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reply all podcast controversy

by Amari Quigley DVM Published 2 years ago Updated 1 year ago
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The popular Gimlet Media

Gimlet Media

Gimlet Media is a digital media company and podcast network, focused on producing narrative podcasts, headquartered in Brooklyn, New York. The company was founded in 2014 by Alex Blumberg and Matthew Lieber, who serve as the company's CEO and president respectively. In Fe…

podcast “Reply All” has been paused and its series delving into allegations of racism at the food magazine Bon Appétit has been shelved after former Gimlet employees complained that one of its hosts and a reporter had themselves contributed to a toxic workplace culture.

In early 2021, the podcast began releasing a series of episodes called "The Test Kitchen", which covered allegations of structural racism and a toxic work environment at the food magazine Bon Appétit. After the second episode aired, accusations came out about similar toxicity present in Reply All and Gimlet as a whole.

Full Answer

What happened to the ‘Reply All’ podcast?

The “Reply All” podcast released a new episode Thursday. Copy Link URL Copied! After a two-month hiatus, on a new episode of the podcast “Reply All,” hosts Emmanuel Dzotsi and Alex Goldman discussed at length the controversy at Gimlet Media sparked by the podcast’s scrapped miniseries, “The Test Kitchen.”

Who are the new hosts of Reply All?

Emmanuel Dzotsi and Alex Goldman, the new hosts of Reply All. Photograph: Gimlet Make or break ... Emmanuel Dzotsi and Alex Goldman, the new hosts of Reply All. Photograph: Gimlet L ast summer, Reply All’s reputation was at an all-time high.

What is the origin of the show Reply All?

Mr. Goldman and Mr. Vogt started “Reply All” in 2014, adapting it from their earlier WNYC radio show, “TLDR” (too long; didn’t read). Episodes in recent years have taken listeners inside phone scam rings in India and on a journey to track down a song that a director heard on the radio as a teenager.

What happened to the Test Kitchen on Reply All?

Days later, “Reply All” canceled the series, declining to run the two remaining episodes. The company also announced that Ms. Pinnamaneni and Mr. Vogt would leave the show. “The Test Kitchen” was meant to be Ms. Pinnamaneni’s final piece for “Reply All.”

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What is the controversy with Reply All?

Vogt and Sruthi Pinnamaneni, a Reply All producer and the host of The Test Kitchen, were singled out, alleged to have actively opposed attempts to diversify and unionise within the company.

Why did Reply All get Cancelled?

“The decision to end this iteration of the show came from a desire of the host team to move on,” it read. “And we hope that there is a future where a show about the internet that isn't actually about the internet can be reborn in Gimlet's library.”

What is going on with Reply All podcast?

A co-host and a senior reporter also left the podcast, after accusations that they worked against union efforts that many employees of color saw as necessary to increase diversity. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month.

Why did PJ Vogt leave Reply All?

P.J. Vogt, a host of the popular podcast “Reply All,” took a leave of absence on Wednesday after complaints from former colleagues that he and a senior reporter contributed to a toxic work environment and rallied against union organizing that many employees of color saw as necessary.

Does PJ Vogt still work for gimlet?

There's subtext to the exhalation: The podcast, which explores stories from the wild west that is the crypto world, is a new project from PJ Vogt, marking his first steps back into podcasting since his departure from Reply All, the popular Gimlet Media show he once co-hosted.

What happened to the Reply All hosts?

We write to share that Alex Goldman and Emmanuel Dzotsi have decided to leave Reply All. They will publish their final episode of this season on June 23rd. Alex and Emmanuel have both made the decision to explore opportunities outside of Gimlet, and we'll have more info to share on the future of Reply All soon.

Where is Emmanuel Dzotsi from?

LondonEmmanuel Dzotsi (@newsmanual) / Twitter. Born in London, raised @ Heathrow airport. alum.

Is PJ Vogt white?

Both Pinnamaneni, who is Indian, and Vogt, who is White, apologized late on Wednesday, and Vogt announced plans to “step away” from “Reply All,” one of Spotify's most-listened-to podcasts.

Did Alex Goldman leave Reply All?

Fifteen months after the breakdown of Gimlet's Reply All, the beloved podcast is coming to an end. Co-hosts Alex Goldman and Emmanuel Dzotsi have decided to leave the company.

