Serena and Venus Williams are launching a new podcast Sept. 17, and they are starting out by interviewing and really getting to know each other, possibly for the first time. 

“As close as we are, we had to keep so many things distant because of our jobs,” Serena Williams tells 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 a real opportunity to do something that we’ve been trying to do, and also just a discovery thing as well.”

Venus Williams adds, “I think a lot of people have wondered, and I talk about this in the first episode, ‘Do we really 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, Stockton Street, will release bi-weekly episodes on Wednesdays and will be distributed on X, marking the 27th original show on the social media platform.

The first episode, which comes out Sept. 17, was filmed just before the U.S. Open began at Arthur Ashe Stadium, where both former No. 1-ranked players have played some of the biggest matches of their careers. Serena Williams retired after playing her final match at Ashe in 2022, following a career that included 23 major title wins. 

“I’ve had a lot of wonderful memories there. I also had a lot of bad memories there, to be honest,” Serena said on the recording at Ashe. “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 podcast is named after the street the sisters grew up on in Compton, Calif. Part of the goal of the show is to share lessons the two learned on their path to becoming the top tennis players in the world, which includes the emotional fortitude it took to get there. 

“We don’t necessarily coddle each other. We weren’t coddled in life. 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. What we want to share is all the things we’ve done and gone through that everyone goes through, whether it’s winning or losing on and off the court,” Venus says. 

Though tennis and women’s sports may come up throughout the podcast, the two say they also want to delve into other topics including health, wellness and pop culture. They also plan to bring on guests. 

“We love this moment that we’re also seeing in women’s sports and developing that lifestyle,” Serena says. “This isn’t a tennis podcast. This isn’t a sports podcast. Myself and my sister, we’ve always been part of so much more outside of that.” 

While the two saw parts of their life chronicled in the 2021 film King Richard, the podcast offers them a chance to speak out directly about the things they weren’t able to address as they happened throughout their careers, with Venus pointing to tabloid reporting that followed young athletes, especially when playing in England and Australia. 

“When we started playing professionally, I was 14 years old. You’re a kid, and I think kids now get a lot more protection. But at the time, in the press, you could not say or do anything,” she says, adding that any public statement would continue to feed into the cycle.

“We’ve never really addressed misconceptions or even dealt with it, because we were so in the weeds of playing tennis and being our best. Now there’s a narrative that I love that we can own our own story and address our own things and address our own story in a different way,” Serena adds. 

The podcast comes out weeks after Venus made her return to the U.S. Open at the age of 45, after an 18-month break from tennis. She lost her first round singles match, but made it to the quarterfinals in doubles with Canadian tennis player Leylah Fernandez. At one point in the tournament, Serena made a Tiktok in jest, pretending to be jealous that Venus was playing with another doubles partner. 

“I was jealous, don’t get me wrong. But I didn’t play, so she had every right to play without me, I guess, I suppose, not really,” Serena Williams joked. “No, actually, outside of this, I’ve always liked Leylah Fernandez. Always looked at her and was like, ‘Oh, she’s such a hard worker,’ when I’ve seen her practice. So I was happy that they were playing together and doing so well.

“It was delightful,” Venus says of her return to the tournament. “Usually, if I had lost a match, I walked off the court, and I forced a smile. It was super fake. But it was real this time. When I left the court, I smiled. I was happy. I enjoyed the moment.”