Allyship Sunday: Crooked Media Is Doing It Right

One of the most important things an ally can do is to leverage their privilege in order to uplift marginalized voices. Let's take a look at how they do that in my favorite podcast network, Crooked Media. This is Allyship Sunday.

Founded in the wake of the 2016 elections, Crooked media was created by three dudes: Jon Favreau, Tommy Vietor, and Jon Lovett. The first two of these dudes are white, hetero and come from a Christian background. The third is Jewish, and gay. All three worked at the Obama White House. Before the elections, they had a podcast on The Ringer called "Keeping it 1600." After, they decided to branch out on their own.

There's a ton of privilege in that group, obviously. Three dudes who all had senior to mid-level positions at the White House. All white or white-ish. And coming off a successful podcast to create a new network. There's a lot of power there. And they could have used it to promote a bunch of other dudes who look and think like them. And the first two podcasts they released kinda did. Both were - and are - versions of "Pod Save America," their flagship podcast. One with all three, and a third with former Favreau and Keeping it 1600 contributor Dan Pfeiffer.

But as they started to think about building a real network, they realized they need a diversity of viewpoints, which requires a diversity of hosts. So then came With Friends Like These with Ana Marie Cox, and Pod Save The People with DeRay Mckesson, Brittany Packnett, Sam Sinyangwe, and Clint Smith. And Keep It with Ira Madison III, Kara Brown, and Louis Virtel. And the diversity is not just on the mic. The company's COO is a woman. The chief content officer is a woman of color. And just look at their network of contributors.

Their next podcast, just announced on the latest episode of Lovett or Leave It, will be "Hysteria," hosted by Erin Ryan, and co-hosted by Alyssa Mastromonaco, Blair Imani, and more - yet to be named - women.

Favreau, Vietor, and Lovett are, to me, great examples of how to ally. They don't just talk about the issues, they also create the stage for people directly affected by the issues to talk about them. In doing so, they have created a podcast network that is already a much greater and more powerful thing than they alone could do, or than they and a bunch of other white men can do.

This is an example I certainly intend to learn from, and I hope others do as well.

Related posts:

Feminism Sunday: Male Feminist Predators
Allyship Sunday: Intent Isn't Magic
Feminism Sunday: Talkin' bout a Women's Revolution
Allyship Sunday: Representation Matters
Feminism Sunday: Male Savior Thoughts Following A Comics Contest
Allyship Sunday: Allyship Is Not Conditional
Feminism Sunday: It's Not About The Sisterhood
Allyship Sunday: Ally Is A Verb
Feminism Sunday: Splaining
Allyship Sunday: Stay In Your Lane
Feminism Sunday Redux
Feminism Sunday: Should It Continue?
Feminism Sunday: Feminists on the Blockchain
Feminism Sunday: Feminism 101, With GIFs!
On White Feminism
I Don't Want Ally Cookies
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