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Reply All co-hosts Alex Goldman and Emmanuel Dzotsi to leave show

Reply All co-hosts Alex Goldman and Emmanuel Dzotsi to leave show

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It is unclear whether the show will continue after they leave

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Reply All co-hosts Alex Goldman and Emmanuel Dzotsi will be leaving the show next month, according to an internal memo obtained by The Verge. It is unclear whether or in what form the show will continue.

Gimlet executives emailed staffers Wednesday morning, saying, “Alex and Emmanuel have both made the decision to explore opportunities outside of Gimlet, and we’ll have more info to share on the future of Reply All soon. … The decision to end this iteration of the show came from a desire of the host team to move on, and we hope that there is a future where a show about the internet that isn’t actually about the internet can be reborn in Gimlet’s library.” Dzotsi confirmed to The Verge that he and Goldman will be leaving the show.

Goldman and Dzotsi’s announcement is the latest blow for the embattled eight-year-old show, which was once the jewel in Gimlet’s crown. When Reply All published The Test Kitchen, a limited series on the discriminatory work culture of Bon Appétit magazine, former Gimlet staffers set off a social media firestorm when they accused co-host PJ Vogt and producer Sruthi Pinnamaneni of fostering a similar environment and blocking internal efforts at making Gimlet more inclusive. Vogt and Pinnamaneni left the show shortly after. 

The news comes on the heels of a number of high-profile departures at Spotify, including at Gimlet. Gimlet managing director Lydia Polgreen announced last month that she will be returning to The New York Times as an opinion columnist. Last week, Bloomberg reported that Gimlet co-founder Matthew Lieber, who had been serving as head of studios podcast operations since Spotify acquired Gimlet in 2019, would also be leaving.

Before Spotify inked massive licensing deals with Joe Rogan, Dax Shepard, and Alex Cooper, its $194 million purchase of Gimlet was its first big leap into podcasting content, along with its acquisition of Anchor. At the time, Gimlet was among the buzziest podcast studios in the industry, and Reply All, which explores the internet and society, was its biggest hit with listeners and critics. But The Test Kitchen scandal tarnished Reply All’s reputation, and the show never quite regained its footing after Vogt left. Gimlet has a broad spread beyond Reply All, but the studio only has two podcasts currently ranked in Spotify’s top 100: Wall Street Journal collaboration The Journal., and true crime series Stolen: Surviving St. Michael’s.

Vogt has since moved on to make his own podcast, Welcome to Crypto Island, which launched in March. Goldman and Dzotsi have not yet announced their next steps.

You can read the whole letter below:

Dear Gimlet, 

We write to share that Alex Goldman and Emmanuel Dzotsi have decided to leave Reply All. They will publish their final episode of this season on June 23rd. 

Alex and Emmanuel have both made the decision to explore opportunities outside of Gimlet, and we’ll have more info to share on the future of Reply All soon. This show has had an incredible run, pushing the boundaries of what works in narrative audio, inspiring fellow and future podcasters, and making audiences rethink their own digital lives. It is not an exaggeration to say it defined an era of podcasting. 

The decision to end this iteration of the show came from a desire of the host team to move on, and we hope that there is a future where a show about the internet that isn’t actually about the internet can be reborn in Gimlet’s library. For now, though, we just want to thank the team for all of their hard work, and celebrate the last episodes of a great season. 

Please reach out to us with any questions. 

Nicole, Mimi, Reyhan and Valentina

[Head of news and knowledge programming Nicole Beemsterboer; head of scripted Mimi O’Donnell; head of society and culture programming Reyhan Harmanci; and head of content operations Valentina Powers.]