critical frequency
Critical Frequency is an independent, women-run podcast network founded in 2017 that produces reported narrative audio on climate accountability, social justice, and complex societal issues, operating a B2B production studio for media partners alongside original show distribution via Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2017
- Headquarters—
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingDigital Commerce or Content
What critical frequency does
Critical Frequency is an independent, women-run podcast network and production company founded in 2017 by journalists. It produces reported narrative audio content focused on accountability journalism in climate, social justice, Native American law, and media criticism. The network's portfolio includes 24 shows across original productions (Drilled, Inherited, Sound Off, Labor, Hot Take, Damages, Rigged, Scene on Radio's The Repair), co-productions with larger media companies (This Land Season 2 with Crooked Media; Unfinished: Short Creek with Stitcher's Witness Docs), and distributed shows (No Place Like Home, The View from Somewhere, Peace of Mind with Bhi Bhiman).
The company operates a B2B podcast production studio model, providing production, reporting, editing, fact-checking, and audio engineering services to media companies, alongside an original content business that distributes its own shows through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and dedicated show websites. Revenue is generated through production fees for contracted projects and advertising/sponsorship on original shows. Audience segments are primarily persona-driven, including climate-conscious listeners, news and politics enthusiasts, arts and music audiences, and working parents. The investigative work is supported by a SecureDrop anonymous tip submission system accessed via Tor, providing whistleblower infrastructure that is uncommon in the independent podcast sector.
The network has earned AdWeek's 2019 Podcast Network of the Year designation, an Online News Association Excellence in Audio Storytelling Award, a 2020 iHeartRadio Best Green Podcast award, Peabody nominations, a Wilbur Award for religion reporting, and a 2021 Ambie nomination. Editorial coverage in The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Atlantic, and The Guardian further validates the brand. The company operates with 1-10 employees from a Kings Beach, California mailing address, with no disclosed external funding.
critical frequency firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- critical frequency
- Legal name
- Critical Frequency
- Website
- https://criticalfrequency.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2017
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Critical Frequency is an independent, women-run podcast network founded in 2017 that produces reported narrative audio on climate accountability, social justice, and complex societal issues, operating a B2B production studio for media partners alongside original show distribution via Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
critical frequency industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Podcast Network and Audio Production Studio
- NAICS
- Other Sound Recording Industries (51229), Sound Recording Industries (5122), Sound Recording Studios (512240)
- SIC
- Services-Motion Picture & Video Tape Production (7812)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Podcast Networks & Studio Platforms (MPAIADAC)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Audio Production & Podcasting (BPAFAIAE)
Keywords
critical frequency business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Digital Commerce or Content
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D
Revenue model
- B2B Podcast Production Services: Critical Frequency produces podcasts for other media companies such as Crooked Media and Stitcher's Witness Docs, likely earning production fees for these contracted projects.
- Original Show Distribution: Critical Frequency produces and distributes its own original podcasts (Drilled, Inherited, Sound Off, Labor, Hot Take, etc.) through podcast platforms, generating revenue through advertising and sponsorships.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels3 records
critical frequency product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Critical Frequency is a women-run, independent podcast network and production studio founded in 2017. It produces original investigative and narrative podcasts focused on climate accountability, social justice, and corporate disinformation, and it provides contracted production services (reporting, editing, fact-checking, audio engineering) to media companies such as Crooked Media and Stitcher's Witness Docs. The network also distributes select third-party podcasts through major podcast platforms.
Product overview
Critical Frequency is a women-run podcast network that combines rigorous reporting and inventive storytelling to create shows focused on complex societal issues. Their portfolio includes award-winning original climate-focused podcasts (Drilled, Damages, Rigged, Inherited, Hot Take), co-productions with partners like Crooked Media (This Land S2) and Witness Docs/Stitcher (Unfinished: Short Creek), distributed shows (No Place Like Home, The View from Somewhere, Peace of Mind), and specialty programs covering music (Sound Off) and women's work issues (Labor). The network manages production, editing, fact-checking, audio engineering, and distribution across major podcast platforms.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Drilled A narrative, investigative climate accountability podcast reported, hosted, and produced by award-winning climate journalist Amy Westervelt. Part of the Covering Climate Now initiative, syndicating reporting to various national and local outlets. Aimed at listeners interested in rigorous climate accountability journalism.
