The Kitchen Sisters
The Kitchen Sisters is an independent, nonprofit radio and podcast production company founded in 1979 and led by Davia Nelson and Nikki Silva, producing award-winning documentary audio series for NPR and via the Radiotopia/PRX network, serving public radio listeners and podcast audiences interested in cultural history and untold American stories.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1979
- HeadquartersSan Francisco, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What The Kitchen Sisters does
The Kitchen Sisters is an independent, nonprofit radio and podcast production company founded in 1979 and operated from KQED's facilities at 2601 Mariposa Street in San Francisco. Co-founded and led by producers Davia Nelson and Nikki Silva, the company specializes in layered, documentary-style audio storytelling that combines interviews, field recordings, archival audio, and music, mixed by a small in-house team (notably mixer Jim McKee) with additional support from producers Nathan Dalton and Brandi Howell and an intern pipeline. The company produces multiple themed series for NPR's Morning Edition and All Things Considered, including Hidden Kitchens, The Hidden World of Girls, Lost & Found Sound, The Sonic Memorial Project, and The Keepers, and distributes its flagship podcast The Kitchen Sisters Present via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Stitcher, and RSS. Its underlying asset is a 40+-year archive of approximately 7,000 hours of interviews, oral histories, and field recordings (146,400+ mixed material items), which was acquired by the Library of Congress in 2022 for permanent preservation in the American Folklife Center.
The business is essentially listener-supported and grant-funded rather than commercially priced. There is no product with set pricing; instead, revenue comes from individual listener donations (via the support page, Venmo @kitchensisters, and PayPal), an annual supporter program that ships a Soundtrack CD, and grants from foundations including the National Endowment for the Arts, the Every Page Foundation, The Fertel Foundation, The Robert Sillins Family Foundation, and the Susie Tompkins Buell Foundation, plus tiered individual major donors (Archiving Angel, Queens & Kings, Dukes & Duchesses, Counts & Contessas). The company is a member of PRX's Radiotopia podcast network and operates with a small core team supplemented by an internship and mentoring program. Recognition includes two George Foster Peabody Awards, a DuPont-Columbia Award, two James Beard Awards, two Webby Awards, and a Clarion Award, and the organization has produced more than 200 stories for NPR and public broadcast.
The Kitchen Sisters firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- The Kitchen Sisters
- Legal name
- The Kitchen Sisters
- Website
- https://kitchensisters.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1979
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- The Kitchen Sisters is an independent, nonprofit radio and podcast production company founded in 1979 and led by Davia Nelson and Nikki Silva, producing award-winning documentary audio series for NPR and via the Radiotopia/PRX network, serving public radio listeners and podcast audiences interested in cultural history and untold American stories.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
The Kitchen Sisters industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Audio Documentary Production
- NAICS
- Sound Recording Studios (51224), Other Sound Recording Industries (512290)
- SIC
- Radio Broadcasting Stations (4832)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Podcast Networks & Studio Platforms (MPAIADAC)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Podcast Hosting & Enterprise Solutions (Private/Branded Podcasts) (MPACADAF), Audio Production & Podcasting (BPAFAIAE), Audio Learning Content (Podcasts, Audiobooks, Listening Programs) (EDAGALAM)
Keywords
Where The Kitchen Sisters is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- San Francisco
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
The Kitchen Sisters business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others
Revenue model
- Listener Donations & Support: Direct listener contributions and donations through their support page, Venmo (@kitchensisters), and PayPal. Annual supporter program with Soundtrack CD gifts.
- Grant Funding: Funding from National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), Every Page Foundation, The Fertel Foundation, The Robert Sillins Family Foundation, and other foundations for specific series production.
- Institutional Support: Support from Susie Tompkins Buell Foundation, corporations, and individual major donors categorized by giving levels (Archiving Angel, Queens & Kings, Dukes & Duchesses, Counts & Contessas, etc.).
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Annual | No product pricing - donation-based support model |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels6 records
Marketing channels7 records
The Kitchen Sisters product offering
Product offeringCore offering
The Kitchen Sisters produce and distribute independent radio and podcast documentaries built from interviews, field recordings, and archival audio. Their flagship product is "The Kitchen Sisters Present" podcast, distributed through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and Stitcher, alongside multiple themed NPR series (Hidden Kitchens, Lost & Found Sound, Hidden World of Girls, The Keepers, Sonic Memorial Project). The company operates as a listener- and grant-supported nonprofit production partnership.
