PRX Big Questions Project Launches Second Season Of Four Podcasts

 When podcast fans think of influential companies in podcasting, they first consider Spotify, Amazon (Wondery), iHeart, and SiriusXM. They are indeed large producers of podcasts, many of them popular.

 Yet, the heart and soul of podcasting is the independent producers of podcasts. Those "mom and pop" podcasts that birthed the industry in the "aughts." 

And one of the most influential organizations when podcasting was in its infancy and in its maturity is PRX.  You might not know them, but you should. For the last 20 years, PRX has worked in partnership with leading independent creators, organizations, and stations to bring meaningful audio storytelling into millions of listeners’ lives.

PRX is one of the world’s top podcast publishers, public radio distributors, and audio producers, serving as an engine of innovation for public media and podcasting to help shape a vibrant future for creative and journalistic audio. Shows across PRX’s portfolio of broadcast productions, podcast partners, and its Radiotopia podcast network have received recognition from the Peabody Awards, the Tribeca Festival, the International Documentary Association, and more, including in 2022 when Futuro Media and PRX won a Pulitzer Prize.

In its 20 years as a nonprofit public media company, PRX has brought listeners This American Life, Ear Hustle, Ted Talks Daily, Snap Judgment, Welcome To Nightvale and more. PRX is, in essence, an incubator for podcast and radio excellence.

So PRX, with significant support from the John Templeton Foundation, invited scholars, theologians, and storytellers in the U.S. and Canada to submit ideas and concepts for developing new podcast series that explore big questions. PRX encouraged submissions from individuals and teams who are historically underrepresented in media. PRX invited applicants at all levels of familiarity with podcasting, including those who are not professionally experienced in content making and podcasting. 

PRX provided finalists editorial, production, and marketing resources to fully develop at least two seasons of their podcast, each 6–8 episodes long. The podcasts produced in PRX's Big Questions Project will provide listeners with a deeper understanding of how abstract issues like spirituality, character, ethics, and humility connect to their daily lives. 

PRX announced last week that podcasts created as part of the PRX Big Questions Project accelerator in 2023 are launching new seasons beginning Wednesday, April 24.

The four podcasts––Moral Repair, Second Sunday, Mother Is A Question, and Rock That Doesn’t Roll––traverse territory as engaging and varied as motherhood, technology and society, belonging in one’s faith, and Christian rock music. Each show is available free across all major podcast platforms.

New seasons of each podcast will feature the following:

Moral Repair focuses on the ethical dimensions of modern technology like AI and automations with wisdom from the Black diaspora. It's essentially a Black exploration of tech. Hosts and creators Annanda Barclay and Keisha McKenzie continue to help explore today’s world of new and evolving technology with the help of Black technologists, philosophers, care practitioners, and theologians.

Empowering listeners to navigate tech’s moral and ethical challenges, among other topics, episodes will delve into artificial intelligence both in our lives and at the federal level with guest Alondra Nelson (the first principal director for science and society of the White House Office of Science and Technology), social technologies that can help heal from distracting always-on technology, and more.

Mother Is A Question is not your typical parenting podcast.  Mother Is A Question has intimate, boundary-pushing conversations about motherhood. Season two topics include mothering as a revolutionary act and what we can learn from the animal kingdom about nurturing.

Best friends Julia Metzger-Traber and Tasha Haverty invite listeners on a journey to listen for the unspeakable and crack open the definitions of motherhood alongside mothers from all walks of life. Not an average mom advice show — this is a space for the whispers, screams, and questions. This season will consider topics such as mothering as a revolutionary act, the profundity of nurturing life after experiencing death, and what animals of the wild can teach people about the capacity to listen to their children.

Rock That Doesn’t Roll looks at how the peak era of Christian Music shaped the world we are living in now, for better or for worse. Season two explores the genre’s influence of the purity movement, film and television, and more.

The podcast will continue to reveal how Christian music has shaped the world we’re living in, while bringing listeners multi-faceted stories from the peak era of the genre. The season will feature a special episode with Grammy-nominated artist Jennifer Knapp––whose identity broke the frame placed on her by the industry––and will also examine purity culture, holy hip hop, the 80s band Stryper, and more. Rock that Doesn’t Roll is created by author Leah Payne and Sound Opinions senior producer Andrew Gill.

Second Sunday offers a raw glimpse into the lives of Black queer individuals within Black religious spaces. Season two looks at experiences of finding faith again through working during the AIDS crisis, evolving communities in different religions, the Black trans experience, and more.

An unfiltered exploration of Black queer people and their nuanced relationships with the Black Christian Church, Second Sunday shifts from profound to light-hearted as hosts Darren Calhoun and Esther Ikoro also ground their listeners with anecdotes and laughter. This season, the podcast will feature a variety of thought-provoking conversations, including with actress Angelica Ross (Pose) on her journey toward Buddhism, City of Refuge United Church founder Yvette Flunder on losing faith to finding purpose again through community work during the AIDS crisis, and beyond.

Made in partnership with The Qube, co-founder Anna DeShawn says, “Black Queer folks have always been an integral part of the Black church, and it’s past time for our stories to be heard.”

“Each of these podcast production teams consistently advances narratives emphasizing themes of science, religion, and philosophy while demonstrating their importance and intrigue,” said Courtney Fleurantin, project manager of the PRX Big Questions Project. “We’re excited to continue amplifying more stories by empowering these new voices in the podcasting community, and thank the John Templeton Foundation for support.” 

The PRX Big Questions Project is supported by the John Templeton Foundation. Several of the podcasts––including Moral Repair and Second Sunday––were recently lauded by The Podcast Academy in the 2024 Ambie Awards, finalists in categories honoring the best podcasts in genres of personal growth, spirituality, and knowledge. In addition, Rock that Doesn’t Roll was recognized in the 2024 Wilbur Awards from the Religion Communicators Council.

I encourage you to listen to these four podcasts. Please imagine you are at Costco. As you push your cart, you come across delicious samples, but of podcasts, not cheese squares or pretzels. Just sample the diversity of these shows -- from a fresh and unvarnished view of motherhood to what tech means specifically to Blacks. And the penultimate meetup -- Christian music and Black queer people who are involved in their church.

Spotify, iHeart, Wondery have a lot of good podcasts. But you know what to expect. Be surprised. Sample something different. Try it. You may like it.