Lemonada Media


Lemonada Media is an American podcast network.[1] The company was founded in 2019 by Jessica Cordova Kramer and Stephanie Wittels Wachs.[2][3] In 2019, Lemonada Media debuted their first podcast, Last Day.[2] As of 2022, Lemonada has launched more than 20 podcasts.[4]

Lemonada Media
IndustryPodcasting
Founded2019 (2019)
Founder
Websitelemonadamedia.com

History

In 2018, Cordova Kramer and Wittels Wachs met after discovering they had each lost a brother to accidental overdoses.[1] Cordova Kramer reached out to Wittels Wachs after hearing her in an interview. Wittels Wachs initially said no to a podcast partnership with Cordova Cramer but later changed her mind.[5] In 2019, they launched Lemonada Media and their first podcast, Last Day which explores the final days of people who have died to opioids, suicide, and gun violence.[1][3] The company set out to make the hard things in life a little easier for listeners to cope with.[5] The company's name refers to the adage "turning lemons into lemonade" as well as the famous Jerry Seinfeld standup routine where he says "(the car) better not be a lemona, or I'll call my lawya" [3]

Last Day is Lemonada Media's flagship podcast. The first season focused on the opioid epidemic. The first episode covered the last days of Cordova Kramer's brother prior to his fatal overdose.[3] The second season of Last Day focused on suicide[3] and was sponsored by The Jed Foundation, a nonprofit focused on suicide prevention.

In 2019, Lemonada Media debuted two additional podcasts, Good Kids and As Me with Sinéad. In April 2020, In the Bubble hosted by Andy Slavitt debuted. In March 2022, Lemonada Media had more than 20 original shows. These include The Cost of Care, The Untold Story: Policing and Good Sex.[4]

In 2020, Lemonada show In the Bubble won the "Favorite Shows" award of Apple Podcasts "Shows of the Year".[6] Last day also won iHeartRadio's Podcast Award for Best Wellness and Fitness Podcast.[7] Lemonada shows received an average of two million listens in each month of 2020.[8]

Lemonada partnered with Neighborhood Villages in late 2020, an organization that advocates for policy reform for early childhood education and care, to create No One Is Coming to Save Us hosted by former ABC news correspondent Gloria Riviera.[1] The podcast discusses the U.S. childcare system. Kristin Bell has made guest appearances.[9]

In 2021, Lemonada added 10 podcasts to its network including, Written Off and Believe Her. Believe Her debuted at the top of the podcast ratings charts.[10] They launched, BEING Studios, a new division to develop a new audio genre called Audio Reality, a cross of reality programming and podcasting.[11] Their debut show, BEING Trans was executive produced by Kasey Barrett who has previously worked on Keeping Up with the Kardashians, The Real World, and Born This Way.[12] Wittels Wachs stated that creating Being Trans was intended to build the empathy.[11] The second season of BEING studios features senior citizens and is called BEING Golden.[11]

In 2022, Add to Cart won the iHeartRadio Podcast Award for Best Beauty and Fashion Podcast.[13]

Lemonada has a global presence with its two shows in Europe: As Me with Sinéad (Ireland) and In Giro Con Fra (Italy).[14][15]

Organization

Jessica Cordova Kramer is the company's CEO. She previously served as the executive producer of Pod Save the People. Stephanie Wittels Wachs is the company's chief creative officer. She previously published the book: Everything is Horrible and Wonderful.[3]

In 2020, the company reported $1.5 million in revenue.[1] In 2021, they reported nearly $5 million in revenue.[8] In January 2022, Lemonada Media announced they had secured $8 million in Series A funding and had 43 full-time employees.[8]

