JR: Lou Mensah’s list of achievements in podcasting is certainly impressive. Creating the podcast Shade in 2019, Lou has received recommendations in The Guardian, Esquire Magazine and Grazia, as well as being the silver award winner in the 2019 British Podcast Awards for Best Arts and Culture podcast. So how would Lou describe her podcast Shade – what’s it about?

LM: “My guests champion the work of artists of colour within the wider cultural landscape. I love talking with artists whose work stimulates the senses but also has the scope to create wider conversations about inclusion. Shade is a space to be inspired by artists and their stories.

I remembered how isolated I felt being a self-taught, female photographer of colour in the 90’s, without access to inspiring conversations about art or my place within it. I also had a disability which meant that I couldn’t socialise with other artists. Back then my sense of community came from reading about other artists’ lives. When I decided to create the podcast I wanted to create an intimate and welcoming space for everyone, from established artists to listeners who
simply enjoy the odd gallery visit.”

JR: Like many podcasters, Lou has taken away some personal highlights from her time producing the show.

LM: “A highlight so far has been Season 4 which was in response to the 2020 BLM uprisings. I felt that we needed a space to process how we felt about the arts and its response to the uprisings, and how our work may change as a result. It was also an opportunity to talk with those working within the media whose job it was to respond to that seminal moment in civil rights history. I talked with the Editor of TIME, journalists from i-D and The Guardian, plus curators, photographers and critics about how the uprisings had impacted their work. I was lucky to have guests on the show who had refused to talk to other press outlets during this time.

One guest was a founding member of BLM UK, who entrusted me with his story. I am proud to have created a space for the conversations that are glaringly missing from mainstream broadcasting platforms. Sometimes podcasting can feel like talking into a void, but the response to the show affirms that the podcast caters for an audience eager to engage with and support
these conversations.”

JR: Despite time restraints, Lou is looking to the future and production for an upcoming season is in process.

LM: “As an independent podcaster I only have time to work on the show a few hours a week, so I am proud that in it’s short life Shade has garnered attention and support from some art heavyweights, including from the South London Gallery and Hauser & Wirth for example, who will continue to support Shade next season. For season 5 I am working with the Sound designer Axel Kacoutié and we are taking the show in a completely new direction. We will launch our collaboration online and at an event in September [2022]. I hope to see some Pod Biblers there!”

Shade is now in its eleventh season, but find out more about Lou’s collaboration with Axel Kacoutié, Interludes, here >>

Listen to SHADE on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and other popular podcast apps now >>

The post Good Samaritan // SHADE appeared first on POD BIBLE.

JR: At the age of 14 Gigi Robinson was diagnosed with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, but Gigi has used her experience to develop her skills in podcasting. Everything You Need Is Within is a masterclass in how to turn adversity into advocacy.

GR: The idea was conceived in late 2020, it was based on a conversation I had with Julia Michaels on Instagram Live. The subject was being an artist and dealing with mental health, not only online but also in our creative work. I decided that it’d be really cool to interview creators from all different backgrounds and give my platform to people who wanted to get their mission out there into the world. The show was then picked up by Spotify Live and I was with them for a year and a half which was incredible and really helped grow the podcast.

With a varied career ranging from being a finalist in the Sports Illustrated Swim Search to being a champion of issues such as chronic illness and body positivity – how does Gigi manage to keep balanced?

Dealing with a chronic illness on top of working as a content creator can definitely be challenging, especially when I’m spending 15 to 30 minutes on the phone with a doctor just trying to set up an appointment. Managing so many different things is definitely a big challenge, but thanks to a huge team and other people behind the scenes we’re able to really create a content machine, which doesn’t leave me as burnt out as I once was. If you do want to scale up, I think it’s really important to balance and delegate tasks to different people so that you can maximise your productivity. I have things that help me stay on track but I’m still a work in progress! I also spend at least two to three hours on virtual appointments during the week and two to three hours on commuting, all of which combined probably equates to a part time job.

Everything You Need Is Within hosts conversations based around social advocacy, including mental and physical health, leadership, and much more.

