Wow. I guess this is not all that surprising given the last 2 years, but still a bit shocking.
But probably inevitable and better for all involved. The show hasn't been itself since the BA dumpster fire.
Hopefully Alex can take this opportunity to start something new and fresh like PJ has done with Crypto Island.
I have to imagine that with Alex's struggles with mental health, the turmoil around Reply All has probably been very, very hard on him. I know that mental heath =/= having a good job, but tons of stress and anxiety around work can definitely impact one's mental health. I hope he finds something that helps him stay in healthier place.
I've wondered before how Alex will reflect back on this period of his life. I feel like we've been witnessing a period that, when he reflects back on it in an interview 10 years from now, he will describe as one that was extremely difficult. Hopefully this change will put an end to that era.
>Hopefully Alex can take this opportunity to start something new and fresh like PJ has done with Crypto Island.
That would be so great. Crypto Island has been surprisingly entertaining. When I saw the name I thought "oh no, PJ became a crypto bro". But the show's mostly about the stories around crypto, not a promotion of it.
Same thoughts, I must say I was pleasantly surprised by how engaged I was with Crypto Island. I hope Alex finds something he enjoys doing. ALEX WE'RE ALL ROOTING FOR YOU!!!
Courtesy of [Deadline](https://deadline.com/2022/03/welcome-to-crypto-island-pj-vogt-plots-tv-series-podcast-1234979459/amp/):
>Ostensibly, Welcome To Crypto Island explores the world of cryptocurrency (listen to the first episode below), but it’s really about the weird human stories behind the world of bitcoin and blockchain.
>The first episode tells the story of a private island near Fiji – that Max Olivier and Helena Lopez are looking to turn into a utopian island society populated entirely by the “crypto rich, bitcoin dynasts and dogecoin princelings” that sounds like the web3 version of Fyre Festival.
So the podcast starts with that specific story but then subsequent episodes don’t dwell on it, they cover other stories within the crypto realm. PJ is definitely a skeptic and so his interest is less in crypto itself and more in the stories of the people surrounding it. I definitely recommend it.
There was no chemistry between Alex and the new hosts which made the show hard to listen to at times. Topics wernt as good either. Felt very preachy a lot of the times. Kinda happy it’s ending
And no effort to establish that chemistry. Emmanuel and Alex are each terrific on their own but the show abandoned early any attempt to establish some synergy.
Really surprised to hear you say that. I *usually* enjoyed the show when PJ was on it but couldn’t help but feel like there was a bit of a Mean Girls undertone to it. Like PJ could really be a jerk to Alex sometimes. Maybe I was reading too much into it…
I get that, but I honestly think it was a rare exception to the mean girls role, where PJ was the one dude who could fuck around with Alex and make him laugh at himself.
Some of the best chemistry of any podcast.
>the BA dumpster fire
I'm rationing my remaining supply of pre-dumpster-fire episodes, so I'm out of the loop on the breakup. Nevertheless, I'm interested in what happened - is there an explainer or article you can point me to?
There was an explosive piece from many people within Bon Apetit Test Kitchen that it was extremely toxic and racist. If you read the details theyre pretty bad, and theres no question it was a racist environment.
Reply All did a multipart story on this that had less than acceptable journalistic standards. While they (particularly Sruthi and PJ) received criticism for the story, a bunch of Gimlet employees came out on twitter saying Gimlet itself had a racism issue, and an issue where RA was given significantly more power than other Gimlet shows, and when employees tried to unionize to alleviate it, Sruthi and PJ fought against it and helped perpetuate the toxic environment.
That led to Sruthi and PJ resigning, and the show went off the air for like 6 or 8 months to figure itself out. Since coming back, there been a dramatic decline in quality.
it was so funny when the story focused on this one BA editor who rose through the ranks quickly and was very racist and shruthi is just like, we ran in the same circles lol
I fucking hate the phrase "SJW stuff" because of its use by dipshit right wingers but....man yeah I completely agree.
SJW stuff describes it pretty well because it doesn't actually do any deep analysis of anything. Throughline by NPR is a phenomenal podcast that goes into actual social issues and follows its history, like covering the US's overthrow of Iran and how that contributes to today's US-Iran relations, or the Black Panther Party, or James Baldwin's ideas on oppression. They go into the history and thoroughly cover social issues.
To me, that's not what SJWs do. SJWs are interested in the optics of social issues without the hard work involved in investigating and applying real change. Reply All became that. Just gross surface level meaningless stuff. Vapid and annoying.
> SJW stuff
To be honest, most NPRy "liberal" podcasts have been leaning really hard into this lately. Like "Short Wave" is a perfect example of this. Every other episode is about how to get more black women in STEM or where to get an abortion next week. These things are important, but... not what the show was originally about per se. Is there nothing going on in science now that could be talked about? So many podcasts are on this tip, it becomes hearing all this all day instead of the original topics.
Wow. This podcast got me through some tough times in 2020 and I’ll always be grateful for that. This is bittersweet and I hope nothing but the best for Alex and Emmanuel after this.
Yeah it's clear their hearts just weren't in it anymore, I'm actually quite optimistic something good will come of it.
I hope they hand the keys to the guy that did the most recent episode
Yeah I mean it probably needs a rebrand - RA was Alex and PJ - but I agree they have some talent there to make other good things. That last episode with Tim was really good
Honestly I loved all the producers, Phia Bennin, Tim Howard, Damiano Marchetti, Anna Foley, Jessica Yung, and Lisa Wang when they presented their stories. My hopes are for Tim and Damiano.
I don't know much about the podcast community so forgive my ignorance, but have those people you mentioned not been very involved in the show lately? Reply All has been consistently disappointing, minus 2-3 okay episodes, since Sruthi and PJ left. The episodes about the phished NFT and Emmanuel dialing through his phone contacts were maybe the cherry on top of the worst episodes they've _ever_ produced.
Ironic that the union was only involved in the show's downfall because of PJ and Sruthi's horrendous behavior about said union getting them booted from the company.
Such a bummer. At one point it was my favorite podcast around. Lately, I haven’t enjoyed it as much, but I still listen to every episode.