What happened to gimlet mystery show?

Unfortunately, after its first six-episode season, the podcast was canceled. Kine, who had been slowly developing the second season, was given no notice, and after she released her statement confirming the cancellation, Gimlet released its own statement, as well.

Is PJ Vogt back on Reply All?

EXCLUSIVE: PJ Vogt, one of the founders of the hit podcast series Reply All, has returned to the audio medium with a new series full of wild internet stories.

Why did the co host of the podcast leave?

A co-host and a senior reporter also left the podcast, after accusations that they worked against union efforts that many employees of color saw as necessary to increase diversity.

Why was the Gimlet podcast paused?

The popular Gimlet Media podcast “Reply All” has been paused and its series delving into allegations of racism at the food magazine Bon Appétit has been shelved after former Gimlet employees complained that one of its hosts and a reporter had themselves contributed to a toxic workplace culture.

Who is Eric Eddings?

Eric Eddings, a former Gimlet employee who co-hosted the podcast “The Nod,” said that he could not believe that Ms. Pinnamaneni was narrating a series about racism and workplace toxicity when she and Mr. Vogt were responsible for a “near identical” atmosphere at Gimlet.

Is Test Kitchen still online?

The two episodes of “Test Kitchen” that had already been published will remain online, Mr . Goldman said, with an added disclaimer. “Reply All” will be put on pause, he said, as the show’s staff assesses what went wrong. “Once we fully understand it ourselves, we also want to tell you, as best we can, what happened,” Mr. Goldman said.

Did Sruthi Pinnamaneni leave the Reply All podcast?

On Thursday, in a two-minute statement, released on the “Reply All” feed and titled “A Message from the Staff of Reply All,” the co-host Alex Goldman told listen ers that the senior reporter Sruthi Pinnamaneni and the co-host P.J. Vogt had decided to leave the podcast. Last week, former colleagues accused them of rallying against a union effort that many employees of color saw as necessary for increasing diversity and creating a more equal workplace.

Who was the person who accused the podcast of hypocrisy?

In a Twitter thread a few days after the release of that second episode, Eric Eddings, a former colleague of the podcast’s creators, accused the project of hypocrisy. Ms. Pinnamaneni and Mr. Vogt had contributed to a “toxic dynamic” at Gimlet Media, the podcast’s parent company, themselves.

Who is the host of the test kitchen?

While seeking to illuminate what had gone wrong at one media company, Sruthi Pinnamaneni, the host of “The Test Kitchen,” and P.J. Vogt, her editor on the project, triggered a reckoning of their own. This possibility was even something they had worried about.

What was the name of the show that Gimlet hosted?

Gimlet, like Bon Appétit, operated on a star system. Hosts of the popular shows, like “Reply All,” held particular sway.

When was Gimlet's first podcast?

Gimlet had already told its own story in its popular first podcast, “StartUp,” created and originally hosted by Mr. Blumberg in 2014, the year the company was founded. In its first season, he grappled with many of the same issues Mr. Rapoport faced at Bon Appétit, including a lack of diversity, equity and inclusion.

Is cancel adjacent exhausting?

Pinnamaneni.) “Being ‘cancel-adjacent’ is exhausting,” Ms. Teclemariam said. It’s especially enervating, she said, when you’re adjacent to people being canceled for their coverage of other people who have been canceled.

Is Reply All cancelled?

Days later,Reply All” canceled the series, declining to run the two remaining episodes.

Did Blumberg mention the test kitchen?

Mr. Blumberg never mentioned any of this on “StartUp.” But the visceral reaction to “The Test Kitchen” by Mr. Eddings and other Black former Gimlet workers, who shared personal stories online, challenged the company’s self-mythologizing.

Who is the host of the nod podcast?

Eddings and Luse were the hosts and creators of The Nod, a Gimlet podcast that came to an end last year. Eddings was also active in a union-organizing push that largely took place in late 2018 and early 2019, a period leading up to Gimlet’s acquisition by Spotify.

Who is the host of Across Gimlet?

Across Gimlet, a new generation of producers, hosts, and staffers is being ushered up, typified by the recent launches of shows like Resistance, led by Saidu Tejan-Thomas Jr., a Black writer, poet, and producer, and Stolen: The Search for Jermain, hosted by Connie Walker, a Cree journalist.

