LEMONADA MEDIA NEWS: 
Lemonada Signs with NFL’s Michael Bennett and Pele Bennett for its Fourth Series, Last Day nominated for iHeartRadio Podcast Award, and Good Kids is Here (But Censored by Facebook) 

NEW YORK, NY – November 26, 2019 –  Lemonada Media, the new(ish) podcast network that shares the unfiltered version of the human experience, is making good on its promise to turn lemons into lemonade, one podcast at a time. Here are some recent achievements, and a look at what’s to come in the new year. 

The chart-topping Last Day just launched in September, and was quickly featured on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify and across many other platforms, recommended by the NYT, featured by the Houston Chronicle and Star Tribune, and was just nominated for an iHeart Podcast Award in the Wellness & Fitness category. Lemonada co-founders Stephanie Wittels Wachs (the show’s host) and Jessica Cordova Kramer (executive producer) set out to create a deeply researched, heavily produced first-person account of the opioids crisis that, by season’s end, will form some semblance of a roadmap for curbing opioid deaths. They are well on their way to that goal with less than half a season complete, and more stories, solutions and artfully narrated fodder ahead into March 2020 when season one wraps. Guest and addiction specialist Nzinga Harrison said of Last Day, “So many people have reached out and the recurrent word to describe the effect Last Day has had on them is ‘hopeful.’ That. Is. Powerful.”  Reviews consistently note that host Wittels Wachs is both real and relatable, changing perceptions about and understanding of opioid addiction in radical ways. Other guests this season have included Sarah Silverman, Aziz Ansari, David Scheff, Mayors Svante Myrick and Marty Walsh, Andy Slavitt, Congressman Patrick Kennedy, and will continue on with Beth Macy, Dr. Gabor Maté and countless other first-responders, policy makers, family members and others directly affected by the crisis.

Good Kids: How Not to Raise an A**hole, Lemonada’s third series, officially launched today with five episodes to binge starting 11/26, and one episode per week on upcoming Tuesdays. Lemonada crafted a whole social campaign, but Facebook censored all of it. The social media platform seems dead set on fostering a future filled with a**holes, but Lemonada persevered and you can now see the promotional campaign far and wide. 

The first five episodes of this both serious and funny show were selected with Thanksgiving in mind, covering timely themes like teaching gratitude, traveling with kids, and ensuring that kids have a healthy relationship with food and their bodies. Each episode is funny, sometimes touching, sometimes irreverent, always helpful and only about 15-mins long. Think: mini TED talks for parents who like to laugh, cry, swear just a little, and want to make the next generation of kids at least a little kinder than the last. 

About the Thanksgiving Episodes 

• Episode 1 — Reality TV star Jaime Primak Sullivan: How To Make Your Kids Say Thank You. And Mean It.
• Episode 2 — Scholar, writer, and podcast host Reza Aslan, his wife, Jessica Jackley, and their three kids: How To Travel The World With Your Kids…And Actually Enjoy It 
• Episode 3 — Writer and podcaster Elizabeth Laime: How To Not Pass Your Body Issues Down To Your Kids 
• Episode 4 — Activist & educator DeRay Mckesson: How To See Rebellion as a Good Thing 
• Episode 5 — Disability advocate & Vogue cover model Sinéad Burke: How To Empower Your Kids To Love Their Differences

NFL’s Michael & Pele Bennett to host Lemonada’s Fourth Show: Mouthpeace

At the risk of burying the lede, Lemonada is extra excited about football season this year – yep, you read that correctly. Dallas Cowboys’ defensive lineman Michael Bennett — who just played his former Patriots teammates this past weekend and will play on Thanksgiving, as well — and his wife Pele Bennett joined team Lemonada for its fourth weekly, seasonal series, out this January: Mouthpeace with Michael & Pele Bennett. 

“Michael Bennett is a unicorn: an activist, a football star, and a self-described feminist. Pele is no slacker either as the mom of three incredible kids and a skilled Polynesian dancer and home chef. We are amped to create this new platform with the Bennetts, who are serious, brilliant and hilarious all at once,” says Jessica Cordova Kramer, Lemonada’s CEO. “High school sweethearts and stone-cold truth tellers, this show is going to touch on everything from sex in marriage to criminal justice. We can’t wait,” says Lemonada’s Chief Creative Officer, Stephanie Wittels Wachs.

“Pele and I are spending our Tuesdays in the studio with Lemonada laying down ideas and interviewing guests,” says Bennett. “We have a lot to say, and are excited to use this platform to talk together with our guests about … everything. No holding back.”  Pele adds, “Michael and I have been on a life journey together – three kids, four teams, a best-selling book and now a space to talk about sex, politics and a whole lotta issues.”

This show is a natural fit for Lemonada’s partnership with Westwood One, which has been the exclusive radio provider to the NFL for the past thirty years.

As with all its shows, Lemonada commits to delivering high quality audio, game-changing conversations and living up to its bespoke hashtag: #humanityunfiltered. As a special holiday gift, the network is providing two episodes a week through December of its new hit series, As Me with Sinéad, where listeners can hear unfiltered conversations between host Sinéad Burke and diverse, notable guests from Victoria Beckham to Jamie Lee Curtis to Jameela Jamil to Hozier about what it’s like to live in their unique bodies and minds.

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Award-winning podcaster, Jessica Cordova Kramer (Crooked Media, Pod Save the People) and best-selling author Stephanie Wittels Wachs joined forces this spring to form Lemonada Media, offering an unfiltered version of the human experience. The network offers content that is raw and real, sorting through the ugliness, weirdness, awkwardness, and darkness life can bring. 

Cordova Kramer met Wittels Wachs in 2017, shortly after both women had lost their brothers to opioid overdoses. Hearing Wittels Wachs talking about her brother on the Terrible, Thanks for Asking podcast, Cordova Kramer felt understood and less alone in her grief; she even laughed. The women connected over their shared experiences, and the idea to bring Lemonada to life was born: Turn lemons into lemonade, one podcast at a time.

Westwood One, the national-facing arm of Cumulus Media, offers iconic, nationally syndicated sports, news and entertainment content to over 250 million monthly listeners across an audio network of nearly 8,000 affiliated broadcast radio stations and media partners. Westwood One is the largest audio network in America, home to premium content that defines the culture, including the NFL, the NCAA, the Masters, the Olympics, Westwood One Backstage, and the Academy of Country Music Awards. The rapidly growing Westwood One Podcast Network delivers popular network and industry personalities and programs. Westwood One connects listeners with their passions through programs and platforms that have everyone listening. For more information please visit www.westwoodone.com.   

Lemonada is represented by UTA.

Contact:

Suzy Schultz | Westwood One | sschultz@westwoodone.com | (212) 419.2905