Hot Pod, the newsletter about the podcasting industry, has been acquired by Vox Media. Founder Nick Quah will become a full-time podcast reviewer for Vulture and Hot Pod, now written by Ashley Carman, will live on at The Verge as the site’s first paid product.

some professional news…

— Nick Quah (@nwquah) September 7, 2021

so this is exciting!! the verge is acquiring hot pod, @nwquah is becoming a vulture podcast critic, and i’m taking over hot pod!! https://t.co/7SiXriOmxQ

— Ashley Carman (@ashleyrcarman) September 7, 2021

Hot Pod marks the third acquisition of the year for Vox Media, which owns Eater, SB Nation, and the gaming site Polygon in addition to Vox.com, The Verge, and New York magazine. (They previously purchased the drinks-focused publication Punch and Preet Bharara’s podcast studio Cafe in 2021.)

Hot Pod will be The Verge’s first paid product, and will function as a test balloon for similar editorial projects in the future, the site’s editor, Nilay Patel, told Variety. The Verge has “amassed a huge audience” in its 10 years but has “never made anybody pay for anything” before, Patel said.

Hot Pod, which will stay at $7/month for subscribers, looked like a good place for them to start.

“We think this is the right product and the right audience and think Ashley can deliver a lot of value that is worth paying for to an audience that can trade on that information,” Patel said. “We are looking at it as a test. We have a lot to learn.”

Quah is a long-time friend of Nieman Lab. He started Hot Pod back in November 2014 — when Serial had just started being a thing, he notes — and less than a year later, Nieman Lab started publishing his industry insights and sharp-eyed summaries that sifted news from bluster in a fast-moving field. (Here’s that first post and the last, where he bid adieu to Nieman Lab readers as Vulture took over syndication of Hot Pod.)

Current Hot Pod subscribers will be given a three-month subscription to New York magazine and readers can find his podcast criticism by signing up for — what else? — his new newsletter, 1.5x Speed.

Hot Pod is a very influential thing in the podcast industry and its acquisition by The Verge says a lot about podcast culture’s importance. There’s a lot of crossover in tech / culture / media. https://t.co/ZSQ6i91ttY

— Dave Molloy (@davemolloy) September 7, 2021

The bundling of the creator economy has begun.

Take a guess as to what you call a bundle of creators… perhaps… just maybe… a media company?https://t.co/e62ga9dyIb

— Austin Rief ☕️ (@austin_rief) September 7, 2021

Given all the exuberance surrounding email newsletters right now, the move should be eye-opening (esp. re: the Substack frenzy). Quah has been at this since 2014 and built a great business. But burnout lurks in the shadows.

— Jane Friedman (@JaneFriedman) September 7, 2021

WHAAAAAT?!? This is going to be significant. @nwquah has been a trusted voice for me and many others navigating what the soul of our industry will be. I’m thrilled for him to be moving into bigger and better opportunities… https://t.co/sQPtDF1ZM6

— twila dang say wear a mask dang it (@twiladang) September 7, 2021