Prince Harry and Meghan Markle interview famous friends on coping with 2020

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, on Tuesday, released their Archewell Audio production company’s first podcast episode, which includes a series of audio diaries from star athletes, artists and activists on their thoughts and reflections of 2020. 

The episode, part of a new multi-year deal with streaming giant Spotify, is titled, “2020 Archewell Audio Holiday Special,” and includes commentary from actor and television host James Corden, world-renowned chef José Andrés, Sir Elton John, voting rights activist and former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams (D) and several others.

“As we all know, it’s been a year, and we really want to honor the compassion and kindness that has helped so many people get through it,” Harry says at the beginning of the 30-minute episode.

“And at the same time, to honor those who have experienced uncertainty and unthinkable loss. Our thoughts have been with you, especially during this holiday season,” Markle adds. 

“We thought, ‘what if we can bring together some people that inspire us, people that we admire, and get their thoughts on what they learned from 2020,’ ” Markle continues before launching into a series of excerpts from audio diaries recorded by the guests. 

Award-winning singer and songwriter John, for example, reflects on the moment the coronavirus pandemic ended his concert tour and forced him, a 73-year-old man living with diabetes, into quarantine. 

“I understand I am in a risky area there, I have an underlying condition, as they say,” he explained. “I see my immediate family … all the time.”

“But my other relatives, who I love, I haven’t been able to see much of them at all,” he added. 

Meanwhile, Abrams recounted that her love for her home state of Georgia was “tested” this year in “the darkest moments,” such as the fatal shooting deaths of Black men Ahmaud Arbery and Rayshard Brooks in Glynn County and Atlanta, respectively. 

“They were met with silence and sometimes with anger,” Abrams says in the podcast episode. “But, they were also met with the persistence of young voices who were in the streets demanding change.”

“They also demanded change at the ballot box,” she adds. “That’s something I’d always hoped for for Georgia, but to know that it was real, to see it in action, was just transformative.”

President-elect Joe Biden took Georgia in the 2020 election, making him the first Democratic presidential nominee to win the Southern state since Bill Clinton in 1992. 

Upon announcing the deal with Spotify earlier this month, the Duke and Duchess said in a joint statement that they hoped to use the podcast to “build community through shared experience, narratives and values.” 

“With the challenges of 2020, there has never been a more important time to do so, because when we hear each other, and hear each other’s stories, we are reminded of how interconnected we all are,” the couple added. 

Earlier this year, the royal couple entered a multi-year deal with Netflix to create documentaries, feature films, scripted shows and children’s programming.