Launch

Welcome to Launch, a company devoted to seeking out and developing new talent and media projects.

In 2007, Launch was chosen by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to participate in the CPB Public Radio Talent Quest, a yearlong initiative to develop new public radio stars. During the Talent Quest, the three veteran producers scouted the nation’s top musicians, writers, and thinkers in search of potential radio hosts. After cold-calling more than 60 promising candidates and finding each one receptive to the idea of creating a public radio program, we have narrowed the field through a series of in-depth conversations, assessments of availability and commitment, and audio "screen tests."

Our finds — Sustainable South Bronx founder Majora Carter, Saturday Night Live alum Julia Sweeney, and New York Times columnist Mark Bittman — are at once surprising and just right. Launch is working with each talent to develop dynamic programs for the public radio audience.

The Promised Land
with Majora Carter

Listen to the pilot and let us know what you think!

"What an opportunity, bringing Majora Carter’s personality and intelligence to public radio! As a MacArthur Foundation 'genius' grantee and one of Newsweek’s People to Watch in 2007, she has her pick of projects. But she also has a gift for radio and a passion for the medium. She epitomizes the type of talent Launch has been cultivating." — Marge Ostroushko, producer

There are visionaries among us — men and women with innovative ideas about changing lives and transforming communities. You may find them in the far-flung corners of the world or right down the street. With The Promised Land, host Majora Carter seeks out these extraordinary yet everyday people and reveals their dreams and struggles — what inspires and challenges their work and their lives. From neighborhoods in east Belfast grappling with a polluted river to kids interviewing for Green Jobs Corps in East Oakland, The Promised Land promises a steady stream of powerful radio.

You can read more about Majora Carter here.

Home Sweet Earth
with Julia Sweeney

Listen to the pilot and let us know what you think!

"I've never worked with a new talent who is better prepared to step into the host chair. She pops out the radio — hilarious, warm, engaging — a fantastic storyteller. I think she's one of public radio's next stars." — Mary Beth Kirchner, producer

Julia Sweeney is a funny lady. Remember Pat and her other Saturday Night Live characters? But here’s the twist: She’s a funny lady with a great passion for science. While she has no formal background in the field, she satisfies her ongoing curiosity through Home Sweet Earth interviews with some of the most fascinating science-minded people around — from pioneering astronaut Sally Ride to Caltech professor of planetary astronomy Mike Brown to legendary biologist and Harvard professor E.O. Wilson.

You can read more about Julia Sweeney here.

Food Matters
with Mark Bittman

Listen to an excerpt and let us know what you think!

"Mark is game to talk to anyone about food — from the New York Giants in their locker room to a taco stand owner in Mexico. He can take complicated topics — like why eating meat may be worse for the environment than driving an SUV — and make them interesting. And as we developed the program, Mark constantly made his producers — and his listeners — laugh. The public radio audience is going to love him." — Julie Burstein, producer

Food Matters is like a great conversation over a good meal — relaxed, intimate, and funny. Each week, Bittman will answer listeners' questions and spend time in the kitchen with unexpected cooks, be it actress Gwyneth Paltrow, a major league baseball player, or a beloved novelist. Mark will also look at the economics and politics of what we grow and eat, from intricacies of the farm bill to the growing food shortages around the world. Food is a portal into virtually every aspect of 21st-century life, and Food Matters will take listeners on an entertaining and insightful adventure every week.

You can read more about Mark Bittman here.

Launch is happy to report that the Corporation for Public Broadcasting has just announced the next round of Talent Quest funding and has awarded a grant to Launch host Majora Carter's The Promised Land. Here's a video of the announcement:

Download the press release