Nova launches long-form Britney Spears podcast

Nova Podcasts is the latest media company to begin unpacking the scandal, sadness and secrets around Britney Spears’ recent life via a new podcast.

Unpacked will go into the “crimes that shocked the nation, the celebrity sagas that captivated the world and the stories that you just couldn’t make up if you tried”.

Season one, which launched last week, will investigate Britney Spears’ conservatorship and how the media, her family and the public have been complicit in the star losing control of her career, her money and her life.

Each episode of Unpacked will go into a different factor contributing to Spears’ current situation including the music industry machine and how it markets young women, to the relentless media scrutiny and the resulting #FreeBritney movement.

It will be hosted by journalist Edwina Stott and feature interviews with gossip blogger Perez Hilton, as well as Hayley Herms from the #FreeBritney movement, and Daniel Ramos, the infamous paparazzi who clashed with Spears in 2007.

Stott said we may think we know Spears’ story, but we definitely don’t know everything.

“This series is an in-depth look at the way Britney has grown up under the lens of the media, been manufactured by the music industry and crumbled under the pressure placed on her to be perfect,” she said. “The series offers a closer look at Britney’s life, but throws up important questions about the society we live in that we all have a responsibility to consider.”

Rachel Corbett, NOVA’s head of podcasts and digital content, said investigative podcasts are a popular genre for good reason.

“They give you so much scope to unpack complex stories and there’s no story more compelling right now than the conservatorship of Britney Spears. We’re really excited to be launching this as our first original investigative podcast under the Nova Podcasts banner and look forward to unpacking more great stories in subsequent seasons.”