The podcast giant is joining forces with LGBTQ+ creators for a never-before-seen audio space centered around the community.
iHeartMedia is launching Outspoken, a podcast network committed to magnifying LGBTQ+ voices. It’s heavyweight lineup of creators already features JoJo Siwa, Laverne Cox, Rosie O’Donnell, Raven-Symoné and Lance Bass, amongst others.
From premiering new native shows to programming impactful voices, Outspoken envisions a diverse home for LGBTQ+ voices with the distinct involvement of collaborators. Siwa is set to not only host and executive produce her own podcast but steer the vision of a full slate of network programming.
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“With Outspoken, iHeartMedia and a team of brilliant creators are building a space for LGBTQ+ talent and listeners everywhere to celebrate who they are. It’s exciting to see podcasting becoming a medium where voices of all kinds go to be heard, and the Outspoken network will elevate the impactful culture of the LGBTQ+ community,” Will Pearson, the president of iHeartPodcasts, said in a statement.
Rosie O’Donnell’s “Onward” — set to debut later this month — will join Loni Love and Alec Mapa’s fan favorite “Squirrel Friends: The Official Drag Race Podcast” on the network. Raven-Symoné and Miranda Pearman-Maday also await an upcoming show slot. Programming will include the lauded storytelling of Jonathan Higgins and Jordan Daniel’s “BFF: Black, Fat, Femme”; Danielle Moodie’s “Woke AF Daily”; and Carmen Laurent’s “Beauty Translated.”
“We’re also honored to have some of the biggest personalities in podcasting joining us as advocates by using their massive platforms with millions of listeners to amplify these creators and help bring a greater diversity of voices into the podcast space,” Pearson continued.
Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers’ “Las Culturistas” and Laverne Cox’s titular show under Shondaland Audio joins the Outspoken Podcast Network as advocates. Their respective shows will be featured in programming as a vow of support.
This novel network will be executive produced by award-winning activist and media strategist Raquel Willis alongside Jay Brunson, iHeartMedia’s Creative Development and Marketing Director. Willis is seeking to bring a robust humanity to the fore through her two original podcasts. The first centers LGBTQ+ youth living in Queer legislative battleground states and the second will extend her investigative work on the unyielding violence against Black trans women.
Outspoken is the latest of networks to join the podcasting giant’s curation of diversity-centered audio spaces. These networks include My Cultura Podcast Network for Latinx creators; Charlamagne Tha God’s Black Effect Podcast Network, the first podcast network intentionally built for the Black community; and NextUp, an initiative that broadens accessibility for aspiring storytellers.
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