Vox Media Podcast Network presents at the 2021 IAB Podcast Upfront

On Tuesday, May 11th, Vox Media presented at the 2021 IAB Podcast Upfront, with Sean Rameswaram, host of Vox’s Today, Explained speaking with talent and producers from across the network, including Unexplainable host Noam Hassenfeld, Pivot co-hosts Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway, New York Magazine editorial director for audio Hanna Rosin, Cafe creative director, co-founder and Stay Tuned host Preet Bharara, and more, for a special presentation highlighting how Vox Media Podcast Network is creating a one-of-a-kind audio universe.

Rosin, who joined Vox Media Podcast Network last year as New York’s editorial director for audio, told Rameswaram she joined the magazine for its history of publishing richly reported features. “Every time I read one I think: why is this not a podcast?” Rosin announced that later this year, the magazine will be launching True Story, its first serialized investigative podcast. “We’re taking the great stories New York Magazine already makes and making a version of them in audio. The way I think about it is that we’re doing investigations but in our own way.”

Meanwhile, Bharara, Cafe creative director, co-founder, and host, elaborated on the decision to go from an independent podcast company, to recently being acquired by Vox Media. “Jim [Bankoff] and I had a lot of good conversations on how we align with the vision, mission, and passion of Vox Media,” Bharara told Rameswaram. “At the end of the day, there’s a real meeting of the minds about how far we can grow with the resources that Vox Media has across platforms. At the moment we’re podcast first and we’re all audio, but there are lots of opportunities for us at Vox Media for us to take our vision and our voice and do other things on other platforms as well, so it was a win-win proposition all around.”

Audiences also heard from Pivot hosts Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway, on recently announced plans to expand the podcast’s reach to audiences in new places. Galloway is also the host of The Prof G Show, which was recently brought into the Vox Media Podcast Network.

Ben & Jerry’s also joined the stage, as Jay Tanden, U.S. integrated marketing manager for the brand, spoke with Rameswarem and Annu Subramanian, supervising producer, audio at Vox Creative, about the recent Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America podcast, and how the brand worked with Vox Media to create a standalone podcast focused on race in America – that reached the top three history podcasts on Apple.

Watch or listen to Vox Media’s full 2021 IAB Podcast Upfronts presentation and explore Vox Media Podcast Network’s full slate at https://podcasts.voxmedia.com/.

About Vox Media Podcast Network

Named by Adweek as 2020’s “Podcast Network of the Year,” Vox Media Podcast Network has over 200 active shows featuring industry-leading editorial voices and storytellers from Vox Media’s networks and beyond. From daily news and tech, to culture and sports, and from talk and interview shows to news and rich narrative storytelling, the Vox Media Podcast Network is one of the largest, fastest-growing, and most topically-diverse collections of premium podcasts. Learn more about the Vox Media Podcast Network here.