Fullschedule

Take in the views of the Manhattan skyline from Wythe Hotel’s 6th floor lounge and mingle with other business and creative leaders over pastries and coffee. The breakfast will include a fireside chat with Sounds Profitable partner Tom Webster.

Please note: This is for VIP ticket holders only.

Rachel Martin, host of NPR's Wild Card, kicks off the fest in candid conversation with Brian Reed, host of Question Everything.

Joe Weisenthal and Tracy Alloway of the Odd Lots podcast get into the weeds of how the media industry has evolved within the last 20 years - from trends, disruptive technologies, and what we might see in the era of AI.

Join hosts B.A. Parker and Gene Demby to celebrate 10 years of NPR's Code Switch—the podcast that explores how race and identity influence everything. In an era defined by conversations around DEI, "woke" culture, and the legacy of movements like Black Lives Matter, how have our discussions about race evolved—and what ground still needs to be covered? Through their signature blend of humor, empathy, and nuanced insights, B.A., Gene, and their guests will explore how these conversations have shifted (and stayed the same) over time.

Narrative climate podcasts are under threat. The move away from this format to cheaper chat-casts with talking heads can alienate listeners and lack much-needed context, moving us further away from fostering empathy and collaboration for a livable future for all.

Media is transforming at a pace we’ve never seen before. From how we consume entertainment and sports to culture-defining moments like the Oscars moving online, the ground is shifting beneath our feet. Nowhere is that disruption more apparent, or more consequential, than in the news. As audiences walk away from legacy outlets and turn to independent voices for truth and accountability, the future of journalism is being actively redefined.

Join visionary creator Kenya Barris (beloved TV sitcom Black-ish and the Unusual Suspects podcast) for an inside look at the making of his latest Audible Original, Big Age, a hilarious new audio series that blends outrageous comedy and touching revelations. Barris shares how this incredible listening experience comes together - from casting comedy legends Jenifer Lewis, Cedric the Entertainer, and Niecy Nash-Betts to creating an outrageous senior community designed to come alive in audio. Through its blend of comedy and heart, Big Age explores what it means to grow older without growing old at heart. Crank up the volume and buckle in.

A crumbling, congested highway that no one likes and no one can agree what to do with – it’s a familiar refrain in US cities, which is why this year Ian Coss, host of The Big Dig, is hitting the road to study the problem on the ‘Highway Teardown Tour’. For this special stop, he’ll be joined by WNYC transportation reporter Stephen Nessen to talk about the distinct challenge posed by Brooklyn’s own outdated highway, as well as the challenge of how to tell its story. And stick around afterwards for a guided walk of the BQE with local artist Kelsey Strauch, who has turned the structure in a gallery.

Join a daring group of ancestors on their quest to find a Promised Land in the midst of the American Revolution.

Audio isn’t just something you listen to anymore - it’s evolving into a powerful, multi-platform storytelling engine that lives across video, social, and real-world experiences. In this session, leaders from the creator economy, a major audiobook and podcast platform, and a leading IRL media company will unpack how today’s creators are going visual, how brands and platforms fuel fandom and niche communities, and how immersive, real-world experiences turn audio into something you can see, feel, and share.

Featuring Stacy Minero, Chief Marketing & Experience Officer of OUTFRONT, James Finn, Global Head of Brand & Content Marketing and Audible & Brooks Miller, EVP, Creator Marketing at Edelman and UEG.

Get ready for a mind meld of the sharp, contemporary market analysis of Bloomberg’s Everybody’s Business with the deep historical storytelling of Pushkin’s Business History. Together, the hosts will bridge the gap between past and present, examining how the forgotten legacies of industry giants continue to shape today’s global economic landscape. It is a unique crossover experience that combines high-stakes financial reporting with a narrative journey through the pivotal moments that defined modern commerce.

Award-winning Supervising Producer at iHeart Media of shows like Las Culturistas and This Is Important, and host of new podcast Welcome to El Barrio, Becca Ramos, will lead a lively panel with other Puerto Rican and Latine culture leaders to talk about Bad Bunny’s global rise and what we can learn from staying true to ourselves. The panel will also feature community builders who have been active in this field since before “Debí Tirar Mas Fotos,” sharing how their work has changed as Puerto Rico has become more visible in popular culture.

