![]() (Audacy remains interesting around these parts both for its ownership of two notable podcast companies - Pineapple Street and Cadence13 - and the fact that it was recently delisted from the New York Stock Exchange following a precipitous decline in its stock price. The podcast is being distributed via a partnership between Jigsaw Productions, Alex Gibney’s documentary shingle, and Audacy, the radio company formerly known as Entercom. His reentry had already been mediated by Crypto Island, the looser, more experimental, and thoroughly excellent limited series he released independently last summer, but there’s an institutional quality to Search Engine. ![]() Of course, there are plenty of other things to note about Search Engine beyond its text - like how the podcast marks Vogt’s full return to the medium post– Reply All and, relatedly, L’affaire Test Kitchen. This is a show that works to give you a good time, always hustling for your attention as it peels back layer after layer. But Search Engine’s particular spark comes from the way the team injects a sense of genuine discovery into the act of unspooling. You’re supposed to ask the next question, to tumble deeper into the rabbit hole. This, of course, is the natural arc of any halfway-decent journalistic or documentary endeavor. An inquiry into why we can’t just convert unused corporate real estate into residential properties to alleviate the housing shortage swiftly becomes a sprawling survey of urban development and then zoning policy and then YIMBY-NIMBY politics and then the nihilistic potential of generational turnover. If there is an ethos driving Search Engine’s methodology, it’s the notion that it’s never the first question that matters but rather all the ones that come after. Is it safe to drink airplane coffee? How do animals at the zoo really feel about their captivity? What is it like to slowly go blind? Meanwhile, there’s a real thrill to the hunt for answers, evoking the rabbit-hole tumbling of other shows like Decoder Ring and, way back when, Mystery Show. They can be big, small, newsy, evergreen, heavy, or light, but they all share one trait: being damn good questions. However, as with a pop song, you may have heard the shape and hooks before, but the result can still feel very much different - and fresh - all the same. Each episode sets out to find an answer to a question, one that has either caught his interest or comes in from a listener. Thanks again for being part of this.Search Engine, the new podcast series from PJ Vogt, has a premise so simple and familiar that it’s almost generic. I’m super excited to get the podcast off the ground. I hope you’ll subscribe and keep listening as I get my sea legs and share feedback as you see fit. But it’s starting to feel more natural with each episode. ![]() ![]() This is definitely a new format for me, one that will take some time to learn. When there was an opportunity to partner on the launch of his podcast, we jumped at it!" "Alex is proving that journalists can venture out on their own and leverage technology like RedCircle’s to build a thriving new model for journalism without the traditional barriers of corporate media. ![]() Major thanks to RedCircle co-founder and COO Jeremy Lermitte, account manager Chloe Van Patten, and my editor Nate Gwatney for teaching me how to launch a podcast. RedCircle will host and sell ads on the podcast and we’ll be sharing revenue. I’m launching the podcast with a great partner, RedCircle, a company that hosts and distributes podcasts, provides analytics, and manages ad sales. ![]()
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