Introducing 'Text Me Back': A comedy and conversation podcast with Lindy West and Meagan Hatcher-Mays

KUOW launches its new comedy and conversation podcast "Text Me Back!" Thursday, hosted by bestselling Seattle author Lindy West and her real-life best friend and democracy policy expert Meagan Hatcher-Mays.

In each episode, Lindy and Meagan hilariously digest what’s going on in the news, their lives, and their text threads with their singular combination of political smarts, embarrassing sincerity, and pop culture devotion.

Listen to the first episode now, available in all major podcasting platforms.

"Text Me Back!" is a podcast about best friendships and making your favorite people laugh even when the world gets you down. New episodes of the 12-episode first season will be available every Thursday.

Lindy and Meagan first met at Seattle’s Garfield High School, where they graduated in 2000. Now living in opposite Washingtons, Lindy and Meagan model a modern long-distance friendship — what it looks like to stay in touch, learn from each other, and support each other through all the that the world throws at us.

"I am so excited to make this podcast with my best friend at the incredible KUOW," Meagan said. "Lindy and I really wanted to make a show that was funny and comforting, especially given how unfunny and extremely uncomfortable the world is right now. In times like these, you need a best friend, and we hope our podcast can be that for listeners."

"Text Me Back!" is a first-of-its-kind podcast for KUOW, whose other chart-topping hits include the popular nature podcast "THE WILD with Chris Morgan" and the investigative docuseries "Ghost Herd."

“We are so excited to collaborate with Lindy and Meagan on this project,” said KUOW director of new content Brendan Sweeney. “Many of us are feeling the weight of the news and the loneliness of this current moment. We believe a podcast about best friendship, a podcast that can find humor in dark times, and a show that can be an effective companion for listeners as they navigate the news.”

Listeners can find Text Me Back! available today in all major podcasting platforms.

CONTACT

Michaela Gianotti Boyle

Director of Marketing, KUOW

michaela@kuow.org

ABOUT THE HOSTS

Lindy West is the author of the New York Times bestselling memoir "Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman" and the essay collections "The Witches Are Coming" and "Shit, Actually: The Definitive, 100% Objective Guide to Modern Cinema." Her work has also appeared in This American Life, The New York Times, The Guardian, Cosmopolitan, GQ, Vulture, Jezebel, and many others. She is the co-founder of the reproductive rights de-stigmatization campaign #ShoutYourAbortion. Lindy was a writer and executive producer on "Shrill," the Hulu comedy adapted from her memoir starring Aidy Bryant. Her e-mail newsletter, Butt News, is regarded by everyone as the most influential and beloved e-mail newsletter of all time.

Meagan Hatcher-Mays is an expert on what’s left of our democracy and our judiciary and is based in Washington, D.C. She is, no joke, a lawyer in good standing in New York state. Meagan has worked as the director of democracy policy for Indivisible, a nationwide grassroots organization, and before that, as a counsel at Demand Justice, a progressive organization aimed at building a more equitable judiciary. Before all of that, she served as a counsel for Eleanor Holmes Norton, the District of Columbia’s non-voting delegate to Congress, where she worked on D.C. statehood among other issues. Meagan has appeared on MSNBC and NBC, and has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, CBS News, Vox, The Guardian, and more as a subject matter expert on the courts and democracy.

ABOUT KUOW

KUOW Puget Sound Public Radio is Seattle’s NPR news station. We are an independent, nonprofit news organization that produces award-winning journalism, innovative podcasts, engaging community events, and more. We work every day in service of our mission to create and serve a more informed public, because we believe an informed public is essential to a thriving community, a vibrant democracy, and a better future. KUOW podcasts include chart-topping shows like "THE WILD with Chris Morgan" and the investigative docuseries "Ghost Herd," as well as local news staples including "Seattle Now," "Soundside" and "Week in Review." KUOW is a proud member of the NPR Network, a coalition of public media podcast producers with a shared mission to create and serve a more informed public.