Sheffield’s brand new podcast festival, Crossed Wires, has had an excellent inaugural outing. Sheffield’s strong track record with events like DocFest, the Children’s Media Conference, and Tramlines made me hopeful for a weekend that combined great shows, industry conversations, and a laid-back vibe… and that’s exactly what I got. I look forward to its growth in the coming years.

Disclaimer, I’m a frequent podcast guest and radio interviewee when someone needs a period education expert (which is not never!). I’m also an avid podcast listener, with my particular tastes leaning toward the nerdy and topical (current faves: Lateral with Tom Scott, The Allusionist with Helen Austwick-Zaltman and No Such Thing as a Fish with the QI team, and, due to my Brooklyn beginnings, I’m a long-time fan of NPR’s Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me!)

I was initially unsure whether my adopted hometown had space for another festival in general or could draw audiences for podcasts specifically. Like many locals, I studied here and loved it so much I stayed, and we are fiercely loyal. Was this truly a homegrown festival? I agreed to come along, attend a few shows and give it a review for Pod Bible. An offer to pay my train fare up to Sheffield was slightly alarming – even the PR team thought I was from The South and needed remuneration to convince me to visit The North. I reassured them that I was so local I would be cycling over, but wouldn’t say no to an invite to the launch party.

Festival posters in the Bethel Chapel space – Photograph: Chella Quint

The opening speeches at the brand new city centre food hall, the Cambridge Street Collective, quickly allayed my fears. It turned out I actually knew several members of the wider team. I recognised some former BBC Sheffield broadcasters and bumped into the Lord Mayor, the Chief Exec of the council, and the South Yorkshire Mayor. Turns out the South Yorkshire Combined Mayoral Authority (SYMCA) and Sheffield City Council have both pledged three years of funding to help the festival get off the ground. I headed to my first show.

Off Air with Jane and Fi at the Crucible Theatre attracted an audience of primarily older women (although Jane and Fi praised the mum who’d brought her daughter and thanked the husband who’d been brought along by his wife for his patience) and included attendees who’d travelled from as far as Wales and South Africa. Jane and Fi’s relaxed performance, with lights up in the room, felt intimate and welcoming. They answered audience questions, chatted, and discussed their transition from the BBC to Times Radio with refreshing honesty, touching on the challenges of accepting advertising but standing firm against gambling and credit ads. The chance to hear these familiar voices in a more candid setting would become a consistent theme of the festival.

Off Air with Jane and Fi at the Crucible Theatre – Photograph: Chella Quint

I headed back to the opening night party which featured outstanding local choir Neighbourhood Voices and a guest DJ set by local legend Self Esteem. (Serious props to Rebecca Lucy Taylor, who consistently lent her time and talents to the festival all weekend long, starting with the opening party and concluding with her session on Sunday with Adam Buxton.)

The next afternoon, I went along to Talk Art at Sheffield City Hall. Held in the smaller basement ballroom, Talk Art featured an engaging interview with local-artist-gone-London Corbin Shaw. Hosts Russell Tovey and Robert Diament asked the questions, and despite not being familiar with the podcast, I found their approach enjoyable and informative. Shaw’s work, which explores themes of toxic masculinity in football fandom and his sense of place and family, was super resonant. I left with a newfound appreciation for his art and the podcast itself. I even got to meet Russell Tovey, whose television work I’ve always loved.

Talk Art with hosts Robert Diament and Russell Tovey plus guest Corbin Shaw – Photograph: Chella Quint

After a brief visit to Kelham Pride, I came back to the city centre to catch Brown Girls Do It Too at the newly renovated Bethel Chapel (all the fringe events were held in a pop-up black box theatre space here). Hosts Poppy Jay and Rubina Pabani captivated the full house with their humour and astute advice about sex and relationships. Their ability to blend serious topics with knowing observational nods to their families’ reactions to talking about (or catching them at) various intimate encounters was appreciated by the most diverse audience I’d seen yet. Their show concluded – as some of their previous live appearances have – with a sharp and triumphant musical number addressing the exoticisation of Asian women, earning them a standing ovation. The atmosphere was electric, and the energy was infectious.

Brown Girls Do It Too – on stage & surrounded by fans – Photograph: Chella Quint

The next day I headed over to The Naked Podcast, another free fringe show in Bethel Chapel, a former homegrown BBC Radio Sheffield production which came back for one night only as an independent outing. For a Naked Podcast, it was all very chaste. Starting in glamorous dressing gowns and then posing coyly in front of some strategically placed foliage, hosts Kat Harbourne and Jenny Elles interviewed Doncaster-born, Burmese-British actress, model and reality TV star Chrissie Wunna in a playful yet empowering session. Their usual openness and Wunna’s frank stories took everyone from giggles to guffaws. The session ended on a particularly heartwarming note, with a shout-out to former Naked Podcast guests in the audience – and a special thanks and birthday singalong to disability activist, former broadcaster (and, full disclosure, good friend of mine) Sam Cleasby. The warmth in the room was real and not just because of the lights keeping the ferns from wilting and revealing and the audience had a lot of affection for this show. I hope it will come back in another incarnation again one day soon.

Kat and Jenny of the Naked Podcast, clothed then hidden by ferns and foliage – Photograph: Chella Quint

Most of the audience went straight from there to The Adam Buxton Podcast at a sold-out Sheffield City Hall. I am on the periphery of Adam and Joe fandom, I caught them on Channel 4 on a visit to the UK as a teen and didn’t quite know what I was watching, but enjoyed it. Although I’m not a regular listener to his podcast, every time I do hear it or see something he’s done I enjoy it, and I’ll be adding it into my rotation. I wasn’t surprised it was sold out: a combination of him and Self Esteem (Rebecca Lucy Taylor) who’s also a fan, were a huge crowd draw, and it was an absolutely amazing show. Wild juxtapositions abounded. After some Buxton-style scathing silliness with AI and a quality interview with Self Esteem, the show ended with her singing a heart-wrenching acapella arrangement of I Do This All The Time with her backup singers… leaving much of the audience of us ‘good sturdy girls’ openly crying… followed immediately by all four women on stage doing a conga line into the wings with not even a wave to the audience, and Adam Buxton shouting goodbye and thanks, and playing a looped video outro sequence where a screenful of cartoon likenesses repeatedly dive into his bottom and are regurgitated to some wacky music. It was all perplexingly wonderful. We were all invited back to Bethel Chapel for a breather.

Adam Buxton on stage and Self Esteem and her singers – Photograph: Ellie Eagle-Skinner

The final show, Katherine Ryan Telling Everybody Everything back at the City Hall, began with her short comedy set followed by an ‘in conversation’ with author and broadcaster Emily Dean. I did actually ask for a plus one for this one to get the full experience of being able to share Katherine Ryan’s ‘can’t unhear that’ moments with a friend, but although we had an extra chuckle over Emily Dean’s obsession with Henry VIII, really the whole room felt like one big hangout, complete with Katherine Ryan herself reminding folks when to get the last train home (even though the show was going longer), and Emily Dean’s adorable dog Raymond roaming the stage (apparently Sheffielders left a good impression on Emily Dean – we are more dog-friendly than Londoners).

Katherine Ryan and Emily Dean (and her dog) thanking the audience – Photograph: Chella Quint

And then, for those who didn’t have to worry about the last train, the festival ended. The verdict? Sceptical at first, but completely won over. Crossed Wires had Big DocFest Energy for me, and that is an excellent thing. The three-year commitment from both the council and SYMCA means there’s a plan for the future. The curation ticked a lot of boxes for me, and clearly even more for everyone else – there were a bunch of sold-out events in both the paid and fringe programmes.

My only critique would be the costs of the paid shows. My experience of having comps for the shows I wanted was unique, and I might not have spent that cash otherwise, but the ‘feel’ of being welcome everywhere was too good not to share with other festival goers in future. I hope next year it’s possible to offer a festival pass, allowing access to all shows for one price (perhaps supplemented by external sales to big draws). Actually, here is my full wishlist as the festival grows: more indie and emerging podcasts, offering an even bigger platform for local voices, improving access by including live captions, and programming in more themed strands, such as my own nerdy faves, plus other popular categories like true crime and politics.

My weekend was filled with laughter, learning, and a strong sense of community, leaving me eager for next year’s event. The festival’s organisation, venues, and overall execution were commendable, and the staff were attentive and ensured accessibility throughout. It has the potential to become a staple in both the podcasting calendar and the Sheffield festival diary. Roll on, Crossed Wires 2025!

