Pushkin Industries
Pushkin Industries is an American publisher of podcasts and audiobooks. It was co-founded in 2018 by Malcolm Gladwell and Jacob Weisberg.[1][2][3] As of 2021, it hosts over 25 podcasts.[1]
History[edit]
The company was co-founded in 2018 by Malcolm Gladwell and Jacob Weisberg, based on an idea by Weisberg.[1] The two worked together on Gladwell's podcast Revisionist History at Panoply Media and after Panoply exited the medium, the two wanted to do more projects together and started Pushkin.[2]
In 2019, Tim Harford launched his podcast Cautionary Tales on the network.[4][5] That same year, Pushkin began producing audiobooks, beginning with Gladwell's Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know about the People We Don't Know.
Among other books, it published Miracle and Wonder: Conversations with Paul Simon, co-written by Gladwell and based on interviews with the musician Paul Simon.[1] Gladwell's The Bomber Mafia was written and conceived of as an audio production with sound effects and music. Only after the script was complete was a book produced.[2]
Pushkin Industries won "Podcast Network of the Year" at the 2021 Adweek Podcast Awards.[6]
In July 2022, Pushkin Industries agreed to buy the podcast studio Transmitter Media, marking the company's first acquisition.[7]
In September 2023, Pushkin laid off 17 employees, comprising more than 30% of its staff. As part of the reorganization, former Transmitter owner Gretta Cohn became CEO, while Weisberg took the title of executive chair. The change came amid significant layoffs in the podcast industry, including at Spotify and Sony.[8] In November 2023, the company's producers and staff voted to unionize and joined Writers Guild of America, East.[9]
As of 2024[update], the company's most popular podcasts include Gladwell's Revisionist History; Harford's Cautionary Tales; The Happiness Lab, hosted by Laurie R. Santos; and Against the Rules with Michael Lewis.[10]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d Shannon Maughan (November 5, 2021). "Pushkin Industries Pushes Audiobook Conventions". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved December 9, 2021.
- ^ a b c Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg (April 23, 2021). "Malcolm Gladwell's New Word Order: Audiobook First". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved December 9, 2021.
- ^ Peiser, Jacklyn (September 12, 2018). "Jacob Weisberg Leaves Slate to Join Malcolm Gladwell in Podcast Venture". The New York Times. Retrieved Dec 31, 2018.
- ^ "Cautionary Tales". Tim Harford – Podcasts. 15 November 2011. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
- ^ "iHeartMedia and Pushkin Industries Announce Major New Sales and Production Partnership". iHeartMedia. 2018-11-09. Retrieved 2021-12-19.
- ^ Collins, Kennyatta (December 13, 2021). "Podcasts of the Year: Here Are Adweek's 2021 Winners". Retrieved 2022-12-09.
- ^ "Malcolm Gladwell's Pushkin Industries Makes Its First Acquisition". Bloomberg.com. 2022-07-18. Retrieved 2022-07-19.
- ^ Carman, Ashley (2023-09-29). "Malcolm Gladwell's Pushkin Industries to Lay Off Over 30% of Staff". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2023-10-10.
- ^ Kilkenny, Katie (2023-11-16). "Pushkin Industries' Podcast Workers Form Union". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2024-06-07.
- ^ Cartwright, Lachlan (2023-11-13). "Malcolm Gladwell's Media Empire Is Being Torn Apart". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 2024-06-07.
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