- Damages A courtroom drama podcast that follows the well over 200 climate lawsuits currently active in courtrooms all over the world, ranging from explanatory episodes to docuseries to narrative seasons. Targeted at audiences interested in climate litigation and accountability.
- Rigged A website, archive, and podcast on the history of corporate-funded disinformation. It catalogues the most effective techniques and narratives cooked up by the legends of the PR industry on behalf of every other U.S. industry. Targeted at journalists, researchers, and citizens interested in media manipulation and PR industry history.
- Inherited A reported, narrative podcast by, for, and about youth climate activists exploring what the next generation plans to do with its inheritance. Featured in The New York Times and the CBS Morning Show. Aimed at youth climate audiences and families.
- Hot Take A holistic, irreverent talk show about climate and the media co-hosted by climate justice essayist Mary Annaise Heglar and journalist Amy Westervelt. Tackles the climate saga and how the conversation influences everything from politics to popular culture. Aimed at audiences wanting honest climate conversation intersecting race, class, and gender.
- Labor A co-production with Reasonable Volume that brings social science research on women, work, and motherhood, with support from the Economic Hardship Reporting Project. Aimed at working parents, families, and audiences interested in evidence-based coverage of American family crises.
- Sound Off with Katy Henriksen A music show featuring in-depth conversations about music that challenge the status quo, exploring creativity at the intersection of art, music, and literature. Aimed at arts and music enthusiasts interested in hybrid and challenging artistic genres.
- Scene on Radio (The Repair) Season 5 of Scene on Radio titled 'The Repair', a reported narrative series. Aimed at audiences interested in long-form, narrative-driven journalism.
- This Land (Season 2) A Crooked Media show created by Cherokee reporter Rebecca Nagle, with the second season produced by Critical Frequency and focused on the coordinated effort to gut the Indian Child Welfare Act. Produced for Crooked Media as a co-production. Aimed at audiences interested in Native American law and tribal sovereignty.
- Unfinished: Short Creek Co-produced with Witness Docs (Stitcher's documentary arm), telling the story of a divided community in the desert. Received the Wilbur Award for religion reporting and a 2021 Ambie nomination for reporting. Aimed at audiences interested in religious freedom and political documentaries.
- No Place Like Home A podcast that gets to the heart of climate change from inviting, intimate, creative, and surprising angles, hosted by climate activists Mary Anne Hitt and Anna Jane Joyner. Distributed by Critical Frequency.
- The View from Somewhere Tells the stories of journalists who have resisted 'objectivity' and stood up for justice, and envisions new approaches to truth and integrity in journalism. Hosted by Lewis Raven Wallace. Distributed by Critical Frequency. Aimed at journalism and media criticism audiences.
- Podcast Production Services End-to-end podcast production services for media companies, encompassing reporting, editing, fact-checking, and audio engineering. Delivered for clients including Crooked Media (This Land Season 2) and Stitcher's Witness Docs (Unfinished: Short Creek). Engagement terms are customized per production partnership.
Quantifiable outcome
- AdWeek's 2019 Podcast Network of the Year
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use critical frequency
Customer profileNamed customers3 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
critical frequency technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature1 record
critical frequency partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Crooked MediacoreCritical Frequency produced the second season of This Land for Crooked Media, managing production, reporting, editing, fact-checking, and audio engineering. The show focuses on the Indian Child Welfare Act and tribal sovereignty issues.
- Stitcher/Witness DocscoreCo-produced Unfinished: Short Creek with Stitcher's documentary arm Witness Docs. The show tells the story of a divided community in the desert and received a Wilbur Award and Ambie nomination.
- YR MediacoreInherited podcast is now produced by YR Media and distributed by Critical Frequency, with additional editorial support from Critical Frequency. The show focuses on youth climate activists.
- Reasonable VolumeminorCo-production partnership for the Labor podcast, which explores social science research on women, work, and motherhood, with support from the Economic Hardship Reporting Project.