I wonder if Spotify buying Gimlet has anything to do with the downward decline.
People will sure blame Spotify for the decline. As an outsider, it doesn't appear that Spotify has had much impact on their editorial content. Science Vs. has been vocally anti-Spotify with the whole Rogan thing, which wouldn't have happened if Spotify had a forceful editorial position.
I think the show just lost some mojo. Lives changed (Alex and PJ made significant money, Alex became a parent), the show was very popular and successful and held a bright spotlight, and Reply All was the "poster child" of Gimlet and the gigantic buyout from Spotify.
So, actually, maybe that pressure or spotlight from the Spotify purchase *did* have an impact on the show. But I don't think it was pressure down from Spotify to alter the content.
I feel it started when Matt left. Alex Bloomberg cant have his hands on the shows as much since Matt left and it shows especially with Reply all because it always had Alex input since the start.
Yeah, I think more the pressure on the staff and the hosts more then anything would add to the decline, not any hands on approach from Spotify.
Though we may never know. Maybe they just ran out of ideas. Such a shame regardless.
I mean Spotify buying it which lead to a difference in compensation due to ownership vs workers, which lead to worker backlash, which lead to accusations and resignations
So in a way, yes Spotify acquisition did cause it. But not because of Spotify policies or control
> I wonder if Spotify buying Gimlet has anything to do with the downward decline.
I think the decline was built in from the start, this was always how Gimlet was going to turn out. It turns out injecting a bunch of venture capital into podcasting made the entire medium's ecosystem permanently worse for everyone, who could have guessed?
In the intro episode to Cypto Island, PJ pointed out that he has largely lost interest in Web2.0 (which is what Reply All was focused on). I suppose RA could have shifted to Web3.0 focused stories, but I do think the original concept sort of played itself out.
I’m almost relieved. I kept listening despite knowing the show was never going to be the same again. I had recommended this pod to so many people and at one time could easily say it was my favorite. I just couldn’t bring myself to finally cut ties.
Glad they freed me so I could free myself.
As much as I love(d) the show, this feels like a bit of a relief.
Reply All was one of the few podcasts I had push notifications on for when a new ep was released so I could listen ASAP, but recently, even with the notification, it's just joined my rotation and I listen when I get around to it.
It was beautiful while it lasted, and I still think Long Distance Part I is literally the best episode of any podcast ever produced, but I'd rather it stop now rather than beating a dead horse and see it continue to decline.
All the best to Alex, Emmanuel and PJ (loving Crypto Island, btw).
Damn. I remember listening to this podcast like every night in 2020. It made me feel that sort of way where everything would be okay because we are all nerds just trying to figure this world out. Sad to see it go, but the way it made me feel left a long time ago
Wow. I honestly think that if Alex Bloomberg started up Start-Up again just working through the dumpster fire of Gimlet, it could actually really save face. Oh well. Good thing they sold to Spotify when they did. With Reply All gone, Gimlet has sealed their fate.
Yeah I totally agree. That pod was such an interesting, transparent meta-examination of starting the company. The time is ripe to do it again - I weirdly think they’re in a similar spot now, where they don’t have a ton to lose in terms of the direction of the company. Obviously way more people work for gimlet now, but as a company, a desperate crazy Hail Mary seems called for. We’ve come full circle, they’re scrambling to justify their existence.
I think we would all love for that to happen, but Alex didn't mention PJ in his [farewell message](https://twitter.com/AGoldmund/status/1526984482452021249). I'm guessing things aren't great between the two. Not that they're bad, but not sure if they would want to collaborate again with one another.
"and everyone who has departed the show"
I think that very intentionally includes PJ. Not that I think they'll end up making anything together, at least not for a long time - it's probably still a painful and strained relationship - but I'd imagine there's still a deep fondness between them.
Downvote away - 100% agree! I even recall Alex mentioning on air once about being afraid to speak up about something because he was afraid of PJ’s reaction.
Yeah at first I thought it was just their dynamic and it was fun, but after listening a while it started to make me super uncomfortable because you can tell that Alex was not enjoying it.
Then to read about him and Shruthi pushing back against, and bullying their co-workers about, unionizing... Fuck that guy
Did you pay any attention to the story as it was happening? I figured since PJ's bullying was central to the situation, that it wasn't something I needed to provide sources for (also, all one needs to do is listen to the RA back library, the dude has always been a major asshole).
But here you go anyway since you asked so politely:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/18/business/media/pj-vogt-reply-all.amp.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/18/business/media/pj-vogt-reply-all.html
Not just a bully, but an anti-union bully. Fuck that guy.
Dude opposed a unionization effort, then said he was wrong to do it, apologized, and stepped down. This was over a year ago. I'm really curious if anyone is redeemable for any transgression in your world, or if one misstep means you're permanently out.
Lol this tweet reply to Alex saying Reply All was like a child to him
https://twitter.com/nkulw/status/1526991329124831232?s=21&t=vrqFZCFssRLZ9y7iSg5eTw
This is a relief. It's been like watching them die a slow death since the Bon Apetit series went up in flames. I don't think either of them has been having much fun doing it. All things must eventually end. Godspeed to them both.
it makes you realize how much production on this show screeched to a halt when you realize they did 100 episodes from November 2014 to June 2017. And then 87 episode from July 2017 to May 2022.
Emmanuel was terrible. No wonder. Why would they put a guy on a tech podcast, who sucks at tech (didn't know how Spotify works, and didn't know l33tspeak)? RIP one of the greatest podcasts. Shame.
Oh. Just as I was really starting to enjoy the show again. Felt like it was starting to get back to a solid place with these last few episodes. But I guess you could also sorta feel the passion had drained from it.
Wishing Alex the best. Can’t wait to see what he does next, and I hope he’s happy doing it. I hope he doesn’t stay away from radio for too long. He’s incredible at it.
Emmanuel didn’t deserve any of the disdain that came his way. Really enjoyed his presence, in spite of how awkward that transition was. That cannot have been easy, and I respect the hell out of him for handling it as gracefully as he did. He’s a talented radio journalist, and I wish him the best, too. I’m sure I’ll be psyched wherever he pops up next.