Were you at Crossed Wires Festival 2024? What did you enjoy? What would you like to see more of? Let us know in the comments or on social media!

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This year was a real testament to the ‘international’ aspect of the awards: entries were received from 27 countries and people were attending from France, New York, China and more. The shortlists reflected this, with more international shows – and the USA in particular – picking up awards and nominations. On the one hand, it seems a shame to me that less British shows are being highlighted compared to previous years. But I think it’s also important to note that the UK-based awards are attracting such attention. It has long been said that the US is ahead of the UK when it comes to podcasting, and this is a sign that we are catching up.

Another sign of the success of the IWPAs is that this year saw nominations and winners from large production companies and media, including iHeart Podcasts, BBC, Wondery and The Telegraph.

We also saw successes from some shows made by independent production companies –  Peanut & Crumb’s Get Birding continues to collect awards with it’s third series. Some individuals and small teams also made an appearance, including the UK-based Single Sounds, as well as Celebrity Catch-up and Bitter/Sweet, both of which we’ve featured in the Pod Bible magazine and on the website.

The third International Women’s Podcast Awards event was another evening of great atmosphere, supportive podcasters and celebrations. Well done to all the winners and nominees, and well done to Everybody Media for a lovely evening.

The Winners

Here are the list of winners and runner-up podcasts for the International Women’s Podcast Awards 2023. All quotes are taken from the description of the categories on the Everybody Media media

Moment of Behind-the-Scenes Brilliance

“…audio that showcases the writers, producers, editors and podcast professionals out there.”

Winner – Spygate

Runner-up – Freeway Phantom

Moment of Comedy Gold

“Make us laugh. That is all.”

Winner – Sanctum Unmasked

Runner-up – Single Sounds

Moment of Compelling Storytelling

“…so much of what we love about podcasting is woven around our love of hearing and telling stories.”

Winner – Unreformed: The Story of the Alabama Industrial School for Negro Children

Runner-up – Discovery: In Search of Stardust

Moment of Dramatic Tension

“Dramatic tension can be leaving your listener on a cliffhanger, or it can be subtle and carefully built.”

Winner – How To Become a Dictator

Runner-up – British Scandal

Moment of Entrepreneurial Inspiration

“This category is for moments from the world of business, startups and entrepreneurship.” 

Winner – The Black Kitchen Series: Innovators

Runner-up – Modern Persian Food

Moment of Insight From a Role Model

“the moment from your podcast that you’d choose to play to a class full of young people.“

Winner – Feminist Files

Runner-up – Threshold

Runner-up: Celebrity Catch-up: Life After That Thing I Did

Moment of Podcasting Panache in a Language Other Than English

“We’re opening a category for podcasts in languages other than English.”

Winner – Costa Nostra

Runner-up – Réparations

Moment of Raw Emotion

“We’re after incredible audio moments of emotion reflecting the human experience of emotion”

Winner – Linda Marigliano’s Tough Love

Runner-up – 2 Lives

Runner-up – Nobody should believe me

Moment of Touching Honesty

“This category is for those intimate, touching audio moments of searing truth”

Winner – Get Birding

Runner-up – Bitter/Sweet

Moment of Visionary Leadership

“We want to hear about the women and folk of diverse genders on your podcast who’ve shown outstanding leadership and shared their secrets about it.”

Winner –  The Ten News

Runner-up – The Negotiators

Award For Changing The World One Moment At A Time

“We believe that podcasts have the power to create change in the world”

Winner – The TMI Project Story Hour

Runner-up – Wander

The post The International Women’s Podcast Awards 2023 – The Winners appeared first on POD BIBLE.

“An incredible testament to the power of podcasts; the power of persistence; and the power, creativity and passion of the independent podcast community in the U.K. and Ireland today.” This was a statement about the overall Podcast of the Year winner at last night’s inaugural Independent Podcast Awards – Genevieve Hassan’s excellent Celebrity Catch Up: Life After That Thing I Did. Yet it could so easily apply to the celebratory event itself, which took place in a lively Hall One at Kings Place. Independent podcaster Em McGowan dreamed up the awards in response to a conversation that left her wondering where the energy and drive of grassroots audio creators could still be rewarded, recognised and celebrated in an increasingly corporate marketplace.

The tone of the ceremony, expertly set by host Esther Manito, struck a great balance between friendly community hug and slick celebration.

There were a lot of awards to get through. And these events can sometimes drag. Yet having just one winner in each category, and winner interviews taking place backstage, allowed things to keep moving and feel fresh and fun. Here’s our roundup of the winners:

Arts & Culture – Folk on Foot

An established podcast already, Folk on Foot sees broadcaster Matthew Banister walking with top folk musicians through the landscapes that have inspired them. The meticulous production values and intimate, immersive feel impressed the judges. Listen here >>

Podcast Artwork – Clown Sex

One of the biggest laughs of the night was the reveal of this eye catching artwork. This fiction podcast, a multiple nominee, felt like a bit of a theme of the night. Listen here >>

Books – The Bestseller Experiment

Author / screenwriter Mark Stay and coach / entrepreneur Mark Desvaux discover the secrets to writing a bestseller and attempt to put them into practice. Each week, they are guided by chart-topping authors and industry experts. The judges praised them for serving their community so well. Listen here >>

Business – Bring Your Product Idea to Life

Host Vicki Weinberg, who launched a brand of baby products, provides rich, accessible content packed with useful advice from knowledgeable guests. Listen here >>

Children & Young Adults – Bust or Trust: A Kids’ Mystery Podcast

Engaging hosts Athena Kugblena and Tiernan Douieb introduce children to the histories and cultures of different countries around the world in a fun and accessible way. The judges found the show to be well pitched for all of the family. Listen here >>

Comedy – Jackie The Ripper

One of the longest and most competitive shortlists of the night (which, ahem, included my own podcast) was topped by this pacy and dramatic show, a sex-swapped reimagining of the infamous 19th century London murders. The judges praised the acting, writing, action sequences and sound design. Listen here >>

Fiction – Eliza: A Robot Story

Tanya Reynolds (Sex Education) stars in a dark sci-fi fairytale about a robot who can feel and fall in love. The judges enjoyed the character development, writing, direction, sound design and performances. Listen here >>

Film & TV – Celebrity Catch Up: Life After That Thing I Did

Ultimately the biggest winner of the night was Genevieve Hassan’s unashamedly nostalgic and well-researched interview podcast. Who isn’t fascinated by what the likes of Dexter Fletcher, Chesney Hawkes, Tiffany and Carol Decker are up to now… and how they reminisce about their time in the spotlight? The judges thought this show was an ‘incredible achievement for a solo host and producer’. Listen here >>

Gaming – The Apocalypse Players

Another double winner, and a contender for most dramatic dash to the stage. This immersive, humorous show was praised for sound design, acting, atmospheric music and passion for the story. Listen here >>

Health & Wellness – The Wellbeing Rebellion

Hosted by corporate wellbeing consultant Ngozi Weller and psychologist Obehi Alofoje, this show is aimed at business leaders who want to make a difference for their employees and is packed with tips around burnout, mental health, inclusion and resilience. The judges describe it as an ‘essential listen’. Listen here >>

History – Beneath the Skin

Professor and museum curator Dr Matt Lodder and tattoo collector Thomas O’Mahoney explore the interconnected history of the weirdest corners of the world through the story of tattooing. This unusual perspective made it a ‘perfect example of what a podcast can be’ in the eyes of the judges. Listen here >>

Horror & Supernatural – The Apocalypse Players

As above!

