Michael Benoist

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. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pho…

How fun to work with my old colleague @sashagila on a Daily Ep. It’s a good one - beautiful, infuriating, tragic. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the…

In what must be the spiciest Daily episode in its history, @Nataliekitro and I talk about love (and sex) with an AI chatbot: nytimes.com/2025/02/25/pod…

Big week for our little podcast!! @cementcityprod @jmlaskas @mbeditor cementcity.org

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

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

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 nytimes.com/2024/12/06/art…

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." cementcity.org

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 open.substack.com/pub/bingeworth…

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. cementcity.org

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 podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/cem…

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

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. cementcity.org @jmlaskas @erinand @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.

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.

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) cementcity.org

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. wesa.fm/arts-sports-cu…

Always read @robertfworth !

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 cementcity.org

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.” cementcity.org