When Laura Walker, president and CEO of New York Public Radio, read an article by Third Coast founder Julie Shapiro in 2013 about the state of gender in podcasting, she was “frankly disturbed… I was astounded. We had this young medium where the rules had not yet been established and already it was mirroring virtually every other entertainment venture with the men dominating.”
After establishing WNYC Studios—a powerhouse of podcasting responsible for game-changing blockbusters like Radiolab—Walker seized the opportunity to flip the gender narrative by creating Werk It: A Women’s Podcast Festival. Now in its third year, Werk It has outgrown humble beginnings in NYPR’s Greene Space with only 100 invited guests. This year, attendees from all over the world will head to the Ace Hotel’s 1,600-seat theater in Los Angeles from October 3 to 5 to experience a diverse program for women at various stages of their podcasting career.
“I knew we were well-positioned to disrupt the…
