Holy crap, y’all! We made it. It’s the end of another semester, which means JMM, much like you, needs a break. Maybe one that includes a warm locale. And cold drinks. And a beach. And requires a passport.
Of course, that means your inbox will be a little less rosy for the next few weeks. (Take a moment to weep. I’ll wait.) But don’t worry, JMM will be back in the new year, revved up on impulsive-gym-membership regrets and already broken resolutions. Until then, good luck with finals, have a happy holiday season and enjoy the break. We all need it.
Now on with the memo!
Podcast Trouble
The media landscape looks scary right now. There has been an endless thrum of layoffs over the last several months. Some, like the current fight at Conde Nast, are loud and sometimes nasty.
But others have been quiet—like the troubles rippling through the podcasting world. Podcasts have been suffering through a tsunami of cuts, the result of both the downturn in advertising across media and the bursting of the narrative podcast business model. There have been three rounds of layoffs at Pushkin Media, Malcolm Gladwell’s podcasting studio. There have been two rounds over at Vox. WNYC cut podcasts in October including the brilliant Supreme Court history show More Perfect.
And in June, Gimlet, the company founded by former Planet Money host Alex Blumberg, was absorbed by Spotify’s Parcast. It was a sad end to the company that, along with Serial, defined podcasting. Blumberg’s own show, Start-Up, chronicled his journey from a former public radio journalist to would-be CEO, pitching venture capitalists, documenting the launch of other podcasts, and revealing when things went drastically wrong. Other pods like Heavyweight and the short-lived Mystery Show reimaged This American Life-style narrative storytelling while still feeling familiar. And Reply All, the show that tried to chronicle the internet and became Gimlet’s biggest podcast, really revealed the humanity behind all the ones and zeroes.
Those shows were the reason Spotify bought Gimlet in 2019 for $200 million. The industry was flying high on what seemed like an endless stream of Purple mattress ads and Master Class promo codes. Listenership was through the roof, spurred on by commuters downloading podcasts for the long journey home. And Spotify wanted to own those ears, so much so it even paid Joe Rogan $200 million to be the exclusive home of his chat-fest.
But then things went wrong. Reply All got caught in a scandal when it tried to cover the racism that had infected Bon Appetit magazine. Gimlet union organizers charged that host PJ Vogt and senior reporter Sruthi Pinnamaneni created a toxic culture not unlike the one they were covering, all because they didn’t support unionization. While hindsight makes this all seem a little suspect, it did result in the two leaving the show, signaling the end of both Reply All’s and Gimlet’s run.
Now, three years later, Spotify just shut down the last of Gimlet’s great shows, cutting Heavyweight last week as a part of a round of layoffs. Vogt’s tribute to Heavyweight and its host, Jonathon Goldstein, reads like a eulogy for podcasting’s halcyon days. He talks about the difficulties of making narrative podcasts—the money, the time, the effort—but also the incredible work that came out during podcasting’s heyday. He’s also very frank about the financial state of his new podcast, Search Engine, which is reminiscent of the best of Reply All. He's got enough ad commitments to get the show through July. After that, who knows?
Which isn’t unlike narrative podcasting itself. Chat pods like Rogan’s and true crime shows like Crime Junkies and My Favorite Murder are cheap to make, meaning they can turn a profit. But in JMM’s opinion, they’re also a bit boring after a while. Sure, Jason Bateman et al are funny on Smartless, but they’re not great interviewers. Rogan is problematic. And true crime shows are just rehashing someone else’s solid reporting. It’s the narrative podcasts like WNYC’s brilliant Radiolab, American Public Media’s How We Survive, and Gladwell’s Revisionist History that elevate audio to art. But if this quiet tsunami of layoffs and closures doesn’t subside soon, JMM’s afraid those great podcasts and more will be washed away, putting an end to podcasting's golden era.
The Rehash: Internship Rundown
• KCCI 8 is trying to set its summer roster of interns. You can be one of them. They’re looking for producers, digital editors, reporters, and photographers. The position is paid. Check out the application here. Sister station KMBC 9 in Kansas City is also looking for interns.
• The Associated Press needs intern reporters. This is a 20-week opportunity. You need to be graduating either in Summer ’24 or Summer ’25 to be eligible. There are multiple positions open both domestically and internationally covering everything from politics to entertainment. All applications are due Dec. 15. Learn more here.
• KMUV in Wichita, Kansas, is looking for the next Korva Coleman intern. Designed to train students of color, the program is an immersion in NPR-style reporting. The position lasts 10 weeks and comes with a $5,000 stipend. Deadline for applications is Jan. 5. Find more info here.
• Martha’s Vineyard may not seem like a hotbed of news, but it is a great place to practice local journalism, which is why flying eight miles off the coast of Cape Cod might be worth it. The Vineyard Gazette is looking for a one-year fellow starting in February. The gig is salaried (doesn’t say how much) and comes with housing. Applications are due Jan. 5. More info here.
• Major League Baseball is looking for summer interns, including those interested in marketing, social media, content, and PR. It’s a 10-week program based out of MLB’s midtown New York offices. Pay is between $20-$23 per hour. Applications are due by Jan. 19, 2024.
• The American Farm Bureau has six summer intern spots open, including positions in communications, government affairs, and studio broadcasting. It’s a 10-week gig based in the bureau’s D.C. offices. Get more info here.
Need to spill the beans?
Do you have some essential info or were you just promoted to the Director of Content Strategy for Fidelity Crypto like alum Robert Kralovec (Mags, Writing, ’09) ? If you do, send it on over to jeff.inman@drake.edu. JMM will treat MM will treat it like this great podcast interview about content and social marketing with the founder of the Arizona start-up Social InterAction, Erin Thobias (Mags, ’11), and tell everyone about it.
Finally, this retirement home is crazier than your college dorm.