What were the problems with Gimlet Media?

The first is the feeling among staffers that power at the company was usually held by and distributed among certain kinds of people with the same tastes in audio. These were usually public-radio veterans: typically people from upper-middle class or wealthy backgrounds who had gone to similar schools, worked at similar jobs, and could afford taking on poorly paid “perma-lance” positions favored by public-radio stations. They were often white, but not always. (Pinnamaneni, who is South Asian, came from the typical audio-professional background.) Some former staffers expressed frustrations at how early senior hires tended to be “grandfathered” in through close informal relationships, creating a sense of a privileged class within the company that could be hard to crack into if you didn’t come from the same contexts. In other words, the same dynamics that were presented at Bon Appétit in the “Test Kitchen.” Some workers who came from different work or educational backgrounds — or who simply had different tastes and perspectives — said they felt like they were only guests in someone else’s home. “It feels like there’s ‘family,’ and then there’s field hands,” said a Black former staffer I spoke to.

Did Vogt and Pinnamaneni leave Gimlet?

Eddings’ thread went viral, promoted by various former Gimlet staffers and numerous peers in the podcast industry. By the end of February, both Vogt and Pinnamaneni would depart from the show permanently. (Neither has left Gimlet altogether; both are currently on leave from the company and declined to comment for this story, though they have issued apologies on Twitter.) The miniseries was abandoned and Reply All — arguably Gimlet’s most critically acclaimed show — was placed on hold.

Is Reply All podcast still dormant?

Meanwhile, Reply All ’s podcast feed remains dormant. A source familiar with the team tells me that they’re taking some time to “process, regroup, and reimagine the show.” At some point, they’ll start publishing again, with at least Goldman and Emmanuel Dzotsi, who was added as a co-host last September, at the helm. Across Gimlet, a new generation of producers, hosts, and staffers is being ushered up, typified by the recent launches of shows like Resistance, led by Saidu Tejan-Thomas Jr., a Black writer, poet, and producer, and Stolen: The Search for Jermain, hosted by Connie Walker, a Cree journalist.

Is Gimlet still negotiating a contract?

Although Gimlet recognized the union nearly two years ago, they are still negotiating a first contract. Meanwhile, a lot at the company has changed: Goldman of Reply All is now on the union’s bargaining committee; in his thread, Eddings said Vogt eventually came around on the need for the union too.

Who is the host of "Reply All"?

Make or break ... Emmanuel Dzotsi and Alex Goldman, the new hosts of Reply All. Photograph: Gimlet

Why is "Reply All" so popular?

Reply All became a hit because it had so many of podcasting’s best qualities: warm, relatable hosts with a real connection embarking on a voyage of discovery via scrupulous reportage. Its recovery will depend on how well Goldman and Dzotsi can recreate that DIY charm in a world where big podcasts mean business. Can it come back from the brink? If not, its days could be numbered.

Why did Vogt and Pinnamaneni leave the test kitchen?

Vogt and Sruthi Pinnamaneni, a Reply All producer and the host of The Test Kitchen, were singled out, alleged to have actively opposed attempts to diversify and unionise within the company. The pair were placed on leave from Gimlet (and subsequently left Reply All), The Test Kitchen was scrapped and production on Reply All paused.

When did Vogt and Goldman start podcasting?

Vogt and Goldman began the podcast as friends in 2014, having met early in their radio careers (in the April episode, Goldman revealed mournfully that he has never had a job in the industry that did not involve his former co-host).

Who is the host of the podcast Fall from Grace?

Presented by Emmanuel Dzotsi – who became the show’s third presenter in October 2020 and will now co-host with Goldman on a permanent basis – that episode outlined the podcast’s fall from grace, and asked existential questions about its future. The tone was pained and uncertain.

Who was ousted from Gossipmongers?

In September, Poppy Hillstead – hitherto one-third of the presenting lineup of the comedy series Gossipmongers – claimed on Twitter that she had been ousted by fellow hosts David Earl and Joe Wilkinson.

Is podcasting a good story?

