From West African griot to the new world’s Anansi folklore teller, Black people have, for centuries, maintained a rich tradition of oral history across the diaspora.
As a nod to this oral heritage, a new podcast platform called Audastio launched its headquarters in Miami and hopes to re-energize people of color around the spoken word.
“Audastio celebrates the many cultural heritages in the U.S. by amplifying voices from across cultures,” said David Frederick, CEO and founder of the platform.
After launching the company two years ago, Frederick became concerned after podcast listenership dropped among Black people between 2019 and 2020, according to Edison Research. But, he believes that Audastio is just the thing to reverse this trend.
To start, it is one of the world’s only multilingual podcast networks, serving up podcasts in languages spoken by people of color who live in America yet hail from foreign nations.
“Storytelling in your native tongue, being able to speak your truth in your own language, deepens your sense of self while creating bonds over shared narratives,” said Frederick, who hails from Saint-Marc, Haiti, and has been living in the U.S. for 13 years. Continue reading