Music – Sodajerker on Songwriting

Hosted by U.K. songwriting team Simon and Brian (aka Sodajerker) this show focuses on the craft of songwriting and features some of the world’s most successful musicians. They have been running for 12 years and have an archive of over 250 episodes. Listen here >>

Podcast Jingle – Brkin Bread

A fun category. We got to hear all the jingles. You still can if you head to the Independent Podcast Awards website. Listen here >>

News & Politics – Wood for the Trees

Cait Macleod asks the messy questions and explores the opposing opinions on the contemporary issues that divide us. The judges described the show as ‘elegant and well-researched.’ Listen here >>

Self-Improvement – Teenagers Untangled

Rachel Richards and Susie Asli dish out realistic advice to improve your communication with your teens and tweens. The judges enjoyed the mix of personal stories and professional insight. Listen here >>

Sexuality & Relationships – Queer Roots & Routes

Made by a queer collective who are migrants or descended from migrants, this show has a specific USP and a focus on storytelling, community and excellent sound design. Another show hailed as a ‘perfect example of what a podcast can be’. Listen here >>

Sport – Spindrift

Aoife Glass explores bikes, cycling, people, especially women, and adventure. Stacked with interviews, assured and knowledgeable, a recommended listen targeting a niche that needs more representation. Listen here >>

Technology – The Future of You

Futurist Tracey Follows investigates all the ways that emerging technologies are going to affect our identity. This one was described as a ‘calm, thoughtful and intelligent exploration of media and technology’. Listen here >>

True Crime – Drunk Women Solving Crime

A comedy classic from hosts Hannah George, Catie Wilkins and Taylor Glenn. I have guested on this show and can attest to the welcoming, hilarious yet somehow still cleverly structured web they weave as they enlisted my help in tackling a true case. In keeping with the show, producer Amanda Redman collected the award in a camp, slapstick sprint from the balcony. Listen here >>

Podcast of the Year – Celebrity Catch Up: Life After That Thing I Did

For more information and to see the full list of nominees go to: independentpodcastawards.com

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The Podcast Show 2023 took place at The Business Design Centre, London from the 24th to 25th of May. This was my first Podcast Show and I managed to attend the last day coming down from the Midlands. When you walk into the venue, you’re greeted with a massive purple wall with the names, locations and time of panels and talks. Even though there was a handy app to help you plan your day, this wall did help as I have to admit I did feel overwhelmed with the choices, almost cautious that if you blinked you missed everything.

Nevertheless the app and wall were both a great opportunity to feed your curiosity, as well as filter out and focus on your aims. In between talks I visited some stalls and had some really insightful conversations with independent companies about their goals for the audio industry – each sharing their unique perspective for content. I loved hearing about Whistledown Productions and their process of making a documentary and making my way to Curly Media to discuss their reality TV approach to podcast production. Lastly, I finally met the Pod Bible team in person and attended their “Creating A Community” panel led by Francesca Turauskis. This panel highlighted the importance of collaboration and listening to your audience – Tom Dark (Monkey Tennis – The Alan Partridge Podcast) mentioned getting a Whatsapp number so the audience could send in voicenotes as an example of this.

The “Interviewing The Interviewer” panel on The Rise Up Stage was actually the first talk attended. Hosted by Sali Huges from the Guardian and the panel were Oloni (Laid Bare), Chian Reynolds (from YouTube podcast Grilling) and Char Ellesse (Founder & Director of Girls Will Be Boys). The main aim was to have a conversation regarding the interviewing process – all the way from the research, to the interview and post production. Members of the panel were adamant to point out their platforms were about championing marginalised voices – Char said on her podcast Say It With Your Chest her main concern is not necessarily about the biggest names, “It’s less about profile and more about who’s got something to say.” Oloni agrees that the profile of a guest is not important on Laid Bare. “What I truly wanted was someone who has a story to tell, I don’t care about visibility.”

These approaches can truly be admired considering the current state of the audio industry. Though at surface level it is truly a joy to see numerous independent companies push to welcome something different. And there is a plethora of freelancers connecting and showing a genuine curiosity regarding audio. However we cannot ignore the evidence showing how the diverse output is not matching the numbers.

Takudzwa Mudiwa – the writer – at the Podcast Show

At a session called “UKAN State of the Audio Industry 2023 – Time to give up on DE&I”, Content is Queen Founder Imriel Morgan launched an Open Letter calling on the audio industry to “Say Less Do More” before Head of UKAN (UK Audio Network), Laura Blake, announced findings of the UKAN State Of The Audio Industry Survey 2023, which included the average salaries of people working in audio. The conclusion was “If you are not white and not a man, you are earning less than you were in 2020.”

This is an even more disappointing finding if you note the promises that numerous companies made during the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd – to put diversity at the forefront of their decision making. As Content is Queen is no longer able to do the International Women’s Podcast Festival due to a lack of funding and support – you have to ask yourself where is the action? The Podcast Show showed the range of women hosting, producing and editing, so the issue is not a lack of talent. So as we reflect on these exciting two days and celebrate the moving and shaking of the podcast industry it will be redundant to not acknowledge its shortcomings – to echo Content Is Queen “Let’s value these voices for what they indeed are – not just diverse but essential contributors to the richness and growth of our shared audio landscape.”

Were you at The Podcast Show 2023? What did you enjoy? What would you like to see more of? Let us know in the comments!

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So this year, here are a few tips that you may want to add to your own agenda:

1. Why Audiences Respond to Comedy Podcasts – with Dan Schreiber, Luisa Zissman, Paul Chowdry and Chris Lander
Wednesday 11.30am – The Studio Stage

In this panel discussion, Global’s Head of Comedy Podcasts Chris Lander unpacks new research into audience attitudes to comedy podcasts with a stellar panel of comic talent. Pod Bible coverstar Dan Schreiber of No Such Thing As A Fish who will no doubt be giving a nod to his new show We Can Be Weirdos.

2. Evolutions in True Crime and Investigative Journalism
Wednesday 1pm – Gallery Stage

This sounds like a fascinating discussion for fans of Serial and all the excellent true crime pods that have followed. What are the new directions, innovations and ethical considerations in this space? What does the future of the genre look like? Panellists are set to include Matthew Shaer of Campside Media, Alexi Mostrous of Tortoise Media and David Waters of Novel.

3.  Duos In Podcasting: How to Not Get Professionally Divorced
Wednesday 3.15pm – The Origin Theatre

As someone who has spent years writing and speaking about breakups, both the personal and professional kind, this title really caught my eye. How do you keep a podcast partnership going even when you’re driving each other mad? Roman Kemp interviews podcasting duos Sam Thompson and Pete Wicks (Staying Relevant) plus Adeola Patronne and Mariam Miss (Pressed) to find out.

4. Pod Bible Live – Creating a Community and Network Around Indie Podcasts
Thursday 11.30am – Talking Podcasts ‘Creator 1’

Come and see Pod Bible Digital Editor Fran Turauskis quizzing Kobi Omenaka (cofounder of Stripped Media and host of Flixwatcher, Simple Politics and The Wire Stripped), Tom Dark (Head of Darkside Media, ex Head of Podcast Promotions at Warner Records and host of Monkey Tennis – The Alan Partridge Podcast) and yours truly all about building networks and communities around our podcasts.

5.  A Podcaster’s Manifesto: How Pod Save the U.K. Can Change the World
Thursday 2.15pm – The Origin Theatre

Crooked Media, who launched Pod Save America in the wake of a certain President Trump’s inauguration, have teamed up with Reduced Listening and Nish Kumar to tackle our political landscape head on. Nish will share his view on political podcasting and how the medium can create change.

—

In between sessions, don’t forget to visit the Pod Bible stand (Stand J13) to say hello to the team and pick up copies of the latest issue and back catalogue.

There’s hundreds of stalls to visit including Pod Bible Lead Partner Audible, and Media Partners Stak and Auddy. And if last year is anything to go by, the Spotify stand should be worth a visit to see what treats and goodies they have up their sleeve. (Last year they offered personalised tote bags – printed on demand with your pod art – and signature juices to provide welcome rehydration for frazzled podcasters…)

Enjoy the show!

The Podcast Show is the biggest international festival for the business of podcasting and will bring together thousands from
the global podcast community under one roof. Day passes are still on sale and extra 10% off selected passes when you use the code “PODBIBLE” until 22nd May.

The post 5 things you MUST see at the Podcast Show 2023 appeared first on POD BIBLE.

I did ask Chat GPT to write this column for me, but it turns out that it can’t quite capture the pzazz and zest that I exude when writing about audio. So, to my dismay, I have had to write this entire thing myself.

New technology can threaten jobs, traditional methods of storytelling, and our sense of comfort in the way we have learned to engage with podcasting. Job automation is an incredibly important subject to consider, however I will not be addressing it in this particular issue of Revelations. Instead I want to focus on the applications of AI and how it might benefit the evolution of our artform.

There are parts of the podcast production process that may be expedited by AI. Take the development stage for example. You could use Chat GPT to generate your content calendar or a script around particular phrases or topics. However, I do not suggest using the ideas that Chat GPT produces as your sole form of idea development as there are four main pitfalls to doing so.

Firstly, the human brain is brilliant and may be inspired to connect different concepts in a unique and creative way that Chat GPT may not. Instead of creating exactly what Chat GPT suggests, use it as a starting point and ask yourself: “What else? So what? What am I missing here?”. AI may make this initial brainstorm easier, but there is currently no comparison to the unusual and complex connections that our brains can make.

