Vox vice president Allison Rockey announced today that Jamil Smith is joining the network as a Senior Correspondent. At Vox, he will interrogate the biggest problems society faces across politics, race, and culture and bring to light new solutions for creating a more just and equitable society. His work will stretch across the website and Vox’s podcasting slate, and he will partner with the Vox video team on programming for Vox’s YouTube channel as well as other streaming and TV projects. His new role begins April 19th. “We are always looking for journalists who can excel across writing, podcasting and video with talents such as Jamil’s,” Vox’s vice president, Allison Rockey says, “but to find all those skills, plus a genuine curiosity for how the world works and deep empathy for his subjects is rare. We are thrilled to be welcoming Jamil to Vox.” A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Jamil was most recently a Senior Writer with Rolling Stone, where he covered politics, social justice, and culture—including writing the magazine’s most recent cover story, a profile of actor John David Washington. “Jamil is a sharp, clear thinker who takes on the major issues plaguing our country and thinks through solutions. Above all, Jamil writes with moral authority and pushes all of us, and our society, to a higher standard,” says Vox’s editor in chief, Swati Sharma.Jamil’s career has run the gamut from politics to sports and back again—from Emmy Award-winning work as a producer with both NFL Films and MSNBC, to reporting and commentary for MTV News and The New Republic (where he also hosted the podcast “Intersection”). His work has been featured on the cover of Time, on the airwaves at WNYC and KCRW, and on the opinion pages of the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Vanity Fair,

Retro Tech Week Features New Episodes Premiering Every Day Through April 17 Only On Marques Brownlee’s Official YouTube Channel

Down to Earth is year-long, grant-funded initiative that explores the science, politics, and economics of the global biodiversity crisis

The deal accelerates growth at the Vox Media Podcast Network and expands Vox Media’s subscription offerings, events business, and expert voices on the law, policy, and business

Vox launched its daily news podcast, Today, Explained, in 2018. Since then, host Sean Rameswaram and team have been breaking down the biggest – and most impactful – news stories each day. This team brings curiosity and unmatched creativity to the daily news podcast category and the dramatic increase in audience in the last three years shows there’s a strong appetite for their approach. In March, Today, Explained debuted its first spin off show, Unexplainable, co-created by former Today, Explained senior producer Noam Hassenfeld, Future Perfect and The Impact reporter and producer Byrd Pinkerton, as well as Vox senior science reporter Brian Resnick. To support Today, Explained’s growth and ongoing expansion we’re thrilled to introduce five new members of the Vox Audio Team. Today, Explained welcomes two new producers who will help expand the scope and depth of the daily news explainer: Victoria Chamberlin joins Today, Explained from her most recent gig as a producer at WAMU’s Kojo Nnamdi Show. Prior to that, Victoria reported audio and digital stories for the Guns and America project and WAMU newsroom. Before becoming a journalist, Victoria served on active duty in the U.S. Army for eight years. Miles Bryan is a producer and reporter based in Philadelphia who, before joining Today Explained, had a long career in public radio, reporting for stations in Philadelphia, Chicago, and Laramie, Wyoming. And joining Unexplainable, the explainer science podcast about everything we don’t know: Senior Producer Meredith Hoddinott joins the team from ESPN where she produced the award-winning 30 for 30 podcast, including the episode “Back Pass,” about the world’s first women’s professional soccer league. She’s spent time at Al Jazeera, and OZY and has a degree in organic chemistry. Associate Producer Mandy Nguyen joins from NPR member station KQED, but her work has taken her around

The Emmy nominated series from Vox and Vox Media Studios, with YouTube Originals, premieres today on Vox’s YouTube Channel

