Larry Wilmore, W. Kamau Bell and More to Headline NOW HEAR THIS Podcast Festival

Midroll Media, organizer of the pioneering Now Hear This podcast festival, is pleased to announce programming for the second annual festival.

The hosts of many of today's most popular podcasts will take to the stage for live performances and mingle with fans in meet-and-greet gatherings. Newly announced shows include "NPR's Planet Money," "Lore," "Larry Wilmore: Black on Air," "Mortified" and "Terrible, Thanks For Asking."

After successfully launching the event in 2016 in in Anaheim, California, festival organizers moved Now Hear This to Manhattan's Jacob K. Javits Convention Center (655 W. 34th Street). The festival takes place Sept. 8-10.

Today's announcement represents a wide range of the podcast community's most beloved shows:

[Storytelling]

"Lore" - This award-winning, critically acclaimed podcast is about true-life scary stories. "Lore" exposes the darker side of history, exploring the creatures, people and places of our wildest nightmares.

"Mortified" - This podcast celebrates stories revealed through the strange and extraordinary things we created as kids. Witness adults sharing their most embarrassing childhood artifacts (journals, letters, poems, lyrics, plays, home movies, art) with others in order to reveal stories about their lives. (PRX, Radiotopia)

[Society & Culture]

"Terrible, Thanks for Asking" - Hosted by author (It's Okay to Laugh (Crying Is Cool Too)) and notable widow (her words) Nora McInerny, this is a funny/sad/uncomfortable podcast about talking honestly about our pain, our awkwardness and our humanness, which is not an actual word. (APM Podcasts)

[News & Politics]

"NPR's Planet Money" - The economy explained with stories and surprises. (NPR).

"Larry Wilmore: Black on Air" - Emmy Award-winning producer, actor and comedian Larry Wilmore's podcast weighs in on the issues of the week as he interviews guests in the worlds of politics, entertainment, culture, sports and beyond. (The Ringer)

The festival's headline acts announced previously include:

"Comedy Bang! Bang!" - Host Scott Aukerman ("Comedy Bang! Bang!" on IFC, "Mr. Show") blends conversation and character work from today's funniest comedians. (Earwolf)

"How Did This Get Made?" - Have you ever seen a movie so bad that it's amazing? In this long-running and top-rated podcast, Paul Scheer, June Diane Raphael and Jason Mantzoukas watch movies and report back with the results. (Earwolf)

"The Cracked Podcast" - Top editors from popular humor website Cracked.com dissect pop culture tropes and debunk myths, along with an impressive roster of guests. (Earwolf)

"Who Charted?" - Hosts Howard Kremer and Kulap Vilaysack look at the week's music and movie charts with your favorite comedian guests. (Earwolf)

[Storytelling]

"Found" - Host Davy Rothbart explores personal stories of love, loss, hope, transformation and aspiration through the lens of lost and found notes with the power of humor and music. (Wondery)

"Story Telling in the Dark" -The hosts of Wondery's most popular storytelling podcasts including "Secrets," "Crimes & Audiotape," "Inside Psycho," "Terms" and others will get you immersed in an experience you'll never forget: your imagination, powered by sound. The oldest and purest form of virtual reality. (Wondery)

[Society & Culture]

"The Nod" - Co-hosts Brittany Luse and Eric Eddings gleefully explore all the beautiful, complicated dimensions of Black life. It is a fun, yet poignant examination of both the biggest moments and most underexplored corners of Black art, media and culture. (Gimlet)

"StarTalk All-Stars" - The first spin-off space and science podcast and radio show of the popular "StarTalk Radio" podcast from host Neil DeGrasse Tyson.

[News & Politics]

"Lovett or Leave It" - Jon Lovett, former Obama speechwriter and co-host of top podcast "Pod Save America," is joined by comedians, actors, journalists and others for a roundup of the week's top news. (Crooked Media)

"Politically Re-active" - Hosts, comedians and longtime friends W. Kamau Bell and Hari Kondabolu answer questions and separate fact from fake news as they navigate the US political landscape. (First Look Media's Topic & Earwolf)

[True Crime]

"Criminal" - A podcast about crime and people who've done wrong, been wronged or gotten caught somewhere in the middle. (Radiotopia)

"We're thrilled about this year's lineup," said Chris Bannon, Midroll Media's chief content officer and leader of the booking and creative process for Now Hear This. "It offers podcast fans a truly wide variety of hosts -- including some of their favorite comedians and storytellers -- who all love performing in front of an excited live audience."

Early-bird tickets -$130 for general-admission, three-day passes; $280 for VIP three-day-passes -are on sale at nowhearthisfest.com. Prices increase on June 29. A detailed schedule of festival events will be announced later this summer.

Midroll Media is a leading podcast content company, advertising network and distribution platform that is changing the face of digital audio. It is the parent company of the Earwolf network and its top-ranked comedy podcasts; popular podcast listening platform and content network Stitcher and its premium subscription service; and the Midroll advertising network, representing over 300 of the world's largest podcasts. With offices in Los Angeles, New York City and San Francisco, Midroll was founded in 2010 and is a wholly owned subsidiary of The E.W. Scripps Company (NYSE: SSP).