The Run-Up

The Run-Up is a political news podcast produced by The New York Times, currently hosted by national politics reporter Astead Herndon. Because it is an in-house production of a major news organization rather than an independently owned show, it does not have a standalone net worth or licensing valuation — its production costs and advertising revenue are folded into The Times’ broader podcast and subscription business.

Early Life & Family

The Run-Up first launched in 2016 as a limited-run companion podcast to The New York Times’ coverage of that year’s presidential election, built around reporter access and behind-the-scenes political analysis rather than a fixed cast of hosts.

Rise to Fame

The format proved durable enough that The Times revived it for subsequent election cycles. It returned in its current, ongoing incarnation ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, with Astead Herndon taking over as host and giving the show a consistent on-air identity heading into the 2024 presidential race and beyond.

Career History

Under Herndon, The Run-Up has covered presidential primaries, the 2024 general election, and subsequent political cycles through 2026, mixing interviews with campaign staff, voters, and fellow Times journalists with on-the-ground reporting segments. It remains one of the flagship political shows in The Times’ audio lineup alongside The Daily.

How They Built Their Wealth

As a show owned outright by The New York Times, The Run-Up generates revenue through advertising and its role in driving subscriptions to The Times’ news and audio products, rather than through the kind of third-party licensing deals — such as the SiriusXM and Amazon agreements struck by independently produced shows like SmartLess — that create a separately reportable valuation.

Personal Life

Host Astead Herndon is a national politics reporter for The New York Times and also appears as a political analyst for CNN. Beyond his on-air role, limited personal details about the show’s production team are publicly documented.

Because The Run-Up operates as part of The New York Times’ corporate media business rather than as an independent commercial entity, it does not carry a publicly reported net worth of its own.