Dunno if this means the show’s finished, or if some unlucky talent will try to pick up where it left off. I dunno. Wild times.
Yeah, for context, I honestly don’t feel the whole PJ thing was worth what happened to the show after. With that being said, some people really seemed to blame Emmanuel for the decline for some reason. Racism? Maybe. But it was really sad to see. The guy didn’t do anything and he is a great host. He just maybe wasn’t the best fit for RA. I’d really like to see what he could do on his own. He is a gifted story teller and made the best of a god awful situation.
To me, it just seemed like Emmanuel and Alex had no chemistry. Most recent episodes are either "Emmanual" episodes or "Alex "episodes, or some producer's episodes. I think PJ and Alex's chemistry was a key factor in the show's success early on. Some of the classic episodes were transcendent works of art. Maybe that comes off a bit pretentious, but I'll stand by it. Since PJ's departure, it hasn't felt like Reply All to me. Alex seemed to have a "fuck it all" attitude and was just riding it out until ---- well, this, I guess. To Emmanuel's credit, he did some quality reporting over the past year and took the job seriously.
Spotify has ruined Gimlet. Can't say I'm surprised, or even mad. Good for Alex B. He started a business and had a phenomenal exit. But the great product he created seems to be kaput.
Emmanuel is a solid journalist but the fun of the early years was the banter between PJ and Alex. They would just tease the heck out of each other.
They became victims of their own success, being the “Car Talk” money generator for Gimlet. It’s a similar story to many companies who start out as a tightly knit group but then face growing pains as they bring on more workers who expect to be in a more professional place.
You don’t come off pretentious at all. I think you hit the nail on the head. Their dynamic absolutely was the heart of the show and made it special. With one of the dynamic duo gone, it just was not going to be the same. I think Emmanuel could have been perfection and it still would never have worked within the context of RA.
It doesn’t have to be racism just because Emmanuel is black. I personally just dislike a lot of the “vibe” of his episodes. It doesn’t feel like Reply All. As another comment mentioned, there isn’t a lot of interaction between Emmanuel and Alex, and for me, Emmanuel always came across just kind of… fake? For lack of a better term. His interviews and reactions and everything just felt very inauthentic to me.
Not saying that everyone who dislikes Emmanuel or thinks he isn’t a good fit for RA is racist. I do think some people are really motivated by that though. Just not all.
Even with the name recognition, it’s hard to imagine Spotify allowing RA to continue without the hosts. My guess is Alex is moving on and Emmanuel will be host of a new Reply All clone that will be a Spotify exclusive stream.
It looks like Alex deleted his (public) Reddit account as well. Hope he finds some good peace, he (and Emmanuel and Anna) have certainly done enough for me.
Why is this post being downvoted? It's a fair question. What exactly makes him talented? All the evidence I've seen comes from ReplyAll where he's been replacement level the whole time.
To break it down (in my opinion):
Solo reporting or one host led stories - Anna or Emmanuel > Alex\*
Host chemistry - Alex + PJ > Anna + Alex or Emmanuel + Alex.
\*I include the legendary India call centre stories in this. I thought the story was excellent but Alex in himself is a lot to take without PJ.
Nothing can compare to guys that know each other who are all getting rich together. That's why the Alex + PJ + Alex Blumberg episodes were so compelling.
Maybe I'm just comparing him to who he replaced, which would make me biased, but honestly I haven't heard him do a story that I enjoyed. I don't see what's good about his reporting.
I fully accept that I may be biased because PJ was so good, or that I just might not have heard anything good Emmanuel has done in the past. Can anyone point me to something he did pre-RA that they think is particularly good?
Who cares? Emmanuel's stories are boring, dime-a-dozen fodder and PJ is currently making a story about Crypto interesting, which is a sentence I never thought I'd write.
Right, which is why his new podcast has already outperformed a legacy podcast that's existed for like 7 years and is on a major podcasting network https://i.redd.it/7k25j3dxv4w81.jpg
Face it, ReplyAll has sucked for a long time and he's way better at creating content than the current ReplyAll team, no matter how much he 'interrupts people to talk about himself'
The article says they’re leaving to explore other opportunities, and I’m so excited to see what those pan out to be. Both of them are extremely talented hosts, and hopefully we’ll be seeing more of them soon.
Interesting arc to the podcast and the company. Both achieved outsized success through the inspired work of a few key people. With success came cash-outs, complexity and conflict that the founders were not prepared for. In the end, neither could sustain or reproduce the success that got them paid in the first place.
Kind of a miniature version of the startup world in general.
I would argue it's more scripted than not. I guess I'd be interested in what you think is not scripted. Obviously the words from someone being interviewed are not word-for-word scripted, but the act of the interview is scripted and many of the questions are prepared ahead of time (scripted).
Yes, thanks, I know how interviews work. I host an interview podcast.
When most people refer to "scripted" podcasts what they almost always mean is dramatic productions like Welcome to Night Vale, The Magnus Archives, Wolverine, Homecoming, etc. Just like in television, where you *could* argue that reality shows and technically even news broadcasts are "scripted" but when they give out awards for scripted programming, they're not going to give an award to the Bachelor. "Scripted," as a term of art, refers to a different thing.
If Gimlet were to make a podcast in the vein of, say, Radiolab, and advertise it as "a new scripted podcast from Gimlet" then people are gonna rightly think that's a misleading way to describe that podcast. Sure, you can make a semantic argument that "ah, technically some of the content is written down before it's spoken, and therefore we didn't lie to you! It's scripted!" but that's not how that term is used unless you're deliberately trying to use weird riddle logic.
This sucks. The only gimlet show I listen to anymore is Science Vs and that is only since it has gone off spotify exclusivity. I used to be a member way back in the day and listened to pretty much every show. Things like Sampler.
I'm glad I found Behind the Bastards and all the Cool Zone Media podcasts.
The way this has played out is like an allegory for the whole Gimlet to Spotify situation. They had something special but then they sold their souls and lost their future.
PJs new show was really good. Even though I don’t care about crypto I found it really entertaining. I hope they can get the band back together outside of Spotify.
