Slate Features Rainn Wilson, Christiana Mbakwe Medina, Andy Grammer, Richard Roeper, Topaz Adizes, Minaa B., and more
LOS ANGELES, CA (March 10, 2026) — Companion today unveiled its first slate of audio and video podcasts featuring renowned storytellers, artists, and thinkers who are expanding the cultural conversation around creativity, identity, relationships, and personal growth.
Rooted in a growing movement of creators offering a counter‑current to the noisy, fragmented, and transactional cultural landscape, Companion helps audiences make sense of their lives with honesty, humor, and depth. Companion finances, produces, and distributes original programming end‑to‑end through its studio, Companion Arts. Companion also partners with established and emerging creators to amplify their work across YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and RSS. The model uniquely combines full‑service production capability with the flexibility to support creator‑owned shows through brand management, ad sales, marketing, and distribution infrastructure.
“Companion was born from a simple idea: what if media didn’t just entertain us, but helped us feel like we belong?” said Ford Bowers, President of Companion. “We see storytelling as an act of service. This slate reflects that intention: creators helping people live better, feel more connected, and make sense of their lives. We’re not here to tell anyone who to be; we’re here to walk alongside them as they figure it out.”
To showcase its launch, on Saturday, March 14, Companion takes over the Podcast Movement Evolutions at SXSW stage with Companion Presents: In Good Company, an evening of live performances and storytelling headlined by an intimate acoustic set from multi‑platinum artist Andy Grammer. The event cuts through the SXSW chaos with space for curiosity, creativity, and connection, reflecting the same spirit found across the slate, from Rainn Wilson’s Soul Boom to Christiana Mbakwe Medina’s Pop Syllabus. The evening features a conversation with Penn Badgley, appearances from Science and the City, We Love You, and In The Hyphen, plus performances from Ayana Butterfly and JJ & The Mood.
The Inaugural Slate: A Home for the Human Experience
Companion programming features a diverse range of voices, from entertainment icons to therapy experts and STEM leaders united by a guiding principle to be good, see good, do good.
Soul Boom with Rainn Wilson Available Now | YouTube | Spotify | Apple Podcasts
Rainn Wilson, actor, writer, and genuinely curious human, dives into the core of the human experience with guests like Bryan Cranston, Mark Ruffalo, Maya Shankar, and Dr. Mustafa Santiago Ali. Together, they explore ideas that tickle the mind, heart, and soul, stumbling toward wisdom by asking tough questions and embracing the moments that get a little weird or a little deep. The conversations are thoughtful but never preachy, inviting listeners into accessible, down‑to‑earth reflections on personal and societal transformation. New episodes every Tuesday. Co-produced with Companion Arts.
Pop Syllabus with Christiana Mbakwe Medina Now Airing | YouTube | Spotify | Apple Podcasts
Emmy-nominated writer and cultural commentator Christiana Mbakwe Medina brings a sharp, instinctive lens to pop culture’s biggest moments on Pop Syllabus, treating art, music, media, and trends as a living curriculum for understanding ourselves. The weekly show features smart, funny, deeply researched conversations with standout guests across academia, entertainment, journalism, and tech, delivering the buzzy, brain-tickling breakdowns you immediately want to replay and send straight to the group chat.
Showing Up with Andy Grammer Premiering Spring 2026 | YouTube | Spotify | Apple Podcasts
A new weekly series from multi-platinum, Emmy award-winning singer-songwriter Andy Grammer, Showing Up is a funny, raw, and deeply human exploration of what it means to show up: for ourselves, for each other, and for the world. Each episode opens with an intimate, bespoke song Andy writes in response to a submitted story about an unsung individual the caller has seen show up in life in a powerful way. From there, Andy turns his lens from the stage to an unscripted long-form conversation with a guest who models what it means to keep showing up, surfacing extraordinary moments of kindness, service, and self-reckoning. Premieres this Spring across all platforms. Co-produced with Companion Arts.
This Might Get Weird with Grace Helbig and Mamrie Hart Ongoing | YouTube | Spotify | Apple Podcasts
Since 2018, Grace Helbig and Mamrie Hart have delivered something reliably chaotic and reliably delightful. This Might Get Weird is proof that comedy and friendship, deployed with genuine enthusiasm, never gets old. New episodes weekly on Wednesdays.
