Alexandra Cooper

Alexandra Cooper (born August 21, 1994) is an American podcaster who is the co-creator and current host of the weekly Call Her Daddy comedy and advice podcast on Spotify. In 2021, Time Magazine called her "arguably the most successful woman in podcasting" after she signed a three-year exclusive deal with Spotify worth $60 million. Making $20 million per year made her Spotify's highest earning female podcaster and the second highest paid podcaster, behind only Joe Rogan. The show was also the second most popular podcast globally on Spotify for 2022 behind Rogan.

Rolling Stone labeled her "Gen-Z’s Barbara Walters" for frequently enlisting high-profile Hollywood talent and influential individuals in American popular culture to be guests on her podcast. In 2023, Cooper was named to the Time 100 Next list.

Early life and education

Cooper was born in Newtown, Pennsylvania and is the youngest of three siblings. Her father was a TV sports producer and her mother was a psychologist. She attended The Pennington School in Mercer County, New Jersey and matriculated at Boston University to study film and television in 2013 while playing on the school's D1 soccer team. She graduated in 2017 from the College of Communication.

Career

Barstool Sports (2017–2021)

After college, she moved to New York City and worked in advertising sales. In 2018, Cooper and her roommate, Sofia Franklyn, created the Call Her Daddy podcast. One month after its first episode, it was acquired by Barstool Sports. The podcast rapidly increased in popularity, with downloads rising from 12,000 to 2 million in two months.

Spotify (2021–present)

In 2021, she signed a three-year exclusive deal with Spotify worth $60 million. Beatriz Serrano writes "without Sofia, Alexandra decided to go for a Call Her Daddy where the second voice was always provided by her guests."

Since signing with the music streaming service, she "has steadily grown in stature," according to Vanity Fair. Dan Adler writes that " her show [is] an increasingly common forum for celebrity interviews and the leading archetype in a large ecosystem of podcasts centered on relationships and advice."

In 2023, Spotify's CEO, Daniel Ek, noted Cooper's podcast is driving engagement of younger women with the service, helping to drive its recent surge in year-over-year monthly active users and revenue by 27% and 11% respectively.

Spotify's data show that guest appearances on Cooper's podcast's led to dramatic spikes in musician's streaming numbers. Anitta’s streams rose 155%, Madison Beer’s climbed 130%, John Legend's 200%, and John Mayer's 350%.

Her guests have included:

In September 2023, she started The Unwell Network, a podcast network to partner with Spotify’s enterprise platform, Megaphone, for the hosting and distribution of popular podcasts, signing Alix Earle and Madeline Argy for 'Hot Mess with Alix Earle' and 'Pretty Lonesome with Madeline Argy.'

On Sept 21, 2023, Earle debuted her first episode, landing 1st on The Podcast Charts, with Cooper in 2nd. On, October 2, 2023, Argy debuted her first episode, reaching the top 5 on The Podcast Charts within the week.

Personal life

In 2023, Cooper became engaged to producer Matt Kaplan.