The subscription podcast network Luminary has struck its first distribution deal with an outside podcast network as it aligns with iHeartRadio on The Roxanne Gay Agenda. Gay is a New York Times opinion writer and author. She is the author of the books Ayiti and An Untamed State, as well as the best sellers Bad Feminist, Difficult Women and Hunger. On the podcast she will offer her take on politics and culture.
The first two episodes of The Roxanne Gay Agenda will debut on Tuesday, January 25 – the first episode will be available widely on Luminary, iHeartRadio, and everywhere podcasts are heard, and the second episode will be exclusive and ad-free for one week on Luminary before releasing widely on February 1. Going forward, future episodes of The Roxane Gay Agenda will be released on Tuesdays exclusive and ad-free to subscribers on the Luminary app or the Luminary channel on Apple Podcasts for one week, after which they will be distributed through the iHeartPodcast Network and will be available on iHeartRadio and all major podcast platforms.
The Roxanne Gay Agenda is produced by Gay along with Curtis Fox, the public radio veteran who is also the story editor for Radiotopia’s Ear Hustle.
Since launching in April 2019 armed with $100 million in venture capital financing, Luminary has gone from being an outlier to a forerunner as many other producers are also looking to grow their revenue directly through listener subscriptions. And under CEO Scott Sutton, who joined six months after its bumpy launch, Luminary has also leverage a variety of new alliances, including with podcast creators such as NPR, and has expanded overseas. Luminary has also discovered more subscribers via its Apple Podcasts channel. Apple said last month that Luminary had the second-biggest paid podcast channel in 2021.