Spotify announced podcast docuseries “The Big Hit Show,” a new podcast from Higher Ground Productions, President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama’s media company, coming out next week
“The Big Hit Show,” focused on transformational moments of pop culture, will premiere exclusively on Spotify on Jan. 12. The new podcast is being released through the Obamas’ multiyear deal with Spotify.
The audio documentary is hosted by journalist Alex Pappademas. Each chapter of “The Big Hit Show,” one to be released each quarter, will each have five episodes. The first two chapters will explore the impact of Stephenie Meyer’s teen vampire romance book series “Twilight” and Kendrick Lamar’s Grammy-winning “To Pimp a Butterfly” rap album. “The Big Hit Show” also will span TV, internet culture, and videogames through in-depth interviews.
“‘The Big Hit Show’ is a thought-provoking exploration of fandom that analyzes some of cultures’ biggest movements that have never been dissected before,” Julie McNamara, Spotify’s head of U.S. studios and video, said in a statement.
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Higher Ground’s first podcast for Spotify was “The Michelle Obama Podcast,” released in mid-2020, which ranks as the most listened to Spotify original to date. It also produced “Renegades: Born in the USA,” a series of conversations between Barack Obama and Bruce Springsteen, and recently released “Tell Them, I Am,” a podcast collection of universal stories from Muslim voices.
Higher Ground also has a pact to produce film and TV exclusively for Netflix. The company’s first film, “American Factory,” won the 2019 Oscar for best documentary feature.
For “The Big Hit Show,” Pappademas, who was formerly executive editor of MTV News and a staff writer at Grantland, said the subjects he’ll focus on in the series are not only “massive pieces of popular culture” but they also have had “a profound butterfly effect on our culture.”
Dan Fierman, Higher Ground’s head of audio, added, “Alex is a seasoned journalist who thrives at investigating the intersection of pop culture and changing social attitudes. While delivering the proper social and historical context, he speaks directly to the creators of these pop culture behemoths to understand the thinking behind their work.”
Listen to the trailer for “The Big Hit Show”:
