I like finding different variations on the relationship between a brand and the makers of an associated podcast, so I think this show is worthy of some discussion:

WikiHole with D’Arcy Carden

The show is produced by Smartless Media, which recently moved from Amazon / Wondery to SiriusXM in a major deal. And Smartless has been rapidly expanding from their very popular flagship show to a network of show, all anchored by celebrity hosts.

WikiHole just launched this month (with some branding for Wondery and Radio Point) and has The Good Place actress D’Arcy Carden talking with different comedians about different Wikipedia rabbit holes. That sounds like a pretty typical celebrity podcast for 2024. What intrigued me though is what involvement, if any, Wikimedia has in the show. Certainly online posts are fair game for further commentary on a podcast - that’s the conceit of many shows, including WBUR’s Endless Thread.

It does look like Smartless sought out and got explicit approval from Wikimedia for certain aspects of Wikihole, which makes sense given the use of the overlapping name and a Wikipedia logo in the show art. The episode descriptions share a little bit of detail:

“Wikipedia and its trademarks are used with permission from the Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit that supports Wikipedia. The views expressed in WikiHole belong to SmartLess Media and are not endorsed or affiliated with Wikipedia.”

It’s a fun show, and it’s an interesting brand involvement model that I haven’t seen much of elsewhere!