Hear from voices across Vox Media Studios, the Vox Media Podcast Network, Eater, and Vox Creative this year in Austin.
WEBWIRE – Thursday, March 9, 2023
This year at SXSW, youll find voices from across the Vox Media Podcast Network on stage including Kara Swisher, host of New Yorks Pivot and On, Sam Sanders, host of Vultures Into It, Sean Rameswarem, host of Voxs Today, Explained, Nilay Patel, host of Vergecast and Decoder, and Preet Bharara, co-founder of Cafe and host of Stay Tuned.
Chad Mumm, chief creative officer at Vox Media Studios, will also be on stage discussing our recent hit show on Netflix, Full Swing; Eater Austins Nadia Chaudhury will moderate a panel on plant-based foods; and Aaron Tabas, vice president of content strategy and innovation at Vox Creative, will moderate a panel around climate change.
Be sure to also check out Slack HQ (located at the corner of 3rd & Congress) where well be featuring two live podcasts, with a live recording of On where Kara Swisher will be joined by Pulitzer Prize winning author Lawrence Wright, and Nilay Patel, David Pierce and Alex Cranz will record a live episode of The Vergecast.
Looking for the best spots to eat while in Austin? Find tips for navigating a busy food scene from Eater.
Inside the Game: Sport Docs Take You Deeper
Saturday, March 11, 2:30-3:30pm | Four Seasons (98 San Jacinto Blvd), Ballroom CD
Vox Media Studios Chad Mumm, executive producer of the recently renewed hit Netflix series Full Swing, joins a panel with Brandon Riegg, VP Unscripted & Documentary Series at Netflix, Paul Martin, Co-Founder at Box To Box Films and Amanda Balionis of CBS Sports to discuss immersive sports documentaries, and how they are changing the experience for sports fans, giving exclusive access to todays biggest names as they navigate the most significant moments in their careers.
Beyond Vegans: Upcoming Trends in Plant-Based Foods
Saturday March 11, 2:30-3:30pm | Austin Marriott Downtown, Waterloo Ballroom 1-2
Nadia Chaudhury, Eater Austin editor, moderates a panel with leaders in emerging plant based foods, in a discussion on what theyre seeing in the space as consumers increase their intake of plant-based food.
The Vergecast Live
Sunday, March 12, 2:30pm | Slack HQ (3rd and Congress)
Join a live recording of The Vergecast podcast with Nilay Patel, Alex Cranz and David Pierce as they make sense of the weeks most important technology news and talk small gadgets, Big Tech, and everything in between.
Open to all attendees
Featured Session: On with Kara Swisher Live: Kevin Systrom is Back and Taking On Twitter and News
Sunday, March 12, 4pm | Austin Convention Center / Ballroom D
Kara Swisher hosts a live recording of her podcast in an interview with Kevin Systrom, Instagram co-founder to discuss his newest endeavor: a text-based news app to rival Twitter and tackle misinformation.
On with Kara Swisher live
Monday, March 13, 10:00am | Slack HQ (3rd and Congress)
When Silicon Valley Met Austin. Join us for a live recording of the podcast On with Kara Swisher. Kara will be joined by Pulitzer Prize winning author Lawrence Wright to discuss how transplants from Silicon Valley, Hollywood and New York are reshaping Austin.
Open to all attendees
7,300 Days, Explained
Monday, March 13, 11:30-12:30pm | Austin Convention Center / Creative Industries Expo – Podcast Lounge – Exhibit Hall 3
Host of Voxs hit daily podcast Today, Explained, Sean Rameswarem hosts 7,300 Days, Explained. Its been 20 years since the United States invaded Iraq to confiscate weapons of mass destruction and end the dictatorial rule of Saddam Hussein; nineteen years and ten months since President George W. Bush declared Mission: Accomplished; and eleven years and five months since President Barack Obama ended the combat mission in Iraq. If youre lucky, the Iraq war is a distant memory. But if youre not, it hasnt yet ended.
Featured Session: Julio Torres with Into Its Sam Sanders
Monday, March 13, 2:30-3:30pm | Austin Convention Center / Ballroom EF
Julio Torres has carved an idiosyncratic path in Hollywood. He talks with Sam Sanders, host of Vultures Into It podcast, about his new film, Problemista, and how the specificity of his surrealist vision has guided his career.
Closing the Loop: Business Innovation to Drive Circular Economy
Monday, March 13, 4:00pm | Lush house (85 Rainey Street)
Aaron Tabas, VP Of Content Strategy and Innovation at Vox Media moderates a panel with Elysa Hammond, Executive Fellow, Regenerative Business and Climate Solutions at Clif Bar, Brandi Halls Chief Ethics Officer, at Lush and Adam Goswell Tech R&D & Digital Principle at Lush, in a discussion that explores innovations in packaging, partnerships and technologies that brands are taking to reduce waste and tackle global challenges like climate change, biodiversity loss, waste, and pollution.
Will AI Revolutionize or Wreck Criminal Justice?
Monday, March 13, 4:00-5:00pm | Hilton Austin Downtown / Salon A
Join Preet Bharara, former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, podcaster, and NYT best-selling author of Doing Justice and futurist Nita Farahany, Duke Law professor and author of The Battle for Your Brain, to discuss the growing use of artificial intelligence (AI) and neurotechnology in criminal justice.
Featured Session: Building a Brand Through Community
Thursday, March 16, 4:00pm | Austin Convention Center / Ballroom D
Host of Vultures Into It, Sam Sanders moderates a conversation with Kristen Bell, Dax Shepard and Erica Buxton as they talk about building their brand, Hello Bello and how focusing on community first and their day one pledge to be a part of lifes messiest, stinkiest, most unmissable joy has birthed their award-winning company to category leadership. The inspirational discussion will tackle inclusivity, transparency and the power of giving back.
