Smartless Media, a new podcast company under the team behind the award-winning Smartless podcast, has launched its first original audio series, Bad Dates with Jameela Jamil.
The weekly interview podcast features broadcaster and award-winning actress Jameela Jamil in conversation with a range of comedians and celebrities sharing their experiences of dates that have gone wrong, including Sean Hayes, co-host of the Smartless podcast.
A few of the other notable guests that will appear throughout the first season of Bad Dates include Bridesmaids director Paul Feig, former Rupaul’s Drag Race winner Jinx Monsoon, late night television presenter Conan O’Brien, and stand-up comedian Roy Wood Junior.
The podcast will officially become available to listeners across all platforms for free from 27 March but early access to the first two episodes is already available for subscribers on Amazon Music or the Wondery application. Subscribers also benefit from ad-free listening in addition to the early-access.
Bad Dates is the first of four new original podcasts that will be released under Smartless Media, a company that the hosts of the podcast - Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, and Hayes - launched in December 2022 due to the massive success of the show since its launch in 2020. Emmy-nominated executive producer Richard Korson will also lead the media company as president.
Other new podcasts that will be coming soon from Smartless Media include Amy Always Wins, where friends of actor Rob Corddry attempt to beat 40-time consecutive Jeopardy! game show champion Amy Schneider, Owned with former professional basketball player Rex Chapman on the world of sports team owners, and a Will & Grace re-watch podcast titled Just Jack & Jill with hosts and former stars Hayes and Eric McMormack.
All original shows under Smartless Media are created in partnership with Amazon Music and its podcast division Wondery which have owned the exclusive distribution and ad-sales rights to the podcast since mid 2021 after signing a deal with the hosts for $80 million.
Jamil has already been involved in the podcasting world since the launch of her mental health awareness podcast I Weigh in 2020 under podcast production company Earwolf. The actress told PodPod at the London Podcast Festival, which took place in September 2022, what her biggest piece of advice to podcasters would be based on her experience.
“What I enjoy is feeling like I’m not being preached at. I enjoy feeling something communal, I enjoy having experience with someone, learning something with someone,” said Jamil. “You don’t need to impress the listener, you are there representing the listener and so I think it’s important to just look at it that way.
“Take your ego out of it, take yourself out of it, you are there to facilitate the conversation, maybe have some input, but mostly allow space for someone whose wisdom you’re seeking to spread to other people out there.”