One of my favorite quotes is “If you don’t know where you are, you don’t know where you are going.”  After a year living within pandemic times, it’s important to understand our current mindset and the best ways to address consumers as we move toward a semblance of normalcy. To do this, Vox Media worked with the Circus, an insights and data storytelling consultancy, to survey 1,500 consumers to analyze how they are evaluating their post-pandemic life and its implications for marketers. This paper will highlight our key findings which include: Rather than pretend like nothing has changed as things gradually return to “normal,” brand messaging and products should recognize the hardship, present solutions to the negative impacts they have experienced, and guide consumers through the recovery process. Consumers who reported the highest level of satisfaction with their lives were those who were able to pivot their lifestyles and mindsets during the pandemic despite experiencing drastic changes. Consumers are approaching the reopening through the “post-pandemic prioritization funnel”: Personal > Local > Practical > Passion. THE CONSUMER MINDSET: A LOT OF WORK AHEAD The last 12 months have negatively affected a vast majority of people’s mental, physical, social, and emotional health. The hardest-hit audiences among those we surveyed were moms, those 40+, and those with a household income lower than $50K. Additionally, Latinx and Asian Americans reported feeling a more negative impact from the pandemic when compared to their white and Black counterparts.* When asked about the effect of the pandemic on various aspects of survey respondents’ well-being: Of those surveyed, 50% noted that their social well-being was negatively impacted. When evaluating consumers’ overall sentiment and what we might attribute to these negative changes in their overall health, particularly social, we see concerns around society, their community, and loved ones at

Galloway’s The Prof G Show Will Join Pivot at VMPN

Almost a year into the pandemic and Americans have begun to settle into this current normal. And while the vaccine roll out has fostered a renewed sense of hope and dreams of traveling to far-off destinations, for many of us that is too far off—we need a change of scenery and a break from it all, sooner rather than later. Travel has been long known to help relieve stress, which may play a large role in why Americans look to travel as an essential part of their lives. Vox Media wanted to understand how travel is evolving in the wake of the pandemic— and in our new report, we found that humanity is ever resilient and ever nomadic. Even with all the talk of travel stopping, research shows 60% of Americans have either traveled or plan to travel in the very near future….To break it down: 22% have traveled recently for pleasure 38% haven’t traveled yet, but plan to in the next 6 months 40% of Americans haven’t travelled and won’t until they are vaccinated While the tourism and travel industries were heavily impacted, research shows that in 2021 there will be a large opportunity when focusing on the mental health benefits of travel, as well as local travel and experiences.  The Vox Media audience, in particular, is more likely to engage in these new forms of travel. WE ALL NEED A MENTAL ESCAPE The mental and emotional toll of the pandemic along with the need to unplug from our daily lives has built up over the past year which is likely to spur a bounce back in travel and tourism amongst travel intenders and travelers alike. Traveling (even when following Covid-19 safety protocols) may have helped folks feel less overwhelmed with everything going on in the world. And folks

Co-created by Noam Hassenfeld, Byrd Pinkerton, and Brian Resnick, the show launches on March 10, with new episodes available every Wednesday.

The episode follows a hearing this week on reparations, featuring host Jeffery Robinson in conversation with Dr. Ron Daniels and Nkechi Taifa

Meet the Social Advocates, Active Defenders and Modern Benefactors

Melissa Bell, Co-Founder of Vox and Publisher of Vox Media, announced today Swati Sharma, Managing Editor at The Atlantic, has been tapped as the new Editor-in-Chief of Vox—the premier explanatory journalism network. Sharma joins Vox during a moment of tremendous growth and will oversee its website’s editorial vision as the network reaches wider audiences in more places and in more formats than ever before. “Throughout her career, Swati has combined a deep respect for great journalism with a profound understanding for audience needs,” Melissa Bell said. “I’m so excited to have Swati working with Vox during this incredible moment of change for both us and our audiences. She brings an appreciation of Vox’s distinctive journalistic mission and proven experience leading teams to consistently produce their best work.” Sharma joined The Atlantic in January 2018 and guided its digital coverage during some of the most consequential news moments in recent history, overseeing all of the site’s sections—Politics, Culture, Technology, Ideas, Science, Family, Global, Health—and was instrumental in the record growth of The Atlantic’s audience. She will begin as Vox’s Editor-in-Chief next month. “From its inception, Vox has worked to provide a deep understanding of an ever complex and often confusing world. With a still raging pandemic, an overdue and ongoing racial reckoning, and a new Presidential administration, the work is more vital than ever,” says Swati Sharma. “I’m thrilled to join an institution that has strong values and a crucial mission and I’m looking forward to collaborating with the talented team already in place to continue producing work that dissects and illuminates big ideas, challenges long-held perceptions, inspires people to live better lives, and fosters the kind of discussion that leads to real change.” Before joining The Atlantic, Sharma spent more than four years at The Washington Post, as Deputy General

Subscribe to listen to Land of the Giants: The Google Empire hosted by Recode’s Shirin Ghaffary and Alex Kantrowitz, Founder of Big Technology.

