YouTube and NPM launch YouTube’s first podcast

The headline is that YouTube has its first home-built podcast, but the deeper story is that it’s a bottoms-up collaboration with National Public Media (NPM), the sponsorship sales division of NPR (and founding sponsor of the RAIN Podcast Business Summit).

Podcast title: The Upload: The Rise of the Creator Economy. It’s a limited series of five episodes starting September 22. Here’s the trailer:

The podcast features conversations with creators and is hosted by Brittany Luse. Luse is an award-winning journalist, cultural critic, and co-host of For Colored Nerds podcast. She formerly co-hosted and executive produced The Nod with Brittany and Eric, a daily streaming show. Luse and her work have been profiled by The New Yorker, The Guardian, NPR, Essence Magazine, and Teen Vogue, among others.

Executive producers are Brianna LaFleur, who works in YouTube’s Responsibility Marketing department, and NPM VP of Creative Erica Osher.

“In just under a decade, the creator economy has grown into a multi-billion-dollar force within the media industry. Ten years ago, creators were considered hobbyists and today they are running thriving businesses,” explained LaFleur. “NPM and YouTube are the perfect partners for a collaboration of this kind and we are really excited to take listeners behind the scenes of the videos they watch every day.”

“We’ve been so pleased with the level of collaboration with YouTube from day one,” added Osher. “We are proud to share the amazing stories of how the creators built their channels and their careers.”

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Brad Hill