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Tennis stars and sisters Serena and Venus Williams have started a new venture together off the court.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, the Williams sisters are launching a new podcast called "Stockton Street," with the first episode airing on Wednesday (September 17). Podcast episodes will release bi-weekly on X, formerly Twitter, marking the 27th original show on the growing media platform.
The Williams will kick off their debut episode by interviewing each other.
“As close as we are, we had to keep so many things distant because of our jobs,” Serena told The Hollywood Reporter. “As much as she’s my sister, she’s also my opponent, and you can’t be as open as you want to be. So this is a real opportunity to do something that we’ve been trying to do.”
Venus added, “A lot of people have wondered… ‘Do we actually like each other, because we have to play each other? Do you hate each other? Do you talk to each other?’ There’s so much in our relationship that we get to share that we never have before. There’s a lot to unpack.”
The podcast is named after the street in Compton, California, where the sisters grew up. "Stockton Street" aims to reflect the emotional strength, tough love, and life lessons that helped shape the Williams into two of the greatest tennis players of all time.
“We weren’t coddled in life,” Venus said. “And we want to give that sort of tough love, not only to each other, but that we had to give to ourselves. Life is very real. So the message has to be real.”
The podcast's first episode was recorded just before this year’s U.S. Open at Arthur Ashe Stadium, where Serena retired in 2022 after winning 23 Grand Slam singles titles.
“I’ve had a lot of wonderful memories there. I also had a lot of bad memories,” Serena said. “I’m also a person that does not think a lot about the past. But it’s nice to take a second and a moment to maybe think about that.”
The Williams said the podcast will touch on tennis and women's sports, but also cover health, wellness, and pop culture.
“This isn’t a tennis podcast. This isn’t a sports podcast,” Serena said. “Myself and my sister, we’ve always been part of so much more outside of that.”
"Stockton Street" will also allow the sisters to tell their stories on their own terms, the pair noted.
“We’ve never really addressed misconceptions... Now there’s a narrative that I love — that we can own our own story and address our own things," Serena said.
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