Well this is interesting timing…

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle signed a multi-year deal with Spotify through their company Archewell last year to produce podcasts on the service. Last week Page Six reported that Meghan’s first pod would be coming this summer and today they made the announcement – the new show is called Archetypes, hosted by Meghan herself, and will feature “uncensored conversations” about how stereotyping can “hold women back”. Meghan will be interviewing historians and other experts to talk about the “common stereotypes that have historically generalised women through the lens of pop culture and media”. 

 

Needless to say, it’s a subject matter Meghan is intimately familiar with, both as an actor (“typecasting” is literally an industry standard) and with what she encountered when she married into the British royal family. So it’ll be interesting how much of her own experiences she shares as she engages with others on this subject on the podcast. For example, if they’re having a conversation about how Black women are perceived in the dominant culture, and how the media shapes certain narratives about Black women, she’d definitely have a thing or two to say about that. 

 

As mentioned above, Page Six was tipped off about this last week so, clearly, the rollout was already in progress with the press release and the teaser planned for this week, Oscar week, when everyone’s entertainment radar is typically dialed up. That’s the upside. The downside, of course, is that there’s a lot going on right now, events every night, everyone in showbiz is trying to get facetime, so the field is crowded. And then, of course, much will be made of Meghan making her announcement now, as Prince William and Kate are on tour, and all of the negative press surrounding the trip. Meghan is already being blamed for part of that, which is ridiculous but you know these assholes will keep trying. 

 

Those same assholes will for sure seize upon this, not just because it’s their habit but it’s also a way for them to distract from Will and Kate’s negative headlines. And I would imagine that Meghan, the Archewell Studios team, and the marketing and publicity people at Spotify would be aware of this…and clearly assessed that they’d move forward with the plan because, well, at this point, it’s no f-cks given, on both sides. It’s not like the royals defer to Harry and Meghan’s schedule either. That was the whole point of them leaving their positions as senior royals – to be able to have their own ideas and do their own thing. 

To go back to Archetypes, have you listened to the trailer yet? It’s in the Harper’s link above and also here. As I’ve said before, with her acting experience, Meghan does great voiceovers. She has a really good voice for podcasting and you’ll note, she refers to herself as “Meghan”, just “Meghan”, no Duchess, no title – it’s familiar, it’s intimate, it’s curious… this is what her job is as the host of a podcast, to be both the listener’s guide and our stand-in during the conversations. So far in this trailer, that’s exactly the performance she’s giving.