Here at Hub & Spoke we’re delighted to share the news of our first “graduation.” Hi-Phi Nation, a podcast about philosophy from producer Barry Lam, is leaving the collective in order to join the Slate Podcasts Network beginning with the show’s third season in late January 2019.
“We couldn’t be more proud of Barry,” says Hub & Spoke co-founder Wade Roush, producer of the culture-and-technology podcast Soonish. “From the beginning, we’ve seen Hub & Spoke as a community where independent producers can find support, hone their craft, build their audience, and ideally go on to even greater things in the future. That’s exactly what Barry is doing now.”
In a blog post about the move, Barry says the Slate network will distribute a full 10-episode run of Hi-Phi Nation’s Season 3, offering possibilities for advertising, publicity, and promotional help beyond anything he could have managed on his own. “This marks the very first philosophy podcast, and indeed the only narrative philosophy show, that exists on ANY major podcast network, public or private,” Barry writes. “It’s a major and important step in making philosophy accessible to everyone.”
Barry, who gave a public talk on “The Role of Storytelling in Public Philosophy” at the recent Sound Education conference at Harvard Univeresity, says his year-long stint as a Hub & Spoker was key to the show’s growth. “Hub & Spoke was so important and helpful for support and morale during Season 2,” he says. “The camaraderie made it all worthwhile.”
Bary continues, “I am very happy to be joining Slate because of its high-quality intellectual content, its very dedicated readership and listening audience, and to help reach a lot more people who are smart but don't know yet that they would enjoy listening to and thinking about philosophical questions.”
Congratulations, Barry! Godspeed and we can’t wait to hear Season 3.