A good story is a precious commodity in the podcasting world. But they need to be able to tell great untold tales in valid ways. In the past few years, numerous podcasts have faced accusations of plagiarism and unreliability – perhaps the most newsworthy being the New York Times’s much-lauded Caliphate, from 2018, which relied on long segments of interview with a man who claimed to have been involved in Isis activities in Syria, including murder. When the authenticity of his claims were thrown into doubt, Caliphate handed back its Peabody award, while the New York Times admitted that some episodes did not meet its standards for accuracy.

Who is the host of the podcast "Reply All"?

Print. After a two-month hiatus, on a new episode of the podcast “Reply All,” hosts Emmanuel Dzotsi and Alex Goldman discussed at length the controversy at Gimlet Media sparked by the podcast’s scrapped miniseries, “The Test Kitchen.”.

What is the response all podcast?

Podcast ‘Reply All’ launched a buzzy series on racial bias at Bon Appétit. But it led to revelations about similar problems at parent company Gimlet Media.

Why did Dzotsi replay the reply all?

Dzotsi then replayed the promotion announcement from a previous “Reply All” episode because, “If you listen closely, underneath all of the joviality and camaraderie, you can actually hear us trying to answer a lot of complicated questions about ourselves in real time ,” Dzotsi said.

Why is Test Kitchen not airing?

Goldman said the “Test Kitchen” series could not air because when Vogt and Pinnamaneni left the show, the final two episodes weren’t completed. One option would have been having an outside reporter finish the series, but it would have required redoing dozens of interviews “with people who had already entrusted us to tell this story and been disappointed by us. It’s just like an impossible position for any reporter. And we created that situation.”

What podcast ended the test kitchen?

Gimlet podcast ‘Reply All’ apologizes, ending miniseries ‘The Test Kitchen.’

What did Dzotsi say to the announcement?

Dzotsi then returned and explained: “My only real contribution to the announcement is to cringe-ly wink at the thing I felt like we were tiptoeing around saying, which was, ‘Dear listener: A Black guy is going to be on the air from now on. He’s good. Don’t be mean, don’t be racist.’”

Did Vogt leave the Test Kitchen podcast?

Vogt and Pinnamaneni promptly left the podcast following Eddings’ thread. Two episodes of “The Test Kitchen” miniseries aired before the rest were abandoned.

What is the response all podcast?

But it led to revelations about similar problems at parent company Gimlet Media. (Thomas Samson / AFP via Getty Images)

Who is leaving the Gimlet podcast?

Host PJ Vogt and senior reporter Sruthi Pinnamaneni will be stepping away from the popular Gimlet Media podcast “Reply All,” according to an internal email by managing director Lydia Polgreen, after a former Gimlet staffer accused the pair of creating a “toxic dynamic” at the company in a Twitter thread that went viral.

What did Pinnamaneni say about Gimlet?

Pinnamaneni wrote: “My conduct around the diversity and union organization efforts at Gimlet was ill-informed, ignorant, and hurtful." She said she “did not pay enough attention to the people of color with less power at Gimlet and I should have used my power to support and elevate them further.”

What episode does Pinnamaneni say "Gimlet had its own version of these problems"?

In Pinnamaneni's description, from the end of Episode 2 , she says that "Gimlet had its own version of these problems," which ultimately resulted in a unionization drive she did not support, which began ahead of Spotify buying the company in 2019: "To the extent I talked about it, I talked about the way that their fight was stepping on my toes.

Did Vogt say he was an ally?

Vogt, Goldman, Pinnamaneni and Gimlet did not respond to requests for comment from The Times. In his statement, Vogt said he failed to be an ally during the unionization effort at Gimlet. He said that although he was supportive now, “at the time, I was a baby and a jerk about it in myriad ways.”.

Who is the guy behind the mystery show?

Starlee Kine, who was behind the Gimlet podcast "Mystery Show," tweeted, in part: “I’ve been telling you guys @Gimletmedia is toxic for a long time. I’m glad others are speaking out. I know it’s hard. Podcasting didn’t have to be like this.” Gimlet's union tweeted in support of Eddings and said the group continued to fight for "guaranteed salary increases, proposals around diversity & inclusion, IP & derivative works and more."

Who hosted the nod with Brittany Luse?

But Gimlet employees had their own stories to tell. Eric Eddings, who hosted the Gimlet Media podcast “The Nod” with Brittany Luse until October 2020 and was the author of the viral thread, told The Times he had been putting off listening to "The Test Kitchen.".

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