The Podcast Academy (TPA) was created in part to define and shape the podcast industry for the better. Its elected Board of Governors is tasked with setting “the strategic vision and goals of the organization”. Despite this, one of the TPA’s board members, Daniel J. Lewis, has been known to share homophobic, misogynist and racist rhetoric on his social media accounts and podcasts.

As recently as yesterday (May 5), he berated a woman in our community on Twitter for expressing her position on womens’ rights. He called her “barbaric” and also used an offensive term to refer to Black people.

It bears acknowledging that he felt confident in expressing these views, and chose to publicly respond to a woman in our industry this way. Since this incident, he has not issued a response or an apology. While this tweet alone shows his unapologetic display of racist and misogynistic rhetoric, there are many other tweets from the years before where Daniel expresses hateful, homophobic, racist and misogynist language.

The podcast industry is a relatively new media industry. We have the power to make it the industry we want it to be, outside of the constraints of more traditional mediums. The Podcast Academy was founded to support the future of the industry, and we do not believe that someone who is capable of the above should have a position on its Board of Governors and direct impact on the future of our industry.

As a member of the TPA and the podcast industry, I believe it is our responsibility to remove Daniel J. Lewis from the TPA’s Board of Governors.

Please do not brush this off as inconsequential. Take a few minutes to think about how the messaging of those in power spreads and impacts those who have less power. Support us by tweeting or emailing your disapproval to the Academy and by signing this petition.