• by Fern Siegel , November 10, 2020

iHeartMedia has signed a co-production/distribution deal with Pushkin Industries, co-founded by Malcolm Gladwell and Jacob Weisberg.

The alliance means the two entities will co-produce a slate of new podcasts, as well as add existing Pushkin shows to iHeartMedia. 

iHeartMedia is also taking over the ad sales for Pushkin's shows, which were previously sold by Cadence.

Two new Puskhin shows are slated for a March 2021 release. The first is “Double Date,” an interview series hosted by Marlo Thomas and Phil Donahue, who have been married for 40 years. The 10-episode season will discuss what makes a lasting marriage with various celebrities, including Viola Davis and Julius Tennon and Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka.

The second podcast is an eight-episode true-crime series “Lost Hills” from New Yorker writer Dana Goodyear. It focuses on the murder of scientist Tristan Beaudette, who was killed in front of his two young daughters in 2018 while camping in California.

The partnership is seen as a win-win for the principals. Pushkin Industries reaches a larger audience, while iHeartMedia gains hit podcasts and future collaborations.

Gladwell, a New Yorker staff writer, has published six books and hosts the podcast “Revisionist History.” Gladwell made his name in his first book, “The Tipping Point.” Weisberg was the previous EIC of The Slate Group.

Launched two years ago, Pushkin debuted four new shows that hit the top 10 on the Apple Podcast charts. iHeartMedia claims one-quarter of a billion monthly listeners. Other Pushkin podcasts include “Against the Rules” and “The Happiness Lab with Laurie Santos.”

“We started Pushkin to share the joy Jacob and I have found in creating and producing podcasts,” stated Malcolm Gladwell. “Working with the team at iHeart will allow us to spread this joy at an even bigger scale.”

Additional podcast news: NBC News and Wondery are launching a new six-episode podcast series: “Do No Harm” today, Nov. 10.
The focus is fighting child abuse and saving kids’ lives. The show highlights the searing stories of two families who take a perilous journey from hospitals to courtrooms.

Hosted by NBC reporter Mike Hixenbaugh, the podcast follows the Brights and the Butlers, as it navigates the competing concerns of at-risk kids, which the system is obligated to safeguard, and the sometimes innocent parents who get caught up in battles with officials, both legal and medical.

New episodes of “Do No Harm” will be released every Tuesday on Apple podcasts, Spotify and Wondery, among other outlets.

Other Wondery podcasts include “Dr. Death,” “Guru,” “Blood Ties” and “Business Wars.”

Separately, Spotify has paid $235 million in cash for Megaphone, the podcast publishing and advertising company, from Graham Holdings. Formerly known as Panoply Media, Megaphone supplies ad-insertion options for publishers. The sale means the companies can offer streaming ad insertions to third-party podcast publishers. Spotify kicked off its own streaming ad insertion system earlier this year. No staff reductions are expected.