February Podcast Roundup: Black Creators in the Spotlight

Did you know? Black listeners are the fastest growing podcast audience segment. In fact, from 2012 to 2022, Black weekly podcast listeners increased by 33%. What’s driving this ferocious growth? The uptick in content created by Black storytellers with Black audiences in mind. According to our Black Podcast Listener Report 2022, this audience spend over five hours listening every week. And 62% say it’s important that podcasts include unfiltered conversations that can’t be heard elsewhere.

Over 80% of Black podcast listeners say they would consider a brand if they heard their ad on a podcast with a Black host. Brands who are interested in engaging with Black audiences must take the time to immerse themselves in Black stories and culture—and we have just the shows for you. 

Amplifying Black voices with Pulitzer-prize winning journalist, Trymaine Lee

MSNBC’s Into America is a podcast about being Black in America, hosted by Pulitzer-prize winning journalist Trymaine Lee. These weekly stories explore what it means to speak truth to power and hold this country to its promises, told by people who have the most at stake. The show brings in a highly-educated and diverse audience. Listeners love how topics are handled with integrity, compassion, and grace. It’s been nominated for NAACP Image Awards as an Outstanding News & Information Podcast and an Ambie Award for Best Society and Culture Podcast.

Tap into loyal culture enthusiasts with Kid Fury & Crissle

The first episode of The Read was released in March of 2013, making hosts Kid Fury and Crissle some of the original podcasters. After nearly ten years, the show’s loyal audience of millennial women, 74% of whom are Black, continues to tune in weekly to get the duo’s “read” on hip-hop and pop culture's most trying stars. Throwing shade and spilling tea with a humorous attitude, Kid Fury and Crissle take no prisoners. No celebrity is safe (unless their name is Beyonce… or Blue Ivy).

Reach a multicultural male audiences with Rory & Mal

In this Stitcher original podcast, hosts Rory Farrell and Jamil "Mal" Clay were determined to create a show that disrupted the status quo. Instead of following the same steady drumbeat as other chat-casts, the duo told Vulture that they “wanted to add different sketch elements to [the podcast], different types of interviews, different types of people.” The result has been a deeply engaging, truly unique show that delivers new stories, new laughs, and random hot takes that no one could have expected. As such, the New Rory & Mal resonates strongly with a mostly-male listenership that heavily over-indexes for being Black, as well as Latino.

Authentic conversations about race, parenting, and relationships

Thirty Minutes with The Perrys is a short-format, spiritual podcast hosted by husband and wife, Preston Perry and Jackie Hill Perry. They’ve gained followers through their humor, honesty, and insight on everything from relationships, theology, politics, race, and parenting. Listeners love how this podcast centers around serious topics but brings lots of laughter and authenticity. The audience is predominantly women, and one in two listeners are BIPOC.

Dive deep into a lesser-known American history 

Stitcher Studio’s Unfinished is an investigative anthology series digging into America's unfinished business. Season three explores dual loyalties and hidden histories via the story of Ernest C. Withers, an African-American journalist dubbed the "original civil rights photographer" who was also an FBI informant. He documented over 60 years of African-American history in the segregated Southern United States, with iconic images of the Montgomery bus boycott, Emmett Till, Memphis sanitation strike, Negro league baseball, and musicians including those related to Memphis blues and Memphis soul.

Reach diverse health & wellness enthusiasts 

Host Francheska Medina is a healthy lifestyle expert, known for her influential website Hey Fran Hey. She is joined by her co-hosts Dustin Ross and Assanté, who keep it funny while tackling serious subjects with the realness and familiarity of people you've known your whole life. This dynamic trio has been podcasting since 2015, with The Friend Zone cultivating a loyal fanbase that’s 85% African American and majority female.

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