Product overview
The Kitchen Sisters (Davia Nelson and Nikki Silva) are award-winning independent radio and podcast producers who create documentary audio storytelling series. Their primary product is 'The Kitchen Sisters Present' podcast, distributed via major podcast platforms (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Stitcher) and part of PRX's Radiotopia network. Their portfolio includes several themed NPR series: Hidden Kitchens (food and community traditions), The Keepers (archivists and cultural preservation), Lost & Found Sound (American history through recorded sound), Hidden World of Girls (women's stories hosted by Tina Fey), and the Sonic Memorial Project (9/11 commemoration). Their complete archive of over 7,000 hours of content was acquired by the Library of Congress in 2022. The organization has produced more than 200 stories for NPR and public broadcast since 1979.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Hidden Kitchens: DuPont-Columbia and James Beard Award winning radio series on NPR's Morning Edition exploring unexpected cooking traditions and how communities come together through food.
- The Hidden World of Girls
- Lost & Found Sound
- The Sonic Memorial Project
- The Keepers
- The Making Of...
Products and services
- The Kitchen Sisters Present (Podcast) Flagship podcast series featuring "stories from the b-side of history"—lost recordings, hidden worlds, and deeply layered stories combining interviews, field recordings, and music. Pulls in material from the NPR series Hidden Kitchens, The Hidden World of Girls, The Sonic Memorial Project, Lost & Found Sound, and The Keepers. Aimed at general public radio and podcast listeners.
- Hidden Kitchens (NPR Series) DuPont-Columbia and James Beard Award-winning NPR radio series exploring unexpected, below-the-radar cooking, legendary meals, and eating traditions, focused on how communities come together through food. Aimed at general NPR listeners.
- The Keepers (NPR Series) NPR series and podcast about activist archivists, rogue librarians, curators, collectors, and historians who preserve cultural heritage and protect the free flow of information and ideas. Hosted by Frances McDormand. Aimed at general NPR listeners and cultural heritage audiences.
- Lost & Found Sound (NPR Series) Peabody and Clarion Award-winning NPR series exploring American life through recorded sound, featuring richly layered tales of people who shaped the sonic landscape of the nation, home recordings, and archival audio artifacts. Aimed at general NPR listeners.
- The Hidden World of Girls (NPR Series) NPR series exploring stories of coming of age, rituals, and rites of passage of women who crossed a line, blazed a trail, or changed the tide. Hosted by Tina Fey (and later Frances McDormand). Aimed at general NPR listeners.
- The Sonic Memorial Project (Documentary) Peabody Award-winning documentary commemorating the life and history of the World Trade Center through audio artifacts, rare recordings, voicemail messages, and interviews, created in response to September 11, 2001. Aimed at general NPR listeners.
- The Kitchen Sisters Audio Archive Complete archive comprising approximately 7,000 hours of interviews, oral histories, field recordings, plus photographs, handwritten journals, podcasts, and storybooks from the 1970s to 2020, acquired by the Library of Congress for permanent preservation. Aimed at researchers, archivists, and cultural institutions.
Quantifiable outcome
- Library of Congress acquired entire archive for permanent preservation
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use The Kitchen Sisters
Customer profileNamed customers3 records
Segments2 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
The Kitchen Sisters technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature1 record
The Kitchen Sisters partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Six partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, primary and core.
- Library of CongressflagshipAcquired the entire Kitchen Sisters archive including 7,000+ hours of audio for permanent preservation in the American Folklife Center. The archive joins those of Studs Terkel, Alan Lomax, Rosa Parks, and Susan B. Anthony.
- NPRprimaryPrimary broadcast partner for radio series including Hidden Kitchens, Lost & Found Sound, The Hidden World of Girls, and The Keepers. Airs on Morning Edition and All Things Considered.
- Radiotopia (PRX)primaryMember of PRX's Radiotopia network, a collective of story-driven podcasts including 99% Invisible, Criminal, Song Exploder, and Radio Diaries.
- KQEDcoreSan Francisco public radio station and production partner. The Kitchen Sisters operate from KQED's facilities at 2601 Mariposa Street.
- Jay AllisoncoreAward-winning radio producer who collaborated on Lost & Found Sound, Sonic Memorial Project, and Hidden Kitchens series.
