Houston Mayor John Whitmire stands off to the side at a press conference at Shell Energy Stadium on February 20, 2026 in Houston, Texas.
Aaron M. Sprecher/Getty Images
How much does it cost to make a podcast? A couple nice microphones, some headphones, maybe some compressors if you want to get fancy. I’d say a couple grand, even $10,000 if you really went crazy. However, if you guessed it would cost $60,000 to make a podcast, well you’ve won a used 2015 Nissan Sentr, where you can listen to Houston Mayor John Whitmire’s new show during your commute.
A cool $60,000 is how much taxpayer money Whitmire has apparently spent on his podcast, 901 Bagby: Inside The Mayor’s Office, according to public records published by Houston Public Media. The podcast is hosted by former KPRC 2 news anchor Owen Conflenti and, as of this writing, has three episodes that are between 17 and 27 minutes in length. Per HPM, Conflenti’s name was on the purchase order for the podcast and there was no competitive bidding process allowing for production companies other than Conflenti’s to submit bids for the project. Conflenti told Chron’s Ariana Garcia that the podcast is an opportunity for Whitmire to “give more context to important issues” and go beyond “sound bites and social media videos.”
Indeed, Whitmire is a late entrant into the “Politicians As Podcasters” genre, which exploded after politicians decided they needed to go podcast crazy after the 2024 presidential election. Texas Senator Ted Cruz has been behind the mic for quite some time now and has one of the more popular political podcasters out there. And California Gov. Gavin Newsom is also a-podcasting in his goal to both become president and become the “Joe Rogan of the left.”
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Whitmire himself has tried to take on, if not in substance than in style, almost a Zohran Mamdani-esque persona in his social media presence. Pop on over to the official Houston Mayor’s Office Instagram, and you’ll see him doing man-on-street videos and speaking directly to constituents. It’s too bad Houston no longer has a bikeshare program for Whitmire to ride around town on, a la Zohran.
But this whole mini-scandal, if you really want to call it that, of spending tax dollars on a podcast few people probably listen to reminds me of another recent New York City mayor: the late, great and absolutely disgraced Eric Adams, who also launched a podcast while he was mayor. Called the Get Stuff Done-Cast (definitely catchier than 901 Bagby), the show aired twice a month and featured Adams interviewing everyday New Yorkers about “problems the city faces and the solutions to be found in the heart, hustle, humor, and heroics of the greatest city in the world.” Presumably they also talked about how amazing it is that in NYC you can see a small business opening on one side of the street and 9/11 happening on the other.
On the Get Stuff Done-Cast, Adams had amazing conversations such as one where he sat down with the Mayor’s Office of Food Policy and goes “Kate, sum it up, basically: food policy, your office, and what it actually does.” Other episodes included “DMC’s Amazing Run: A Hip Hop Pioneer on the Highs and Lows of an NYC Journey” and “Getting Cannabis Done Right in New York City.” The show, as of this writing, stopped publishing in April 2024 and has a 3.2 star rating out of 12 reviews on Apple Podcasts. The NYC city hall employee who came up with this idea drew a $211,150 salary.
Houston Mayor John Whitmire at the 39th annual Houston Art Car Parade on April 12, 2026.
Gwen Howerton/Chron.com
While it’s only been around for about a month, “901 Bagby” has 0 stars on Apple Podcasts out of 0 reviews. Houstonians may not know who the mayor is at all, let alone about his podcast. But in the interest of fairness, what are we getting for at least $60,000?
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On the most recent episode, released on April 1, Whitmire talked to Conflenti about police and firefighter overtime costs for protests and other public safety. The mayor mused on why the Astros are off to a slow start, and he also talked about the city’s budget and slammed his critics.
“Those that criticize us are just some of the same people that have been criticizing us since day one because they don’t want me to be successful,” Whitmire said, again in almost Adams-esque parlance. “All they’re doing really is hurting the city of Houston.”
In other words, make your haters the waiters at the table of success, which is probably at La Griglia in this analogy.
Later in the episode, Whitmire claims that the mayor of El Paso and people from around the country want to know how he’s doing such an amazing job of running Houston.
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“People are calling from around Texas and the nation. ‘How are you doing it? How are you keeping the turmoil down in the city of Houston? How are you making your budget without proposing an increase in property taxes?'” these callers allegedly ask Whitmire.
Fascinating stuff and $60,000 well spent, Mr. Mayor. I’d love a live show from the club, if possible.