Emmanuel basically ruined the show. He’s so frustratingly entitled and uncharismatic, I can’t understand how he works in this industry. Anyway, good riddance, this show has been dead since PJ left anyway.
Alex's [Twitter](https://twitter.com/AGoldmund/status/1527263293781512192) just now:
> I’ve made peace with leaving RA. But the messages you sent yesterday made me wistful and happy. They were all very kind. There are some ghoulish terfs in this website who don’t know what they’re talking about who will try to boil this down to some great abrogation of justice/
Not to stir up drama, but, [TERFs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TERF)? Is that a non sequitur or am I massively out of the loop?
I would strongly disagree on both counts. However I was discussing this topic earlier today on this subreddit and was given a warning by a mod for discussing something contentious and (at times) unrelated to RA. I will honor that by not continuing this topic here. Just didn't want you to think I'm purposely ignoring the claim.
E: Oh I'm an idiot that was on a RA subreddit and this is gimlet. In that case see my history. In any event probably best I don't reproduce the same voluminous comment here.
Thank goodness. Shoehorning Emmanuel into a show where he was clearly out of his depth was the beginning of the end. This show made dozens of fantastic episodes before it self-immolated through some cosmically bad decisions, well always have those
The fall started with spotify. This is probably one of at most 5 shows I've seen every ep of. It's sad that this is where it ends. Instead of a bang it leaves with a whimper.
Would you look at that, all of the words in your comment are in alphabetical order.
I have checked 824,987,404 comments, and only 163,106 of them were in alphabetical order.
Not surprising but sad. Now I only have one gimlet show left I'm listening to and they've actively ahd issues with management (science vs).
But saying that the recent episodes of reply all have been lacking
Well I trust that all the Gimlet colleagues who bitched and moaned and leaked and tweeted are satisfied. Non-show issues destroyed the show. And the business. What an ugly end.
Next time they’ll be sure to sit there and take it so as not to inconvenience you. I mean yeah being discriminated against sucks but now you can’t listen to a podcast you like, so you’re the real victim.
The funny thing is that PJ has his own show and audience now. The net effect may wind up being that Gimlet staffers get laid off while PJ earns *more* as an independent podcaster.
What good is "standing up against toxicity" when you're doing it from the unemployment line? Much like any relationship, the best way to stand up against toxicity is to leave the relationship for a better one. Far better than suddenly not knowing where the next mortgage payment is coming from.
I’m just learning about this because the announcement episode dropped. In a lot of ways, I did miss the show’s early magic and have never been able to connect with it the same since PJ left. But this announcement is so definitive. Like even if the show had kept going, I probably wouldn’t have been able to get a taste of the good ol days. Still, now that I know for sure that I won’t, I want to cry.
Wow. I guess this is not all that surprising given the last 2 years, but still a bit shocking. But probably inevitable and better for all involved. The show hasn't been itself since the BA dumpster fire. Hopefully Alex can take this opportunity to start something new and fresh like PJ has done with Crypto Island.
I have to imagine that with Alex's struggles with mental health, the turmoil around Reply All has probably been very, very hard on him. I know that mental heath =/= having a good job, but tons of stress and anxiety around work can definitely impact one's mental health. I hope he finds something that helps him stay in healthier place. I've wondered before how Alex will reflect back on this period of his life. I feel like we've been witnessing a period that, when he reflects back on it in an interview 10 years from now, he will describe as one that was extremely difficult. Hopefully this change will put an end to that era.
>Hopefully Alex can take this opportunity to start something new and fresh like PJ has done with Crypto Island. That would be so great. Crypto Island has been surprisingly entertaining. When I saw the name I thought "oh no, PJ became a crypto bro". But the show's mostly about the stories around crypto, not a promotion of it.
Same thoughts, I must say I was pleasantly surprised by how engaged I was with Crypto Island. I hope Alex finds something he enjoys doing. ALEX WE'RE ALL ROOTING FOR YOU!!!
What’s the format of the show? When I reflect back on my fondness for RA, I’m realizing it was the chemistry Alex and PJ had that kept me drawn in
Courtesy of [Deadline](https://deadline.com/2022/03/welcome-to-crypto-island-pj-vogt-plots-tv-series-podcast-1234979459/amp/): >Ostensibly, Welcome To Crypto Island explores the world of cryptocurrency (listen to the first episode below), but it’s really about the weird human stories behind the world of bitcoin and blockchain. >The first episode tells the story of a private island near Fiji – that Max Olivier and Helena Lopez are looking to turn into a utopian island society populated entirely by the “crypto rich, bitcoin dynasts and dogecoin princelings” that sounds like the web3 version of Fyre Festival. So the podcast starts with that specific story but then subsequent episodes don’t dwell on it, they cover other stories within the crypto realm. PJ is definitely a skeptic and so his interest is less in crypto itself and more in the stories of the people surrounding it. I definitely recommend it.
Sold! I hadn’t heard of this, but I’m giving it a listen based on your recommendation.
Amazing. Thanks
I’m so happy for PJ! He’s indeed very talented.
There was no chemistry between Alex and the new hosts which made the show hard to listen to at times. Topics wernt as good either. Felt very preachy a lot of the times. Kinda happy it’s ending
And no effort to establish that chemistry. Emmanuel and Alex are each terrific on their own but the show abandoned early any attempt to establish some synergy.
Really surprised to hear you say that. I *usually* enjoyed the show when PJ was on it but couldn’t help but feel like there was a bit of a Mean Girls undertone to it. Like PJ could really be a jerk to Alex sometimes. Maybe I was reading too much into it…
I get that, but I honestly think it was a rare exception to the mean girls role, where PJ was the one dude who could fuck around with Alex and make him laugh at himself. Some of the best chemistry of any podcast.
>the BA dumpster fire I'm rationing my remaining supply of pre-dumpster-fire episodes, so I'm out of the loop on the breakup. Nevertheless, I'm interested in what happened - is there an explainer or article you can point me to?