Secondly, Chat GPT can produce repetitive results. I spent two hours using the software this morning and whilst I was impressed at the breadth of information I was able to learn (which would have taken much longer to obtain using Google), oftentimes it was saying the same thing in different ways, oftentimes it gave similar results, and oftentimes it just reworded the same answer. You get the picture.

Thirdly, other podcasters may be using Chat GPT to plan their content, and they may input many of the same prompts as you, and therefore may receive similar answers to you. In this way, the use of AI could lead to the homogenisation of the podcast landscape, which would kill the medium (and also your show) because everyone is making content based on the same information.

Fourthly, AI can reinforce existing biases due to the data it’s trained on; if an AI algorithm is trained on data that contains racial or gender biases, or information from one particular country, then it’s likely to produce biased information. A lot of data in the world is biased in these ways, so I’d be curious to speak to someone who works in the field who is able to explain how they are mitigating that.

The recording and editing process is another part of production AI can aid. For example, AI can be used to repair audio, remove filler words, and denoise your recording. Adobe recently released Adobe Podcast, which does pretty much everything. Most impressive is its ability to make the recording sound like it was conducted in a studio, which it achieves by altering the frequencies of your voice and reducing the background noise. You can use it to deep fake your host’s voice to generate an entire episode, or correct a single sentence that you don’t have time to re-record with the host.

Adobe Podcasts and AI tools like it could even be used to create a whole series without a host having to record a single line! The Times recently produced an episode of Stories of our Times about deep fake audio, with an accompanying video showing the host, David Aaronovitch, reacting to his AI voice clone. Aaronovitch identified a common issue experienced when using AI this way – mispronunciation. Some words were pronounced inconsistently throughout the podcast, and in a way that the host himself would never pronounce said word. But the world moves very fast, and creating a daily show takes work. We often want to cover more, but it’s impossible. German publishing house, Heise Gruppe, have solved this by using AI to clone their host’s voice and then used text to speech to create a second daily episode for their show. It increased their plays by 37%. But whilst the episodes increased engagement, feedback from listeners identified similar pronunciation issues in English and German, as well as an unnatural lack of breathing sounds.

There is a wealth of AI applications in post-production – we’re all used to using automatic transcripts already – but now that you can create automatic captions on promo videos you can use AI that utilises natural language processing to convert your podcast audio to text. This type of AI can be used to write an accompanying blog or the shownotes for an episode, it could write an entire Twitter thread for you, or you could use AI to create a filter for your TikTok fans. I think the priority here shouldn’t be to churn out as much content as possible, but instead AI should be used to increase our efficiency so we have more time to increase the value of each piece of content – something that is especially useful for smaller teams who may not have the beefy budgets.

I’ve recently downloaded Fathom, a more social podcast player that makes use of AI to allow you to save moments in a podcast and share them with your friends. The player also uses AI to recommend other shows, a general function that Chat GPT itself has told me could be a concern: it may be prone to the same racial or gender biases mentioned, and at the very least “As AI algorithms become more sophisticated, they It may favour popular shows and topics over less well-known ones, making it harder for new and diverse voices to be heard.”

However impressed we are at its current capabilities, AI’s computational power is doubling every six to 10 months, well ahead of Moore’s Law. The implication is that, what we’re seeing now is AI in its infancy. It’s scary but it might just be the most exciting stage of the internet – so far!

Still can’t get your head around what AI actually is? Listen to Meera’s AI podcast recommendations:

Hard Fork – ‘GPT-4 Is Here + The Group Chat Bank Run’

The New York Times weighs in on the latest developments in ChatGPT last week.  Listen on your favourite app >>

Short Wave – ‘Can you teach a computer common sense?’

NPR’s podcast Short Wave discussed the idea of computer thinking back in January, before the release of the latest ChatGPT. Listen on your favourite app >>

Between Two Mics – ‘This Episode Was Written Using ChatGPT’

The remote recording podcast has a play around with AI creativity, with an episode written by ChatGPT. Listen on your favourite app >>

Imaginary Worlds – ‘The Human Touch’

A show that focuses on fantasy and sci-fi worlds, this episodes looks at the way AI has been encroaching on visual art, the legalities of copyright (or lack of them) and what can be gained and lost through AI art. Listen on your favourite app >>

Talks at Google  – ‘Ep210 – Mo Gawdat | Scary Smart: The Future of Artificial Intelligence and How You Can Save Our World’

A conversation from Talks at Google about the bigger picture and concerns with AI. Listen on your favourite app >>

Synthetic Stories – ‘Episode 1 – Amelia’

This Is Distorted has made an entire podcast using AI, from the artwork, to the script, title – and even the Press Release we were sent. Synthetic Stories is a podcast, about a podcast, made by… the podcast? This recommendation was written by a human, however. Listen on your favourite app >>

Stories of Our Time – ‘Artificial intelligence: Bright new future or the end of humanity?’

Stories of Our Time with David Aaronovitch (possibly) asks if machines could be our surgeons, our judges and our artists, what would it then mean to be human? Listen on your favourite app >>

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Congratulations on your 1000th episode! How are you celebrating?

Ha – the curse of the daily podcast means our celebrations involve recording, publishing and planning – the juggernaut never stops! We may allow ourselves a reflective hour or so – unless there’s breaking news – in which case, back to the grindstone!

More than 3 years of daily episodes – have you ever missed a day?

Aside from Bank Holidays no – and we make up for those by doing some special bonus episodes. That’s the thing with news annoyingly, it’s never ending!

What are you most proud of?

I think to be a small independent publisher in news is extremely tough – so I’m really proud we’ve taken on the giants and often beaten them! Our size means we are far more nimble and can make decisions a lot faster than our peers – which really helps. They have the budget and the teams, we have agility and personality.

Does the 7 minute limit make it easier or harder to do a daily show?

At first it made it incredibly difficult. How could we possibly fit all the news in (Especially as we launched on the day Boris came out of hospital after Covid). But as we found our feet, it’s become a real feat of engineering – we are probably the most efficient sub-editors on earth! Not an ounce of flab is allowed in our episodes – there’s no time!

Tell us about the survey -where did that idea come from?

I live on social media and therefore constantly feel I’m trapped in a bubble of my own making. Hopefully this survey will give us at the Smart 7 a real sense of where our listener’s heads are at, what they’re concerned about and what their hopes are for the future of the nation. Not only will this help us make the podcast better – the results will definitely be of interest to everyone.

Listen and subscribe to The Smart 7 on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and other popular podcast apps >>

The post Jamie East from Smart 7: On reaching 1000 episodes – “the juggernaut never stops!” appeared first on POD BIBLE.

The Birmingham Podcast Festival 2023 is a one-day event organised by Soundtruism that embraces the power of podcasting that removes barriers to entry. The event aims to be an inclusive audio space, a place to share top tips, skills and knowledge from a truly diverse range of professionals. The amazing line-up of podcast experts and audio professionals is representative of both the city and industry (a key aspect of the Equality In Audio pact we don’t always see at podcast events).  As well as headliner Sangeeta Pillai from Masala Podcast, people heading to the festival can expect to hear experts from Spotify, the BBC, and many independent podcast production companies.

We believe that this is as celebration of podcasting not to be missed. Of course, we wanted to learn more and caught up with festival instigator Nina Robinson…

PB: I was so excited to see this launch! Can you tell us how this festival has come about?

NINA: I’d been thinking that Birmingham needed a Podcast Festival for like over a year! I was seeing all the events going on in London and there was very little going on to improve skills and inspire the podcasting community in the Midlands. In the end, I just thought let me do it, as I had a lot of contacts in the audio world from my background working in the industry and I had been working with Birmingham City University who are our partners. I’d been running podcast masterclasses and they were so well received and the innovative ideas that came about also convinced me that we needed a place to share expertise. I have been encouraged by a brilliant advisory board and my lead producer Dylan Hayward- so this all led to Birmingham Podcast Festival 2023 taking shape.

Nina Robinson, creator of the Birmingham Podcast Festival

Birmingham is now a super diverse, minority-majority city – how has this shaped the festival?

A lot! Ofcom did a podcast survey last year, which showed that minority populations are nearly all significantly more likely to be podcast listeners than the white population. For me, this is not completely surprising as these are audiences that have been largely under served by mainstream radio in the past. Having worked in an elite part of the industry, namely foreign affairs journalism – as a South Asian female with a Birmingham accent, media representation has been an important issue that led to me doing research for the Sir Lenny Henry Centre for Media Diversity when I left the BBC.

Birmingham is a young and richly diverse place, these are all reasons why it is a perfect flourishing ground for podcasting. There are no barriers to entry, anyone can enter this media space and it is important to provide a platform for successful podcasters and entrepreneurs such as Spotify Original podcaster, Sangeeta Pillai and CEO of podcast production company Bernard Achampong, Media Diversity expert Marcus Ryder MBE, author Jade LB signed to Stormzy’s #Merky Books (and many more) on the line-up to encourage and inspire others whilst at the same time offering some key skills and insights for new and established podcasters in the region.

The city of Birmingham became a bit famous in the podcasting space after the success of The Trojan Horse Affair – how was the podcast received there?

From the people I know and from my own perspective, The Trojan Horse Affair podcast by Serial Productions was incredible. It was a global number one hit and an investigation that delved deep into the insidious core of Islamophobia as it exists in British institutions including in journalism. It rates as one of my all-time favourite podcasts. (The other one is a New York Times podcast called 1619). My ambition is that one day, an investigative podcast series of that calibre, using local journalists can be produced by Birmingham-based podcast companies. I’m hoping that my own media production company, Soundtruism might play be able to play a part in making that a reality. When I DM-ed the co-host of The Trojan Horse Affair Hamza Syed, who is from Birmingham, I told him about the Birmingham Podcast Festival 2023 and he said that he wished that there had been an event like this one when he was here, which was really heartening thing to hear from him
and gave me a lot of encouragement.

What do you love about podcasting?

I just love the fact that it breaks the rules and anyone can do it! I love that you can find a podcast to suit your mood and frame of mind. I love how intimate it is and how your favourite podcasters can feel like your friends – this is how I feel when I listen to The Receipts podcast. I love the possibilities that it offers to companies and individuals to connect with different audiences – this is one of the areas I want the Birmingham Podcast Festival 2023 to tap into, one of the panel discussions is on ‘The Power of Podcasting for your Business or Brand’ and we’ve got the brilliant Richard Miron from Earshot Strategies who has worked with brands such as Airbus and the European Investment Bank on their podcasts and he has so many amazing insights to share.

Podcasting is such a great media to work remotely – how do you see that shaping the future of the industry?

Having worked through Covid and making documentaries for the BBC World Service from my upstairs loft room in Birmingham during that period, I feel that remote working through podcasting makes the world that much smaller and more accessible. I listen to many US, Indian and Canadian podcasts and this makes it easier to share expertise and have cross border conversations. The tech is easy to use which means you can get crystal clear broadcast quality audio from someone in a remote part of the globe and it can sound like they are sitting right next to you.

Birmingham canals

I’m excited to visit Birmingham for the first time! Aside from the festival – what’s your best insider tip I must see or do before I leave?

Digbeth! It’s right on BCU’s doorstep and there’s a new BBC building about to open (the old Typhoo tea factory) and other media professionals are moving into the area.  It is an upcoming media hub.  Have a coffee at Fazeley Studios –  You have to push an unmarked door (kind of light blue colour) to get in.  It closes at 2pm.

For food after:  Meat eaters should try HANBAO on 46 Floodgate Street Food Menu.
Vegans and Vegetarians should try THE WAREHOUSE CAFÉ food and bar (closes at 10pm) – it’s @thewarehousecafe on Instagram.

Bars to try:

• Dig Brew Co. (43 River Street) – this one’s a brilliant microbrewery, try the stout.
• The Ruin (92 Floodgate street) – they have outside upstairs bit,
• Dead Wax Digbeth (28 Adderley Street) – edgy
• The Old Crown (High St B12 0LD) – really old like the oldest pub in Birmingham I think.
• Or if you want somewhere really near New Street station, go to Cherry Red’s Café Bar on John Bright Street your little home from home (cherryreds.com)

Anything else you’d like our readers to know?

Get your tickets for Birmingham Podcast Festival 2023 via the website birminghampodcastfestival.co.uk. We are also giving away 2 x podcast microphones (courtesy of @guitarguitaruk) with all the accessories in the box on socials so please follow @soundtruism on Instagram or my own profile on Twitter @ninarobinson01 or follow #BhamPodFest23 and we will be announcing the winner at the Festival on the 22nd April, 2023.

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As the festival draws near, we caught up with Founder, Dylan Pugh, to find out what we can expect at the festival this year…

It’s nearly festival time! Which shows are you most excited about seeing in this inaugural year?

They’re all going to be great shows obviously, but two in particular stand out for me. We have Morning Kombat, the leading MMA/Boxing podcast in the US and reigning Sports Podcast of the Year, flying over to play their first live show in the UK. They have a huge audience over here, and great guests lined-up, so that will be a great one.

And the FozCast will also be playing their first ever live show too, which is really exciting. I’ve been a huge fan of the way Ben Foster has built his own audience as a content creator – and he’s bloody good at it too! We’re excited for his fans to be able to watch the FozCast live in-person for the first time.

You mentioned some predictions for Sports podcasting in 2022 last time we spoke (more immediate content, the rise of the ex-professional, keeping episodes short and regular) – did we see it all happen?

We definitely saw more ex-athletes launch a podcast this year, from Jonny Wilkinson and Andrew “Beef” Johnston, to Neil Warnock and Chris Kamara. I would expect that trend to continue in 2023, with more current athletes in their prime joining the party.

Any things about 2022 podcasting that surprised you?

We didn’t see as much growth in the live audio space as I was expecting. Facebook flirted with it, but cooled their plans, Twitter Spaces has not been as widely adopted, and Spotify’s plans with Greenroom are yet to materialise at scale. In the same space, we saw more live-streaming and watch-alongs from leading sports podcasters – another trend I expect to continue to grow this year. And I was surprised by how quickly the live podcasting scene has not only returned post-Covid, but accelerated at such pace.

What are your predictions for sports podcasting in the next 12 months?

More current athletes in their prime to enter the game as podcasters, more sports podcasts going live and on tour, and in general, I think we’ll see some more variation in the types of podcast being created – niche topics and different formats. There’s clearly a formula that works for sports podcasting at the moment and I can see why people are sticking to that, but my opinion is that there’s now a lot of repetition. Those that do something different to the norm will cut through

Both the audio industry and the sports industry have a big gender disparity – do you think podcasts could help to engage these audiences?

Absolutely. There’s huge momentum around women’s sport right now and the growth trajectory is significant. To my earlier point, the sports podcast landscape is very ‘samey’ in terms of the format and profile of the hosts – and the gender disparity is shocking. So as women’s sport continues to grow in popularity, there’s a huge opportunity to add some fresh new voices to the space.

There’s already some amazing podcasts such as the No Balls: The Cricket Podcast, The Good, the Scaz & the Rugby and Jill Scott’s Coffee Club, and from our work with the Sports Podcast Awards, we are seeing more female producers out there too, which is great to see.

TV has made big strides in the number of female voices in sport, but these are not the current athletes and top stars themselves. Podcasts can be an amazing platform to showcase their true personalities and to build these characters and role models to inspire the next generation of female sport stars and audio creators.

I would urge anybody that commissions a sports podcast to think about the opportunity here, and the responsibility that we have as an industry to redress this balance.

For those interested in attending a live sports podcast show, how can they get involved with Pod Live?

We have live shows each night from Wednesday 8th to Sunday 12th February at Kings Place in London. There are two shows each night, with four on the Sunday, and tickets can be bought HERE. We have shows covering Rugby, Football, Cycling, F1, Combat Sports and some general sports comedy shows like Fighting Talk and Socially Distant Sports Bar – so something for everyone!

The post Speaking to Dylan Pugh from Pod Live appeared first on POD BIBLE.

This was the first time I’ve attended, so I thought I’d give a little overview of my experience as a first-timer for others who might not be familiar with the event.

Production Company of the Year – Reduced Listening – courtesy of Audio UK

This is the twelfth year of the awards, presented by Audio UK, and the event is a true awards-ceremony atmosphere. Fizzy wine and mocktails were available at the entrance. The space for mingling had a bar, DJ and lights that certainly made for a party-feeling, but did make it difficult to speak to people. Walking through the space, groups of people were excitedly catching up. Attending by myself, there was the slight panic of being in a crowd I did not know.