As part of our continuing research on policy perspectives, consumers’ media diets, and how media consumption affects society, Vox Media commissioned a survey of ~2,500 subjects from January 10-14, 2021, in partnership with research firm SightX. Our goals included: Assessing the extent of polarization on issues commonly identified as controversial Identifying areas of consensus regardless of political identification Charting a new path for media organizations to encourage responsible, active consumer engagement Articulating the role of the consumer in advocating for better discourse As part of a media organization, we at Vox Media strive to hold ourselves and our teammates to high standards of ethics across our journalism and advertising. We encourage marketers to evaluate their media partners closely and frequently to ensure that advertisers are aligning with responsible dialogues, rigorous fact checking, and thoughtful perspectives. And, as consumers realize their agency in shaping the national narrative, we hope that they will also increasingly support media organizations that advocate for and practice high-quality journalism. Below you can read more on our findings: ON POLARIZATION When asked, people have a muted perspective on their own polarization. While some may classify themselves as staunchly conservative or liberal, 70% of people would consider themselves middle of the road. This political spectrum, shown below, mirrors a bell curve and begs the question—Are we more polarized by our self-identified labels versus the issues that matter? After looking at this data, Vox Media dug further and examined how people think about issues, whether that polarization impacts their desire for change, and the need for media to play a consistent role through responsible journalism. ON POLICY ISSUES There is no doubt that a wide gulf exists between the very liberal and the very conservative when it comes to political issues. However, the data below suggests that the majority

SB Nation is supercharging its audio programming across The SB Nation NFL Show, Arrowhead Pride, and Bucs Nation podcasts with “Digital Radio Row”

Hosted by musicologist Nate Sloan and songwriter Charlie Harding, the podcast will move to Vulture on February 2.

Vox Quick Hits offers audiences the unique ability to create a personal listening experience with a daily playlist – subscribe here.

A Q&A with Stephen DiMarco, Chief Digital Officer, Kantar & Edwin Wong, SVP Insights & Innovation

The new narrative series, hosted by Cristela Alonzo, debuts today––subscribe here.

(and Dry January is taking the year off)

New York Magazine editor-in-chief David Haskell announced today that Lindsay Peoples Wagner (@lpeopleswagner) will be the next editor-in-chief of the Cut, New York’s site for women, covering style, self, culture, and power. Peoples Wagner will conceive the strategic direction for the Cut’s next chapter, overseeing all editorial content, events, brand extensions, and more. She joins the Cut from Teen Vogue, where she has been editor-in-chief since 2018; she is also the co-founder of the Black In Fashion Council, focused on the advancement of Black people in the fashion and beauty industry. This will be a return to the Cut for Peoples Wagner, who was previously the site’s fashion market editor from 2015-2018, writing about fashion, race, and culture, and producing photo shoots and celebrity profiles. Her last major feature for the Cut was “Everywhere and Nowhere,” an in-depth examination of what it’s really like to be Black and work in the fashion industry, featuring more than 100 people of color’s insights and perspectives. While at Teen Vogue, Peoples launched Generation Next, a mentorship initiative that invited six diverse designers to showcase their lines at New York Fashion Week in September 2019. Under her leadership, the publication put a spotlight on new voices, publishing its first-ever cover featuring a trans person of color with actor Indya Moore, and making musician Lil Nas X the face of their annual music issue, marking his first cover in spite of the fact that he had a No. 1 song out. Peoples Wagner will be taking the reins of the Cut from Stella Bugbee, who announced in October that she would be moving into the role of editor-at-large at New York Magazine. Bugbee was the Cut’s first editor-in-chief. “I cannot wait to see what Lindsay does as the Cut’s new editor-in-chief,” says David Haskell. “She