Ask a Pol’s upending Washington one interview at a time
Ask a Pol’s your conduit to Congress — a new, people-powered press corps.
We’re a small band of scrappy, well-sourced and savvy independent journalists working out of the US Capitol. We have lots of questions, so we chase US senators for a living.
They can’t hide long. Ask a Pol founder Matt Laslo's been reporting from the US Capitol since 2006 as a correspondent for WIRED, VICE, Playboy, Rolling Stone, Daily Beast, etc. Since 2016, he’s lectured at Johns Hopkins University’s MA in Government & Public Policy program, where he got his MA.
Good political journalism isn’t about talking or tweeting a good game. It’s all about asking the right questions. And then listening — truly hearing the nation’s lawmakers above all the noise.
When the herd zigs, we zag. Political ‘news’ is now either a beauty, dunking or dumbass contest.
We mostly wait til lawmakers are away from the pack before approaching, because it’s easier to dislodge lawmakers from their carefully crafted talking points when you talk to them as if they’re a person, not merely a politician.
Ask a Pol publishes 99.9% exclusives. We dig deeper, pry harder and we’re patient.
Want a front row seat to the (s***) show that is the contemporary Congress? Subscribe to Ask a Pol, because we take our subscribers with us into the underbelly of the American politics.
Subscribe for FREE
Ask a Pol sends all subscribers a minimum* of one exclusive, raw and uncut interview with a member of the US Congress a week from the vertical of your choosing, ie politics, crypto, drugs, AI, migration or UAPs.
*minimum — when news the Ask a Pol community cares about breaks, we’ve been known to do, say, 12 to 32 interviews in a day (though we’ll never flood your inbox!).
Join the party!
Ask a Pol’s subscribers include some of the brightest, most powerful people in Washington — and spread globally — in their respective fields (we see you lawmakers watching us, but, no, we don’t want your money…).
Questions from our community members impact congressional investigations and impact legislation in real-time.
Our press passes give us access, but we’re empowered by you, the people. When voters speak politicians listen, otherwise they better start polishing their resumes…
VIP: Perks for paid subscribers*
Our raw interviews are open for everyone to listen to for FREE, though occasionally paying subscribers are sent special sneak peeks of breaking news before we’re able to polish an entire post and release it publicly.
Paid subscribers get to post comments and join our Ask a Pol community. They also get to help direct our coverage by voting in our occasional subscriber-only polls!
Paid Subscriber Perk: LIVE Listening w/ Laslo & a Lawmaker
Matt Laslo’s taking what he learned as a correspondent for Emmy-winning VICE News Tonight / HBO and deploying it in Ask a Pol’s Live Listening sessions — an occasional live Discord Q&A meant as a “Thank you!” to Ask a Pol supporters.
Don’t. Miss. These.
Prof. Laslo promises to pull the veil back and show you Congress as it really is. We hear he’s fun, knowledgeable, untamable, unbought and a tad unpredictable (in the fun ways).
Buckle. Up.
*Student? Lost a gig? Hard times? Been there. Got you. No questions asked. Just ping us and we’ll give you VIP access for as long as you need.
Ask your lawmakers your questions (even when there’s no county fair…)
Seriously. Don’t miss our private Discord sessions: You literally get to ask your lawmakers questions!
What’s your question for your federal lawmakers? Let us know!
Matt Laslo’s a veteran congressional correspondent, adjunct new media professor and founder of Ask a Pol.
Ask a Pol: Asking your questions to your lawmakers at your US Capitol. @Ask_a_Pol / @askpols
Take typos up with Congress (and ping us, please).
