Hey Party People!
Hope you had a great week! We kept busy learning, incubating, and ideating.
Incubator update: This week was pitch practice with other incubator folks. I ran through our 60-second pitch and it still needs a tad bit more tweaking.
Industry News: Facebook is starting to add its audio features that include podcasts, starting within the U.S. only.
Podcasts: According to podcastindex.org (we use them to get some of our podcast information on the platform), a whopping 4 million podcasts have been added. Not all of them have consistent updates, but thatโs still a lot!
Newsletter Special edition: We didnโt forget about Pride month! We were cooking up an interview for this weekโs newsletter. Our Head Writer, Olivia, had a chat with ABC Newsโ podcast Life Out Loud host, LZ Granderson for a Q&A sesh. As a bonus, we also got his podcast recommendations!
On to the interview and picks this weekโฆ
Podcast: Life Out Loud with LZ Granderson
Genre: Society
Publisher: ABC News
Interview with LZ Granderson
By Olivia Ware
Happy Pride Month! We had the honor of speaking to LZ Grandersonโan award-winning journalist, ESPN Radio host, Op-Ed columnist for the Los Angeles Times, and host of ABCโs first LGBTQ+ issue-focused podcast, Life Out Loud! LZ is clear about his inspiration behind the podcast and its cultural significance at this timeโto preserve, share, and celebrate LGBTQ+ history.
The premiere episode of Life Out Loud kicks off with a conversation with Steven Canals, co-creator of the groundbreaking television series Pose, during which Canals tells Granderson that it took 166 meetings before getting a yes for Pose. Resilience and the intersection of identityโin this case, Black and gayโis what Life Out Loud is all about. The podcastโs conception was born of the LGBTQ+ communityโsโparticularly queers of colorโlost histories and triumphs, including the loss of a generation of queer and trans elders to the AIDs crisis, and the impetus to ensure that these stories, both individual and collective, are recorded.
LZ calls Life Out Loud:ย โa letter to the queer kid who thinks she is alone; itโs for that kidโs parent who wonders what kind of life their baby can have if they come out; itโs for the activist and the pioneers who feel forgotten, and itโs for the bigots, who have tried to silence us...it didnโt work.โ
Last year we saw Pride return to its original intent. Without corporate co-opting and rainbow branding, people took to the streets with the Black Lives Matter movement to march for justice while protesting the murder of George Floyd, systemic racism, police brutality, and rampant inequality.ย
What does Pride Month look like this year? Coming out of a global pandemic, has the momentum of last summer continued?ย The fight for equality is far from over and LZ Granderson certainly wonโt be backing down anytime soon. Read what LZ Granderson was gracious enough to share with GreatPods below.
GreatPods: First of all, congratulations on hosting ABCโs first LGBTQ+ issue-focused podcast! In light of this cultural momentโamid a flood of anti-trans legislation and ongoing violence towards members of the community, specifically Black trans womenโwhat does this project mean to you?
LZ: It means there are a lot of people willing to fight. This podcast has my name attached but I am hardly alone in the belief that there is a hunger for this kind of content, especially when you consider the incredible Pride team at ABC who worked tirelessly to make it happen, the women and men who made time to speak with me, or the response to the content from those who have listened to the episodes. Yes, with more than 250 anti-LGBTQ bills introduced, many targeting transgender children, it is clear that the fight for equality is far from over. But we will be victorious because we refuse to cower in fear. We will be victorious because our allies are willing to fight in spaces where we are not. We will be victorious because love wins. And this podcast is just a small representation of the kind of love and determination my community has always shown and relied upon in the face of hatred.ย
GP: In your conversation with Steven Canals, co-creator of the groundbreaking television series Pose, you mention falling in love in church as an adolescent. Thereโs a good bit of poetry in that sentiment. Where else does love live in your life? Have you found love in any other unexpected places?
LZ: I believe love is everywhere so there arenโt any unexpected places. Now the circumstances may make it difficult for that love to come through. There are places where love is hidden, discouraged, attackedโฆbut itโs still there. Like fire needs oxygen, love just needs people courageous enough to breathe life into it. So as long as love has its defenders, weโll always have love, no matter where we are. Itโs on us, not on love.
GP: Are there any podcasts or podcast episodes you have listened to recently that have stuck with you and why? In addition to Life Out Loud, do you have any podcast recommendations for friends and listeners?
LZ: I mean Iโm always consuming news so The Recountโs Battleground, NPRโs Fresh Air, ABCโs Start Here are in heavy rotation. The Laverne Cox Show is so good and necessary. Jemele Hill is Unbothered is amazing and intimate. The Friend Zone is just a fun listen. And as a sports fan, the 30 for 30 podcast is a must. (See below for links)
GP:ย Borrowing from the final question on Life Out Loudโin ten years, what does living out loud look like for the community?
LZ: When Black History Month lessons or lectures for Hispanic History Month include all of us. James Baldwin was gay, that should be talked about because he talked about it. That Jose Sarria, a WWII veteran, was the first open LGBTQ person to run for office. So the next phase of equality is a departure from isolationism and into full, intersectional inclusion.ย ย
GP: For you personally?ย
LZ: Itโs a work in progress. Iโm constantly being shown places where I still need to unlearn. You have to remember, for many LGBTQ people we grow up pretending to be someone else. As a result, we adopt or accept things that may not be authentic to us but is what we embrace for survival or to fit in. So unearthing the root cause of some of my views or behaviors is an ongoing process. So life out loud for me hopefully means a more authentic me.
GP: Lastly, as Pride Month is a time for celebration, what is bringing you joy right now?
LZ: Seeing aspects of the intersectionality from Pride 2020 emerge in 2021. Because of the murder of George Floyd, a number of cities combined BLM presence with Pride. I heard straight, cisgender people of color speak out on the murders of trans women of color. Iโm sure itโs happened before but Iโve been covering this conversation for 20 years and I donโt recall seeing this intersectionality so prevalent this time of year. It was beautiful and thankfully it has not gone away because our AAPI sisters and brothers need us. Migrant children need us. The more we understand how connected our struggles are, the stronger we all become. That is what brings me joy this Pride.
In addition to Steven Canals, this season of Life Out Loud includes an array of moving guestsโPose star, Mj Rodriguez; Grammy Award-nominated musician Rufus Wainwright; Dr. Anthony Fauci on his response to the AIDS crisis; Sherry Cola, comedian and actress on Freeformโs Good Trouble; history-making politicians including Senator Tammy Baldwin; Super Bowl Winner Keyshawn Johnson; and Oscar winner Dustin Lance Black and husband Tom Daley, Olympic medal winner. Listen to Life Out Loud via Great Pods here!
โListeners will appreciate the accomplishments of Granderson and his guests even more after hearing about the obstacles they overcame.โ
Michael Walsh - Yonkers Public Library - Jun 8, 2021
LZ Grandersonโs podcast picks:
Podcast: Battleground
Genre: News
Publisher: The Recount
Podcast: Fresh Air
Genre: News
Publisher: NPR
Podcast: Start Here
Genre: Daily News
Publisher: ABC News
Podcast: The Laverne Cox Show
Genre: Society
Publisher: iHeartRadio & Shondaland Audio
Podcast: Jemele Hill is Unbothered
Genre: Society
Publisher: Spotify (Exclusive)
Podcast: The Friend Zone
Genre: Comedy
Publisher: LoudSpeaker Network
Podcast: 30 for 30
Genre: Sports Documentary
Publisher: ESPN
Stay safe and get vaxxed!
XOXO
Captain Ron