Meghan’s new podcast partners Lemonada: Female-founded start-up whose mission is to ‘make life suck less’ with shows on ‘Being Trans’ and ‘Burnout’

Meghan Markle‘s new podcast partner, female-founded, Lemonada, produces shows around sex, grief and LGBTQ issues to help ‘make life suck less’.

The company was launched in 2019 by co-founders Jessica Cordova Kramer and Stephanie Wittels Wachs who bonded after both losing their brothers to overdoses.

The pair now work with a host of celebrities from Sarah Silverman to Julia Louis-Dreyfus and have big backers including Stephanie Hannon, who served as Chief Technology Officer for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign.  

Wittels Wachs said in a 2022 interview they realized ‘people are struggling and feeling really alone. The mission for Lemonada was born. Our desire to make the hard things easier.’ 

Jessica Cordova Kramer and Stephanie Wittels Wachs – Lemonada Podcast founders 

Markle announced she was joining Lemonada and said she was happy to support a female-founded company

There are no details on what Markle’s new show with Lemonada will be yet – just that she will be the host – but she joins a series of celebrities who appear on their podcasts. 

One of Lemonada’s most popular shows is Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus, which spent 29 days in a row at the top of the Apple Podcast charts. 

In the podcast she sits down with Jane Fonda, Carol Burnett, Amy Tan, Diane von Furstenberg, Isabel Allende and Fran Lebowitz ‘to get schooled in how to live a full and meaningful life’. 

Another podcast, BEING Trans, follows a group of transgender people navigating their daily lives and promises ‘over the season, you’ll get to experience what it’s like BEING trans.’

Also on Lemonada is Raised by Ricki which revisits the iconic 90s talk show, the Ricki Lake Show, hosted by Ricki herself. 

Meanwhile Burnout, hosted by Connor Franta, looks at ‘how society reached a burning point and what we can do – really, actually do – to break the cycle.’

Cordova Kramer and Wittels Wachs have said before that they try to choose difficult topics that impact a lot of people and to offer solutions – so it’s not just all misery. 

Before Lemonada, Cordova Kramer worked as a Wall Street lawyer and then Teach For America, while Wittels Wachs was working as a theatre director and writer. 

Within their company, they focus on workplace culture, saying in a 2022 interview: ‘We want to make life suck less for our listeners but also for our staff. We lead with empathy. 

‘We have a generous PTO and paternal leave policy along with bereavement leave.’ 

Likewise, in 2021 the New York Times reported that ‘every production meeting begins with a round-robin mental health check-in.’ 

The company has a series of big backers, at the end of January, Lemonada announced it had raised another $8 million in Series A (second-round) funding.

A string of new investors included Stephanie Hannon, who served as Chief Technology Officer for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign.

Hannon is now CPO of Waze and as well as investing, is joining Lemonada’s advisory council. 

Julia Louis-Dreyfus hosts a podcast with Lemonada where she interviews celebrity women who are older than her

Comedian Sarah Silverman also has a podcast with Lemonada

The advisory council already includes former U.S. Representative Democrat Patrick J. Kennedy – the nephew of former President John F. Kennedy – and activist DeRay Mckesson.

As well as the new show, Lemonada will also distribute Archetypes, Markle’s previous podcast, to other platforms. 

Archetypes, Meghan’s original Spotify show, had around 1 million listens per episode and debuted as Spotify’s No. 1 podcast in 47 countries around the world when it launched in August 2022.

The series explored the labels that try to hold women back and included guests such as Mariah Carey, Jameela Jamil and Pamela Adlon.

It won a People’s Choice Award for The Pop Podcast of 2022 and Markle won best entertainment podcast host at the Gracie Awards. 

But then the $20 million deal with Spotify fizzled out – and now, Markle has found a new home for her future podcasts. 

Cordova Kramer, Lemonada added: ‘We are beyond honored that Meghan has trusted us to help democratize access to Archetypes, and that so many more people around the world will have access to the series soon.

‘Meghan’s talent as host, creator and conversationalist is unparalleled and we are thrilled to co-create a new series with her that fosters her approach to creating art that matters.’

Following the announcement, Markle added: ‘I’m proud to now be able to share that I am joining the brilliant team at Lemonada to continue my love of podcasting.

‘Being able to support a female-founded company with a roster of thought provoking and highly entertaining podcasts is a fantastic way to kick off 2024.

‘Our plan to re-release ‘Archetypes’ so that more people can now have access to it, as well as launching a dynamic new podcast are well in the works. I’m so eager to be able to share it soon, and am overjoyed to be joining the Lemonada family.’