Michael Benoist

Editor

[Michael Benoist @mbeditor]

What a nice close read of Cement City. Nice to hear people really get it, both the immense amount of labor and what it adds up to: maybe the first podcast of its kind. 10 eps of unbroken scene tape, the only pause when someone asks @erinand to cut the mic. https://t.co/AndTShL7Uo

[Michael Benoist @mbeditor]

How fun to work with my old colleague @sashagila on a Daily Ep. It’s a good one - beautiful, infuriating, tragic. https://t.co/VBW9doy40R

[Kashmir Hill @kashhill]

In what must be the spiciest Daily episode in its history, @Nataliekitro and I talk about love (and sex) with an AI chatbot: https://t.co/DitFe5cPsU

[Erin Anderson @erinand]

Big week for our little podcast!! @cementcityprod @jmlaskas @mbeditor https://t.co/ZivwSjfVlQ

[Cement City Productions @cementcityprod]

Cement City is a finalist for ASME's National Magazine Award in podcasting! Congratulations to our team: @jmlaskas, @erinand, and @mbeditor!

[Erin Anderson @erinand]

Thanks to @tinkmediaco for this list -- and to @IanNFox for the kind words! "If you want more of S-TOWN's poetry or HEAVYWEIGHT's heart, you should try CEMENT CITY." @cementcityprod

[Michael Benoist @mbeditor]

Well hey now! Got this news in the middle of a taping for my day job. What terrific news. Proud of you @jmlaskas
and @erinand . Give it a listen you all! CEMENT CITY is unlike anything else out there. @cementcityprod https://t.co/Cs30KR7TeA

[Michael Benoist @mbeditor]

Reviews are in! Bingeworthy says Cement City is "a unicorn of a series" and calls it "strikingly original." "Am I guilty for enjoying it this much?" she writes. Podcast the Newsletter calls it "an incredible piece of reporting" and "priceless." https://t.co/S6tua3sNqX

[Samantha Hodder ⌘🎧 ✍️ @iSamanthaHodder]

Cement City: The Audio Equivalent Of On All Fours

Is it your Me Time listening? Grab a set of headphones and search up @cementcityprod to get started

From @jmlaskas & @erinand for @AudacyPods
A 9h journey to the heart of the Rust Belt you want to take

https://t.co/tAfjdUkLer

[Michael Benoist @mbeditor]

Back in 2016, when @jmlaskas @erinand and I set out to document life in a left behind town, we did it with a real sense of curiosity and humility. Amazing the Dems didn’t draw the same lessons from Trump 1.0. You learn a whole lot when you listen. https://t.co/S6tua3sfBp

[Cllr Marianne Le Coyte Grinney @MarianneLeCG]

This could not have come at a better time:

Authentic, wholesome journalism, much needed in the aftermath of the last week: crossing paradigms of politics, marginalisation and the importance of community.

@jmlaskas is epic, listen 👇🏼can’t wait for SII

https://t.co/dmwH1UF2Wz

[Jeff Alexander @jeffalex65]

Ep 9 and 10 were so good. The Donora election is a microcosm of what happened yesterday

[Cement City Productions @cementcityprod]

CEMENT CITY is the story of one American town. It’s one small attempt to tell a story of America in this moment we now find ourselves. The complete series is finally out – almost 8 years in the making. We hope you’ll listen. https://t.co/qdGCOe1vR2 @jmlaskas @erinand @mbeditor

[Michael Benoist @mbeditor]

We found other things, too. An election that was eerily similar to the one that just happened. Characters I will never forget. And a sense of community that is vanishingly rare. Oh, and: it's all out now. All ten episodes. I am so glad we went looking for answers.

[Michael Benoist @mbeditor]

Today, I'm particularly proud of all the years I put into this podcast along with @jmlaskas and @erinand. It was born in the aftermath of 2016, when we were searching for answers about the country we live in. That search led us to Donora, PA. (1/3) https://t.co/S6tua3sfBp

[Michael Benoist @mbeditor]

We weren't the only ones with that impulse. A high up editor where I work suggested the paper open a bureau in a town somewhere. That's essentially what we did. And we found an America where the best jobs are at the sewage plant and kids can't afford skate rental at the rink.

[Cement City Productions @cementcityprod]

In the lead-up to election day, @jmlaskas and @erinand talk with WESA’s @PTonWHYY — about immersion journalism and how small-town politics echo the national stage. https://t.co/OtuWQh6x6M

[Michael Benoist @mbeditor]

Always read @robertfworth !

[robert worth @robertfworth]

my long piece from Lebanon: https://t.co/PaEqrv0Fa4

[Michael Benoist @mbeditor]

Well, how about that? We didn't plan on the Halloween episode of Cement City dropping now but here it is! Just like a holiday episode of a sitcom. Only this one comes with revelatory insights from @jmlaskas and patient, beautiful tape from @erinand https://t.co/34Vx7Cj1U8

[Cement City Productions @cementcityprod]

Other towns have apples. Or pumpkin festivals. Donora has smog. Mayor Piglet sees this as an opportunity, and Donora is totally transformed — if only for a day. Out now, episode 8: "Don’t bitch about the smog.” https://t.co/qdGCOe0Y1u