Tiger kings: New Apple podcast tackles the legend of Siegfried & Roy

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Siegfried and Roy
An intriguing subject for Apple's next podcast.
Photo: Carolhi/Wikipedia CC

Netflix has Joe Exotic and Tiger King. Now Apple is making its own move into the, err, big cat showbiz entertainment genre with a podcast on pop culture icons Siegfried & Roy.

The forthcoming Apple podcast will chronicle the career of the famous German-American entertainers, who were known for their Las Vegas shows featuring white lions and tigers. Siegfried Fischbacher died in January. His partner, Roy Horn — who was famously mauled by a tiger in 2003 during the duo’s live show — died last year due to coronavirus.

According to Deadline, the podcast series will “present an in-depth look at the most famous, controversial magicians in history, who were widely misunderstood, frequently satirized and feverishly criticized. It will deconstruct the illusions they created, the empire they constructed, and what really happened on the night that a tiger attack ended their reign.”

The Siegfried & Roy podcast will be made by filmmaker Steven Leckart. Leckart produced and directed Netflix’s Challenger: The Final Flight and wrote What’s My Name: Muhammad Ali for HBO. There is no date yet announced for the Siegfried & Roy podcast’s release.

The third Apple-produced podcast

This will be the third Apple-produced podcast. In February, the company released a tie-in podcast based on Apple TV+ series For All Mankind. Earlier this month, it launched The Line, a documentary podcast about a Navy SEAL accused of war crimes. An accompanying four-part Apple TV+ series based on The Line will land later this year.

In both cases, Apple is using its original podcasts as part of a synergistic promotion with Apple TV+. It’s not yet clear whether the same will happen with the Siegfried & Roy podcast. It would make a lot of sense, though — given the spectacular footage they should be able to get access to.

This is part of a big podcasting push Apple is in the middle of. At the recent Spring Loaded event, Apple rolled out a redesign of its podcast app. More significantly, it announced Apple Podcasts Subscriptions. This paid feature is described as a “global marketplace for listeners to discover premium subscriptions offered by their favorite creators.” Apple has not revealed whether it will charge for the Siegfried & Roy podcast.

Are you potentially interested in a podcast series about Siegfried & Roy? What do you think of Apple’s recent podcasting efforts? Have you listened to The Line? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Source: Deadline

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