WaitWhat and Arianna Huffington’s Thrive Global Introduce “Meditative Story” — A First-Of-Its-Kind Immersive Storytelling Podcast
Combines the emotional pull of first-person storytelling with the immediate, science-backed benefits of a mindfulness practice
NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–WaitWhat, founded by former TED executives Deron Triff and June Cohen who also created Masters of Scale, and Thrive Global, the behavior change technology company founded by Arianna Huffington, today released the premiere episode of Meditative Story, a completely new kind of listening experience that blends intimate first-person stories with mindfulness prompts, enveloped in beautiful music composition. The series is available on Apple Podcast, Spotify and other leading podcast platforms. WaitWhat and Thrive have chosen Salesforce as the exclusive sponsor of Meditative Story because of the company’s unique devotion to both storytelling as a platform for change, and mindfulness as a keystone of the Salesforce culture across its 40,000 employees.
Every week, subscribers will receive a new Meditative Story from a storyteller who will transport listeners to the time and place where everything changed for them — a story that often will be deeply relatable to the listener’s own life. As the story unfolds, mindfulness guide Rohan Gunatillake (founder of the popular Buddhify meditation app) offers prompts to calm the mind and help listeners connect with their own observations. The entire experience is elevated by music created by The Holladay Brothers. Shifting between music and vibration, the exquisite sound design rides above the narrative, bringing each Meditative Story to life and empowering subscribers to feel restored and refreshed.
“We’re thrilled to be partnering with WaitWhat on this truly unique and transformative listening experience,” said Arianna Huffington Founder and CEO of Thrive Global. “Meditative Story is a first-of-its-kind podcast and seamlessly combines the power of personal stories with the science-backed benefits of mindfulness. The stories allow you to immediately connect with yourself and reset, which is something we all need more of in our lives.”
Meditative Story debuts today with Dr. Lucy Kalanithi sharing, for the first time, an extraordinary coda to her late husband Paul Kalanithi’s New York Times best-selling memoir When Breath Becomes Air.
Storytellers for Meditative Story include well-known culture makers from the media world and beyond. Their lyrical voices transport us into their fascinating worlds we’ve not experienced. This combination of recognizable names and new voices will bring a beautiful array of stories and styles to the podcast. Some storytellers who will be sharing a Meditative Story in its first season include:
- On Being’s Krista Tippett
- Restaurateur Danny Meyer
- Thrive Global’s Arianna Huffington
- Futurist Jane McGonigal
- Author Pico Iyer
- ABC Nightline’s Dan Harris
- NPR’s Peter Sagal
- Apple Music’s Larry Jackson
- Astronomer Michelle Thaller
- Actor Josh Radnor
- Transgender boxer and author Thomas Page McBee
- Dr. Lucy Kalanithi, widow of Paul Kalanithi (When Breath Becomes Air)
- Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist John Moore
- NY Times Best-Selling Author AJ Jacobs
- And more…
“Meditative Story is one of the most inventive and beautiful formats I’ve had the opportunity to help create — there’s nothing like it in the world,” says Deron Triff, Co-Founder of WaitWhat and Executive Producer of Meditative Story. “The creative teams from WaitWhat and Thrive see Meditative Story as a genre-making endeavor. We hope to one day see thousands of well known storytellers and newer voices ‘share a Meditative Story’ with the world — and in doing so, create the kind of global culture shift we helped build for TED.”
“Stories have the power to change perspectives,” says Cristina Jones, Salesforce SVP of Customer Marketing, Brand Partnerships, and C-Suite Engagement. “Our approach makes it possible for everyone to share the inspiring stories of change makers. We are thrilled to collaborate with WaitWhat and Thrive to use this storytelling platform to spark action within every potential change maker out there.”
Meditative Story’s 360-degree view on life through story will be as evocative as it is impactful, giving listeners the opportunity to restore themselves at any point of the day. Simon & Schuster’s Cary Goldstein curated the first season of storytellers.
Subscribe for free to Meditative Story on Apple Podcast, Spotify or wherever you listen. Follow Meditative Story at Twitter.com/MeditativeStory, Facebook.com/MeditativeStory and Instagram.com/MeditativeStory.
About WaitWhat
WaitWhat is a media invention company that invests in, develops, produces and distributes wholly-owned media properties with the specific purpose of creating new genres, categories and formats of content that scale. WaitWhat creates and owns the Webby award-winning Masters of Scale podcast — hosted by LinkedIn Co-founder Reid Hoffman, and Should this Exist?, a new property hosted by Caterina Fake that unpacks what technology is doing for us and to us.
Prior to WaitWhat, co-founders June Cohen and Deron Triff originated and executive produced The TED Radio Hour in partnership with NPR; Sincerely, X — the podcast of anonymous TED Talks co-created with Audible; The Possible, the world’s first documentary series in VR (with Chris Milk and Aaron Koblin of Vrse (now Within); and originated the podcast Where Shall We Begin? — with Esther Perel for Audible. WaitWhat is founded upon a culture of possibility-thinking, courageous experimentation, originality, integrity and diversity.
About Thrive Global
Founded and led by Arianna Huffington, Thrive Global is a behavior change technology company helping individuals, companies and communities improve their well-being and performance. Thrive Global is headquartered in New York and launched in the fall of 2016. For more information, visit www.thriveglobal.com.
About Salesforce
Salesforce is the global leader in Customer Relationship Management (CRM), bringing companies closer to their customers in the digital age. Founded in 1999, Salesforce enables companies of every size and industry to take advantage of powerful technologies—cloud, mobile, social, internet of things, artificial intelligence, voice and blockchain—to create a 360-degree view of their customers. For more information about Salesforce (NYSE: CRM), visit: www.salesforce.com.
Contacts
Monica Lee
Chief Communications Officer
Thrive Global
monica@thriveglobal.com
917-575-2630
Susan McPherson
Founder and CEO
McPherson Strategies
susan@mcpstrategies.com
917-859-2291