Luckily, Pod Bible has given me enough connections to recognise a few faces (shout out to Naomi from The International Women’s Podcast Awards, and Imriel from Content is Queen in particular!) and a few other people I know from freelancing. This event would have been very overwhelming if I was completely new to audio. For any solo or indy podcasters thinking of attending next year, I would suggest trying to connect with people before the event.

A highlight of the evening was Lily Ames and Laura Blake’s acceptance speech for the Audio UK Award. Hearing more about how Lily set-up the UK Audio Network (UKAN) was so interesting (UKAN has been so valuable for me personally pivoting to the audio industry from a very different background.) But they also used the speech to highlight the anti-trans podcast being nominated at the 2022 ARIAS.

AudioUK Award. – Lily Ames, UKAN, Laura Blake – courtesy of Audio UK

The need for greater action on inclusion, diversity and safeguarding was an aspect picked-up at a few points. The winners of the Production Company of the Year, Reduced Listening, also used their speech for this, and I noted a few winners mentioning going freelance so that they could create the work they couldn’t create in established media giants.

But it is also great to see the successes from grassroots initiatives working in the DEI space – Sarah Myles’ RISE & SHINE was mentioned more than once, and the winner of Best Entertainment Producer (and Pod Bible columnist!) Meera Kumar thanked the Multitrack Fellowship for her break into the industry.

Best Entertainment Producer – Meera Kumar – courtesy of Audio UK

Carousel Radio were the winners of the Grassroots Production award, and used their acceptance speech to talk about the importance of having media for and by people with learning disabilities. And I loved seeing Best Narrator go to Tracy Wiles for her work on Fits and Starts by Franziska Thomas for my own reasons.

The Audio Production Awards were such a good insight to audio production as an industry – both as it is now, and how it could be in the future. Congratulations to all the winners!

The Winners:

Best Arts & Culture Producer

GOLD – Geoff Bird (Freelance)
SILVER – Steven Rajam (Overcoat Media)
BRONZE – Lyndsay Fenner & Victoria Lloyd (Storyglass)

Nominees

Hannah Dean (Falling Tree Productions)
Hannah Hufford (BBC Audio)
Victoria Ferran  (Just Radio)

Best News & Current Affairs Producer

GOLD – James Shield (The Times and The Sunday Times)
SILVER – Taryn Siegel (The Times and The Sunday Times)
BRONZE – Ruth Abrahams (Freelance / The Guardian)

Nominees

Ant Adeane (Freelance)
Daniel Rosney (BBC Newsbeat)
Edward Drummond (The Times and The Sunday Times)

Best Entertainment Producer

GOLD – Meera Kumar – (Freelance)
SILVER – Adem Waterman (Absolute Radio)
BRONZE – Lorna Skingley (7digital)

Nominees

Lucy Dearlove (Storyglass)
Ore Olukoga (TBI Media)
Victoria Ferran (Just Radio)

Best New Producer sponsored by BBC Sounds

GOLD – Redzi Bernard (Falling Tree Productions)
SILVER – Julian Maclurg (Freelance)
BRONZE – Pippa Smith (Novel)
HIGHLY COMMENDED – Talia Augustidis (Message Heard)

Nominees

Charlotte North (Whistledown)
Rufaro Faith Mazarura (Audio Always)

Best Presenter sponsored by The Podcast Show

GOLD – Danny Robins (Bafflegab Productions)
SILVER – John Sweeney (Chalk and Blade)
BRONZE – Claudia Winkleman (TBI Media)

Nominees

Axel Kacoutié (Falling Tree Productions)
Elis James and John Robins (Audio Always)
Rob Beckett (TBI Media)

Best Factual Producer sponsored by In:Quality

GOLD – Axel Kacoutié
SILVER – Joshua Kelly (The Guardian)
BRONZE – Eva Krysiak (Freelance)

Nominees

Kate Taylor (Audible)
Redzi Bernard (Falling Tree Productions)
Russell Finch (Wondery)

Best Sports Producer

GOLD – Chessie Bent (TBI Media)
SILVER – Olly Clink (talkSPORT)
BRONZE – Joel Grove (Guardian News and Media)
HIGHLY COMMENDED – Isabel Minter (talkSPORT)

Nominees

Adonis Pratsides (The Athletic)
Christian Hewgill (BBC Radio 1 Newsbeat)

Gethin Thomas Award for Best Comedy Producer

GOLD – Matt Thomas (Audio Always)
SILVER – Gus Beattie (Gusman Productions)
BRONZE – David Tyler (Pozzitive)

Nominees

Ed Morrish (Lead Mojo Productions)
Gwyn Rhys Davies (BBC Studios)
Kurt Brookes (Made In Manchester)

Best Music Producer

GOLD – Arthur Hagues (Prison Radio Association)
SILVER – Jack Howson
BRONZE – Katie Callin (Reduced Listening)

Nominees

Helen Weatherhead (Audio Always)
Keana Bernard (BBC Audio)
Nate Goodman (We Are Grape)

Best Audiobook Producer

GOLD – Laura-Leigh Smith (String and Tins for Audible)
SILVER – Chris Thompson (Penguin Random House)
BRONZE – David Beck (Wireless Theatre for Audible)
HIGHLY COMMENDED – Lily Ridett (Freelance)

Nominees

Kathleen Moroney (Red Apple Creative for Audible)
Tanya Hougham (HarperCollins Publishers)

Best Narrator

GOLD – Tracy Wiles (Almost Tangible)
SILVER – Julie Hesmondhalgh (HarperCollins)
BRONZE – Tom Alexander (HarperCollins)
HIGHLY COMMENDED – Minnie Driver (Bonnier Books UK)

Nominees

Andy Serkis (HarperCollins)
Kristin Atherton (Penguin Random House)

Best Lifestyle & Society Producer (NEW) sponsored by BetterHelp

GOLD – Lina Prestwood (Scenery Studios)
SILVER – Sangeeta Pillai (Soul Sutras)
BRONZE – Andrew Gold (On the Edge with Andrew Gold)

Nominees

Anouszka Tate (Freelance)
Selina Ream (Somethin’ Else)
Sylvie Carlos (Unedited)

Best Ensemble Cast

GOLD – Joelah, Keke & DJ Silk (1Xtra’s Throwback Party)
SILVER – Kat Anderson & Natalia Anderson (Expat Immigrant Podcast)
BRONZE – Helen Brown, Terri Sweeney, Emma Goswell & Beena Khetani (Effin Hormones)

Nominees

Elis James &. John Robins (Audio Always)
Kim Davis & Raffaella Coleman (The Scene)
William Hanson & Jordan North (Audio Always)

Best New Voice sponsored by BBC Sounds

GOLD – Lianne Sanderson (talkSPORT)
SILVER – Cara McGoogan (The Telegraph)
BRONZE – Talia Augustidis (Message Heard)

Nominees

Afrodeutsche (Reform Radio)
Lily Baldwin (Audible)
Peter Waring (Whistledown)

Best Branded Sound Producer

GOLD – Luke Berry (BBC Popular Music Station Sound)
SILVER – Adam Venton (Little Monster Media)
BRONZE – Chris Nicoll (WIZZFX)

Nominees

Ali Rezakhani (BBC Sounds)
Kenny Southavy (ReelWorld)
Sam Parker (WIZZFX)

Best Sound Design Producer

GOLD – Axel Kacoutié (Freelance)
SILVER – Benbrick
BRONZE – Kit Milsom (Mags Creative)

Nominees

Hannah Dean (Falling Tree Productions)
John Wakefield (Audible)
Steve Urquhart (Freelance)

Best Drama & Fiction Producer

GOLD – Andrew Mark Sewell (B7 Media)
SILVER – Barnaby Eaton-Jones & Ian Haig (Idea Hat Productions)
BRONZE – Melanie Harris (Sparklab Productions)

Nominees

Celia de Wolff (Pier Productions)
Jacqueline Rayner (Big Finish Productions)
Nicolas Jackson (Afonica)

AudioUK Award

UK Audio Network (UKAN)

Grassroots Production Awards sponsored by The Podcasting Seriously Awards Fund

GOLD – Carousel
SILVER – Vic Elizabeth Turnbull (MIC Media)
BRONZE – Modus Arts (Tape Letters)

Nominees

Boz Temple
Morris & Fin Kennedy (The Waves)
Miranda Rae (Afrikan Queens)
Steve Urquhart (Doing Bird)

The Sustainability Award (NEW)

GOLD – The Long Time Academy (Scenery Studios 8)
SILVER – Lucia Scazzocchio (Wild Eye)
BRONZE – Resonance FM

Nominees

Jo Kennedy & Cathy Shaw (Nature Tripping)
Loftus Media (Funghi: The New Frontier)

Reform Radio Producer of the Year (NEW)

GOLD – Steve Urquhart (Freelance)
SILVER – Hana Walker-Brown (Broccoli Productions / Freelance)
BRONZE – Jon Holmes (unusual)
HIGHLY COMMENDED – Jack Howson

Nominees

Hannah Dean (Falling Tree Productions)
Victoria Ferran (Just Radio)

Publisher or Network of the Year (NEW)

GOLD – Resonance FM
SILVER – Mags Creative
BRONZE – Fun Kids

Nominees

Crowd Network
Sky News
talkSPORT

Production Company of the Year sponsored by Radiocentre

GOLD – Reduced Listening
SILVER – Unedited
BRONZE – Whistledown

Nominees

Holy Mountain
TBI Media
We Are Grape

The post The Audio Production Awards 2022 – The Winners appeared first on POD BIBLE.