Dec 9, 2022 | Business
Chao is now SVP and general manager of audio and digital video, and Kurwa is SVP and executive producer of audio.
WEBWIRE – Thursday, December 8, 2022
Vox Media announced promotions to SVP for Ray Chao and Nishat Kurwa. As SVP and general manager of audio and digital video, Chao is expanding his scope to lead Vox Medias audio and digital video businesses. As SVP and executive producer of audio, Kurwa will continue to oversee programming and new show development for the Vox Media Podcast Network. Both promotions are effective immediately.
Ray and Nishat have played a key role in growing the Vox Media Podcast Network into one of the largest podcast publishers, says Vox Media Studios president Marty Moe. I couldnt be more excited to announce their new roles, and look forward to working with them as we continue to produce unrivaled programming with some of the best voices in the business.
Chao joined Vox Media as general manager of audio in 2021 to lead the podcast business for the company. In his tenure so far, hes helped establish the Vox Media Podcast Network as the top home for high-quality shows, hosts, and creators. He led the acquisitions of Criminal Productions (home to Criminal, one of the largest podcasts in the world) and Cafe Studios (home to Preet Bharara, former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York), and new partnerships with Gastropod, Waveform: The MKBHD Podcast, Longform, and The Pitch. Chao also expanded existing Vox Media podcast franchises into video, subscriptions, and terrestrial radio, and negotiated talent deals for shows hosted by Kara Swisher, Noel King, Sam Sanders, and Ariel Helwani. He was recently named to The Hollywood Reporters inaugural list of podcast power players and to Forbess annual list of 30 Under 30, and serves on the board of directors of Science Friday. Prior to joining Vox Media, he led corporate strategy at New York Public Radio and was a management consultant at Oliver Wyman.
Kurwa joined Vox Media in 2017 as the Vox Media Podcast Networks first executive producer to oversee programming strategy, production operations, and new show development. As the networks executive producer, shes collaborated with the companys editorial brands to develop a slate that includes acclaimed podcasts like daily news show Today, Explained and culture podcast Into It, and has led the development and production of shows for partners including Apple, Spotify, and Audible. Shes also launched and helped grow franchises around award-winning podcasts like tech and business show Pivot, and Land of the Giants, VMPNs narrative series about the five major technology giants, which was adapted into a CNN+ and Vice TV series earlier this year. Named to The Hollywood Reporters inaugural list of podcast power players, she previously led the digital publishing team at American Public Medias Marketplace and spent more than a decade as Senior Producer and News Director at the Peabody Award-winning independent production company Youth Radio.
Nov 14, 2022 | Business
Mark Goodings Kayla Blaze: A Tale of the New Southwest a story that expresses the call for freedom of expression filled with mysterious affairs, enters the film scene with the help of The Spotlight Media Productions and is now looking for film investors.
Los Angeles, CA – WEBWIRE – Friday, November 11, 2022
Established in 2002, The Spotlight Media Productions works with film creators from around the world, and has strong connection in and around the Hollywood film arena. The group of filmmakers leverages their power and broad awareness to tell stories that appeal to a wide range of audiences. Mark Goodings Kayla Blaze: A Tale of the New Southwest has entered their view.
This story introduces to us the main protagonists, with very intricate detail. In this book, we see through the eyes of the narrator who is a huge advocate for freedom of expression. A story filled with power and passion with a hooking storyline and detailed characters like this is a sure candidate for becoming a blockbuster movie.
In this story, we learn about Kayla Blaze, a cynical young woman with splendid finesse with a sharp and clever tongue. As for the storys narrator, who comes from a blue-collar background and resents people who complain a lot about the state of the world when he doesnt think they have much to complain about, he knows whose expression will most likely be limited, and he knows that limiting expression is ever and always a means for controlling people. That pisses him off. In the era of woke and canceled culture this novel may seem anachronistic, but there was a time not that long ago when Americans valued freedom very highly. Foremost among the rights we cherished was the right to express ourselves freely, even when-in fact, especially when-our ideas or their expression might offend somebody else.
Kayla Blaze goes where, in contemporary American society, it is no longer safe to go, mocking the hypocrisy in American higher education today and the education establishments pretense of fostering free inquiry. In truth, now more than then it seeks to stifle free inquiry and direct students minds into safe, politically correct channels. The novel wraps a story of censorship inside the story of a lurid campus love affair, juxtaposing libertarianism and libertinism, liberty, and libido. It contains a couple of scenes depicting graphic sex, a fair amount of foul language, and above all an undisguised hatred for all things PC.
The story presents us with a very detailed book with splendid storytelling. The characters in themselves are a mystery to unravel thus making this book an edging, hooking story worth reading. Through the affairs hidden in this book lets journey with Kayla Blaze from the perspective of the narrator.
Kayla Blaze: A Tale of the New Southwest
Written by Mark Gooding
Publisher: Authors Press
Date Published: 7 May 2021
Paperback: $4.34
About the Author
Mark Gooding The product of a working-class family in the American Midwest, Mark Gooding attended Valparaiso University in Indiana and worked at various jobs before moving to Europe in the late 1970s. He returned to the U.S. in the 1980s, migrated to the Southwest, and eventually became an English instructor in Mesa, Arizona, where he still resides. He has published other written works, namely: Imaginary Life, Organisms, To Protect and To Serve, The Summer of Love, The Murder of Shane Schwarmer, and Death, Fight, and Revolution.
Reach out to the author through:
Email Address: gooding55@gmail.com
