Meet the 'Survivor 47' Cast! Podcaster Jon Lovett Reveals How His Secret Fandom Got Him Onto the Beach

Count me among the many people who were shocked that Jon Lovett was a Survivor fan, let alone a soon-to-be player. The 42-year-old is a huge presence in the podcast world, going from a speechwriter in the Obama administration to the host of hit shows like "Pod Save America" and "Lovett or Leave It." But now he's taken a brief sojourn from his usual post to talk about a very different type of politics, throwing himself into, as he puts it, "a strange experiment in deprivation and democracy." And his plans going into the game are as back and forth as the election record of a purple state, as he's even unsure if he'll be truthful about his occupation to the competition

Read on for my interview with Jon, and check in with Parade.com daily for interviews with this season's contestants and other tidbits. Survivor 47 premieres on September 18 with a two-hour premiere on CBS.

Related: Meet the Full Cast of Survivor 47

Interview with Jon Lovett from Survivor 47

How are you doing right now? I know you're obviously used to talking a lot. So I can imagine sitting in silence for so long may be a bit of a miserable existence.
You know what? I think it's good for me to shut the f–k up. So I think that that's been probably a good thing. I'm glad I've had the chance to do that for a few days. Good to talk to you, though.

Likewise! Excited to open up the valve and see what flows out. Well, to start, I imagine a lot of people probably already know who you are. But for the uninformed, give me your name, age, and occupation.
My name is Jon Lovett, I'm 41, and I am a podcast host. I am a co-host of a show called "Pod Save America." I host a live show at tours called "Lovett or Leave It." And with my friends Jon and Tommy, we started a company called Crooked Media, which is meant to be a place for people who are pretty frustrated by politics but still care about democracy. And we're really proud of how it managed to take off and build a really amazing community.

There are people who come onto Survivor excited to unplug from the world for 26 days. I can imagine that counts doubly for you, considering the state of the political world.
Yes. Look, it's the middle of a very important election year. So I was really excited to do this, and really excited to have five weeks focused on a strange experiment in deprivation and democracy for a few weeks. And I'm going to come out of this and hit the ground running, covering the presidential election, the Senate elections, the House elections, the down-ballot elections. We have a whole bunch of shows planned. I'm going to come out of this and just hit the road in whatever shape I'm in. But, for now, yes. Handing over my phone and just being completely disconnected, I don't think I've ever done it for 48 hours, let alone do it for five weeks.

So let's talk about what got you into this "strange experiment in deprivation and democracy." I'll admit I was surprised to find out you were a Survivor fan, considering it's not something you've been very public about. What's your history with the show? And what made you decide to throw yourself into the ring as a candidate to play?
So I watched the first season when it aired. I was in high school, and I loved it. My family wasn't watching it; I was watching it alone. And I remember in the final moments before Richard Hatch won, and it becoming clear that he would, running around my house, just screaming to people who didn't understand what's going on. My parents had no idea why I was losing my mind over this, but I was riveted by it. I loved it.

And I kept up with it, and then I stopped watching as I went into politics, and came back to it in the last couple of years. But I came back to it while I was hosting a show. And, because I didn't want to be spoiled, I've never talked about Survivor on the show. And this has happened to be a bunch of times with a bunch of different shows. I want to let people know that I'm catching up to this thing. But if I say it, somebody is going to find a way to spoil the show. So I've literally not talked about it on these podcasts. And, by the way, I didn't even Google "Survivor" because I was afraid of spoilers as I made my way through the last two dozen seasons. And so, [when] I came into this, it was really very organic. I was watching Survivor with a few friends. We were catching up together. And the more I watched, I would kind of open up a notes document on my computer and write little thoughts down that were the formation of what a video might be if I answered Jeff's plea in the commercial. And the more I started writing down a story of why I wanted to be on Survivor, the more I believed it and the more I was excited about the possibility.

Well, let's have you maybe refer back to that notes doc you were accumulating. Give me one Survivor winner and one non-winner who you identify with the most.
Non-winner, I feel like Penner is one that I related to. For good and for ill, right? Because what I appreciated about how he played, and what I saw that reminded me of how I might play, are both the ways in which he was very smart and strategic, but also the ways in which he might come on a little too strong. And I thought, in that, there was something that I had a kinship with. I really loved the way Sophie played in her season that she won, and I just appreciated her intellect and how she approached the game. Those are the two that come to mind.

So it's safe to say, based on the work you do, you have some renown to your name. Is your job something you plan on being explicit about with the other contestants?
That's a good question. And really, even now, as I sit here, I'd like to tell you that I have some grand answer to it. I do plan to feel it out. But we see this all the time. Someone's like, "Oh, I'm 19, but I'm going to say I'm 22. I'm a lawyer, but I'm going to say I'm a law student." And maybe that helps them; I don't know. I'm inclined to think that any way in which I feel like I need to deceive people is a bit self-aggrandizing. I'm just going to be honest. I host a comedy podcast; I've had success in podcasting. If someone here maybe knows the show, I can say, "Oh, that's great. That's exciting." I podcast, so it's the most embarrassing job in the world. I don't want to build it up. I don't want to play it down. I just kind of want to hit the middle with it. Does that make sense?

