WHAT: Lemonada Media, the award-winning podcast network, and the BBC premiered the new podcast, Pop Culture Debate Club. Being a pop culture fan naturally comes with a lot of opinions. You’ve got your favorites and you’re ready to defend your picks at a moment’s notice. That’s what Pop Culture Debate Club is all about. Each week, two notable mega-fans square off, ready to convince host Aminatou Sow that their opinion on TV, movies, and music is the only one that matters, with Aminatou then selecting a winner. But we’re all friends, so even though someone wins, no one loses. Special guests include podcasters Dan Pashman (The Sporkful), Candice Lim (ICYMI) and Ronald Young Jr. (Weight For It) along with sports journalist Bomani Jones (The Right Time), among others.

This will be the first podcast series to launch in the recently announced partnership between Lemonada and the BBC. Pop Culture Debate Club was commissioned by Rhian Roberts, BBC Commissioner for Podcasts, Formats and Digital, and co-financed by BBC Studios.

WHO: AMINATOU SOW is a New York Times Bestselling writer and interviewer with a background in Policy, Tech and Brand Marketing. For over a decade, she hosted and produced the acclaimed podcast, Call Your Girlfriend, with her friend Ann Friedman. She has interviewed notable figures like Hillary Clinton,

AOC, and Roxane Gay. Together, Aminatou and Ann wrote the NYT bestselling book, BIG FRIENDSHIP: How We Keep Each Other Close. On screen, Aminatou has appeared in CNN’s original series RBG, and Diana. She also hosted the companion podcast When Diana Met…For television, Aminatou wrote for Freeform’s hit show, Single Drunk Female. Aminatou is also a former member of the Sundance Institute Director’s Advisory Group and previous head of Social Impact Marketing at Google. She was named one of Forbes “30 Under 30 in Tech.” She is as comfortable talking about politics or AI & Machine Learning as she is talking about pop culture and memes. Aminatou is proudly West African and a native French speaker who grew up between Africa and Europe, offering her a unique worldview. She currently lives in Brooklyn and she loves it.

WHEN: The first two episodes of Pop Culture Debate Club premiere today, June 27, with new episodes every Thursday.

WHERE: Pop Culture Debate Club is available on all major podcast platforms. Subscribe to listen HERE.

ASSETS: Hi-res logo for Pop Culture Debate Club and host’s headshot can be found HERE.

ABOUT LEMONADA MEDIA

Founded in 2019 by Jessica Cordova Kramer and Stephanie Wittels Wachs, Lemonada Media is an award-winning, independent, audio-first podcast network, with a mission to make life suck less. In 2022 and 2023, both Cordova Kramer and Wittels Wachs were named among the ‘Top 50 Most Powerful People in Podcasting’ by Podcast News Daily and Inside Radio. Lemonada has created hit original series’ including Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus, which spent 29 days straight at #1 overall on the Apple Podcast charts and was named Apple’s 2023 Show of the Year; Blind Plea, which launched to #1 overall on the Apple Podcast charts; Fail Better with David Duchovny, which launched to #1 in Society & Culture on the Apple Podcast charts; Gracie award-winners Last Day, Believe Her and Choice Words with Samantha Bee, as well as Webby award-winners, Add to Cart with Kulap Vilaysack & SuChin Pak and BEING Trans. The company is also the creator of the audio reality™ podcast genre, and launched BEING Studios, where reality TV meets podcasting. In 2023, Lemonada partnered with Apple Books to launch The Lemonada Book Club — a first-of-its-kind, free-to-join digital program that unites fans of nonfiction storytelling across books and podcasts.

For sponsorship opportunities, contact: Sisi@lemonadamedia.com. For press inquiries, contact: Lemonada@metropublicrelations.com. For more information on Lemonada and its podcasts, please visit www.lemonadamedia.com. Lemonada is represented by CAA.

ABOUT THE BBC

The BBC is the world’s leading public service broadcaster which is impartial and independent, and every day we create distinctive, world-class programmes and content which inform, educate and entertain millions of people in the UK and around the world. The BBC includes a portfolio of television services, national and local radio networks, and global digital services.

ABOUT BBC STUDIOS

BBC Studios is a commercial subsidiary of the BBC Group with sales of £2.1 billion (2021/22: £1,630 million). Able to take an idea seamlessly from thought to screen and beyond, the business is built on two operating areas: the Global Content Studio, which produces, invests and distributes content globally and Global Media & Streaming, with BBC branded channels, services and joint ventures in the UK and internationally. Around 2,500 hours of award-winning British programmes are made by the business every year, with over 80% of total BBC Studios revenues coming from non-BBC customers including Discovery, Apple and Netflix.  Its content is internationally recognised across a broad range of genres and specialisms, with brands like Strictly Come Dancing/Dancing with the Stars, Top Gear, the Planet series, Bluey and Doctor Who. BBC.com is BBC Studios’ global digital news platform, offering up-to-the-minute international news, in-depth analysis and features.

BBC Studios | Website | Press Office | Twitter | LinkedIn | Instagram 

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