The New York Times is creating a new weekly interview franchise that will be built with both audio and the written word in mind from the ground up. The still-untitled project will feature “intimate, in-depth conversations with notable people from all realms of public life” the company says, with NPR veteran Lulu Garcia-Navarro and New York Times Magazine’s “Talk” columnist David Marchese serving as its hosts.
“We’ll publish this new franchise as a podcast for those who want to listen to the interviews, and also as a text Q&A for those who prefer to read. It will launch next year and be based at the Magazine,” said a note from Times Audio Chief Sam Dolnick, Director of Audio Paula Szchuman and Times Magazine Editor Jake Silverstein in a joint email to staff. “The creation of this new franchise stems from our belief that rich interviews that engage with public figures in their own words are central to helping our audience understand the world. It will build on the success of David’s Talk column, which has been one of the most popular features on our site over the past five years,” they said.
Garcia-Navarro jumped from NPR, where she was one of the hosts of “Weekend Edition, to the New York Times in 2021. She most recently hosted the First Person podcast for the Times, but that show has apparently been killed off. It published its last episode in May, one year after it had been launched by the Times Opinion Audio team.
Marchese took over the Magazine’s Talk column in 2018. Since then he has conducted more than 130 interviews. Most recently his recent interview with Jann Wenner made headlines around the world and led to the Rolling Stone founder being removed from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
The new franchise has been conceived and developed as a partnership between the Magazine and the Audio team. It will be overseen by Allison Benedikt, formerly the editorial director at Opinion. She joined The Times last year from Slate, where she was executive editor. Audio editor Anabel Bacon and producer Wyatt Orme will also be part of the team, which the Times says it will continue building in the coming months.