Vox Media Recognized in Series of Adweek Awards

Adweek names the Vox Media Podcast Network “Podcast Network of the Year”

Adweek has named the Vox Media Podcast Network “Podcast Network of the Year” for 2020. The Adweek Podcast Awards recognize the hard work, innovation and creativity that goes into the podcasting medium and celebrate “the best of the best.’”

The Vox Media Podcast Network is one of the largest, fastest-growing, and most topically-diverse collections of high-quality podcasts. This is the second year in a row that the Vox Media Podcast Network has been recognized by Adweek — Vox Media was named “Hottest in Podcasts” for its variety of shows and unique branded audio segments created for advertisers as part of the annual Publishing Hot List.

In 2020, the network released an impressive slate of programming that captures everything from news and tech, to culture, comedy, and sports including Land of the Giants: The Netflix Effect from Recode, The Cut from New York Magazine, Good One from Vulture, The SB Nation NFL Show, and Go For Broke from Epic Magazine. Vox Media also launched its first-ever branded podcast Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America in partnership with Ben & Jerry’s, and released a special family-friendly series Today, Explained to Kids to help parents explain the Coronavirus and other important news topics to children. In August, New York Magazine’s podcast Pivot launched a live virtual video series to help listeners understand the impact of the pandemic on the economy. Next month, the network will debut Decoder with Nilay Patel, a relaunch of Recode Decode — Adweek’s 2019 “Podcast of the Year.”

Land of the Giants: The Netflix Effect named “TV and Streaming Podcast of the Year”

Land of the Giants: The Netflix Effect, which launched its second season this year, was named “TV and Streaming Podcast of the Year.” Throughout the seven-episode season, Recode’s Peter Kafka and Rani Molla explore how Netflix disrupted Hollywood, changed the way we watch TV and film, and how the company is preparing for the dramatic changes to streaming and personal entertainment ahead. The series features unprecedented access to Netflix executives, employees, and talent, including CEO Reed Hastings and film producer Jason Blum, providing unparalleled insight on a service that has completely changed the way we watch TV. The series will continue to explore how big tech is changing the world with a new season in 2021.

Vox’s partnership with Netflix on the series Explained takes “Hottest Medium Expansion” in Adweek’s Hot List in Publishing

The Emmy-nominated Netflix series “Explained,” developed and produced by Vox and Vox Media Studios, is a multi-series franchise that explores current events and culture-defining trends that span politics, science, history and pop culture.

The celebrity-narrated series, renewed this year for a third full season, just released its fourth limited series within the franchise, “Whose Vote Counts, Explained,” produced in partnership with Appian Way Productions. Narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio, Selena Gomez, and John Legend, the series covers voting rights, money and politics, and how the system is rigged from gerrymandering to the electoral college. Other recent limited series include “Coronavirus, Explained,” narrated by J.K. Simmons, Laura Linney and Idris Elba; “Sex, Explained,” with Janelle Monáe; and last year’s “The Mind, Explained,” narrated by Emma Stone. In the spring 2020, “Coronavirus, Explained” was produced completely remotely – produced 4X faster than any “Explained” series – delivering a timely and necessary report for audiences amid the global pandemic.

Currently, Netflix audiences can enjoy the following series from Vox Media Studios and Vox:

• “Whose Vote Counts, Explained” (September 2020): A three-part limited series narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio, Selena Gomez, and John Legend, which explores America’s electoral system.
• “Coronavirus, Explained” (April 2020): A three-part limited series – building off the prescient episode in season 2 “The Next Pandemic, Explained” (fall 2019) – which explores how the coronavirus became a global pandemic. The series is narrated by J.K. Simmons, Idris Elba, and Laura Linney and was produced entirely remotely. The show reached the #2 spot in Netflix’s rankings upon release.
• “Sex, Explained” (January 2020): A five-part limited series narrated by Janelle Monáe. It’s the “sex ed you didn’t get in school,” providing important information about sexual health, but with an edgier, more holistic approach — with episodes on the biology of attraction, the meaning of our sexual fantasies, the troubled history of birth control, the new frontiers of fertility, and the latest research on “the best way to give birth.”
• “The Mind, Explained” (September 2019): A five-part limited series narrated by Emma Stone about mental health. It tackles the subject in five parts – memory, dreams, anxiety, mindfulness, and psychedelics – inviting viewers to think of mental health as a shared human experience: managing our moods, focusing our thoughts, remembering our pasts, changing our behavior, and feeling like “ourselves.” The series was nominated for an Emmy and has been translated into 29 languages.
• “Explained” Season Two (September 2019): A ten-part weekly series with narrators including Karlie Kloss, Natasha Lyonne, J.K. Simmons, Hillary Swank, and LaKeith Stanfield, that explores a variety of topics such as the billionaire boom, athleisure wear, the lure of cults and the risk of a future pandemic. (The pandemic episode aired in November 2019.)
• “Explained” Season One (May 2018): The first edition in this series, which debuted in September 2019, included 20 weekly episodes ranging between 15-20 minutes. The series digs into a wide range of topics such as the rise of cryptocurrency, why diets fail, and the wild world of K-pop, and featured narrators including Rachel McAdams, Yara Shahidi, Kevin Smith, and Samira Wiley.