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, author, professor and founder of Futuro Media, Maria Hinojosa joins La Brega host Alana Casanova-Burgess for a live taping of the acclaimed bilingual podcast. In their third season, La Brega is following Puerto Rican champions in boxing rings, in beauty pageants, in courtrooms and even at the United Nations to find out what it means to represent Puerto Rico as a country.

Podcast discovery no longer lives where podcasts do. As video platforms, algorithms, and clip culture increasingly determine what audiences see, many podcasters are finding that visibility doesn’t always lead to real listenership or lasting connection. This panel explores how creators are taking discovery back into their own hands: building community, using video intentionally, and growing audiences that actually stick. Whether you’re launching your first season or scaling across formats, this session reframes discovery for 2026 — with approaches rooted in craft, connection, and culture instead of chasing reach.

Presented by Patreon

2025 Audio Vanguard Award winner Debbie Millman returns to On Air Fest with a live taping of her podcast, Design Matters. One of the world's very first podcasts, Design Matters centers on how the world’s most creative people—designers, writers, artists, musicians, educators, scientists, philosophers, athletes and performers—design the trajectory of their lives.

What happens when the biggest sports stories happen outside the arena? The creators of The Sports Gossip Show, ESPN's 30 for 30 Podcasts, and the executive overseeing the making of Crave’s Heated Rivalry, examine how sex, scandal, and gossip—once confined to message boards and group chats - are dominating sports storytelling, from (fictional) rivalries to true-crime investigations.

Presented by ESPN 30 for 30 Podcasts

Audio Flux is a home for short form audio and bold storytelling. Join co-founders Julie Shapiro and John DeLore as they share original "fluxworks" from previous circuits and announce, for the first time publicly, the creative partner, theme, and prompts for Circuit 07. Additional guests to be announced soon.

Journalist Pablo Torre joins us for a special recording of his show, 'Pablo Torre Finds Out,' from The Athletic.

After a decade of sharing other people's regrets on the acclaimed and beloved podcast Heavyweight, host Jonathan Goldstein looks back on his own regrets making the show. Revisiting ten years worth of stories and tape, Jonathan reflects on his work and then opens it up for an audience Q&A with his producers Kalila Holt and Stevie Lane.

Video podcasting does NOT mean you are doomed to film people talking into microphones. This moment is an opportunity to invent a whole new medium and discover what video podcasting could be for narrative producers. In this session, drawing on experimental cinema, video games, and underground rave culture, audio producers will tell stories with a live “video score” that doesn’t dominate audio-first storytelling. You will leave with concrete ideas, references, and techniques to help you dream up a video version of your show that you can be excited about.

Talking Too Loud is a biweekly business podcast hosted by Wistia CEO Chris Savage, exploring the ideas, trends, and shifts shaping the worlds of tech, marketing, creativity, and brand-building. In this live taping, Chris sits down with Brittany Luse, host of It’s Been A Minute, to unpack what happens when audio-first shows move toward video—from YouTube’s growing influence to the real costs, tradeoffs, and personal shifts that come with showing up on the internet in a more visible way.

Stand-up comedian Eric Andre is joined by his friends and collaborators for a live taping of his boisterous show. Special guests to be announced.

Returning for the second year in a row, join 'Victory Light' host The Kid Mero and his very high sauce co-hosts Rainey Ovalle and Lizbel for unfiltered commentary, uproarious banter, and behind-the-scenes stories about all things pop culture and current events.

Start your day right at On Air Fest with breakfast and the co-hosts of the new, hit podcast "Crashing Out with Philip DeFranco & Alex Pearlman" — courtesy of our partners at Trival Media. Take in the views of the Manhattan skyline from the Wythe Hotel's 6th floor lounge and mingle with other business and creative leaders. The breakfast will include a moderated, live Q&A version of Crashing Out with special guests, giveaways, and audience participation!

Seth and Josh Meyers return to On Air Fest for the third year in a row, joining us for a live taping of their hit podcast, "Family Trips with the Meyers Brothers."You never know where the conversation will go, but it’s sure to be a trip! Special guest to be announced.

In 2026, America celebrates is semi-quincentennial -- that's 250 years since the Declaration of Independence. This Day, a history show from Radiotopia, is embarking on a year-long series called "50 Weeks That Shaped America," their attempt to pick the stories and themes from US history that brought us to this moment. Join Jody Avirgan, Nicole Hemmer, Kellie Carter Jackson and special guests for a conversation about the forces, people, and twists and turns that shaped our country's past and present.