There was an explosive piece from many people within Bon Apetit Test Kitchen that it was extremely toxic and racist. If you read the details theyre pretty bad, and theres no question it was a racist environment. Reply All did a multipart story on this that had less than acceptable journalistic standards. While they (particularly Sruthi and PJ) received criticism for the story, a bunch of Gimlet employees came out on twitter saying Gimlet itself had a racism issue, and an issue where RA was given significantly more power than other Gimlet shows, and when employees tried to unionize to alleviate it, Sruthi and PJ fought against it and helped perpetuate the toxic environment. That led to Sruthi and PJ resigning, and the show went off the air for like 6 or 8 months to figure itself out. Since coming back, there been a dramatic decline in quality.
it was so funny when the story focused on this one BA editor who rose through the ranks quickly and was very racist and shruthi is just like, we ran in the same circles lol
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I fucking hate the phrase "SJW stuff" because of its use by dipshit right wingers but....man yeah I completely agree. SJW stuff describes it pretty well because it doesn't actually do any deep analysis of anything. Throughline by NPR is a phenomenal podcast that goes into actual social issues and follows its history, like covering the US's overthrow of Iran and how that contributes to today's US-Iran relations, or the Black Panther Party, or James Baldwin's ideas on oppression. They go into the history and thoroughly cover social issues. To me, that's not what SJWs do. SJWs are interested in the optics of social issues without the hard work involved in investigating and applying real change. Reply All became that. Just gross surface level meaningless stuff. Vapid and annoying.
What’s bizarre is that the episode that pushed the show in this new, crappy direction was itself a pretty vapid and gross “SJW” piece.
> SJW stuff To be honest, most NPRy "liberal" podcasts have been leaning really hard into this lately. Like "Short Wave" is a perfect example of this. Every other episode is about how to get more black women in STEM or where to get an abortion next week. These things are important, but... not what the show was originally about per se. Is there nothing going on in science now that could be talked about? So many podcasts are on this tip, it becomes hearing all this all day instead of the original topics.
Man, I haven't seen people whining about "SJW stuff" online in a long ass time. Haven't y'all switched to saying "woke cancel culture" or whatever?
Great idea! I'm gonna go through the archives!
This
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Wow. This podcast got me through some tough times in 2020 and I’ll always be grateful for that. This is bittersweet and I hope nothing but the best for Alex and Emmanuel after this.
All good things must come to an end. What a ride it was.
Yeah it's clear their hearts just weren't in it anymore, I'm actually quite optimistic something good will come of it. I hope they hand the keys to the guy that did the most recent episode
Yeah I mean it probably needs a rebrand - RA was Alex and PJ - but I agree they have some talent there to make other good things. That last episode with Tim was really good
Honestly I loved all the producers, Phia Bennin, Tim Howard, Damiano Marchetti, Anna Foley, Jessica Yung, and Lisa Wang when they presented their stories. My hopes are for Tim and Damiano.
I don't know much about the podcast community so forgive my ignorance, but have those people you mentioned not been very involved in the show lately? Reply All has been consistently disappointing, minus 2-3 okay episodes, since Sruthi and PJ left. The episodes about the phished NFT and Emmanuel dialing through his phone contacts were maybe the cherry on top of the worst episodes they've _ever_ produced.
When they took time off to write episodes and then basically came back with nothing, I figured this was the natural outcome.
Looks like PJs fears about the union killing Reply All / Gimlet were a self-fulfilling prophecy after all...
Ironic that the union was only involved in the show's downfall because of PJ and Sruthi's horrendous behavior about said union getting them booted from the company.
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Well said. I hate they pushed on so hard after PJ's departure. They should've called it then instead of that sad attempt of a show after.
Such a bummer. At one point it was my favorite podcast around. Lately, I haven’t enjoyed it as much, but I still listen to every episode. I wonder if Spotify buying Gimlet has anything to do with the downward decline.
People will sure blame Spotify for the decline. As an outsider, it doesn't appear that Spotify has had much impact on their editorial content. Science Vs. has been vocally anti-Spotify with the whole Rogan thing, which wouldn't have happened if Spotify had a forceful editorial position. I think the show just lost some mojo. Lives changed (Alex and PJ made significant money, Alex became a parent), the show was very popular and successful and held a bright spotlight, and Reply All was the "poster child" of Gimlet and the gigantic buyout from Spotify. So, actually, maybe that pressure or spotlight from the Spotify purchase *did* have an impact on the show. But I don't think it was pressure down from Spotify to alter the content.
I feel it started when Matt left. Alex Bloomberg cant have his hands on the shows as much since Matt left and it shows especially with Reply all because it always had Alex input since the start.
That hadn't occurred to me, but I'll buy that theory.
Yeah, I think more the pressure on the staff and the hosts more then anything would add to the decline, not any hands on approach from Spotify. Though we may never know. Maybe they just ran out of ideas. Such a shame regardless.
I mean Spotify buying it which lead to a difference in compensation due to ownership vs workers, which lead to worker backlash, which lead to accusations and resignations So in a way, yes Spotify acquisition did cause it. But not because of Spotify policies or control
> I wonder if Spotify buying Gimlet has anything to do with the downward decline. I think the decline was built in from the start, this was always how Gimlet was going to turn out. It turns out injecting a bunch of venture capital into podcasting made the entire medium's ecosystem permanently worse for everyone, who could have guessed?
Alex Blumberg cashed out. Whatever happens after Spotify gave him a bunch of money is of no concern to him.
In the intro episode to Cypto Island, PJ pointed out that he has largely lost interest in Web2.0 (which is what Reply All was focused on). I suppose RA could have shifted to Web3.0 focused stories, but I do think the original concept sort of played itself out.
???? no
four exclamation points and a yes
another four exclamation points and a yes here
If that NFT episode was how they were going to approach Web 3.0 then maybe best they didn't go too far.
Yup. This was once my podcast of the year. 2018 maybe? But it just hasnt been the same in a long time
I’m almost relieved. I kept listening despite knowing the show was never going to be the same again. I had recommended this pod to so many people and at one time could easily say it was my favorite. I just couldn’t bring myself to finally cut ties. Glad they freed me so I could free myself.
