WINDSOR, UNITED KINGDOM – JULY 26: Meghan, Duchess of Sussex attends the Sentebale ISPS Handa Polo Cup at the Royal County of Berkshire Polo Club on July 26, 2018 in Windsor, England. (Photo by Anwar Hussein/WireImage)

Meghan Markle has officially launched her solo podcasting career. Today, both the trailer and the first episode for her new podcast series, Archetypes, was released on Spotify, marking the second podcast created (and second episode ever) since she and Prince Harry signed a deal with the platform in 2020. 

According to its trailer, in the series, Markle will have “uncensored conversations” with guests about women and how they shape narratives in the culture. Archetypes will delve into “how we talk about women: the words that raise our girls, and how the media reflects women back to us,” Markle says in the minute-long teaser “But where do these stereotypes come from? And how do they keep showing up in defining our lives?”

For the series’ first episode, Markle turned to her friend Serena Williams, who recently announced her retirement from tennis to focus on family. During the conversation, the women discuss juggling a career with motherhood with Markle revealing a scary incident that took place with her then 4-month-old son, Archie Harrison, while they were on a royal tour of South Africa. 

Markle explained the couple had just landed in the country and had to go straight to an event, dropping Archie at their accommodation with his nanny. Shortly after, his nursery caught fire. “The moment we landed, we had to drop him off at this housing unit that they had had us staying in,” she recalled.

“He was going to get ready to go down for his nap. We immediately went to an official engagement in this township called Nyanga, and there was this moment where I’m standing on a tree stump and I’m giving this speech to women and girls, and we finish the engagement. We get in the car, and they say there’s been a fire at the residence. What? There’s been a fire in the baby’s room.”

CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA – SEPTEMBER 25: Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and their baby son Archie Mountbatten-Windsor at a meeting with Archbishop Desmond Tutu at the Desmond & Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation during their royal tour of South Africa on September 25, 2019 in Cape Town, South Africa. (Photo by Toby Melville – Pool/Getty Images)

Markle explained that upon arriving back at the residence, they found out their nanny had made the split decision to go to the kitchen to get a snack, taking Archie with her. “In that amount of time that she went downstairs, the heater in the nursery caught on fire,” Markle shared. “There was no smoke detector. Someone happened to just smell smoke down the hallway went in, fire extinguished. He was supposed to be sleeping in there.”

Markle said though shaken, she had to make the difficult decision to continue on with their public engagements immediately afterwards without Archie, saying the incident serves as an example of “human” moments that should be shared. “So much, I think, optically—the focus ends up being on how it looks instead of how it feels,” she added. “And part of the humanizing and the breaking through of these labels and these archetypes and these boxes that we’re put into is having some understanding on the human moments behind the scenes that people might not have any awareness of and to give each other a break.”

In partnering with Spotify in 2020, Archewell Audio said it was “committed to producing programming that uplifts and entertains audiences around the world; spotlights diverse perspectives and voices; and builds community through shared experience, narratives and values.”However, until this show it had produced only one podcast for Spotify: a 2020 holiday audio special, which featured a slew of guests including Naomi Osaka and Elton John.

Earlier this year, the Sussexes raised concerns with Spotify over COVID misinformation on the platform (amid a wider backlash about their platforming of Joe Rogan’s, The Joe Rogan Experience). However, the couple say they met with execs and were reassured about the company’s handling. 

As for episode two? None other than Mariah Carey.