Fruit (podcast)

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Fruit is a podcast created by Issa Rae and distributed on Howl. The series is an audio drama about a football player who is exploring his sexuality while trying to navigate the hypermasculine culture of the NFL.

Contents

Background

The show debuted in February 2016. [1] The episodes were released every Wednesday exclusively on Howl. [2] Each episode is roughly 20 minutes in length. [3] The show consists of two seasons. [4] The series is told in a first-person retrospective narration. [5] The podcast was originally released behind Howl's paywall, but was re-released outside of the paywall about a year later. [6] [7] Midroll Media incorporated product placement into the script of the show for Mailchimp. [8]

Issa Rae created the show shortly before becoming well known for shows like Insecure. [9] Benoni Tagoe and Deniese Davis were executive producers for the show. [10] The story follow an anonymous football player who goes by "X" and is voiced by Roderick Davis. [11] The story follows a rookie football player attempting to navigate his professional career in the hypermasculine environment of the NFL while also trying to figure out his own sexuality. [12] The show explores how homophobic locker room conversations contribute to a culture of hypermasculinity. [13] The Guardian compared the story to that of Michael Sam, however, Fruit is purely fictional and not based on any real life events. [14]

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References

  1. ↑ "Issa Rae Will Launch Her Own Podcast in February". Essence. October 27, 2020. Archived from the original on February 3, 2023. Retrieved December 25, 2023.
  2. ↑ Giddens, Jamey (February 9, 2016). "Issa Rae Brings Back The Radio Soap With Provocative 'Fruit'". Daytime Confidential. Archived from the original on December 25, 2023. Retrieved December 25, 2023.
  3. ↑ "Issa Rae's "Fruit" Zooms in on One Man's Sexuality". The Pride LA. August 8, 2017. Archived from the original on December 25, 2023. Retrieved December 25, 2023.
  4. ↑ Janay, Malinda (June 15, 2017). "How Black Creators Are Breaking Barriers by Using Scripted Podcasts for Storytelling". Blavity News. Archived from the original on December 25, 2023. Retrieved December 25, 2023.
  5. ↑ Verma, Neil (2017). "The Arts of Amnesia: The Case for Audio Drama, Part One". RadioDoc Review. 3 (1). North-Western University: 12. doi: 10.14453/rdr.v3i1.5 . Archived from the original on October 16, 2023. Retrieved December 25, 2023– via Research Online University of Wollongong.
  6. ↑ "Hot Pod: Mailchimp tries a new ad strategy, behind a paywall". Nieman Lab. Archived from the original on August 22, 2023. Retrieved December 25, 2023.
  7. ↑ "What's coming next in podcast adaptations: Adaptations of other forms of media to podcasts". Nieman Lab. Archived from the original on March 28, 2023. Retrieved December 25, 2023.
  8. ↑ Barr, Jeremy (February 11, 2016). "Podcast Network and Mailchimp Try Out Product Placement". Ad Age. Archived from the original on December 25, 2023. Retrieved December 24, 2023.
  9. ↑ Dibdin, Emma (August 15, 2019). "6 Podcasts for the Drama Lover". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on January 3, 2023. Retrieved December 25, 2023.
  10. ↑ "Issa Rae Debuts 'Fruit' – A New Scripted Audio Series (Preview)". Blavity News. February 3, 2016. Archived from the original on December 25, 2023. Retrieved December 25, 2023.
  11. ↑ "Fruit". The Sarahs. October 10, 2016. Archived from the original on December 25, 2023. Retrieved December 25, 2023.
  12. ↑ Ferreyra, Emilia (2022). "LGBTQ+ Representation in Fictional Podcast Series". Literatura Ludowa. Journal of Folklore and Popular Culture. 66 (2). Arizona State University: 22–26. doi: 10.12775/LL.2.2022.002 . Archived from the original on December 27, 2023. Retrieved December 27, 2023– via Nicolaus Copernicus University.
  13. ↑ "Issa Rae's Fruit tackles rigid rules of the alpha male playbook". CBC. February 24, 2016. Archived from the original on December 25, 2023. Retrieved December 24, 2023.
  14. ↑ Locker, Melissa (February 7, 2016). "Issa Rae's Fruit: the podcast exploring hypermasculinity and sexuality". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077. Archived from the original on March 27, 2023. Retrieved December 25, 2023.
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