Luminary is a subscription podcast network that launched on 23 April 2019.
History It was launched by Luminary Media LLC, a venture-backed company, that was co-founded in 2018 by Joe Purzycki, and Matt Sacks. Preceding the launch, the company had raised $100 million in venture capital, from New Enterprise Associates and Sinai Ventures, among others. Nicholas Quah, writing for Vulture.com, described Luminary's launch week as "horrific", with licensing and permission issues, and other controversies. In late 2019, Simon Sutton replaced Matt Sacks as CEO.
In May 2020, Bloomberg News called Luminary a "money-losing podcasting startup" with an app that "has struggled to find an audience since its debut in April 2019. Only about 80,000 people who tried the app have remained paying subscribers" per sources. Bloomberg reported that the company had received "$30 million in a new round" of investment and was looking for additional funding due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Nicholas Quah, for Nieman Lab, commented that in light of Bloomberg's report "it would seem that Luminary's fundamental problem is that it didn't end up signing anybody who had a powerful enough pull to drive that many paid listeners. Sure, it assembled a catalog of interesting stuff, but it doesn't have a world-building Howard Stern/Bill Simmons-level asset, plain and simple".
Early 2022, Rishi Malhotra became CEO. In March 2022, Dave Chappelle's Pilot Boy Productions invested in Luminary with an undisclosed sum; Chappelle's podcast is also hosted by Luminary. Later that month, Jacob Kastrenakes, for The Verge, commented that "maybe Luminary's subscription-only podcast model still has legs". However, after scanning "the company's website before my chat with Malhotra, and nearly all of the shows featured on the front page hadn't posted new episodes in the past six months. In fact, if you look around Luminary's website, it's hard to find any shows that have updated recently. That's a tough sell for a service with a monthly subscription fee. [...] Luminary shows will continue to start and stop publishing throughout the year, Malhotra said, being produced in seasons more like a TV show".
The 2023 album Liberation 2 from Talib Kweli and Madlib was released exclusively on Luminary.
Programming + List of Luminary Original Programs Year Title Host or StarringGenreCo-producer Notes 2019 Smartr Noa LukasComedyTeam Coco 2019 The Ten Zach StaffordNews & PoliticsThe Advocate 2019 Frontier Tween Maria Bamford, Conan O'Brien, Kerri Kenney, and Tim BaltzPerforming ArtsTeam Coco 2019 Players' Tribune: The Podcast VariousSports & RecreationThe Players' Tribune 2019 Vocal Point Martina McBrideMusicBelieve Entertainment Group 2019 Telephone Stories Brandon Ogborn and Omar CrookMusicNinth Planet Audio 2019 Hyper-Thetical Kerry BishéPerforming ArtsFilmNation Entertainment in association with Transmitter Media 2020 Lies We Tell Alex Gibney and Ellen HorneSociety & CultureJigsaw Productions 2020 The Black List Podcast Franklin LeonardTV & FilmNinth Planet Audio & The Black List 2019 Poetics Omari HardwickMusic 2019 Stoop Talks Hana Baba and Leila DaySociety & Culture 2019 Break Stuff: The Story of Woodstock '99 Steven HydenMusicThe Ringer 2019 Wisdom From The Top Guy RazCareersBuilt-It Productions, NPR 2019TabloidVanessa Grigoriadis and Lux AlptraumNews & PoliticsNew York Magazine 2019Sonic Boom: How Seattle Lost Its TeamJordan Ritter ConnSports & RecreationThe Ringer 2019Celeste & Her BestCeleste BarberComedy 2019Karamo: The PodcastKaramo BrownEducation 2019The Rewatchables 1999Bill SimmonsTV & FilmThe Ringer 2021Above the NoiseRussell BrandReligion & Spirituality 2020Murder on the TowpathSoledad O'BrienHistoryFilmNation Entertainment in association with Neon Hum Media 2015History on FireDaniele BolelliHistory 2019FiascoLeon NeyfakhNews & Politics 2017SpookedGlynn WashingtonPerforming ArtsSnap Judgment 2019The Trevor Noah PodcastTrevor NoahComedy 2019The Roxane Gay AgendaRoxane GaySociety & Culture 2019The C-WordLena Dunham & Alissa BennettHistory 2017Under The SkinRussell BrandReligion & Spirituality 2014Guys We FuckedCorinne Fisher and Krystyna HutchinsonSexuality 2021The Midnight MiracleTalib Kweli, Yasiin Bey, and Dave ChappelleSociety & Culture 2019People's PartyTalib KweliMusicUproxx 2020British VillainsWilliam GreenHistoryNinth Planet Audio & The Cut 2020The Passion EconomyAdam DavidsonFinance & EconomicsArrow Productions & Three Uncanny Four 2016I Am RapaportMichael RapaportSports & RecreationDBPodcasts
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