Meghan Markle’s latest venture, the podcast “Confessions Of A Female Founder,” premiered this week and has sparked considerable debate among listeners.
The Duchess of Sussex, age 43, collaborated with Whitney Wolfe Herd, founder of Bumble, for a debut episode described as an intimate discussion between friends. This marks her return to audio content after the earlier release of “Archetypes.”
“Confessions Of A Female Founder” consists of eight episodes and aims to chronicle Meghan’s experiences in the world of entrepreneurship.
The podcast quickly gained traction, achieving a strong initial performance on Apple Podcast charts. Here’s a breakdown of its rankings:
- United States: #6
- Canada: #6
- United Kingdom: #11 (just missing the top 10)
- South Africa: #17
- Ireland: #22
- Australia: #57
This launch follows a recent Netflix series, “With Love, Meghan,” where she showcased personal moments with friends while cooking and crafting. The new podcast represents an attempt to move beyond the earlier “Archetypes” project, which reportedly struggled to achieve widespread popularity and received mixed reviews.
Critical reception has been varied, with some publications expressing disappointment.
Chris Bennion of Telegraph TV called the show “frustrating” and noted a lack of revealing content, awarding it two out of five stars. He stated: “There are no confessions or secrets.”
Rachel Aroesti in The Guardian deemed the interview style “sycophantic,” also giving it a rating of two out of five.
While India Block from Standard offered a more positive assessment, praising Meghan’s interviewing approach, stating she is “a generous and competent interviewer, playing up her anxieties and being the right amount of complementary and deferential to keep her guest relaxed and talking.” However, she still gave it two stars.
Charlie Gowans-Eglinton, writing for The Times, was particularly critical, awarding just one star and questioning the direction of the conversation.
He commented: “Meghan could have asked Wolfe Herd ‘how she made a billion,’ but she had other things on her mind.”
