Brendan Francis Newnam Launches ''Not Lost Podcast''

RADIO ONLINE | Monday, April 25, 2022

Not Lost

Brendan Francis Newnam, former co-host of "The Dinner Party Download," teams with Pushkin Industries, iHeartMedia and Topic Studios to release "Not Lost," a new documentary-style travel podcast. On each episode Newnam, with a friend in town, travels to a new town, sees the sights and tries to get invited to a stranger's house for dinner. From Montreal to Mexico City, Newnam and his guests drink, dance and eat, learning as much about themselves as the places they visit. "Not Lost" is a co-production of Pushkin Industries, Topic Studios and iHeartMedia and is distributed by the iHeartPodcast Network.

Newnam honed his wit and conversational skills for ten years as co-host of the public radio show and culture podcast "The Dinner Party Download." The show drew its inspiration from the kind of discussion you would have with your friends at a dinner party and featured talks with guests like Aubrey Plaza, Margaret Atwood and Oscar Isaac. Newnam brought the idea for "Not Lost" to Topic Studios, which helped creatively develop the concept and produce the initial season with Newnam before teaming up with Pushkin and iHeartMedia.

"Whenever I've been at a turning point in my life, I've traveled to help broaden my sense of what kind of life is possible," said Newnam, "So when my national radio show ended, as well as a long-term relationship, I decided to tour North America, but this time with friends and a microphone. I came up with the idea of trying to get invited to dinner parties in each town, since I believe that's the way to best get to know a place. It didn't always work out as planned, but it made for some fun adventures. I thought it was going to be the audio equivalent of Bourdain's Parts Unknown, but it ended up being a little more like Steve Coogan's The Trip."

"What an incredible joy to discover fascinating corners of the world and to meet new friends with Brendan as our tour guide," added Topic Studios President Maria Zuckerman. "We are thrilled to be working with the wonderful team at Pushkin and are excited for listeners to embark on this special journey."

The first season of Not Lost will premiere on Wednesday May 4 on iHeartRadio and will feature eight documentary-style episodes and eight interview-focused episodes with travelers both famous and unknown about their unfiltered reminiscences and adventure tales.