Podcasts
Title Host(s) or Starring Notes Ref
After 1954 Aimée Eubanks Davis Explores Brown v. Board of Education Case [16][17]
Add to Cart SuChin Pak and Kulap Vilaysack Focuses on consumerism [18]
As Me With Sinéad Sinéad Burke Discusses self-acceptance, self-love, empathy, and biases [19]
BEING Trans First show in the new Audio Reality genre [11][14]
Believe Her Justine van der Leun Discusses the story of Nikki Addimando [20]
Burnout Connor Franta Examines burnout [21]
Good Grief Explores the process of grieving
Good Kids Discusses parenting [22]
Good Sex Discusses sex
Here Lies Me Hillary Frank Lemonada's first scripted podcast
I'm Sorry Mohanad Elshieky, Kiki Monique, and Hoja Lopez Discusses cancel culture [23]
In Giro Con Fra Francesca Lazzarin Lemonada's first non-English language podcast [15][14]
In Recovery Nzinga Harrison Covers mental health and addiction [24]
In the Bubble Andy Slavitt Covers the COVID-19 pandemic
Last Day Cordova Kramer and Wittels Wachs Flagship podcast on Lemonada's podcast network [2][3][7]
Mouthpeace Michael Bennett and Pele Bennett Discusses parenting and football [25]
New Day Claire Bidwell Smith Covers coping strategies
No One Is Coming to Save Us Gloria Riviera and Kristin Bell Covers childcare in America [1][10]
Our America with Julián Castro Julián Castro Discusses politics [26]
Raised by Ricki Ricki Lake Covers cultural issues
The Cost of Care David Smith Problems within America's healthcare system [27]
The Sarah Silverman Podcast Sarah Silverman Covers cultural issues
The Untold Story Jay Ellis Covered policing issues [28][29]
Written Off Walter Thompson-Hernandez Covers social justice and features formerly incarcerated writers [10][30][31]
V Interesting with V Spehar Vitus Spehar
Uncared For SuChin Pak
The Letter
Let's Tawk with Jaime Primak Sullivan Jaime Primak Sullivan
Funny Cuz It's True with Elyse Myers Elyse Myers
FIRST! with Kareem Rahma Kareem Rahma
Call For Help Stephanie Wittels Wachs and Zak Williams
BEING Golden

Lemonada has plans to expand the number of shows to more than 30 in 2022.[4]

After 1954

In 1954, the Supreme Court ruled in the case of Brown v Board of Education that the segregation of white and Black students was unconstitutional.[32] The After 1954 podcast, hosted by Aimée Eubanks Davis, explores this historic event and its unintended consequence–the firing of approximately 38,000 Black teachers in the Southern states.[16] Davis also explores the importance of Black educators as key figures in the lives of Black children.[33]

Add to Cart

Add to Cart is co-hosted by journalist SuChin Pak and writer, comedian, and director Kulap Vilaysack.[34] Their podcast focuses on shopping and consumerism, exploring trending products and discussing whether those products are worth the cost.[18]

As Me with Sinéad

As Me is hosted by teacher, fashion enthusiast, and disability activist Sinéad Burke. Burke has also given a TED Talk on design accessibility, and was a guest speaker at the World Economic Forum in Davos.[19] Burke has a suite of high-profile guests on her podcast including Victoria Beckham and Jamie Lee Curtis.[35][36] Burke has also made a guest appearance on Lemonada Media's podcast Good Kids.[22]

