If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission.
MasterClass is getting into the podcast business.
The online learning and streaming platform has launched “Other People’s Business,” its first-ever podcast, hosted by MasterClass founder and CEO David Rogier. The weekly audio and video series will feature conversations with Martha StewartMalcolm Gladwell, DJ Drama, Chris Voss, Daniel Negreanu and more, “digging into the money, power and behind-the-scenes decision-making driving industries from hip-hop and professional poker to weddings and weight-loss drugs,” according to a statement.
Stewart, who has previously appeared on MasterClass with her “Think Like a Boss, Live Like a Legend” program, kicks things off with a wide-ranging conversation about the business behind the Martha Stewart empire. She discusses becoming the first self-made female billionaire in the U.S., once earning $6 million for a single day’s work on a commercial, losing nearly $1 billion and the unlikely partnership with Snoop Dogg that helped introduce both stars to new audiences.
Pfeffer, meanwhile, joins Rogier for a conversation about the mechanics of power — including how people gain influence, leverage status and relationships and ultimately convert power into financial opportunity. The pair also touch on workplace health, leadership, authenticity and flattery, as well as how figures ranging from Donald Trump and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to Stewart herself wield and signal power.
“Whenever I don’t understand how something works, I want to find the person who does and ask the questions people usually don’t ask,” Rogier said in a statement. “The real answer is almost always more interesting than the official story. That’s the show.”
Upcoming episodes expand considerably beyond the traditional business world. Former FBI hostage negotiator Chris Voss will discuss crisis negotiation; professional poker player Daniel Negreanu will get into the economics and psychology of poker; journalist and author Malcolm Gladwell will tackle the business of writing; and DJ Drama is among the entertainment figures slated to appear.
Other episodes will examine entire industries rather than center on a single celebrity. PwC consumer markets leader Ali Furman and Jefferies analyst Sheila Kahyaoglu will unpack the booming GLP-1 market and how drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy are changing the way Americans eat and spend, while pastor and author Mark DeYmaz will explore the economics behind megachurches. Future installments will also look at the wedding industry and other businesses whose inner workings, MasterClass says, are typically hidden from consumers.
The move into podcasting marks another expansion for MasterClass, which has increasingly blurred the lines between online education and entertainment. The company built its name on highly produced video courses fronted by major figures in entertainment, sports, food and business, with instructors including Martin Scorsese, Shonda Rhimes, Samuel L. Jackson, Serena Williams and the Duffer Brothers. Its current membership includes more than 200 classes and original series, along with audio-only lessons and project-based “Sessions.”
More recently, MasterClass has broadened its programming beyond the traditional single-instructor course format with episodic original series, including shows centered on investing, business and emerging technology. “Other People’s Business” pushes that model further into personality-driven media, using the access and roster of experts MasterClass has cultivated as the foundation for an ongoing interview franchise.
Source: variety.com