- Economic Hardship Reporting ProjectminorProvides funding support for the Labor podcast, which examines research on women, work, and motherhood.
Scale indicators2 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
critical frequency competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Crooked Media: Independent progressive podcast network and media company behind Pod Save America. Both Crooked Media and Critical Frequency operate as mission-driven, journalist-founded podcast networks producing narrative and political audio, and they are co-production partners (This Land Season 2).
- Pineapple Street Studios: Independent podcast studio focused on high-quality narrative and documentary audio. Pineapple Street's model of producing premium limited-run series for partners and own IP is directly comparable to Critical Frequency's B2B production-plus-original-portfolio approach.
- Radiotopia (PRX): Public-radio-rooted podcast network distributing independent, mission-driven narrative shows. Comparable model of curating and distributing independent produced podcasts with editorial support, sharing Critical Frequency's emphasis on underrepresented voices and storytelling craft.
Broad incumbents
- iHeartPodcasts: Largest U.S. podcast publisher and platform, producing and distributing shows across every major vertical. Overlaps with Critical Frequency on distribution channels and competes for narrative-audio advertiser budgets, while iHeartRadio itself has awarded Critical Frequency shows.
- Wondery: Large-scale narrative podcast network (now owned by Amazon) producing serialized storytelling and branded content. Overlaps with Critical Frequency on narrative investigative production and B2B branded podcast services, though at materially greater scale.
- Gimlet Media: Premium narrative podcast studio (now part of Spotify) known for high-production-value serialized audio. Comparable in producing award-winning narrative content and serving as B2B production partner, though with significantly larger resources post-acquisition.
- Pushkin Industries: Premium podcast production company co-founded by Malcolm Gladwell and Jacob Weisberg, producing high-profile narrative shows across history, business, and culture. Operates at broader scale and with institutional backing but shares the model of producing narrative audio for distribution partners.
- Stitcher (SiriusXM): Major podcast platform and production company (now part of SiriusXM) producing and distributing shows like Witness Docs. Critical Frequency is an active co-production partner with Stitcher/Witness Docs (Unfinished: Short Creek), and Stitcher represents the broader incumbent podcast-network peer.
Emerging players
- The Intercept: Investigative journalism outlet with audio and podcast programming focused on accountability, civil liberties, and corporate/government misconduct. Comparable to Critical Frequency's investigative accountability reporting mission, with some overlap in subject verticals (corporate disinformation, environmental harm).
Regional players
- KCRW / LAist Studios: Public radio station and podcast studio producing independent narrative and journalism audio (e.g., Lost Notes, The Big Takeaway). Comparable model of combining rigorous reporting with inventive audio storytelling, anchored to a public-media ethos similar to Critical Frequency's investigative mission.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
critical frequency social profiles
Digital presencecritical frequency financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
critical frequency leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
critical frequency funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
critical frequency 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 critical frequency
What does critical frequency do?
Critical Frequency is a women-run, independent podcast network and production studio founded in 2017. It produces original investigative and narrative podcasts focused on climate accountability, social justice, and corporate disinformation, and it provides contracted production services (reporting, editing, fact-checking, audio engineering) to media companies such as Crooked Media and Stitcher's Witness Docs. The network also distributes select third-party podcasts through major podcast platforms.
Is critical frequency a public or private company?
critical frequency is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was critical frequency founded?
critical frequency was founded in 2017. It employs 1 to 10 people.
How does critical frequency make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. B2B Podcast Production Services are the primary driver. The others are original Show Distribution.
Who are critical frequency's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Crooked Media, Pineapple Street Studios and Radiotopia (PRX). Broad incumbents are iHeartPodcasts, Wondery, Gimlet Media, Pushkin Industries and Stitcher (SiriusXM). The Intercept is listed as an emerging player. KCRW / LAist Studios is listed as a regional player.
Does critical frequency have an API?
No public API is recorded for critical frequency.
What industry is critical frequency in?
critical frequency's product category is Podcast Network and Audio Production Studio. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAIADAC, Podcast Networks & Studio Platforms, with a secondary code of BPAFAIAE, Audio Production & Podcasting. Its NAICS code is 51229 and its SIC code is 7812.