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Pineapple Street Studios (formerly Pineapple Street Media) is a podcast studio based in
Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
. In August 2019, it was acquired by Entercom (now
Audacy, Inc. Audacy, Inc. is an American broadcasting company based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1968 as Entercom Communications Corp., it is the second largest radio company in the United States, owning over 220 radio stations across 47 media ...
). Pineapple's work includes multi-episode narratives, investigative journalism, branded podcasts, and talk shows. They have created series for companies like Nike,
Hulu Hulu (, ) is an American Subscription business model, subscription streaming media service owned by Disney Streaming, a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment segment of the Walt Disney Company. It was launched on October 29, 2007, initially as ...
,
Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
,
HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...
, and ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
''. In 2020, they led all podcast companies with two
Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Foster Peabody, George Peabody, honor what are described as the most powerful, enlightening, and in ...
nominations, for '' The Catch and Kill Podcast with Ronan Farrow'' and '' Running From Cops''. Twelve of their shows have reached #1 on
Apple Podcasts Apple Podcasts (known as simply Podcasts in Apple operating systems) is an audio streaming service and media player application developed by Apple Inc. for playing podcasts. Apple began supporting podcasts with iTunes 4.9 released in June 2005 ...
.


History

Pineapple Street Media was founded in 2016 by former
BuzzFeed BuzzFeed, Inc. is an American Internet mass media, media, news and entertainment company with a focus on digital media. Based in New York City, BuzzFeed was founded in 2006 by Jonah Peretti and John Seward Johnson III, John S. Johnson III to ...
head of audio Jenna Weiss-Berman and Longform co-founder Max Linsky. In August 2016, Pineapple released ''With Her'', a commissioned podcast following
Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...
's
presidential campaign A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making progress within a specific group. In democracies, political campaigns often refer to electoral campaigns, by which representatives are chosen or referen ...
(the first to be hosted by a candidate for US President). Max Linsky co-hosted. In September 2016, in collaboration with ''The New York Times'', Pineapple launched '' Still Processing'', a culture podcast hosted by Jenna Wortham and
Wesley Morris Wesley Morris (born December 19, 1975) is an American film critic and podcast host. He is currently critic-at-large for ''The New York Times'', as well as co-host, with J Wortham, of the ''New York Times'' podcast '' Still Processing.'' Previou ...
. Pineapple teamed with filmmaker Dan Taberski on a series of investigative podcasts: '' Missing Richard Simmons'', '' Surviving Y2K'' and '' Running from Cops''. ''Missing Richard Simmons'' spent almost three weeks as the #1 series on Apple Podcasts. ''
Vulture A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to Nort ...
'' called it "brilliant" and "the strongest narrative podcast out there." In 2017, they helped in the production of the podcast for '' Wormwood'' on Netflix.
Errol Morris Errol Mark Morris (born February 5, 1948) is an American film director known for documentaries that interrogate the epistemology of their subjects, and the invention of the Interrotron. In 2003, his '' The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Li ...
, the director, converses with multiple guests about the circumstances of Frank Olson's death and
CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...
involvement. Guests include:
Jon Ronson Jon Ronson (born 10 May 1967) is a British-American journalist, author, and filmmaker. He is known for works such as '' Them: Adventures with Extremists'' (2001), '' The Men Who Stare at Goats'' (2004), and '' The Psychopath Test'' (2011). H ...
(author of '' The Men Who Stare at Goats''), Peter Sarsgaard (lead actor), Eric Olsen (son of Frank Olson). In October 2019, it was announced that
HBO Max Max (known in other countries as, and soon to be reverted globally to HBO Max) is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. It is a proprietary unit of Warner Bros. Discovery Streaming on behalf of Home Box Of ...
greenlit a television adaptation of Pineapple and
Stitcher Stitcher was a media company that specialized in the creation, distribution, and monetization of podcasts. Stitcher created original shows through networks such as Earwolf and Witness Docs. Stitcher provided ad sales and distribution services to ...
's podcast, '' Heaven's Gate''. '' Heaven's Gate: The Cult of Cults'', a four-part documentary series, premiered on HBO Max on December 3, 2020. In association with Gimlet Media, Pineapple produced '' The Clearing'', a docu-series about April Balascio and her father, serial killer Edward Wayne Edwards. It reached #1 on Apple Podcasts. ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' described the series as an "immense achievement." On December 18, 2019, '' Deadline'' announced that a television adaptation was in the works with
Chernin Entertainment Chernin Entertainment is an American film and television production company owned by The North Road Company that is based in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on February 24, 2009 by producer and former media executive Peter Chernin, who is ...
and Weimaraner Republic Pictures. In partnership with investigative reporter
Ronan Farrow Satchel Ronan O'Sullivan Farrow (born December 19, 1987) is an American journalist. The son of actress Mia Farrow and filmmaker Woody Allen, he is known for his investigative reporting on sexual abuse allegations against film producer Harvey Wei ...
, Pineapple debuted '' The Catch and Kill Podcast with Ronan Farrow'', an audio companion to Farrow's bestselling book, '' Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators''. It won the 2020 Edward R Murrow Award for Best Podcast. Farrow also won a 2020 Webby People's Voice Award for Best Host. With Crooked Media and
Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...
, Pineapple produced ''Wind of Change''. The series, hosted by writer and journalist Patrick Radden Keefe, was selected as one of the best podcasts of 2020 by ''The Guardian'' (#1 overall), ''
The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 185 ...
'', ''The New York Times'', ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...
'' and ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...
''.
Hulu Hulu (, ) is an American Subscription business model, subscription streaming media service owned by Disney Streaming, a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment segment of the Walt Disney Company. It was launched on October 29, 2007, initially as ...
is adapting the podcast for television with Alex Karpovsky signed on to write and executive produce. The podcast explored the theory that the 1990 Scorpion's song ''Wind of Change'' was Cold War propaganda, written by the CIA. In August 2020, Pineapple launched ''Back Issue'', a look at formative moments in pop culture, hosted by writer Tracy Clayton and Pineapple producer Josh Gwynn. On the series, ''The New York Times'' wrote, "Tracy Clayton and Josh Gwynn use their encyclopedic memory of pop culture moments as a balm in trying times." It was featured on ''
Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'' and ''The Atlantics lists of the best podcasts of 2020. In early January 2024, it was announced that their parent company Audacy would be preparing to file for bankruptcy within the upcoming weeks. On January 7, 2024, Audacy filed for
Chapter 11 bankruptcy Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code ( Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, w ...
protection. As part of the bankruptcy reorganization, Audacy has made a deal with its creditors to transfer control to them while cutting approximately $1.6 billion of its debt.


Shows


Original podcasts


Podcasts for brands and editorial partners


References

{{Audacy Organizations established in 2016 Organizations based in Brooklyn Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2024 Podcasting companies Audacy, Inc. 2019 mergers and acquisitions