Gimlet Media launches three new original podcasts

Brooklyn NY, USA—Gimlet Media, the Brooklyn-based media company behind hit podcasts like Reply All, Homecoming, The Nod and StartUp, today announced a slate of three new original series set to premiere later this April. Among the new shows are a scripted fiction series, Sandra, starring Kristen Wiig (SNL, Bridesmaids) as Sandra, the world’s most intuitive virtual assistant, and Alia Shawkat (Search Party, Arrested Development) as a Sandra operator; a serialized nonfiction podcast, The Habitat, exploring the lives of six individuals isolated for one year inside a small dome in Hawaii on a simulated Mars mission; and We Came to Win, the company’s first sports podcast that dives deep into the societal impact and political implications behind some of the most fabled soccer matches of all time, all ahead of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. And rounding out the slate of new series is the seventh season of Gimlet’s first show, StartUp, profiling the most unlikely powerbroker in Silicon Valley: Arlan Hamilton of Backstage Capital.

Gimlet Media also announced GimletFest, the company’s first live festival representing the best of Gimlet Media brought to life, will takeover BRIC Arts and Media Center in Brooklyn, New York Saturday, June 16 and Sunday, June 17, 2018. General admission tickets go on sale Wednesday, April 25.

Gimlet’s full slate of new and returning podcasts this spring includes:

Sandra (All Episodes Available Wednesday, April 18)

Gimlet’s new fiction series, Sandra, follows Helen Perera (Alia Shawkat), a new hire at Orbital Teledynamics– the company behind Sandra (Kristen Wiig), the world’s most intuitive virtual assistant. As one of thousands of Sandra operators, Helen spends her days peeking into the world of Sandra users, helping them navigate their questions and demands. One problem: the users don’t know she’s real. Along the way, Helen’s own world becomes more difficult to navigate, too, as she struggles to manage a divorce from her estranged husband, Donny (Christopher Abbott), while keeping her boss, Dustin (Ethan Hawke), happy. Oh, and she also may be in a bit of an increasingly unprofessional situation in her interactions with Tad (Avi Rothman), a heartbroken Sandra super user.

Sandra stars Kristen Wiig (SNL, Bridesmaids), Alia Shawkat (Search Party, Arrested Development), with Christopher Abbott (Girls), Avi Rothman (Love, Sex, and Missed Connections) and Ethan Hawke (Boyhood). Sandra was written by Kevin Moffett and Matthew Derby. Mimi O’Donnell is Gimlet’s Executive Producer, Scripted Fiction.

The presenting sponsors of Sandra are HPE, Casper, Mozilla and Audible.

All seven episodes of Sandra will be available on Wednesday, April 18.

The Habitat (All Episodes Available Wednesday, April 18)

On a remote mountain in Hawaii, there’s a fake planet Mars. Six volunteers are secluded in an imitation Mars habitat where they will work as imitation astronauts for one very real year. The goal: to help researchers understand what life might be like on the red planet — and plan for the day when the dress rehearsals are over, and we blast off for real.

Host Lynn Levy has been chronicling this experiment from the moment the crew set foot in their habitat, communicating with them through audio diaries that detail their discoveries, their frustrations, and their evolving and devolving relationships with each other. From those diaries, comes an addictive serialized podcast: the true story of a fake planet, The Habitat.

All seven episodes of The Habitat will be available on Wednesday, April 18.

We Came to Win (Premieres Monday, April 25)

This spring, ahead of the 2018 World Cup, Gimlet dives deep into the back stories from the most memorable soccer matches of all time in We Came to Win — Gimlet’s first sports series, premieres Wednesday, April 25.

In 1974, it was Zaire, appearing in its first-ever World Cup against Brazil, where they played under the weight of threats from dictator Joseph Mobutu. In 1986, it was Maradona’s “Hand of God” that restored Argentina’s honor just four years after a bloody conflict with England. And in 2002 the USA shocked the world when they defeat rivals Mexico and ignited a rivalry that endures to this day.

Soccer is a sport that is about so much more than goals. It’s about continents, countries, characters, and the relationships between them. We Came to Win is hosted by Nando Vila, soccer journalist and host of Fusion’s Happy Ending with Nando Vila.

Three episodes of We Came to Win will premiere on Wednesday, April 25 with seven weekly installments to follow leading up to the 2018 World Cup.

StartUp Season 7 (Premieres Friday, April 27)

StartUp, the podcast that started it all, returns April 27, with six episodes profiling the most unlikely powerbroker in Silicon Valley: Arlan Hamilton.

Arlan has broken into the biggest, whitest boys’ club in the valley: venture capital. And she’s hell bent on transforming it from the inside out.

It’s not just her reputation at stake, or her dream. It’s the ambitions of more than fifty entrepreneurs she’s funded, all female, LGBT, people of color — what she calls “underestimated founders.”

And this is not a charity. Arlan’s in it to get rich.

What does it look like when an outsider tries to break into venture capital? Find out in the newest season of StartUp, hosted by Amy Standen.

StartUp returns for its seventh season Friday, April 27.