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Andree Vandestreek
In the very beginning of podcasting, money, for the first time ever, showed up. What was most amazing as a person inside of it was just watching all these people who had always seemed brilliant but stuck get these amazing chances. In some cases, salaries doubled, sometimes tripled. Some people who had great, long-harbored ideas got to make them. It was like an entire industry won the lottery. It was like watching a pile of mini-MacArthur Genius grants get handed out left and right.
People having jobs and being well-compensated is great. But I think too much money flowing into an industry, too fast, is not always an unalloyed good in the long-term. Because people start building things for weird reasons.
I made a podcast about crypto last year for a bunch of reasons, but one was that I was thinking about money, and how the question of whether money is helpful or hurtful is sometimes answered by the speed with which the money arrives. And departs.
PJ - thanks for your poignant insights on the podcasting industry, particularly in light of the Spotify/Gimlet news from this week. I feel like you strike such a good balance between transparency and discretion when addressing this stuff.
Happy Friday, we\u2019ve got a new one for you. As a matter of fact, we\u2019ll have a new one for you not just this Friday, but for the next three after it. Unless an asteroid hits New York City (specifically, near the Wall Street Bull), we\u2019ll be keeping you company while you do your weekend chores this month.
Today, we have some links to further reading if you enjoyed the episode. You can even read these articles if you didn\u2019t enjoy the episode, I have no way of measuring your enjoyment, yet. In this edition, also, I write a little about how thinking about Hollywood\u2019s possible internet-induced bubble made me think about the podcasting industry.
Maya Hawke, of Stranger Things, would like to know why won\u2019t Netflix just tell her how many people watch the show? Plus the question underneath that question \u2026 might the internet have broken our TV industry? We get answers with help from Bloomberg\u2019s Lucas Shaw.
It\u2019s funny, this episode is about film and television, but a lot of the questions they\u2019re grappling with over there are not dissimilar from conversations people have in the podcasting industry these days. The discussions you have in the moment of sobriety after a binge has burned itself out.
\u201CEverything became big tech \u2014 the Amazon model of \u2018We don\u2019t actually have to make money; we just have to show shareholder growth.\u2019 Everyone said, \u2018Great. That seems like the thing to do.\u2019 Which essentially was like, \u2018Let\u2019s all commit ritual suicide. Let\u2019s take one of the truly successful money-printing inventions in the history of the modern world \u2014 which was the carriage system with cable television \u2014 and let\u2019s just end it and reinvent ourselves as tech companies, where we pour billions down the drain in pursuit of a return that is completely speculative, still, this many years into it.\u201D
Maybe, someday somebody will properly write about 2014-2022 in the podcast industry. There\u2019s a book in there about how strange it all was. What happened essentially, when venture capital money arrived to a public radio medium.
My story was that I dropped out of college to work in public radio. Public radio was a weird thing to drop out of college for. The money was hilariously bad. The opportunities were few. There weren\u2019t a ton of shows, and there weren\u2019t a ton of opportunities to make new things. Some brilliant people did, but it was hard. Not because the people in charge were dummies (although we loved to say that at the time), but really just because resources (money mainly, but also air time) were finite.
That was the first few years. And then pretty quickly it was clear to many of us that we were in a bubble. There were just a lot of shows. The shows didn\u2019t all seem to make sense. Even from the inside, it felt like this wasn\u2019t going to last too much longer. At times it felt like the industry was making things for its investors more than it was for its listeners?
But what\u2019s weird about the aftermath of a bubble is \u2026 I\u2019m trying to figure out how to express this to you. Before the bubble, maybe one listener was worth, to an advertiser, about a penny. During the bubble, that same listener was worth about six cents. Now, you guys are worth about \u2026 I don\u2019t know \u2026 if we\u2019re lucky, three cents? But somehow, to the people here, three cents feels less than one cent ever did.
When the money flows in, there\u2019s always someone saying the money is proving their point, and when it leaves, there\u2019s always someone saying the same. I\u2019ve been that person before, I don\u2019t want to be that person again. I feel pretty confident money will come back into the system, not as much as before, but more than is here right now. And when it comes back, it\u2019ll come back into a system where, my hope is, we\u2019ll all be better about building things for audiences, rather than investors.
Anyway, if anyone\u2019s wondering how many podcast listeners Search Engine has right now, I\u2019m comfortable sharing that \u2013 oh shoot, sorry. I hit the Substack character limit for this section.
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The 30th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was less than a month ago. One of the most important milestones in the disability community, it was celebrated by politicians, activists, and millions of people across the country. However, it was a day lost on almost every single major entertainment company.
But while competitors were silent on disability, Netflix shined bright. The company stood alone in the spotlight leading up to and following the anniversary of the ADA. The company celebrated Disability Pride Month (July) and is celebrating disability as a major part of their inclusive content strategy.
During LGBTQ Pride Month and following the murder of George Floyd, the entertainment industry (rightfully) rallied around these important causes and called out for social change. They claimed to be champions of diversity and inclusion and many shared plans on how they would increase representation of these populations. To name a few, HBO, Hulu, NBC Universal and Disney all publicly stood in solidarity with BIPOC and LGBTQ communities and even shared their related content for free. It was beautiful, inspiring and the right thing to do.
The Netflix Approach to disability inclusion first and foremost amplifies disabled stories, told by disabled people. My two favorite examples thus far are Crip Camp, a documentary about the disability rights movement, and Special, a Mindy Kaling-esque comedy about a gay disabled man trying to find love. Crip Camp is a phenomenal education in the disability experience and all that the community had to overcome to get to the ADA. Special on the other hand tells a story from the disabled person perspective in a way that every non-disabled person can easily relate to. Most importantly, the role is played by an awesome disabled actor and does not present the disability experience as one to be pitied.
These two examples are only a couple because the truth is that Netflix is continuing to expand its content that includes people with disabilities. From Love on the Spectrum to the upcoming series Deaf U, and a documentary on paralympians, the streaming company is constantly expanding their crip catalog.
Because of the representation aspect of it, Netflix was able to amplify its disability-focused streaming content through social media and media coverage. Ahead of the ADA anniversary, they had guides to the best disability content to stream during Disability Pride. Netflix held virtual roundtables with disabled activists to discuss the importance of the disability rights movement and championed disabled creators.
Perhaps most importantly, Netflix understands the importance of not only properly recognizing the Americans with Disabilities Act, but understands it's not just about a day. The streaming provider recognizes that we're a community that's vital to the discourse and deserve a central role in new content.
The first film in the trilogy is Before Sunrise (1995) and tells the story of two young strangers, Jesse (Hawke) and Celine (Delpy), who meet on a train and spend a night together in Vienna. Through conversations that span the course of a night, the two form a bond and share their views and philosophies on life and love. In an effort to not spoil the second and third films, all I will say is that the second installment, Before Sunset (2004) takes place nine years later and then the third film, Before Midnight (2013) takes place nine years after the second film.
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