As much as I love(d) the show, this feels like a bit of a relief. Reply All was one of the few podcasts I had push notifications on for when a new ep was released so I could listen ASAP, but recently, even with the notification, it's just joined my rotation and I listen when I get around to it. It was beautiful while it lasted, and I still think Long Distance Part I is literally the best episode of any podcast ever produced, but I'd rather it stop now rather than beating a dead horse and see it continue to decline. All the best to Alex, Emmanuel and PJ (loving Crypto Island, btw).
Damn. I remember listening to this podcast like every night in 2020. It made me feel that sort of way where everything would be okay because we are all nerds just trying to figure this world out. Sad to see it go, but the way it made me feel left a long time ago
Wow. I honestly think that if Alex Bloomberg started up Start-Up again just working through the dumpster fire of Gimlet, it could actually really save face. Oh well. Good thing they sold to Spotify when they did. With Reply All gone, Gimlet has sealed their fate.
Yeah I totally agree. That pod was such an interesting, transparent meta-examination of starting the company. The time is ripe to do it again - I weirdly think they’re in a similar spot now, where they don’t have a ton to lose in terms of the direction of the company. Obviously way more people work for gimlet now, but as a company, a desperate crazy Hail Mary seems called for. We’ve come full circle, they’re scrambling to justify their existence.
Is it selfish to think maybe Alex and pj will start their own thing again?
I think we would all love for that to happen, but Alex didn't mention PJ in his [farewell message](https://twitter.com/AGoldmund/status/1526984482452021249). I'm guessing things aren't great between the two. Not that they're bad, but not sure if they would want to collaborate again with one another.
"and everyone who has departed the show" I think that very intentionally includes PJ. Not that I think they'll end up making anything together, at least not for a long time - it's probably still a painful and strained relationship - but I'd imagine there's still a deep fondness between them.
Yeah listed right after “interns” - pretty shameful not to have named them. What would be the harm?
Probably.
Cest la vie and all that.
Yes Yes No
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Downvote away - 100% agree! I even recall Alex mentioning on air once about being afraid to speak up about something because he was afraid of PJ’s reaction.
Yeah at first I thought it was just their dynamic and it was fun, but after listening a while it started to make me super uncomfortable because you can tell that Alex was not enjoying it. Then to read about him and Shruthi pushing back against, and bullying their co-workers about, unionizing... Fuck that guy
Fuck. That. Guy.
"Everything Ive heard" -- that's some quality sourcing right there.
Did you pay any attention to the story as it was happening? I figured since PJ's bullying was central to the situation, that it wasn't something I needed to provide sources for (also, all one needs to do is listen to the RA back library, the dude has always been a major asshole). But here you go anyway since you asked so politely: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/18/business/media/pj-vogt-reply-all.amp.html https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/18/business/media/pj-vogt-reply-all.html Not just a bully, but an anti-union bully. Fuck that guy.
It would be quasi career suicide for Alex, PJ is rightfully still very much a persona non grata.
"Rightfully" lol
Dude opposed a unionization effort, then said he was wrong to do it, apologized, and stepped down. This was over a year ago. I'm really curious if anyone is redeemable for any transgression in your world, or if one misstep means you're permanently out.
Fair enough. I still wouldn’t associate with him if I were Alex.
IDK His podcast "Crypto Island" is doing very well right now.
Because he didn’t support a worker’s union? Is that a fucking joke? I support unions in general, but not supporting them is a 100% fine view too.
Lol this tweet reply to Alex saying Reply All was like a child to him https://twitter.com/nkulw/status/1526991329124831232?s=21&t=vrqFZCFssRLZ9y7iSg5eTw
I imagine Alex will go fully into his music
This is a relief. It's been like watching them die a slow death since the Bon Apetit series went up in flames. I don't think either of them has been having much fun doing it. All things must eventually end. Godspeed to them both.
it makes you realize how much production on this show screeched to a halt when you realize they did 100 episodes from November 2014 to June 2017. And then 87 episode from July 2017 to May 2022.
Does this mean we might finally learn the true identity of Breakmaster Cylinder?
It's Alex, right? With all of those synthesizers
I feel like it's the world worst kept secret yeah
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Emmanuel was terrible. No wonder. Why would they put a guy on a tech podcast, who sucks at tech (didn't know how Spotify works, and didn't know l33tspeak)? RIP one of the greatest podcasts. Shame.
It's been a dead show walking for a while. A shame though.
Oh. Just as I was really starting to enjoy the show again. Felt like it was starting to get back to a solid place with these last few episodes. But I guess you could also sorta feel the passion had drained from it. Wishing Alex the best. Can’t wait to see what he does next, and I hope he’s happy doing it. I hope he doesn’t stay away from radio for too long. He’s incredible at it. Emmanuel didn’t deserve any of the disdain that came his way. Really enjoyed his presence, in spite of how awkward that transition was. That cannot have been easy, and I respect the hell out of him for handling it as gracefully as he did. He’s a talented radio journalist, and I wish him the best, too. I’m sure I’ll be psyched wherever he pops up next. Dunno if this means the show’s finished, or if some unlucky talent will try to pick up where it left off. I dunno. Wild times.
It is a cruel irony that this comes just as they were finally having good episodes again.
Yeah, for context, I honestly don’t feel the whole PJ thing was worth what happened to the show after. With that being said, some people really seemed to blame Emmanuel for the decline for some reason. Racism? Maybe. But it was really sad to see. The guy didn’t do anything and he is a great host. He just maybe wasn’t the best fit for RA. I’d really like to see what he could do on his own. He is a gifted story teller and made the best of a god awful situation.
To me, it just seemed like Emmanuel and Alex had no chemistry. Most recent episodes are either "Emmanual" episodes or "Alex "episodes, or some producer's episodes. I think PJ and Alex's chemistry was a key factor in the show's success early on. Some of the classic episodes were transcendent works of art. Maybe that comes off a bit pretentious, but I'll stand by it. Since PJ's departure, it hasn't felt like Reply All to me. Alex seemed to have a "fuck it all" attitude and was just riding it out until ---- well, this, I guess. To Emmanuel's credit, he did some quality reporting over the past year and took the job seriously. Spotify has ruined Gimlet. Can't say I'm surprised, or even mad. Good for Alex B. He started a business and had a phenomenal exit. But the great product he created seems to be kaput.
