What we’re doing.
We’ve got an intern!
We are finalizing the on-boarding for an intern to start August 21st. This position will lighten the load in social media presence and audience engagement. This is part of our effort to expand, reach, and nurture our audience. She will be running campaigns, building content, curating a media library, and helping to put your shows into the ears of more people.
We’ve been dipping our toe in Media Outreach.
September will start a campaign to get featured by influential publications, blogs, newsletters, and digital outlets. As we build our contact database, please let us know of anyone who might be interested in taking a pitch.
Who we are.
Recently, in reaching out to other podcasters and audio journalists, we’ve received some feedback on our language as a company, specifically regarding gender identity.
My intention was always to emphasize that our production team would be made up of women, because media companies rarely are. We believe that the message and voice of a podcast can be affected by who produces it. We wanted our behind the scenes to mirror the voices of our Creators to provide a safe space to say whatever we wanted.
These are all things I’m sure you already know. However, because our company up to this point has been made up of cisgender women, we have never really asked the question of who we are we actually excluding? When it comes to non-binary, trans, and non-cisgender voices, we realized might not be creating a safe space, even if we think we are.
We have recently set out to tackle this issue by consulting with an awesome gender educator, AC Dumlao, and will focus on being a better space for trans, non-binary, and non-cisgender communities. If we’re going to be allies, then we plan to back it up with action.
However, the uncomfortable answer is that we are, in fact, we’re a network of no men. Men have voices everywhere. And while there is definitely a discussion of race, sexuality, and ability that affects the impact of men’s voices, we made the strong choice early on that our intention was to uplift and promote the impact of women’s voices in our content. It’s nicer to say “all women’s network” in the positive, than “no men allowed,” but it’s very honestly the cause that we have chosen. And so, we’re not backing down from it.
To this end, our tagline for More Banana has changed to “Women’s Voices, Uninterrupted.”
It backs up how we feel. When I look at Welcome To My Vagina, or Awkward Sex And The City, or any other podcast on the More Banana roster, I do not see shows that are playing it nice and appealing to everyone. We are speaking out about what we believe matters and what others might not think is proper to talk about. I want to clarify that this doesn’t mean “no men as guests or collaborators,” this just means that the decision-makers and the Creators (you guys) represent women’s voices.
We’ve got company.
The work you’re all doing IS wanted. We know that, because recently, another “all-women’s” podcast network emerged out of LA.
Earios, has launched a Kickstarter, as a “women-run podcast production network.” I will not lie to you that my first thought was “Damnit! They’re doing what we’re doing AND they got Jack Black to endorse them.” But, the reality is they’re answering the same need we are. And fuck yea! We should be supporting them as much as possible, because there’s PLENTY of men-run podcast networks. I encourage you to share their story and this article about their launch. “Three Women Are Launching A New Podcast Network”
They don’t have any shows yet, but you can bet More Banana will be subscribing, listening, and promoting their work when they do.
This does lead me again to thoughts on the change to our tagline and really how we think of ourselves as a network. Earios’s mission statement is “by Women, for everyone. No creeps allowed.” This is so necessary to recognize, because “women’s content” should be for everyone, and not regulated to women’s interest only. Also never any creeps, boy bye.
That being said, More Banana is not “for everyone.”
Not to say that we’re not for men, but we’re not as palatable as other networks. We are making shows that challenge the podcast standard. We make shows that have a point of view.
We don’t release two hour long rambling conversations between comedians about nothing. We bring topic and structure.
We don’t quiet our discussions on taboo or controversial topics. We bring research and perspective.
We edit, we ask questions, and sometimes we get weird.
And I will push for that everyday, because I believe it makes us different. I believe our audience will be grateful for that level of care in what we put out there.
Please reach out to me with any thoughts on this. We are constantly evolving as a network and I want everyone to play a part in it. It’s important that we’re all proud of what we make and I’m here to make sure that happens.
There are more releases, creator news, and logistics to come soon, but holy crap that would make this email so much longer! In the meantime, just know that you’re all kicking ass.
Your anxious, people-pleaser, HBIC,
Cait