The Pioneering California Now Podcast Celebrates 50th Episode
By Kayla Bell 01/25/2021
The California Now Podcast celebrated 50 episodes on Jan. 25 — a remarkable accomplishment as it remains the only podcast from a major U.S. destination.
The 50th Episode
The landmark 50th episode, Trip Planning in 2021 is aligned with National Plan for Vacation Day, which starts Jan. 26 and is especially important this year as U.S. destinations seek to restart domestic tourism. In the episode, host Soterios Johnson interviews three industry experts who speak to the relationship between travel and wellbeing and 2021 travel trends.
- Nathan Lump, Vice President of Customer Marketing, Expedia on the National Plan for Vacation Day and the emotional and physical benefits of taking your allotted vacation days. He also waxes eloquent on the sheer pleasure of sitting down and planning a getaway.
- Rebecca Misner, West Coast Editor for Condé Nast Traveler on the latest trends, including “Slow Travel” vacations where travel-deprived consumers extend their trips and strive to live like locals.
- Chandler O’Leary, author of “The Best Coast: A Road Trip Atlas” on exploring California by car — a big trend for 2021. Her acclaimed book showcases dozens of memorable stops in the Golden State.
About the California Now Podcast
The podcast launched in April 2018 with host Soterios Johnson, formerly the local host of National Public Radio’s Morning Edition on radio station WNYC. Johnson moved from New York City to Davis, California and as a relative newcomer to the Golden State he is actively seeking to fill up his personal travel to-do list. Johnson leverages both his journalistic skills and his personal curiosity to over the best things to do and most fascinating places to explore throughout the state.
Episodes are available across multiple platforms including VisitCalifornia.com, iTunes, Spotify, SoundCloud and Stitcher.
Performance Highlights
- 180K lifetime downloads
- 900 travel industry businesses mentioned
- 3,500 listens per episode (top 10% of all podcasts hosted by Libsyn)
- 45 minutes of average listening time per device (iTunes)
- 64% average consumption rate of all episodes
- 5-star iTunes rating