Justin Richmond, host and producer of the acclaimed podcast Broken Record, sits down with Grammy-award winning musician Wyclef Jean for a compelling conversation on his decades-long, genre-defying career as a solo artist and member of the legendary hip hop group The Fugees alongside Lauryn Hill and Prasas.

True crime is no longer a single genre or confined to one medium—it’s an ecosystem. Today, cases live across podcasts, books, documentaries, social media, and live events, shaped by storytellers with wildly different backgrounds and skills. This panel brings together three distinct voices in that ecosystem: Beth Karas, former prosecutor and longtime legal analyst; Payne Lindsay, creator of Up and Vanished and co-founder of Tenderfoot TV; and Gilbert King, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and author whose work has helped expose wrongful convictions.

HEREDERXS IN SPACE is a time-traveling performance by Pizza Shark and Locatora Radio that honors the power of witnessing and imagining stories. The performance will begin with oral history excerpts from today's creators, then continue to pitch speculative podcasts from 2036 with pre-recorded sizzle reels and satirical show art, asking: what could we grow into?

With the 2026 FIFA World Cup on the horizon, David Greene sits down with Bomani Jones for a wide-ranging conversation about what it means for the United States to host the world at a pivotal moment. From patriotism to protest to global perception, they explore who gets to define “America” when the whole world is watching.

Come ready to take a musical journey. Joining us in between the North American and European legs of his recent tour, Peter Silberman (The Antlers) will discuss the making of, and play selections from, the Antlers' new album, Blight. Alongside him, Hrishikesh Hirway (Song Exploder, The One AM Radio) will also play songs from his own upcoming album, In the Last Hour of Light. The two will trade songs and the stories behind them in this intimate conversation at the intersection of music, storytelling and sound.

Audie Cornish sits down with her longtime friend and former NPR co-host, Ari Shapiro, for a special episode of The Assignment they’re calling “Engagement Party.” They’ll share the culture and ideas they’re engaging with and why they’re obsessed, reflect on the state of journalism and public media, and unpack what it takes to build a creative partnership that lasts.

Join us for a special workshop, led by Zak Rosen and Sharon Mashihi.

Seven-time Grammy winner Jacob Collier can hear a room and turn it into an instrument. In this session, Switched On Pop’s Charlie Harding brings Jacob a series of musical questions; how to reharmonize a song everyone knows so it feels completely different; how to be a good collaborator; how to take risks; how to subvert expectation; how to access the emotional palette that chordal language has to offer. The result is a rare window into how one of the most inventive musicians alive thinks and feels, and a chance for you - the audience - to become part of the music itself.

Why Did They Break Up? is DCP Entertainment’s newest hit series—launched November 5th and already gaining viral momentum with social clips topping 100,000 views each. Hosted by celebrated storyteller Touré, the show takes audiences on a gripping, funny, and deeply human journey through someone’s wildest breakup story.

Dylan Thuras and Blake Pfeil strap on their sonic expedition boots for this collaborative audio trip, a live storytelling performance from the upcoming season of abandoned: The All-American Ruins Podcast. While wandering the ruins of an abandoned cement factory in Upstate New York, adventure buddies Dylan and Blake meditate on residing in the hollowed remains of a 19th century boom town, asking themselves the difficult question: "When did the walls of America become the abandoned ruins we are camping out in?"

Join us for a lively discussion on the opportunity for content creators to break the mold, achieve growth, and set themselves up for greater success in the year ahead. We’ll dive into the research, the creative process, and everything in between to uncover how compelling content is built, monetized, and keeps audiences coming back for more.

Presented by Simplecast.

Bestselling author and host of the acclaimed Revisionist History podcast sits with Andrew Jarecki (The Jinx) to discuss their recent documentary projects on the criminal justice system in Alabama. Jarecki's film, The Alabama Solution, is a six year investigation into prison abuses and Gladwell's, a seven-episode Revisionist History series, The Alabama Murders, covers a death row case spanning three decades. The two discuss what they learned, their approaches to "true crime" storytelling, and why we can't turn away from even the most difficult material.

Heroes, villains, comebacks, setbacks. Unforgettable characters facing impossible odds.  The best sports stories are human dramas. Join ESPN’s Head of 30 for 30 Podcasts, Preeti Varathan, as she goes inside the making of a 30 for 30 with someone who is doing it right now—journalist Teresa Krug. Teresa successfully pitched her 30 for 30 at On Air Fest two years ago. Her astounding pitch about a Somali runner won our minds and hearts. 

