Tribeca Audio Storytelling Festival Announces Its Lineup...With A Few New Surprises

Bingeworthy sits down with Davy Gardner to get some more details about the event, June 9-13 in New York City. This year welcomes my favourite cultural critics to the fray...plus a whole new Gala event

Apr 25, 2024

The Official Selections for Tribeca 2024 went live today, with some new twists, a new Gala, all with the classic Tribeca charm; a mix of indie storytelling with podcast celebrities.

Tribeca Festival launched in the wake of 9/11, with Robert DeNiro as its most well-known champion, as a way to get people back to New York City, specifically, Lower Manhattan.

From the get-go, it was clear that it was a place for both celebrities and indies…and the audio selections are no different. Tribeca brought on Davy Gardner as Curator of Audio Storytelling in 2022, and he’s been making waves of change since (Tribeca audio began in 2021, but in a slightly different format).

This June, Tribeca will roll out another slate of curated programming, after a record-setting round of submissions. It will add some new glitz and glamour, audio style, with the Inaugural Excellence in Audio Journalism Gala, a new annual event which this year will honor The Daily.

Davy Gardner: “The idea [of the Gala] was that I want a part of every year to have an honor, a sort of lifetime-achievement-award for a podcast—for a body of work—that has contributed to audio’s ability to be a meaningful medium for political discourse. For millennials, for Gen Z, [podcasting] is a way that we can engage with politics. It can sway elections.
It's a massive part of the podcast world... with this upcoming election, it of course felt timely. It would be a missed opportunity to not begin to recognize audio and journalism in a new formal way.

The Fest is split between Live Events and Official Selection Premieres — but two of the live events are showcases of Tribeca Audio’s Official Selections. Live events will be publicly available and ticketed on the website (which goes on sale on April 30).

Some highlights of the Live Events this year include:

Criminal: 10-Year Anniversary Live Show with Guest Melissa McCarthy (Vox Media)
Vibe Check Live with Guest Lena Waithe (Stitcher Studios)
The Interview: Death Sex & Money Live with Guest Kara Swisher (Slate)
An Exclusive Live Taping of Slow Burn (Slate)
IMI and Audio Flux Present Pet Sounds (IMI and Audio Flux) – World Premiere and performance.
In the Dark London Variety Show – World Premiere and performance with Talia Augustidis, where a selection of short audio pieces will be presented.

My Ab-Faves Are Pitching In This Year!

What’s interesting to note from this year’s lineup is that they’ve made a clear division between Fiction and Non-Fiction. Last year, I recall a very long line of creators on the stage, with a huge range of topics, formats, and genres.

This year, Gardner decided to split fact and fiction into two separate events, which will both be hosted by the fabulous trio of Critics At Large, the smart, funny and bottomless list of timely cultural references. I’m a huge fan, and have written about them multiple times.

Unlike last year, when these Premiers were delivered to a select crowd, in the middle of the day, this year it will be a ticketed event in the evening (5:30 and 8:30pm).

Davy Gardner:I think that there is a different energy in approaching a live event for fiction pieces and nonfiction pieces.
That ‘Critics At Large’ caliber of cultural commentary on, say, film or TV has yet to really reach [audio storytelling] in the way that I think it could. I think it will come…there will be a huge wave of audio critics. Of course, there already are many audio critics, but not nearly in the same way that you would find in TV or film.
And that's why I think pairing Critics at Large with our official selections, which are brand new works. Tribeca Audio is not saying: what's the best of 2024 when we've all listened to the shows. It’s…listen [here] for the first time, with an audience, and hear these pieces and react in real-time, and then ask creators what and why they're making, [and why] what they're making matters.
The Official Selection Creators are going to Preview an excerpt of their work that they find particularly speaks to what their work is and what the project is.
And then Critics At Large, the hosts, will be there to ask them questions, and ultimately the conversation will move from individual projects, individual creators to a larger exploration of themes that emerge between them. What might be interesting about setting these selections side by side culturally....why it's important, that kind of thing.

Sorry, not sorry, but I have to ask

I know that Davy can’t play favorites, and really he’s excited about all of it coming together. But I asked him to share some highlights that he’s particularly looking forward to.

Davy Gardner: I would say that two shows immediately came to mind, although I'm excited about all of them….one is this show that we're calling “The Interview Death, Sex and Money” with guest, Kara Swisher.
I’d called Anna Sale and said I had this idea …I kind of thought of it as a comedy idea originally…What would it be like to have these acknowledged masters of the interview, with (what some might think are) wildly different styles... next to each other, to be in conversation with one another?
And then the other is AudioFlux. The AudioFlux Podcast is a 2024 Official Selection *and* live event, which is really exciting. Julie Shapiro and John DeLore are wonderful people. What they're doing and what AudioFlux is doing is one of the most interesting things in the audio landscape right now.
I also have narrative shows about politics—And that is undoubtedly the legacy of Paula Weinstein, she's who hired me and was my mentor for the last few years at Tribeca. She passed away around a month ago, and it's been very difficult for the whole Tribeca team. She was very dedicated to politics so we’re bridging that with my focus on narrative audio, with series like Slow Burn and The Daily. These are shows where we can speak about issues that are pressing to the upcoming election within the context of a narrative storytelling.

A Short Tribute To A Woman Who Worked Hard For You Behind The Scenes, But You Did Not Know

Paula Weinstein was the woman who hired Gardner, and has played a behind-the-scenes pivotal role in many aspects of Tribeca. I asked Davy to say a bit more about this woman who is lesser known to those who didn’t know her prolific work in film and television.

Davy Gardner: I'm really grateful that you asked that question. Thank you. Paula was a lifelong champion of women in the industry and independent creators. She’s from a family of activists, of political activists, and also was just a phenomenal, lovely, funny producer who had this spirit that was infectious in terms of fighting for what was right and for independent creators and producers.
When I got to Tribeca, a different curatation might have been pairing the podcast vertical with film and television companion podcasts. But Paula understood when I said this was its own art form... this is a medium of its own. And she knew that. It was work get it to where it is now, and I could never have done that without the support of Paula.

Samantha Hodder: What was her role with Tribeca?

Davy Gardner: She was the Chief Content Officer for 11 years.

Samantha Hodder: And it should be noted, shes' not a direct relative of the other Weinstein who's in the news today.

Davy Gardner: Absolutely not. And she would be very, very specific about that.

Samantha Hodder: What a legacy you're bringing forward in her honour.

This Part Feels New

Another substantial change from last year is the goal towards a greater “community vibe.” So, if you went to Resonate, Gardner is looking to create more of that “vibe,” which is sometimes a tough assignment for the Big Apple. But that’s where maps and times and dates will come into play. Details will follow about that….stay tuned to this space for updates.

What about the rest of the details?

Davy Gardner: All Tribeca Audio events are publicly available ticketed events. There are some premium shows….I believe the range is $15-25 each (details will follow on the website on April 30th).
Tickets will go on sale on April 30th, for anyone who just wants to cherry pick events.
There will also be some free events, and soon I’ll have some more information about those.

Have any questions about this? Fire them off here: