Podcasts! They’re a thing! You love them. I love them.
BuzzFeed editor Ben Smith is jumping into the podcast pool with ‘NewsFeed’
Welcome! The water’s warm! And crowded!
Asa Mathat for Recode
Peter Kafka covered media and technology, and their intersection, at Vox. Many of his stories can be found in his Kafka on Media newsletter, and he also hosts the Recode Media podcast.
BuzzFeed’s audience loves them too: The digital publisher says that last year it generated nine million downloads of its podcasts, dominated by Another Round, its breezy, winning chatfest.
And now, for the format’s formal BuzzFeed stamp of approval: BuzzFeed Editor in Chief Ben Smith is launching his own podcast.
NewsFeed, which will feature Smith interviewing Very Important Persons of Interest, starts today. First guest: David Axelrod, the Obama strategist-turned-commentator.
“I do think it’s this moment in the politics, media, tech intersection, where all the action is at the moment, where people want to know what the hell is going on,” Smith said.
He’s right! “Scoops and breaking news are important, but people want context around what’s confusing and disorienting.”
Got it. Plus, it’s fun when smart people talk to other smart people.
When I suggested to Smith that he may be the last person in media to launch his own podcast, he reminded me that he is actually an OG podcaster. Way, way back in 2006, he ran something called The Daily Politics for The Daily News. Good luck finding it at this link.
BuzzFeed is launching another newsy chat podcast as well: It’s re-booting No One Knows Anything, a show it first tried a year ago. The new edition is hosted by Washington Bureau Chief Kate Nocera and Charlie Warzel, who is doing an excellent job covering the way Trumpland views the world, via his Infowarzel newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
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