Netflix Brings Its YA Stars Together for a Live Podcast Taping at End of the Summer Bash
Five of Netflix's young-adult stars will sit down with podcast host Evan Ross Katz for a live, in-person taping of Shut Up Evan: The Group Chat at Netflix's End of the Summer Bash event on Thursday, August 13 (The Hollywood Reporter).
The 60-minute session, recorded in front of a live audience, will feature Maitreyi Ramakrishnan (Never Have I Ever, Best of the Best), Anna Cathcart (XO, Kitty, To All The Boys), Nikki Rodriguez (My Life with the Walter Boys), Miku Martineau (Crew Girl) and Kristina Bogic (The Body). Katz will lead the conversation through how each actress got her start on Netflix and what comes next in their careers.
Shut Up Evan is part of Netflix's own slate of original podcasts — a growing corner of the company's output that sits alongside its film and television catalogue. The video podcast premiered on May 1 with a twice-weekly schedule and a TV-MA rating across 30 episodes, according to Netflix's Tudum site and the show's listing page. A recurring segment called "Deep in the DMs With…" features intimate one-on-one conversations with guests.
The live taping arrives amid a broader push from Netflix to spotlight its YA output. The streamer said YA titles have driven 1.4 billion global views on the platform so far in 2026. Series like Stranger Things and Wednesday anchor Netflix's most-popular list, and the category has become a reliable engine for audience engagement.
Netflix used the moment to roll out several YA-related updates. The streamer released a trailer for Crew Girl, a rowing-centric drama starring Martineau. It announced casting for The Sticks, an upcoming hockey drama. It shared more details on The Body, a psychodrama featuring Bogic. And Outer Banks, a long-standing YA hit, will hold its own fan event ahead of its final season.
For fans of these shows, the live taping offers something the usual podcast episode does not: a room full of actresses whose careers are unfolding in real time, talking about what brought them to Netflix and where they are headed next — all in front of an audience.
Whether the conversation surfaces anything beyond the usual promotional circuit is a question the taping itself will answer. What is certain is that Netflix is treating its YA roster as a brand worth gathering under one roof, with a podcast host holding the mic.
