Russ: The crew crash-lands on the same planet... but in different eras.
Nadia: [beat] From Feed Drop, this is Nadia.
Russ: And I'm Russ. It's Sunday, November 8th, 2026.
Nadia: And we're tracking three big stories making waves in the podcast world.
Nadia: First, Audible is betting big on a star-studded sci-fi thriller with a wild premise.
Russ: Then, we'll get into Acast's latest earnings report, which has some… interesting growth patterns in North America.
Nadia: And finally, we'll see how CNN Audio is tackling the aftermath of the US midterm elections.
Nadia: Alright, let's start with Audible and their huge new release, 'Exoplanet.'
Russ: Okay, the one with the time-traveling crash survivors. The star power here is insane. Anthony Mackie, Ariana DeBose, John Leguizamo...
Nadia: Exactly. This is no small indie production. It was conceived by Andy Weir—
Russ: The guy who wrote 'The Martian'?
Nadia: That's him. And to top it off, the sound design is by Skywalker Sound.
Russ: So it's going to sound expensive. But what's in it for the listener? Is it a good story, or just a bunch of famous voices and cool sound effects?
Nadia: That's the billion-dollar question for Audible, isn't it? They're banking on that 'Hollywood-for-your-ears' model. Bring in A-list talent, top-tier production, and try to create appointment listening.
Russ: But does it actually work? I've heard so many celebrity podcasts that were just duds. Weak format, or the star was just mailing it in.
Nadia: That's always the risk. But with a concept from Weir and a pro screenwriter like Benjamin Percy, they're stacking the deck. This is Audible's prestige play, their shot at an audio 'Stranger Things' or 'Game of Thrones'.
Russ: And the goal isn't to sell one-off audiobooks, it's to keep people subscribed to Audible. A big, exclusive series does that.
Nadia: It's the moat. Make the content so good and so exclusive you can't get it anywhere else. That's the strategy.
Nadia: Alright, let's talk money. Acast just dropped its Q3 2026 earnings report on October 28th.
Russ: [sighs] My favorite. Numbers.
Nadia: [laughs] You might like these numbers, Russ. According to Podnews, Acast reported record revenue of 802 million Swedish Kroner, which is up 25% year-over-year.
Russ: Okay, that is a lot of Kroner. What's driving it?
Nadia: North America. Growth there was 54%, and it's now their single largest market.
Russ: Hold on, I'm looking at the report. Listens only grew by 4%. But their 'average revenue per listen' jumped 20%? So they don't have a ton more listeners, they're just making more money off each one?
Nadia: That's one way to put it. The industry term is they're 'monetizing more effectively.'
Russ: Right. So for a podcaster, this means Acast is getting better at selling ads on your show, even if your audience is flat. Great for them. But how much of that cash makes it back to the creator?
Nadia: Well that's the model, a rising tide of ad revenue lifts all boats. What's also interesting here is that growth in Europe slowed way down to 5%. Acast is becoming a very North American company.
Russ: And for the listener, this just means more ads. And probably more targeted ads, since they're getting so good at 'monetizing'.
Nadia: It means the engine that pays for your free shows is getting stronger. That's what keeps the whole ecosystem running, Russ.
Russ: [dry] If you say so.
Nadia: For our last story, let's look at how podcasts are handling the US midterm elections, which were back on November 5th.
Russ: Let me guess: everyone has a hot take.
Nadia: [laughs] A few. But let's look at CNN Audio. On November 7th, they pushed out a whole slate of new episodes across their shows, all analyzing the results.
Russ: Is this just TV anchors reading their on-air scripts into a microphone?
Nadia: Not quite. They're using the podcast format to go deeper than a quick cable news hit. On 'Smerconish,' for example, Michael Smerconish argues the whole story isn't about party wins, but the huge impact of independent voters.
Russ: Okay, that's a real angle. So it's not just 'here's what happened,' it's 'here's what it means.'
Nadia: Exactly. And for a legacy brand like CNN, this is crucial. They're using podcasts to offer timely, nuanced analysis that leans on their newsroom's authority but is built for audio.
Russ: Okay, but as a listener, why choose CNN's podcast over the million other political shows out there?
Nadia: Because they have the reporters on the ground and the data ready to go. The promise is analysis straight from the source, packaged for your commute. They're leveraging their core asset—the newsroom—to make a premium audio product.
Russ: I'll believe it when I hear it. Does it actually sound different from just having CNN on in the background?
Nadia: That's the goal. They have to prove that CNN Audio is more than a catch-up service for their TV shows. It has to be its own destination.
Nadia: Alright, let's recap the day.
Russ: Audible is throwing movie stars, a big-name writer, and Skywalker Sound at its new sci-fi show, 'Exoplanet'.
Nadia: Acast's revenue is soaring in North America, not from a surge in listeners, but by making more money from each one.
Russ: And CNN is using its podcasts for deep analysis of the midterm elections, trying to prove its audio division is more than just recycled TV clips.
Nadia: Before we go, Russ, what are you actually listening to?
Russ: I just binged 'The Evaporated: Gone with the Gods'. It's a limited series about the thousands of people who purposefully vanish in Japan each year. It’s investigative, it's personal, it’s… haunting. Really, really well done.
Nadia: Oh, wow. Adding that to my list. And that's our show for today.
Russ: Feed Drop is a production of... well, us. We'll be back tomorrow, maybe from a different era. Thanks for listening.
This show is made with AI: the hosts’ voices are synthetic and the scripts are AI-assisted. Every story links to its original source.