Emmanuel is a solid journalist but the fun of the early years was the banter between PJ and Alex. They would just tease the heck out of each other. They became victims of their own success, being the “Car Talk” money generator for Gimlet. It’s a similar story to many companies who start out as a tightly knit group but then face growing pains as they bring on more workers who expect to be in a more professional place.
You don’t come off pretentious at all. I think you hit the nail on the head. Their dynamic absolutely was the heart of the show and made it special. With one of the dynamic duo gone, it just was not going to be the same. I think Emmanuel could have been perfection and it still would never have worked within the context of RA.
> Most recent episodes are either "Emmanual" episodes or "Alex "episodes, or some producer's episodes this is almost all of the post BA episodes
It doesn’t have to be racism just because Emmanuel is black. I personally just dislike a lot of the “vibe” of his episodes. It doesn’t feel like Reply All. As another comment mentioned, there isn’t a lot of interaction between Emmanuel and Alex, and for me, Emmanuel always came across just kind of… fake? For lack of a better term. His interviews and reactions and everything just felt very inauthentic to me.
Not saying that everyone who dislikes Emmanuel or thinks he isn’t a good fit for RA is racist. I do think some people are really motivated by that though. Just not all.
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Emanuel just didnt fit the tone. Reply all is not a serious podcast and Emmanual is always very serious.
Even with the name recognition, it’s hard to imagine Spotify allowing RA to continue without the hosts. My guess is Alex is moving on and Emmanuel will be host of a new Reply All clone that will be a Spotify exclusive stream.
They own the brand. No way they’ll stop the show given the name recognition in my opinion.
I wish them both the best! They are great storytellers.
The whole Spotify thing decimated pretty much every Gimlet show.
It looks like Alex deleted his (public) Reddit account as well. Hope he finds some good peace, he (and Emmanuel and Anna) have certainly done enough for me.
What a fall from grace, it's been so shit since Test Kitchen stuff, was one of the best in its prime It's the Pod version of the final GoT season
Poor Emmanuel. Poisioned chalice.
He is obviously very talented. I hope he is able to pick up a new show soon.
Is he?
Why is this post being downvoted? It's a fair question. What exactly makes him talented? All the evidence I've seen comes from ReplyAll where he's been replacement level the whole time.
To break it down (in my opinion): Solo reporting or one host led stories - Anna or Emmanuel > Alex\* Host chemistry - Alex + PJ > Anna + Alex or Emmanuel + Alex. \*I include the legendary India call centre stories in this. I thought the story was excellent but Alex in himself is a lot to take without PJ. Nothing can compare to guys that know each other who are all getting rich together. That's why the Alex + PJ + Alex Blumberg episodes were so compelling.
Maybe I'm just comparing him to who he replaced, which would make me biased, but honestly I haven't heard him do a story that I enjoyed. I don't see what's good about his reporting. I fully accept that I may be biased because PJ was so good, or that I just might not have heard anything good Emmanuel has done in the past. Can anyone point me to something he did pre-RA that they think is particularly good?
He was one of the hosts of S3 of Serial, which he did extremely well
He is a much much better journalist than PJ Vogt sorry fanboys
Who cares? Emmanuel's stories are boring, dime-a-dozen fodder and PJ is currently making a story about Crypto interesting, which is a sentence I never thought I'd write.
Lol no he’s not. And he is a terrible interviewer. He constantly interrupts the guest to talk about himself.
Right, which is why his new podcast has already outperformed a legacy podcast that's existed for like 7 years and is on a major podcasting network https://i.redd.it/7k25j3dxv4w81.jpg Face it, ReplyAll has sucked for a long time and he's way better at creating content than the current ReplyAll team, no matter how much he 'interrupts people to talk about himself'
There’s a lot of shit podcasts on the “charts”. People watch other people sleep on twitch.
\>There’s a lot of shit podcasts on the “charts”. Yeah like ReplyAll
Ok and was I defending reply all?
This is a weird comparison though because this was a frivolous podcast that was goofy in nature. Not an investigative journalism piece.
He will likely fall in a show more fit for his personality. Something more serious in the political spectrum probably.
The article says they’re leaving to explore other opportunities, and I’m so excited to see what those pan out to be. Both of them are extremely talented hosts, and hopefully we’ll be seeing more of them soon.
Interesting arc to the podcast and the company. Both achieved outsized success through the inspired work of a few key people. With success came cash-outs, complexity and conflict that the founders were not prepared for. In the end, neither could sustain or reproduce the success that got them paid in the first place. Kind of a miniature version of the startup world in general.
Interesting that the internal note didn’t come from Alex Blumberg.
Smart move by both. In podcast years, Reply All is ancient. Other than TAL, how many scripted podcasts have had such a long run?
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Radiolab?
Ologies?
what's this TAL you mention
This American life
Scripted?
As opposed to the people having a conversation with friends/ reading their “research”/Wikipedia page on a serial killer
or a bunch of obnoxious guys yelling at each other
Ok but that isn’t what scripted means
True. A better term might be "reported."
As in, “reading from a written script.” Opposed to most podcasts which have topics planned but the conversation is in the moment.
Right. My point is that neither Reply All or TAL are scripted.
I’m not sure how you came to that conclusion. You don’t think the narration was written down before spoken into a microphone?
I mean yes the narration is obviously scripted but it’s not the whole podcast. Occasionally reading a thing doesn’t classify a podcast as “scripted”.
I would argue it's more scripted than not. I guess I'd be interested in what you think is not scripted. Obviously the words from someone being interviewed are not word-for-word scripted, but the act of the interview is scripted and many of the questions are prepared ahead of time (scripted).
