Women Behind the Microphone

Female podcast hosts at Gimlet Media navigate the persistent challenges of gendered and racial bias in listener feedback. While some critiques are explicitly sexist—such as demands for lower vocal registers or comparisons to Margaret Thatcher—others manifest as "coded" skepticism, where listeners question the scientific depth or professional authority of female voices. Responses to this hostility range from total disengagement and the delegation of social media management to prevent burnout, to transforming "seething anger" into a motivational fire for staying behind the microphone. These experiences reveal a double standard in the industry, where women and people of color face unique scrutiny regarding their delivery and subject matter expertise that their white male counterparts rarely encounter. Ultimately, maintaining professional longevity requires developing a thick skin and prioritizing creative energy over the bitter, often anonymous, critiques of the audience.