2U is raising its voice in higher ed with a new podcast

Lanham, Md.-based 2U is an edtech firm that helps major universities create online versions of their graduate degree programs. The publicly traded company works with schools like Berkeley and Yale and Georgetown and therefore has access to lots of interesting researchers and academics.

And now 2U is sharing this access with the rest of us — in the form of a podcast.

The podcast is called The Front Row and it aims to explore “how education and technology accelerate social progress and innovation.” 2U CMO Harsha Mokkarala told Technical.ly that an in-house team (with production and distribution help from an outside agency) is working on creating eight episodes. The first episode, which focuses on the future of the workforce, is already out and coming episodes will explore topics like the future of aging and using data for good.

Each episode has interviews with researchers from partner institutions about the topic at hand, with 2U providing the mechanism and place for exploration.

“This is about raising our profile and voice a little bit,” Mokkarala said. The podcast is currently No. 102 in the education podcast rankings in the Apple podcast store, and has good reviews thus far. “We’ve been off to a good start,” Mokkarala said. “But it’s still early days.”