“Parenting Hell is moving! The absolute mess, chaos and absurdity of being a parent remains the same, we’ll just be discussing it all exclusively on Spotify still for FREE! from 8th November!”

The pair also posted their news on their social channels earlier in the week, with Josh Widdecombe’s Instagram post reassuring fans:

“For those worried we are about to go professional, don’t panic, the show will still be a complete shambles and most importantly it will still be available for FREE (until our children grow up and inevitably stop us making it)! Also, we reckon they might be able to get us Meghan Markle, (though we haven’t asked yet)”

Parenting Hell is hosted by comedians Rob Beckett and Josh Widdicombe who have amassed over 55 million downloads since its launch during the pandemic in 2020. The podcast sees Rob and Josh detail the many misadventures, the highs and lows of parenting in a hilarious, yet relatable way. The pair have also been joined by some familiar, celebrity parents since its launch including Stacey Solomon, Myleene Klass, Romesh Ranganathan and more. Listen and subscribe now on Spotify >>

The post Parenting Hell with Rob Beckett and Josh Widdicombe to become a Spotify Exclusive appeared first on POD BIBLE.

I was there representing Pod Bible and handing out our magazines featuring awesome women cover stars (if you went home with one, make sure you take a picture and tags us!). And I was also there in Producer capacity – more on that below – and to witness women supporting women.

It’s hard to believe that the Awards are only in their second year. Not only because it’s incredible the awards didn’t exist before, but because of the scale of this year’s event. The Conduit near Covent Garden in London was a larger venue than last year, and accommodated a crowd of nearly 200. New categories have been added this year, and the winners were whisked away to be interviewed for the 90 second podcast by one of the sponsors, Focusrite. The awards are now supported by several companies including Amazon Music, Wondery, Shure, Captivate, Acast and Blubrry.

The success is testament to the need for such celebration and uplift – as the awards prove #WeHaveThingsToSay.

The Winners

Moment of Comedy Gold
Presented by Craig Strachan from Amazon Music

Winner – Effin’ Hormones

Runner Up – Add To Cart

Hot on the tails of their British Podcast Awards win, Effin’ Hormones are adding to their awards case. Emma Goswell accepted the award for the team. Whilst the award was for the comedy in the show about menopause, she took the chance to draw attention to the serious aspects of the podcast as well.

Moment of Behind The Scenes Brilliance
presented by Melissa Matanda from Acast

Winner – Taking On Putin

Runner Up – The Vivo Songbook

This award was to specifically highlight someone who works behind the scenes on those aspects that often go uncelebrated. Laura Sheeter’s work on Taking On Putin involved working on translations from Russian and more.

Moment of Touching Honesty
presented by Imriel Morgan from Content Is Queen

Winner – The Divorce Social

Runner Up – A Slight Change of Plans

An indy pod pipped the massive A Slight Change of Plans to the post. In her acceptance speech, Samantha Baines from The Divorce Social thanked her ex-husband for being so divorceable! But she also highlighted the great space podcasts provide for safe and honest conversations about subjects that were once hushed.

Moment of Entrepreneurial Inspiration
presented by Sarah McDowell of Captivate

Winner – The Convex Conversation

Runner Up – The Hidden Economics of Remarkable Women (HERO)

Helen Fospero’s podcast The Convex Conversation shares inspirational life stories. In the episode that was entered, Helen spoke to blind entrepreneur and TV presenter Amar Latif talks about his life and how blindness has helped him see the world.

Moment of Dramatic Tension
presented by Toby Goodman from Blubrry

Winner – AfroQueer

Runner Up – The Catch

A truly international podcast, AfroQueer is a podcast about Queer Africans living, loving, surviving and thriving on the African Continent and in the Diaspora. The winning episode ‘Shivanah’s Story‘ was “truly a story of survival” of a young lesbian singer-songwriter from Uganda. Host Selly Thiam wasn’t able to attend, and Producer Penny Dale accepted the award.

Moment of Insight from a Role Model
presented by Laura Blake of UKAN

Winner – 28ish Days Later

Runner Up – Media Storm

One of the big winners at the British Podcast Awards this year as well, 28ish Days Later highlights aspects of having periods that are just not talked about enough. From truly crippling syndromes, to trans men and non-binary experience of periods. You could tell the production team receiving the award were a bit emotional to have the stories recognised!

In a nice moment from the runner-up, the Media Storm episode submitted featured the award-presenter, Laura Blake.

Moment of Raw Emotion
presented by Naomi Mellor and sponsored by Focusrite

Winners – Culturati Conversations

Runner Up – We Built This City 

The Culturati podcast is really providing something important, and is another show being celebrated in multiple awards (it’s recently been nominated for a Black Podcasting Award as well). In a pre-recorded acceptance speech, the Culturati Conversations team highlighted everyone involved in the show, which was great to see.

Moment of Calm Unflappability
presented by Manveen Rana from Stories of Our Times

Winner – Deer Humans

Runner Up – On The Outside

Deer Humans is a short run series that looked in depth at the ecological conflict between white-tailed deer and wealthy vacationers in The Hamptons, New York. Eve Bishop’s acceptance via video talked about the need for trust from interviewees in such projects.

And I have to proudly say – On The Outside is me! In a slightly self-deprecating acceptance for the runner-up, I thanked the IWPA for creating a category where I could do things wrong and still get rewarded for it…

Moment of Visionary Leadership
presented by Samantha Barnes from The Divorce Social

Winners – Long Time Academy

Runner Up – Indie AF

Another show that’s been making waves this year, Long Time Academy’s Ella Saltmarshe gave a passionate acceptance speech highlighting the inspiration behind the podcast. Such passion is very fitting for the category, and the important topic of podcast. Read our interview with Ella and Lina for more behind-the-scenes on the show.

Award for Changing the World One Moment At A Time
presented by Jack Drury of Shure

Winner – Out There

Runner Up – Coiled

The big category of the night honours those podcasters that are really setting out to make a difference, and doing it with aplomb. Out There is a podcast that tackles big questions through our relationship with the outdoors, and the winning episode looked at the difficult history of some National Parks in both Germany and The United States. Willow Belden’s acceptance video talked about the fact that such journalism is as important as any political show.

I personally approve of the winning podcasts in this category – Coiled was one of my favourite shows from last year, and Out There is one of my favourite podcasts of all time, as mentioned on a previous Pod Bible episode.

—

Congratulations to all runner-ups and winners of the International Women’s Podcast Awards 2022. Here’s to more recognition and support for women in podcasting!

The post International Women’s Podcast Awards 2022 – The WINNERS! appeared first on POD BIBLE.

What are you most looking forward to this year?

An impossible question! The London Podcast Festival is my absolute favourite time of the year. One of the things I love the most is the enormous variety of events, podcasters and guests. Where else can you see Jameela Jamil, Les Dennis, Dane Baptiste, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Louis Theroux, Tia Kofi, Mark Gatiss, Sope Dirisu, Gurinder Chadha, Nick Helm, Isy Suttie, Diana Vickers, and James Acaster on the same line-up?!

We have some of the biggest podcasts in the UK, like Beef and Dairy Network, Adam Buxton, Griefcast, Brown Girls Do it Too, Queer Talk, Drunk Women Solving Crime, No Such Thing as a Fish, Redhanded, The Guilty Feminist, Three Bean Salad Two Twos Podcast and Uncanny. So many genres and communities are represented, from Wrestling to Audio Drama, Feminism to Horror, Football, Current Affairs, True Crime, TV, and so much more.

