The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is rolling out a new weekly podcast built around the newsroom’s biggest stories, with veteran journalist AJ Willingham as host.
“AJC Flagship” debuts on Thursday, July 16, and a trailer is available online now.
The AJC has covered Atlanta and the South for more than 157 years and is investing more in podcasts as a way to reach readers who increasingly get their news through audio rather than print or web stories.
Each episode pairs Willingham with the reporters behind the AJC’s coverage, working through investigations, politics, cultural trends, and sports through conversation and narrative-style storytelling. The goal, according to the paper, is to give listeners a closer look at how its journalism gets made, not just the finished product.
“AJC Flagship couldn’t arrive at a better time for the AJC,” said Leroy Chapman Jr., editor in chief. “Thousands of readers start their mornings with AJ’s unique perspective in our A.M. ATL newsletter. This podcast will be the definitive audio companion to the AJC’s reporting, and we couldn’t be more excited for AJ to bring it all together each week.”
Samantha Stamler, the AJC’s head of content development and production, said the format is meant to pull back the curtain on the reporting process itself.
“Every week, listeners will hear directly from the journalists behind some of the AJC’s most impactful reporting,” Stamler said. “The podcast gives audiences access to the questions, discoveries, reporting journeys and human stories behind the headlines in a way that only audio can.”
Willingham joined the AJC in January 2025 after serving as senior culture writer at CNN, where she won a National News and Documentary Emmy and a National Association of Black Journalists Salute to Excellence Award. At CNN, she managed the network’s “5 Things” newsletter franchise and created the weekend newsletter “The Good Stuff.”
Growing audio lineup
“AJC Flagship” joins an existing slate of AJC podcasts, including “Politically Georgia,” “It’s UATL,” and “Breakdown.” The outlet’s “Who Blew Up the Guidestones?” was recently named to Apple Podcasts’ Best So Far 2026 list.
The first full episode of “AJC Flagship” debuts on Thursday, July 16, on all podcast platforms.