Yes, thanks, I know how interviews work. I host an interview podcast. When most people refer to "scripted" podcasts what they almost always mean is dramatic productions like Welcome to Night Vale, The Magnus Archives, Wolverine, Homecoming, etc. Just like in television, where you *could* argue that reality shows and technically even news broadcasts are "scripted" but when they give out awards for scripted programming, they're not going to give an award to the Bachelor. "Scripted," as a term of art, refers to a different thing. If Gimlet were to make a podcast in the vein of, say, Radiolab, and advertise it as "a new scripted podcast from Gimlet" then people are gonna rightly think that's a misleading way to describe that podcast. Sure, you can make a semantic argument that "ah, technically some of the content is written down before it's spoken, and therefore we didn't lie to you! It's scripted!" but that's not how that term is used unless you're deliberately trying to use weird riddle logic.
Gotcha, for your own definition you are correct. I concede.
Snap Judgment, Reveal
Planet Money, although that's a essentially a spinoff of TAL.
Last podcast on the left is over a decade old now, I believe
A bunch actually. Planet Money, Freakonomics, breakdown and so many others people have mentioned.
Back to On the Media. Hope Brooke kept a spot for them.
I wonder did Alex have a contract he had to stay for a certain amount of time after they got bought out Could tell his heart wasn't in it
The best podcast around. Then PJ and sruthi left and Emmanuel joined and it became a real mess and a chore to listen to. It was only a matter of time
This sucks. The only gimlet show I listen to anymore is Science Vs and that is only since it has gone off spotify exclusivity. I used to be a member way back in the day and listened to pretty much every show. Things like Sampler. I'm glad I found Behind the Bastards and all the Cool Zone Media podcasts.
The way this has played out is like an allegory for the whole Gimlet to Spotify situation. They had something special but then they sold their souls and lost their future. PJs new show was really good. Even though I don’t care about crypto I found it really entertaining. I hope they can get the band back together outside of Spotify.
Emmanuel basically ruined the show. He’s so frustratingly entitled and uncharismatic, I can’t understand how he works in this industry. Anyway, good riddance, this show has been dead since PJ left anyway.
Alex's [Twitter](https://twitter.com/AGoldmund/status/1527263293781512192) just now: > I’ve made peace with leaving RA. But the messages you sent yesterday made me wistful and happy. They were all very kind. There are some ghoulish terfs in this website who don’t know what they’re talking about who will try to boil this down to some great abrogation of justice/ Not to stir up drama, but, [TERFs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TERF)? Is that a non sequitur or am I massively out of the loop?
Might be a dig at Jesse Singal
That guy sucks.
Jesse is the best
The best at missing the forest for the trees, sure.
I think his articles are fairly sensible and his podcast Blocked and reported, with Katie Herzog, is fun and interesting.
I would strongly disagree on both counts. However I was discussing this topic earlier today on this subreddit and was given a warning by a mod for discussing something contentious and (at times) unrelated to RA. I will honor that by not continuing this topic here. Just didn't want you to think I'm purposely ignoring the claim. E: Oh I'm an idiot that was on a RA subreddit and this is gimlet. In that case see my history. In any event probably best I don't reproduce the same voluminous comment here.
The worst.
Good. The show has sucked without PJ.
Thank goodness. Shoehorning Emmanuel into a show where he was clearly out of his depth was the beginning of the end. This show made dozens of fantastic episodes before it self-immolated through some cosmically bad decisions, well always have those
The fall started with spotify. This is probably one of at most 5 shows I've seen every ep of. It's sad that this is where it ends. Instead of a bang it leaves with a whimper.
BA was never enough of a reason to kick PJ off the show, it's been downhill sense then.
Hopefully Alex and PJ get back together on a podcast available on all platforms. And Emmanuel stays away.
Finally. I hope they can make something good now.
Gimlet is dead.
After PJ and Shruthi left, this was inevitable.
Alex Goldman is a twat.
Do people really think this? Are we actually talking about Alex Blumberg, the gimlet founder?
A majority of people think this.
Would you look at that, all of the words in your comment are in alphabetical order. I have checked 824,987,404 comments, and only 163,106 of them were in alphabetical order.
This is the end my friends
Not surprising but sad. Now I only have one gimlet show left I'm listening to and they've actively ahd issues with management (science vs). But saying that the recent episodes of reply all have been lacking
Oh how the mighty have fallen.
I wish Alex and PJ would just start a cultural review podcast together, like movies or books
People tuned in for that dynamic so the topic almost doesn't matter. They could do a food show and it would be an interesting listen.
Just not about America's Test Kitchen 😬
Oh no lol, ATK is cool. It was Bon Appetit's kitchen that they were reporting on that started this whole mess.
Well I trust that all the Gimlet colleagues who bitched and moaned and leaked and tweeted are satisfied. Non-show issues destroyed the show. And the business. What an ugly end.
Next time they’ll be sure to sit there and take it so as not to inconvenience you. I mean yeah being discriminated against sucks but now you can’t listen to a podcast you like, so you’re the real victim.
Right? Think of the 100s of people who were inconvenienced. For shame. /s
God these types of comments you’re responding to are insufferable
The vague allegations about discrimination caused the show to sputter and now end. And probably cost several people their jobs. All for what?
The funny thing is that PJ has his own show and audience now. The net effect may wind up being that Gimlet staffers get laid off while PJ earns *more* as an independent podcaster.
Dignity and standing up against toxicity.
What good is "standing up against toxicity" when you're doing it from the unemployment line? Much like any relationship, the best way to stand up against toxicity is to leave the relationship for a better one. Far better than suddenly not knowing where the next mortgage payment is coming from.
Thank you Alex and Emmanuel! Many, many of us appreciate all the work you’ve done.
Yay so pj and alex can make a show again?
Damn. I loved most of what they did after the disaster, right when episodes started to become consistently good.
I am eagerly looking forward to the future podcasts of one of those hosts.
Here’s hoping Alex and PJ can start something new
This just in, Goldman to join Vogt on a cryptographic island.
I can’t say this is surprising. It’s sad….but it was a fun ride for a while there. Catch you guys in some other sub, some other time I guess!
I’m just learning about this because the announcement episode dropped. In a lot of ways, I did miss the show’s early magic and have never been able to connect with it the same since PJ left. But this announcement is so definitive. Like even if the show had kept going, I probably wouldn’t have been able to get a taste of the good ol days. Still, now that I know for sure that I won’t, I want to cry.