Do you have a top tip for making the most of the festival if you’re a listener?

If there is a show you know and love on the line-up, come and see it! Not only will you get to hang out with the hosts, it’s a great opportunity to meet likeminded listeners. Come with friends, come alone – just come along! Once you’ve done that, pick something you haven’t heard of that piques your interest. Take a punt, support the podcast community and find a new favourite.

And if you’re a podcaster?

Well, not only can you network and meet some of the biggest names in the industry, we have a whole weekend of workshops and panels just for you. Whether you’re completely new to podcasting and want to know how to start, are looking for specialised classes to refine your art or inspiration from some of the most talented figures in UK and international audiomaking, the Podcast Maker Weekend has it all. The amazing programme was curated by Sarah Myles from Rise & Shine. We also have a totally free event on Podcast Subscriptions run by our festival partner Acast.

Are there any podcasts you’re currently listening to whilst you prepare?

I would never play favourites, but one of the first ever podcasts we ever booked at Kings Place was The Complete Guide to Everything who travelled to us from NYC in 2010. They came back every year until that pesky pandemic, but now that forced hiatus is over they’ll be back in London for this year’s festival. I’ve been listening to them in preparation for catching up with old friends.

That’s what I always look forward to most about the festival, seeing old pals and making new ones. We’d love to see you there too!

Tickets for The London Podcast Festival are on sale now via the Kings Place website.

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Taking place in front of a live audience at Kings Place, the festival is a chance to celebrate the fast growing popularity of podcasts whilst giving listeners the unmissable chance to meet their favourite podcast hosts. A number of the events will be livestreamed to audiences across the world via KPlayer, the Kings Place pay-per-view platform. The London Podcast Festival was founded by Kings Place in 2016 and has since welcomed over 37,000 visitors and 500 podcasters.

Newly added shows include:

• Popular true crime podcasts Drunk Women Solving Crime and RedHanded join forces for a special Drunk Women Caught RedHanded event
• Discover the creative process of hit Audible scripted podcast Radioman, with actor and cocreator Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, executive producer Emily Feller, writer, director and cocreator Joe Derrick and sound designer and composer Benbrick, as they discuss key scenes from the series in-depth in this special free live session
• BBC Sounds podcasts Uncanny with host Danny Robins and guest Mark Gatiss and Pressed with hosts Mariam and Adeola join for special live shows
• Comedy podcast Halfies: A Noisy Hajar Podcast with host Hajar J. Woodland and guests Darius Davies and Shirley & Shirley (aka Joanna Carolan and Pascale Wilson)
• Spencer Cooper and Mufseen Miah present Queer Talk LIVE! to share commentary on positive LGBTQ+ news stories and connect with a panel of brilliant, queer individuals
• Film journalist Ben Travis and animation academic Dr. Sam Summers present Disniversity, a podcast crash course through the history of Disney’s animated classics
• Desperado Podcast present a one-off special featuring a self-contained story from the Desperado universe
• First ever live show of Petrified, the terrifying horror fiction anthology podcast
• Indie AF sees Sarah Golding and special guests share experience and unmissable advice about creating audio fiction
• Mathilda Mallinson and Helena Wadia present a live episode of Media Storm
• Thea Rickard and Ruby Rare explore the world of non-monogamy in feminist podcast The Last Night

Special guests revealed:

• Louis Theroux will join Adam Buxton for an episode of The Adam Buxton Podcast
• Tia Kofi from RuPaul’s Drag Race UK Season 2 is the guest for Crystal’s The Things That Made Me Queer
• Lady Garden Foundation co-founder Chloe Delevingne, actress Amanda Abbington and the Scummy Mummies Ellie & Helen announced as guests for Mika Simmons’ The Happy Vagina
• Actress Michelle Collins joins comedian Michelle Collins and Dan Acton for a special live recording of Midnight Snack
• Les Dennis announced as special guest for quiz podcast Fingers on Buzzers, hosted by comedian Lucy Porter and The Chase’s very own Vixen, Jenny Ryan
• Director Gurinder Chadha talks about her career with host Simon Brew in the first ever live recording of Film Stories
• Comedians Karen Hobbs and Marcus Brigstocke and producer Saima Ferdows join Cariad Lloyd for an episode of Griefcast
• Huge Davies, Ed Byrne and Jen Brister announced as guests for The Film Quiz with Nick Helm
• Comedian Isy Suttie will be the guest on Joel Morris’ Comfort Blanket and has chosen the film Grease

They join the previously announced line-up which features:

• Special one-off show Springleaf: James Acaster featuring James Acaster as undercover cop Pat Springleaf talking to comedian Mike Wozniak
• Live editions of I Weigh with Jameela Jamil, The Adam Buxton Podcast, Dane Baptiste Questions Everything and No Such Thing as a Fish, as well as a special crossover show with The Guilty Feminist and Brown Girls Do It Too
• Live episodes from some of the UK’s leading LGBTQ+ podcasts including Two Twos Podcast, A Gay and a NonGay and The Things That Made Me Queer
• Festival appearances from Cariad Lloyd with Griefcast, comedian Lucy Porter presents Fingers on Buzzers with The Chase’s Jenny Ryan and Joel Morris brings a live episode of Comfort Blanket, plus live episodes of The Happy Vagina and Ki & Dee
• Film podcasts including Film Quiz with Nick Helm, The Empire Film Podcast, Fade to Black, 90 Minutes or Less and Film Stories, plus trilogy of wrestling podcasts Wrestle Me, How2Wrestling and Attitude Era Podcast
• Festival debuts from Jew Talkin’ To Me?, The Famous Sloping Pitch and NonCensored with Rosie Holt, plus returning favourites Three Bean Salad, Beef and Dairy Network and Midnight Snack with Michelle Collins
• Other shows include The Complete Guide to Everything, A Wheezing Groaning Sound, The The One Show Show, Global Pillage, The Final Girls, Rock ‘n’ Roll Politics and Chart Music: The TOTP Podcast

The Podcast Maker Weekend returns once more, offering a diverse series of podcasting workshops at Kings Place covering the art, craft, technology, business and politics of podcasting. Experienced speakers from the world of podcasting and broadcasting offer affordable sessions for both beginner and experienced podcasts and audio makers. Sessions include:

• Festival partners Acast present Podcast Subscriptions: They’re a Thing, a free workshop panel to help aspiring podcasters set up their first podcast subscriptions. Hosted by Hannah O’Connell, Acast Partner Manager and host of Shrine Podcasts, the panel will be joined by Teacher Luke (aka Luke Thompson) and Adrian Carty, producer of the Nothing Is Real Beatles podcast – both of whom have very successful subscription podcasts
• The Importance Of People And Relationships In Podcasting with award winning audio producer Jaja Muhammad and broadcast journalist, presenter and producer Cherise Hamilton
• Comedy Podcasting with comedian and podcaster Suchandrika Chakrabarti and Drunk Women Solving Crime host Hannah George
• Researching For Podcasts with producer Leonore Schick and Sky News Podcasts producer Soila Apparicio
• Interviewing For Documentaries with multi award winning freelance audio producer, sound designer and community facilitator Jesse Lawson and freelance audio producer, editor and sound designer Arlie Adlington
• The Future Of Audio Fiction with Alexander J Newall, Founder and CEO of Rusty Quill Ltd, alongside Rusty Quill Ltd Executive of Production April Sumner and award-winning writer Nemo Martin
• Recording Podcasts with audio specialist Lisa Hack and audio executive Kieron Banerji
• Editing Basics with audio producer Mae-Li Evans and James Shield, Deputy executive producer of The Times and The Sunday Times daily news podcast
• Script For Presenting with Scott Flashheart, founder of the Queer Podcasters’ network and creator of Probably True podcast, and political/social affairs journalist and multimedia producer Dahaba Ali Hussen
• Ask Me Anything – Production Basics with founder of String Cast Media Sam Mbatha and award-winning producer Meera Kumar
• Podcast Formats Moving To TV Formats with Managing Director of Storyglass Steve Carsey and Founding and Managing Director of Gold Wala Faraz Osman
• Video For Podcasts with Super Stuff Creative producer Leon Gower and stand-up comedian, writer and author Sadia Azmat
• Using Social Media To Market Your Podcast with podmother, presenter, producer and consultant Kat Molesworth and Dan Page, CEO of Podspike and Chief Egg at podcast producer Why did the Chicken?

Tickets are on sale via the Kings Place website.

END

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