Pushkin Industries President Gretta Cohn is taking on the CEO role at the podcast studio which says she will lead Pushkin’s strategy alongside cofounder Malcom Gladwell. Cohn, who rose to President of Pushkin in October and has already been overseeing day-to-day management, joined the company in 2022 when Pushkin bought her studio Transmitter Media.
“Gretta has been doing a superb job running Pushkin during a challenging time in our industry,” said Jacob Weisberg, Pushkin’s co-founder and Executive Chair, in the announcement. Weisberg relinquished his role as CEO in October, saying he wanted to spend more time working on projects outside of Pushkin. Gladwell, who had served as President, took on the new role of Editorial Director.
“I’m thrilled to partner with Gretta as we continue pursuing our mission at Pushkin of producing audio in any format that challenges listeners, encourages their curiosity, and inspires joy,” Gladwell said. “She is an impressive leader and invaluable collaborator,” he said in a statement.
Like many other podcast companies, Pushkin has downsized its staff and restructured operations during the past year. In addition to a management shakeup in October, Pushkin laid-off 30% of its staff last year in an effort to return to profitability.
With those management changes now in place, Pushkin is looking forward and it has shared a preview of its 2024 podcast and audiobook releases. It plans a new podcast called The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos exploring how doing a little good for the planet can make you feel happier in the new year. It will also release a second season of Paul McCartney and Paul Muldoon’s A Life In Lyrics podcast beginning Feb. 7. Gladwell’s journey through the overlooked and misunderstood Revisionist History returns on Feb. 29 for a special six-episode interview series followed by an examination of the 1936 Olympics in June, ahead of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
Then in April it will release a fourth season of its true crime series Deep Cover about people who lead double lives. A second season of the anthology true crime series Death of An Artist is planned for May in which host Katy Hessel explores the life and death of renowned painter Jackson Pollock and how his wife and fellow artist, Lee Krasner, changed everything about the modern art world. And a fourth season of Lost Hills is set to arrive in June which investigates the dark side of Malibu, California. Pushkin also plans to release an audiobook in May called “The Art of Small Talk” that will give practical advice for how to up your small talk game from comedians, actors and self-appointed experts on chit-chat.