On the award-winning podcast 'A Slight Change of Plans,' Dr. Maya Shankar invites us to explore who we become on the other side of a big change. Inspired to study the science of change when an injury ended her career as a violinist, Maya is a cognitive scientist who has worked in the Obama White House, the United Nations, and Google. She is also the author of the recently published The Other Side of Change, a guide to reimagining ourselves during periods of upheaval. In the book and on her weekly show, Maya unpacks the scientific research behind how we react to life's disruptions—whether sudden pivots or gradual shifts—and reveals how the most life-altering moments can lead us to a deeper understanding of who we are. In this live recording, she’s joined by award-winning science journalist Rachel Gross, who reports on hidden bias in medicine. Rachel tells the story of her sudden stroke, an event that impacted her ability to speak and move, and how she worked her way back from it.

Part panel, part open production meeting, this interactive talk pulls back the curtain on how an out of the box show like The Secret Life of TK Dutes is shaped and made. From edits, to recordings to marketing updates, TK Dutes and members of The Secret Life Production Team and audience members collaborate in real time, discussing creative direction, constraints, and possibilities - because the best ideas don’t happen in isolation.

Lauren Passell and Arielle Nissenblatt have spent the last 10 years doing what they do best: listening to a lot of podcasts, recommending them loudly, helping them grow thoughtfully, evangelizing audio relentlessly, and talking to each other about podcasts basically nonstop.

The Human Edge: Winning in the AI-Powered Future of Work. Everyone’s talking about what AI will replace. Almost nobody is talking about the edge you already have. Featuring Special guest Baratunde Thurston.

The Signal by Fiverr shares strategies that every founder, leader, and freelancer can use to grow their business. Hosted by serial entrepreneur and columnist Terry Rice, each episode brings you in-depth conversations with industry giants, visionary thinkers, and world-renowned experts.

A creator-focused session with the hosts of Deck the Hallmark. They’ll share their journey from reviewing Hallmark Channel movies to expanding into full-time podcasting and producing twelve shows. Come for the comedy and creativity and stay for best practices on how Bramble Jam Media connects with engaged fandoms and continues reaching new heights.

Presented by Simplecast

From the beloved host of a beloved podcast (Another Round with Heben and Tracy) comes a long-form version of a much-beloved segment: Tracy's Animal Corner! Join host Tracy Clayton as she holds your hand and walks you through the wonderful world of animals via games, quizzes, interviews, and--of course-Tracy's very strong animal opinions. It's a much needed good ol' dumb fun time. For this special segment, she's joined by comedian and actor Wyatt Cenac.

'The Town Show' is an improvised comedy show where Mark Chavez and Ryan Beil (CBC's Let's Make A ...) build a fictional town from scratch through riffs, scenes, and interviews with special guests sharing hometown stories. At On Air Fest, they'll be recording an episode live and reuniting with Let's Make A ... co-host and stand-up comedian Maddy Kelly to add her own brand of chaos to the made-up town.

Wind down your day with a sonic salve of live music and conversation exploring music’s role in healing. Bring your own psychic ailments, big or small, for a chance to receive a musical prescription concocted just for you, played by the legendary ambient, astral, ethereal guitarist Kaki King ("a genre unto herself"). No promises of a cure, but plenty of reflection on music’s power to soothe, change, and invigorate.

Helena de Groot (Paris Review) and Sean Cole (This American Life) are close friends. They have both decided not to have kids. Sean never has to answer for his decision, but for Helena, things are different. Strangers, friends, her doctor, and especially her husband tried to convince her. You will regret this. Kids give life meaning. Only when you have kids will you understand love. In her new podcast, Creation Myth, Helena wonders. Is she missing out on love? Does her life have purpose? Is she making a mistake?

In this live taping of 'Paul's Best,' host Paul Virzi sits down with a special guest to discuss the absolute best of what the guest loves most.

Podcast icons Sydnee Washington and Marie Faustin return to their proverbial throne with MESS, a weekly pod where they invite guests to unpack some of their personal mess, large or small. From there, our hosts decide if the situation presented qualifies as “mess” or just “living”. Hilarity ensues as opinions fly, realizations are made, and the mess is cleaned up.

Dating is hard… are you the problem? Find out at On Air Fest.

Join us on the Arlo Mainstage for a taping of Alec Baldwin's 'Here's The Thing,' where he takes listeners on a behind-the-scenes look at the lives of artists, policy makers and performers. Special guest to be announced.