- Frances McDormandcoreAcademy Award-winning actor who hosts The Keepers series and The Hidden World of Girls, contributing to multiple episodes and live events.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
The Kitchen Sisters competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- 99% Invisible: A flagship Radiotopia podcast producing narrative-driven audio journalism on design, architecture, and cultural systems. Comparable in audience demographics, production values, and public-radio-rooted distribution model.
- Radio Diaries: Radio Diaries is a fellow Radiotopia network producer and NPR contributor that creates first-person audio documentaries using diaries and oral histories. Direct editorial parallel to the Kitchen Sisters' approach to layering interviews, archival audio, and field recordings.
- StoryCorps: StoryCorps and The Kitchen Sisters share a model of oral-history-driven audio storytelling with NPR distribution, listener donations, and a cultural-preservation mission. Both produce intimate, interview-based radio documentaries centered on underrepresented American voices.
- Radiotopia (PRX): The Kitchen Sisters Present is a member of PRX's Radiotopia network, sitting alongside 99% Invisible, Criminal, Song Exploder, and Radio Diaries. Radiotopia is a network of narrative-driven podcasts comparable to the Kitchen Sisters in editorial approach, audience demographics, and distribution model.
- The Moth: The Moth and the Kitchen Sisters both produce story-driven audio content with strong listener-supported, mission-driven business models. Both are nonprofit-adjacent, use live events to fuel recorded content, and focus on cultural and human-interest storytelling.
Broad incumbents
- Reveal (Center for Investigative Reporting): Reveal produces long-form, investigative public-radio documentaries with a similar cultural-preservation and storytelling focus. While more investigative and journalism-anchored, it shares the same radio documentary distribution model and listener-supported nonprofit structure.
- NPR's Embedded: NPR's long-form documentary podcast. Like the Kitchen Sisters, Embedded produces multi-episode narrative-driven audio journalism distributed through NPR's ecosystem and donor-supported funding model.
- This American Life: Ira Glass's flagship program explicitly endorsed the Kitchen Sisters' work. Both produce long-form, narrative-driven radio documentaries on public radio. This American Life is a much larger incumbent with broader sponsorship and reach, but operates in the same editorial category.
- Snap Judgment: Snap Judgment produces cinematic, narrative-driven audio documentaries with rich sound design and music — a closely aligned production philosophy to the Kitchen Sisters' layered storytelling approach. They share the public-radio podcast space and similar audience demographics.
- Henry Louis Gates Jr. / Finding Your Roots (PBS): While primarily video, PBS's archival and cultural-heritage programming around underrepresented American stories shares the Kitchen Sisters' editorial mission of cultural preservation and revealing the 'b-side of history' through rigorous research and storytelling.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
The Kitchen Sisters social profiles
Digital presenceThe Kitchen Sisters financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
The Kitchen Sisters leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
The Kitchen Sisters funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
The Kitchen Sisters M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about The Kitchen Sisters
What does The Kitchen Sisters do?
The Kitchen Sisters produce and distribute independent radio and podcast documentaries built from interviews, field recordings, and archival audio. Their flagship product is "The Kitchen Sisters Present" podcast, distributed through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and Stitcher, alongside multiple themed NPR series (Hidden Kitchens, Lost & Found Sound, Hidden World of Girls, The Keepers, Sonic Memorial Project). The company operates as a listener- and grant-supported nonprofit production partnership.
Is The Kitchen Sisters a public or private company?
The Kitchen Sisters is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was The Kitchen Sisters founded?
The Kitchen Sisters was founded in 1979. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is The Kitchen Sisters based?
The Kitchen Sisters is headquartered in San Francisco, United States, in the North America region.
How does The Kitchen Sisters make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Listener Donations & Support is the primary driver. The others are grant Funding and institutional Support.
Who are The Kitchen Sisters's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are 99% Invisible, Radio Diaries, StoryCorps, Radiotopia (PRX) and The Moth. Broad incumbents are Reveal (Center for Investigative Reporting), NPR's Embedded, This American Life, Snap Judgment and Henry Louis Gates Jr. / Finding Your Roots (PBS).
Does The Kitchen Sisters have an API?
No public API is recorded for The Kitchen Sisters.
What industry is The Kitchen Sisters in?
The Kitchen Sisters's product category is Audio Documentary Production. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAIADAC, Podcast Networks & Studio Platforms, with a secondary code of MPACADAF, Podcast Hosting & Enterprise Solutions (Private/Branded Podcasts). Its NAICS code is 51224 and its SIC code is 4832.