Gastropod Forms Long-Term Partnership with Eater and the Vox Media Podcast Network

Eater editor-in-chief Amanda Kludt announced today that Gastropod, one of the largest food podcasts, is forming a long-term partnership with Eater and the Vox Media Podcast Network (VMPN), effective with Gastropod’s August 3 episode. VMPN will take on responsibility for Gastropod’s sales, marketing, and distribution, and will work with the award-winning podcast to explore editorial collaborations and extensions. Gastropod will remain independently owned.

“I am such a fan of Gastropod’s smart, authoritative, and compelling work,” says Eater editor-in-chief and SVP at Vox Media Amanda Kludt. “Like us, they are committed to telling interesting and entertaining stories around food and invest in the quality of their reporting and research, but their focus on audio and on examining food issues through the lens of science and history brings an entirely fresh perspective and audience to our portfolio.”

Launched in 2014 and hosted by journalists Cynthia Graber and Nicola Twilley, Gastropod offers unparalleled journalistic enterprise, in-depth reporting, production value, and storytelling, looking at food through the lens of science and history. Each episode uncovers the hidden stories and surprising science behind a different food or farming-related topic: from aquaculture to ancient feasts, cutlery to chile peppers, and microbes to Malbec.

“Vox Media is such a strong media brand, and Eater plays such a major role in food coverage nationally — we knew that this had the potential to be an incredibly exciting step for Gastropod. We’re already overflowing with ideas about how we can come up with great new storytelling in partnership with all the amazing reporters at Eater, as well as bringing Gastropod’s unique take on food to Eater’s audience and Vox Media Podcast Network listeners,” says Gastropod co-host Cynthia Graber.

“Longtime Gastropod listeners will know that, although we’re entertaining and informal, we are also journalists, with strong journalistic values. Curiosity, integrity, accuracy, and nuanced, critical reporting are at the heart of what we do — and that’s why we feel at home at the Vox Media Podcast Network and Eater. We’re proud of what we’ve built from scratch as an independent podcast, and delighted to find a partner that shares our values — and our undying fascination with all things food and drink — to help the show reach a new audience and fulfil its potential as the most popular food podcast in America,” says Gastropod co-host Nicola Twilley.

Vox Media Podcast Network is enjoying a year of rapid expansion, having acquired Cafe, Preet Bharara’s podcast-first media company in April, and plans to launch over a dozen new shows or seasons in 2021.

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Cynthia Graber is an award-winning radio producer and print reporter who’s covered science, technology, food, and agriculture for more than 20 years. She’s reported on ancient farming techniques in Peru, a scientist uncovering the secrets of regenerating limbs, and a goat with million-dollar blood. Her work has been featured in magazines and radio shows including Wired, the New York Times, BBC, Slate, the Boston Globe, Studio 360, and many others. She was a 2012-2013 Knight Fellow at MIT and is an instructor at the MIT Graduate Program in

Science Writing.

Nicola Twilley is a regular contributor to The New Yorker where she’s written about the race to redesign sugar, the future of automated drone agriculture, and the possibilities of a pill that could make exercise obsolete. She is the author of Until Proven Safe: The History and Future of Quarantine (July 20, 2021, MCD/FSG), and is currently at work on a book about refrigeration for Penguin Press. In her spare time, she makes smog meringues.

About Eater

Eater is the locals-first authoritative guide to eating better. Eater is at the forefront of reporting on the restaurant industry, shaping food culture with its award-winning journalism and programming, as well as its beloved maps and guides. The network has grown into the leading voice in the food media space with its passion for great food and great stories spanning digital and social platforms, audio, OTT and television — including No Passport Required, Eater’s PBS docuseries with host Chef Marcus Samuelsson, celebrating America’s diverse immigrant food traditions, and a multi-year, multi-series deal with Hulu including Eater’s Guide to the World.

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 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.