Megan Rapinoe lines up a new podcast with Vox Media
The soccer champion’s weekly interview show, “Why Are You Like This?,” is set to debut Aug. 6 across major podcast platforms.
By Georgia Hale · Staff Writer
3 min read
Megan Rapinoe is taking the mic solo with a new weekly interview podcast, “Why Are You Like This?,” produced and distributed by Vox Media.
The show is scheduled to launch Thursday, Aug. 6, with new episodes arriving each week, according to Vox Media. Episodes will run about an hour and will be available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube and other platforms.
Vox Media says Rapinoe will sit down with artists, athletes, activists and other cultural figures, with conversations built around what drives them, how they work and how they understand their public lives.
Rapinoe has not named the first guests. In an interview with Variety, she said the series will feature “some of the world’s most interesting people” and will focus on the choices that set them apart.
“I am mostly interested in talking with people about why they do things the way they do things, and why some people seemingly take a left when everyone else is taking a right,” Rapinoe told Variety. She added that she is interested in guests’ lived experience and how they see themselves in the world.
A bigger field than sports
Rapinoe told Variety that women’s sports may come up on the podcast, including the 2027 Women’s World Cup, but the program is designed to range well beyond athletics.
She said the show will look at people who shape culture in different ways, including their fears, difficult moments and origin stories.
Rapinoe brings a heavyweight résumé to the project. She is a two-time World Cup champion and an Olympic gold medalist. She helped the U.S. Women’s National Team win the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, where she won the Golden Boot as the tournament’s top scorer and the Golden Ball as its best player.
She is also the author of the New York Times bestselling memoir “One Life” and a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Rapinoe keeps working with Vox
“Why Are You Like This?” extends Rapinoe’s relationship with Vox Media. She previously co-hosted the women’s sports podcast “A Touch More” with pro basketball player Sue Bird, also in partnership with Vox Media.
Rapinoe continues to produce through the A Touch More banner with Bird. Variety reported that Rapinoe and Bird announced their separation as a couple in April.
Vox Media will handle production, advertising sales, marketing and distribution for the new podcast. The show joins a Vox Media Podcast Network slate that includes “Pivot” with Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway, “Pretty Tough” with Maria Sharapova, “Stay Tuned” with Preet Bharara and “The Curiosity Shop” with Brené Brown and Adam Grant.
Nishat Kurwa, senior vice president and executive producer at Vox Media, called Rapinoe “an iconoclast” in a statement and said the podcast will use her range and authority to explore the backstories of other trailblazers.
The Vox Media Podcast Network is now owned by James Murdoch’s Lupa Systems, which acquired it in May along with New York Magazine, including Vulture and The Cut, and Vox.com for more than $300 million, according to Variety. Separately, Variety parent PMC announced a deal to acquire other Vox Media digital brands, including Eater, The Verge, SB Nation, Popsugar, The Dodo, Punch and Thrillist.
This story draws on original reporting from Variety.