Duchess Meghan apparently did not conduct every single interview on Archetypes

I listened to most of the Duchess of Sussex’s Archetypes podcast episodes. Archetypes wasn’t a straight celebrity-interview pod, because Meghan wanted to dissect and dismantle some of the stereotypes holding women back, so in-between celebrity interviews, there were often comments and interview slices with experts, historians and academics, explaining *why* a certain stereotype exists or the history behind some racist or sexist trope. While some of the early episodes of Archetypes often felt too busy and over-produced, Meghan and her team hit their stride further into the first season, and they simplified things to make episodes flow better. Well, would it shock you to learn that Meghan did not conduct every single interview with every historian or expert or academic?

Meghan Markle didn’t always conduct her own interviews for the “Archetypes” podcast, according to Podnews. Instead, sources say her interview questions were edited in afterwards.

Markle and Prince Harry’s podcast in question ran 12 episodes and was part of a $20 million Spotify contract, the likes of which may not be paid in full because Meghan Markle and Prince Harry didn’t meet their deal’s productivity requirements (as reported by the Wall Street Journal).

“Not bad for 12 hours work,” said former chief economist at Spotify Will Page (at the 27-minute mark in the Podnews podcast), referencing the pair’s financial gains resulting from a relatively small output of work.

Based on Podnews’ report, Markle didn’t conduct the “Archetypes” podcasts herself and instead only lent voice clips for editing in after the fact. Even if the full $20 million figure from Spotify never materializes, it appears that a large portion of the sum will reach Markle and Prince Harry in exchange for — according to Podnews’ sources — perhaps even less than 12 hours of work.

[From Yahoo]

Yeah, they’re not saying Meghan didn’t conduct ANY interviews – she clearly did conduct many of those interviews, and you can hear the conversational tone within the pod between Meghan and her guests. I suspect that Meghan’s staff did conduct some of the academic interviews, the shorter comments with that historian or academic, explaining this or that. And honestly, you can kind of tell in some of those episodes too – there were definitely some moments where I was more interested in the historical perspective behind a stereotype or trope, but there was just a short little clip from an academic before Meghan interviewed a celebrity.

That’s what a Gimlet editor told the Podnews person too:

— Jody Avirgan (@jodyavirgan) June 19, 2023

Photos courtesy of Spotify, Instagram.

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