My Moms once taught me that if I don’t have anything nice to say about people like Talib Kweli—who has “shove too many syllables into a sentence” and “harass Black women” circled on his daily agenda—then don’t say anything at all.
Here is my valiant attempt at doing so.
On Tuesday, Luminary, a subscription-based podcast network, came through with some big news. Not only will the company debut a new subscription platform in May, but all of their original podcasts will be made available on Apple Podcasts, via a brand new channel.
So does that mean you’ll be able to access Luminary’s library of 35 different podcasts—each currently behind a paywall—for free now in Apple Podcasts?
I’ll let this press release from Luminary explain that one:
Listeners will be able to access all Luminary Original podcasts after a seven-day free trial for $34.99 per year, equivalent to $2.99 per month, or for $5.99 per month through the Luminary app, available in 12 countries. With Apple Podcasts Subscriptions, listeners in more than 170 countries and regions can access the Luminary channel on Apple Podcasts for $5.99 per month after a seven-day free trial.
IN LAYMAN’S TERMS: Nope. But it sounds like they’ll at least be easier to access for those of us who have zero desire to download yet another app to our phones.
But aside from a dedicated Apple Podcasts channel coming in May, Luminary also has big plans for new content. Not only will we be treated to new seasons from some of our favorites, like The Real World: Philadelphia alum Karamo Brown, but Dave Chapelle, Yasiin Bey, and the aforementioned Kweli will be joining forces for a new podcast, The Midnight Miracle.
“Making a podcast isn’t the obvious next move for me, but it’s the right one,” Chapelle told The Root in a statement. “The Midnight Miracle gives you a look into how me and my friends process the world around us, and I think it will change the way listeners think of what a podcast can be.”
Will it include Chapelle and Bey checking their wayward homeboy for harassing Black women online? Probably not. But it will be punctuated with sketches, impersonations, archival audio clips, and a dope-ass soundtrack that includes contributions from legendary saxophonist Charlie Parker, jazz icon Dizzy Gillespie, D’Angelo, and many more. It will also give listeners a taste of the candid conversations that Chapelle loves to have with friends.
“The Midnight Miracle pushes the boundaries of podcasting, creating an audio experience listeners have never heard before,” Simon Sutton, Luminary’s CEO, said in a statement to The Root. “It is the exact type of project we built Luminary to support, and we are so excited to share it with listeners across the world.”
For more info on Luminary’s new subscription platform and its upcoming podcast, The Midnight Miracle, hit up their website.