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.
Background
editThe 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]
References
edit- ^ "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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Fruit". The Sarahs. October 10, 2016. Archived from the original on December 25, 2023. Retrieved December 25, 2023.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ 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.
External links
edit- Official website at the Wayback Machine (archived December 29, 2016)