Related: Everything to Know About Survivor 47

Definitely. Give me your biggest superpower and piece of kryptonite. I would imagine, in a job that is all about communication and being able to predict votes, that's a shoo-in for the former.
That's interesting. I think that, as is often the case, I think my strength is my weakness. I think, at my best, I have an intensity that can be persuasive and charismatic and can bring people along. At the same time, it can also, I think, turn people off and push people away. I don't want to hide. I don't want to not be myself in the hopes that I, instead of playing to win, try to play not to lose, and then never show who I am in the event that I do go home before I win. So I'm thinking about how to make sure that, when I am being myself, it's the version of myself that is persuasive and enticing and not off-putting and annoying.

What's your preparation been like for this? Because I imagine you have quite a busy schedule, and, as you've mentioned before, this isn't something you've been really public about.
[Laughs.] I am sure that you are talking to people that are here with me, steps away, that have been training for this impressively for months, if not years, on end. And I would like to say that that's me. It is not. I have been doing some puzzles. I have been practicing a lot of different kinds of puzzles. Not necessarily Survivor-specific puzzles, but just the different kinds of geometric and slide puzzles that you might see in this kind of game. I've taken a lot of hot exercise classes. I've been trying to get in shape in a very hot [environment].

Other than that, I've been thinking a lot. Basically, I thought about preparation [in multiple ways]. One is against other people, two is how to play against the game, and the third is how to play against myself. And what I mean by that is, yes, it's important to have some kind of strategic thinking about how you're going to approach this game, and it's important to think about how you'll deal with idols and advantages and what it means when those come your way. But, in the end, I do think, more often than not, this game is won or lost by how people play against themselves, how they manage their frustrations, their annoyances, their insecurities, their paranoias, their hopes, their expectations, when they're hungry, when they're tired, when they haven't spoken to a person they can truly trust in weeks. And how to make sure, when you're in that state, you aren't losing touch with your feelings about the game or the other players. I think [that] is the biggest challenge. And I don't know how you can prepare for that, other than to think a lot about simple core approaches to keep in mind, touchstones to keep in mind, when the going gets tough.

You talk about the people that are steps away. On that note, as you're waiting around in this silence, who are you picking up good vibes from?
Again, I am sure I am getting scoped out and evaluated left and right, fine. I'm sure that's a valuable thing to do. I'm kind of stepping back and looking around, and I'm just thinking, "Where are my gays and my theys?" [Laughs.] That's one thing. There's somebody who brought a book of math puzzles, and I'm feeling very good about that person. I'm also envious of their math puzzles. And it's funny. No one can speak, and so everyone's trying to convey warmth and openness. And what that ends up meaning is just everybody's kind of stoic, and then their faces kind of catch each other and they shoot each other these charismatic high-wattage grins, the same ones that got them casted, at each other over and over again. I don't know.

What about on the other side? Is there anyone you're not picking up good vibes from, or, to your earlier point, is everyone just stonewalling you too much?
There's a couple guys who have a kind of quiet confidence that I find threatening. [Laughs.] There's a lot of concern. Everyone is very aware of how they're being perceived, and you feel that impacting just their little movements through the world. You know when you're at a restaurant, and you're with a friend, and you realize that on either side of you, there's somebody dining alone, and you know that that they're kind of listening because they can't help it? Everyone here is dining alone; everyone here is doing that. And you just see the kind of attention wash back and forth across this group of people. And I am resistant. I feel the urge to be like, "Oh, they're my person. They're not my person." Maybe true, maybe true. But maybe not. I'm fighting this, maybe to my detriment.

I know you've purposely not tapped into the fandom to not spoil yourself. But what would you say is your hottest Survivor take?
Here's my honest answer to that right now. And again, famous last words. Man, putting us on, talking about this before the game, it's a piano hanging over our heads once the game starts. I'll tell you what has been my frustration, which is, and you see it even in this season, maybe to its extreme. This idea of you have to make big moves, you have to build your resume, and up to and including when people say, "Oh, I may put myself in fire to prove that I deserve it." [Laughs.] In a war, nobody fights an extra battle to prove they're good at war. I find this idea of big moves for their own sake a kind of performance of strategy. [It's] not strategy; it's the theatre of strategy. To put on a show for the jury, to show that you understand how to be strategic, or how to play the game. And I don't have an answer to it. But, for whatever reason, it really kind of bugs me. It feels performative. I don't know how to get around that, because that is ultimately what people value, then it is what is valuable. That's the nature of this game, that the group of people playing decides what has value. But that, to me, I find a little bit strange.

Finally, if you could be a celebrity or fictional character to bring out for a Loved Ones visit, who are you picking and why?
Hmm, what a question. You know what? You know be fun to have out here? I'll tell you, Chelsea Handler. That would be funny. I think people would really like that. I'd like that. What a funny person to show up.

Next, check out our interview with Survivor 47 contestant Anika Dhar.