This Feels Familiar with Minaa B. 65 Episodes and Counting | Spotify | Apple Podcasts
Therapist, author, and creator of “The Siblinghood Theory,” Minaa B. has built one of the most distinctive voices in mental health media. This Feels Familiar explores how the patterns laid down in our earliest relationships follow us into adulthood, and how we can begin to shift them with practical, grounded tools for real life. New episodes weekly on Tuesdays.
The Skin Deep: {The And} Ongoing | YouTube
The Emmy Award‑winning documentary project {THE AND} creates the space for people to explore and deepen the most important relationships in their life. Using intentional questions and a unique camera setup, {THE AND} captures unscripted, authentic moments of connection between partners, friends, and families. A long running series with over 1300 episodes published, this is one of the most quietly powerful formats in video documentary, revealing extraordinary emotional depth. New episodes every Sunday.
Getting Under The Skin (GUTS) with Topaz Adizes Now Airing | YouTube | Spotify | Apple Podcasts
Join Topaz Adizes, Emmy Award‑winning director, author and founder of The Skin Deep on an expedition of conversations with extraordinary people. Not because they’re famous or successful, but because life has taught them something deep. Something hard-earned. Something true. GUTS is an antidote to superficial small talk or marketing in disguise. Join us to get under the skin where the stories of our lives can be medicine for each other. New episodes every Sunday.
Science and the City with Kalpana Pot and Ashley Christine Now Airing | YouTube | Spotify | Apple Podcasts
With a combined 1.9 million followers, Kalpana Pot (space influencer, actor, writer) and Ashley Christine (mathematician, science communicator) are on a mission to make STEM not just accessible, but actually fun. Both are published authors working at the intersection of Hollywood and science – two worlds that have always had more in common than they’d like to admit.
The Movie of Your Life with Richard Roeper 16 Episodes In | Spotify | Apple Podcasts
Iconic film critic Richard Roeper explores the movies that make us who we are — connecting the films we love to the lives we’ve actually lived. It’s part cinematic deep-dive, part deeply personal conversation, featuring guests with incredible stories and the films to match. New episodes weekly.
In The Hyphen with Fernando Hurtado Now Airing | YouTube
Mexican-American. Filipino-American. Dominican-American. Vietnamese-American. The hyphen is where a lot of us actually live: “the in-between.” Journalist Fernando Hurtado explores the nuance, complexity, and richness of bicultural identity, from Latinx families navigating language and tradition, to Asian‑American creatives balancing heritage and modernity. The show explores what it means to be American in 2026, with representation that feels specific, lived‑in, and emotionally true. New episodes every other Thursday.
Connection is Magic with Samson Shulman Ongoing | YouTube | Spotify | Apple Podcasts
Connection is Magic is a podcast and 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to supporting the people behind the art. Hosted by associate therapist and former music executive Samson Shulman, it offers raw conversations on navigating ego, volatility, and burnout, and on turning pain into purpose. Art is essential, and those who create it deserve the support to sustain it
Everybody Knows But Me Coming Soon | Spotify | Apple
When comedian Holly Anabel Brown was 17, her dad was dying of cancer when he dropped a bombshell: she had twin brothers she never knew existed – young boys her entire extended family had kept secret. After his death left her with more questions than answers, Holly sets out to uncover how a secret this big could be hidden, and why the sitcoms that raised her were often the only way to make sense of a life stranger than TV.
We Love You Ongoing | YouTube | Spotify | Apple Podcasts
A heart-centered exploration of appreciation and collective humanity. Lifelong friends Andy Min and Thomas Sullivan ask life’s big questions, goof around, a knd try to find a way to be hopeful in our big scary world. Join them as they cling to a rock hurtling through the emptiness of space.
Voice Hugs Ongoing | YouTube | Spotify | Apple Podcasts
Voice Hugs is a podcast where best friends Vivian Van and Rowena Tsai explore what it really means to grow—through real stories, honest conversations, and a whole lot of heart. Think of it as your cozy corner of the internet for navigating every season of life with a little more intention and a lot more self-compassion.
For more information on the programming slate, visit www.companionarts.com
About Companion
Companion is a creator‑first studio and network built for meaningful storytelling across video, audio, and social platforms. We partner with artists, thinkers, and communities elevating the cultural conversation through curiosity, humor, vulnerability, and depth. Our mission is simple: make content that feels human and reminds you: You belong.