References
  1. Soloski, Alexis (May 20, 2021). "IN Crisis? Lemonada Media Has a Podcast for You". The New York Times. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
  2. Greiving, Tim (October 22, 2020). "They Lost Their Brothers to Addiction. Now They're Tackling Deadly Stigmas Head On, With Humor". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
  3. Greiving, Tim (April 6, 2022). "'Last Day' Podcast Tackles the Explosive Topic of Gun Violence With a Disarming Approach". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
  4. "Lemonada Media Rapidly Expands Its Slate of Podcasts". Radio Online. March 31, 2022. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
  5. "When Life Gives You Lemons, Make a Podcast". Houstonia Magazine. Retrieved 2022-12-06.
  6. Cridland, James (December 2, 2020). "The Best Podcasts in the World – Apple Podcasts 2020". podnews.net. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
  7. Marquina, Sierra (January 18, 2020). "2020 iHeartRadio Podcast Awards: Full List of Winners". iHeartRadio. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
  8. Chan, J. Clara (January 27, 2022). "Lemonada Media Podcast Network Raises $8M in Series A Funding (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
  9. White, Peter (May 6, 2021). "ABC News' Gloria Riviera Sets Childcare Crisis Podcast With Help From Kristen Bell". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
  10. Hale, James (February 15, 2021). "CAA Signs Podcast Startup Lemonada Media". Tubefilter. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
  11. Soloski, Alexis (April 28, 2022). "With Being Studios, Podcasting Meets Reality Television". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
  12. Baron, Katelyn (May 2, 2022). "BEING Studios Ushers in Lemonada Media's Groundbreaking Audio Reality Era". werrrk.com. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
  13. Fields, Taylor (February 3, 2022). "2022 iHeartRadio Podcast Awards: See the Full List of Winners". KIIS-FM. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
  14. Skjong, Alex (January 28, 2022). "Lemonada Media Secures $8 Million Series A". tech.mn. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
  15. Villacres, Myriam Paola (October 18, 2021). "JCU Welcomes Jessica Cordova Kramer (CEO of Lemonada Media) for a Lecture on Podcasts". John Cabot University News. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
  16. "Podcast features Atlanta educator on importance of Black mentorship in the classroom". WABE. March 29, 2022. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
  17. "New Chicago podcast explores the ripple effects of 1954 school desegregation". FOX 32 Chicago. May 11, 2022. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
  18. Vilaysack, SuChin Pak, Kulap (March 4, 2022). "We're Opposites in the Kitchen, United in Our Love of the Perfect Pot". The Strategist. Retrieved October 31, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  19. Bownass, Helen (December 4, 2019). "Sinéad Burke is the inspirational voice we need to hear right now". Stylist. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
  20. "'Believe Her' host Justine van der Leun discusses what happens when a woman kills her abusive partner". Podsauce. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
  21. "From 'I'm Listening' to 'More Than A Feeling:' Get in the right headspace with these 17 podcasts". Podsauce. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
  22. Dudley, Joshua. "New Podcast Wants Parents to Raise Their Children To Be Good Kids And Not A**holes". Forbes. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
  23. "Comedians Hoja Lopez, Kiki Monique and Former Portlander Mohanad Elshieky Have a New Podcast About Apologies". Willamette Week. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
  24. Wagner, William (November 5, 2020). "Nzinga Harrison, M.D., Leads at the Intersection of Advocacy and Addiction". Treatment Magazine. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
  25. "Michael and Pele Bennett Became Friends By Accident | Barrett Media". March 11, 2020. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
  26. "Julián Castro launches podcast "Our America with Julián Castro"". Hola America News. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
  27. "$629 bandaids? 'The Cost of Care' explores America's broken healthcare system and what we can do to fix it". Podsauce. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
  28. VannDigital. "Jay Ellis Is Back To Host Season 2 Of "The Untold Story" Podcast From Lemonada Media". www.vanndigital.com. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
  29. "Jay Ellis Confronts The Criminal Justice System In Season 2 Of "The Untold Story" Podcast". Essence. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
  30. Doby, Jerry (July 21, 2021). "EGOT Winner John Legend Appears On This Week's Episode of "Written Off" Podcast from Lemonada Media". The Hype Magazine. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
  31. White, Peter (June 30, 2021). "John Legend, Issa Rae and Randall Park Amplifying Voices Of Formerly Incarcerated Writers In Podcast From Jay Ellis, Walter Thompson-Hernández and Lemonada". Deadline. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
  32. "US schools still have a racial segregation problem". Financial Times. 2022-11-14. Retrieved 2022-12-06.
  33. "'After 1954' spotlights the importance of Black educators and their impact on students' lives". Podsauce. Retrieved 2022-12-06.
  34. "Why Do Shopping Podcasts Sound So Good Right Now?". ELLE. 2022-03-03. Retrieved 2022-12-06.
  35. "Sinéad Burke's New Podcast Is A Chance For Public Figures To Tell Their Personal Stories". British Vogue. 2019-10-24. Retrieved 2022-12-06.
  36. "Sinéad Burke: 'My goal was to change the entire fashion system'". the Guardian. 2020-11-01. Retrieved 2022-12-06.
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