Making Space with Hoda Kotb

With her Making Space podcast, Hoda Kotb (from the Today show) discovers how inspiring figures make space for the important stuff. Oprah Winfrey, Mitch Albom, Sheryl Crow, Amy Schumer, and Viola Davis have all made an appearance, to name a few.

There was a time when folks weren't so sure about Hoda Kotb. “Hoda Who-Now? Oh, is that the lady who drinks wine with Kathie Lee on the Today show?” In fact, Kotb preceded her more-celebrated co-host, Kathie Lee Gifford, on Today. She was the first host of the show's fun fourth hour in 2007. Gifford came on board a year later.

And Kotb would go on to do plenty more than hold her own with the perky Kathie Lee. In 2018, Today, which invented the network morning show genre with its 1952 debut, introduced Kotb as its new co-anchor.

But by then, Kotb's promotion was no surprise. She was a beloved TV personality. Viewers stuck by her as she won a hard-fought battle with breast cancer early in her time on Today. She discusses this in her best-selling book Hoda: How I Survived War Zones, Bad Hair, Cancer, and Kathie Lee. She also penned titles like I Really Needed This Today and This Just Speaks to Me. And she's also a multiple award winner. She won several Emmys and Gracies. She was a Peabody, Webby, and Edward R. Murrow Award winner. Time named her one of its “100 Most Influential People.” In fact, what more was there for Kotb to do but host a podcast?

Kotb explained why she was starting Making Space with Hoda Kotb when the podcast debuted in 2021. It was only logical. She speaks with influential people about inspiring stories all the time anyway. And she was already in the habit of asking them to slow down while telling the juicy bits. There was often too much wisdom coming at her at once. When it comes to notes of uplift, she always has more to give.