the documentary.

“It’s pretty chill. It’s hopefully going to be a nice conversation,” he said.

Will Kissel ever run for office again? For now, he said he is content with his podcasting endeavors, but he is hoping to encourage young people to vote and run for office.

“Get out there and run for local offices, school board, whatever — that really makes a difference,” he said.

To watch the trailer for “Hail Yourself, America!” or to download the documentary for $5, visit hailyourselfamerica.com. Shows from the Last Podcast Network are available exclusively on Spotify, and “The Last Book on the Left” comes out April 7.