EXCLUSIVE: No Smiling, the audio company from the makers of podcast series including Joe Exotic: The Tiger King and WeCrashed, is debuting a new slate of projects.
The company has three new series including freedom of information show Disclosure, with Bloomberg, as well as a third season of Striped: The Story of the White Stripes.
No Smiling was founded in 2022 by journalists Sean Cannon and Heather Schroering, documentarian Evan Mascagni, and Narcos star Boyd Holbrook.
Disclosure is its first new series out of the gate. The series, which launches on October 28, is produced by Bloomberg, in partnership with No Smiling. It explores the pursuit of government records – and the stories they tell.
Hosted by Bloomberg News investigative reporter Jason Leopold and First Amendment attorney Matt Topic, it will feature experts on using public records laws to uncover government documents.
Each week, they give listeners a behind-the-scenes look at how the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and state public records laws can be used to inform the public about what their government is up to and how their taxpayer dollars are being spent.
From Russian pranksters who duped a best government official to reports of documents allegedly flushed down White House toilets and the government’s sale of a coveted rap album, Disclosure will reveal the obstacles Leopold and Topic face and the unexpected stories that surface once those records are released.
Schroering said, “Important journalism meets people where they are and takes them places they didn’t know they needed to go. That’s what Disclosure does, whether it’s a cinematic reenactment of an imposter infiltrating the Fed or inside of a DOGE operation. You probably didn’t expect the DC sewer system, but we’ll take you there too.”
Elsewhere, Sick Care, comes from No Smiling, Little Everywhere, and Examiner Media. Launching on November 5, explores the systemic failures of the U.S. medical industry.
It comes after UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was executed in broad daylight on a busy Manhattan street last year. Adam Stone, publisher of a small newspaper group in New York’s Hudson Valley, had already been investigating the “sick care” system for two years and his local reporting on a UnitedHealth subsidiary uncovered whistleblower allegations, personal accounts of mistreatment, and DOJ scrutiny—issues that would soon resonate on a national scale.
FreeFall launches next spring. It tells the story of the meteoric rise and spectacular fall of entire companies. The first season, hosted by journalist Eugene S. Robinson, details the story of Ozy Media.
When Robinson became the very first employee at the Silicon Valley startup Ozy Media, he believed charismatic founder Carlos Watson had the solution for a fading news industry. How could Robinson have guessed he’d spend the next decade being terrorized by his boss? That is, until Ozy shut down amid an investigation brought on by an attempt to defraud Goldman Sachs for $40M.
Finally, the third season of Striped will continue the story of the band formed by Jack and Meg White. It will dive into the band from 2011, when they were on the rise following the release of White Blood Cells. Sean Cannon hosts.
Cannon said, “The sands might be constantly shifting, but what makes a great story remains constant. It’s the revelation that we’re all searching for the same thing: each other. Or as Joe Strummer said, ‘Without people, you’re nothing.’ I hope our work reflects that truth.”
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