Yesterday marked the debut episode of “The Metallica Report”, a new podcast offering weekly insider updates on all things METALLICA. Broadcasting directly from the band’s Northern California headquarters, “The Metallica Report” will be hosted by two of the closest members of the METALLICA family: Steffan Chirazi, whose history with METALLICA spans from covering the band as journalist in the ’80s to his current role as editor of the band’s online mag, So What!, and Renée Richardson, director of philanthropy for the band’s All Within My Hands foundation, and well-known Bay Area radio personality.

Each episode of “The Metallica Report” will feature Steffan and Renée keeping listeners informed with the latest news and updates from METALLICA HQ, as well as dispatches from the road as the “M72” tour continues to make its way around the world. “The Report”‘s mini-features will offer exclusive behind the scenes news and interviews with the likes of the touring crew, poster and T-shirt artists, fans, and even James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo themselves.

In addition to the most inside and up to date METALLICA news, “The Metallica Report” will be taking requests: Listeners are encouraged to submit questions, and Steffan and Renée will do their best to offer answers every Wednesday.

“The Metallica Report” is produced and distributed by Pantheon Media and reunites the METALLICA team with co-producers PopCult, with whom they worked on 2021’s “The Metallica Podcast: Volume 1”.

“PopCult is excited to be working again  with METALLICA to expand their podcast footprint and to launch our first partnership with Pantheon,” says PopCult partner Lars Murray. “METALLICA and their global community are inexhaustible sources of interesting news and  stories. ‘The Metallica Report’ will be a ‘must-listen’ for longtime fans, as well as folks who  might be diving in for the first time.”

“We are thrilled to be partnering with METALLICA to produce a weekly news podcast that will give fans an inside look at the band’s world,” says Christian Swain, CEO of Pantheon Media. “‘The Metallica Report’ represents an exciting new chapter for Pantheon, as we continue to push the boundaries of audio entertainment with our partner PopCult. METALLICA‘s standing as one of the most influential bands in music history, along with their commitment to their global community of fans, makes them the perfect partner for us.”

Subscribe to “The Metallica Report” wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts, or go to metallica.lnk.to/TheMetallicaReport. To submit listener questions, go to metallica.com/podcasts. For everything else, go to Metallica.com.

The editor of METALLICA‘s So What! magazine, Chirazi has been writing about — and working with — the band since 1984. He has also written for many publications worldwide, including Kerrang! and the San Francisco Chronicle, interviewed literally hundreds of stars from David Bowie to Kurt Cobain, and provides a continual chronicle of Lars, James, Kirk, Rob and METALLICA since the days of “Ride The Lightning”. Chirazi has also worked with SiriusXM on their Mandatory Metallica channel as a producer and host, and does the same with a weekly podcast on his beloved English soccer team Tottenham Hotspur titled “The Game Is About Glory”.

Richardson is the director of philanthropy for METALLICA‘s foundation All Within My Hands. While this is her most significant professional achievement to date, Renée also has a long history on the airwaves in San Francisco. Renée‘s radio career began in the late 1990s as Renée Rotten on KITS/LIVE 105, and a few years later, she rebranded as Renée Richardson and joined the KFOG “Morning Show”. Her 17 years as a “Foghead” were spent as an on-air announcer, music programmer, and she cultivated the Bay Area’s music scene as assistant producer of the KFOG “Local Scene” series. After an unexpected showing of the door by Cumulus Media in 2016, Renée prioritized philanthropy. She spent three incredible years as director of development for Blue Bear School Of Music, a 501(c)(3) music school in San Francisco, while also working  with “Irish” Greg McQuaid to create “Renée & Irish Greg’s Pop-Up Show”, an immersive live and in-person podcast featuring music, conversation, and a fundraising element for various NPOs. When the call came, she was positioned perfectly to take on her new role with METALLICA‘s foundation. Renée is a Missouri School of Auction trained auctioneer and a voice actor best known for her role as a Chevron talking car. She lives with her husband, Mike, and a toothless chihuahua named Rocco.