A big subject that I love talking about on the show is, of course, disability and accessibility online, so that we can work towards levelling the playing field for everyone. Some of my favourite subjects I’ve touched on include pay transparency, which always needs more highlighting, as well as internet activism and advocacy. I think there are ways to implement social media literacy into everyone’s work and make sure that people are really taking responsibility for platforms if they have them.

Season 4 is right around the corner…

The future of Everything You Need is Within is definitely bright; I think we have a really solid pilot series to pitch for a live talk show and hopefully work our way up not only within the podcast space but into the talk show space as well and bridge the gap between what it means to be a host in these spaces. I would say that anybody who is interested in learning about social media literacy should definitely listen to some of our episodes and make sure that they’re being intentional every time they use social media. And last but not least, always be kind online.

Gigi Robinson is an advocate for The Jed Foundation – looking after emotional health and suicide prevention.

Listen to Everything You Need Is Within on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and other popular podcast apps >>

The post THE GOOD SAMARITAN // Everything You Need Is Within appeared first on POD BIBLE.

In Hauser & Wirth London, Axel Kacoutié and Lou Mensah sit in front of a Amy Sherald painting titled “For love, and for country” (2022). The piece is part of an exhibition called The World We Make and it’s Amy’s first solo show in Europe. The piece is also the subject of ‘Interludes: Dream Recurred’, the fourth episode in the new season of the Shade Podcast, which this live podcast experience is launching.

Interludes is a collaboration between multi award-winning sound artist Axel Kacoutié and Shade, where six contemporary artists answer the question: What does healing sound like?

Lou Mensh and Axel Kacoutie. Photo credit: Kid Circus

In previous seasons of the Shade Podcast, host Lou would hold interviews between artists and herself regarding how art has moved through their life. It would result in conversations about what art means personally, but also beyond one person. A particularly harrowing season of Shade was after the Black Lives Matter protests of summer 2020 – season four reflected on how the media responded to the uprising.

Speaking to Lou before the show, she told me that though those conversations were timely, she felt that after this response the audience needed a place where they could find some sort of solace. “I just thought next season I want it to be a gift to the audience and for people who are listening, something that can hold them, comfort them and acknowledge the need for everyone just to take a step back – to take some respite and some selfcare. I just wanted to create a small space through this series with Axel that would help people do that.”

This is evident through Axel’s sonic response. At the launch, they play us a snippet of the episode ‘Dream Recurred’ – Amy discusses the piece “For love, and for country”. Her images depict Black Americans in ordinary everyday situations and also reimagines them in historical moments: This piece in particular was a recreation of the photograph VJ Day in Times Square (1945). She fondly mentions friends she cares deeply about and wanting them to be represented, and it is followed by Axel using audio of Amy simply repeating the words “love is love” – the words linger in the air and the audience take them in. After sitting in comfortable silence for some seconds, Axel explains why the use of repetition not only emphasises the statement but reminds us how grounding the listening experience can be.

Credit : Amy Sherald ‘For love, and for country.’ 2022

“I feel like there’s a lot that the body and ear can do and need and I wanted to speak to that intuitive response,” they continue, “to follow how sound and music works to encourage and evoke a stillness,” a stillness that is often difficult to find in podcasting.

Lou talked briefly about how as the Producer she broke the housekeeping rules of podcasting – there is no traditional intro and outro, no break for ads and sponsors. Lou wanted all of that removed, “I wanted it to be an audio but also a physical and an emotional space to rest. For people to just relax. In audio there’s a lot of talk, a lot of chat, there’s a lot of fast energy. There’s a lot of slick audio making but I feel like it misses that capacity to hold people emotionally. I just felt like it was something I would try and do.” I felt like this approach of break in structure from Lou and these moments of quietness and minimalism for Axel worked well together – healing itself is such a nuanced and deeply personal topic; it is never linear therefore giving the listener a moment of reflection and breaking tradition feels just.

For those who have been listening to Shade for a while, you may remember the first glimpse of collaboration between Axel and Lou was the final episode of the 2021 four-part series of conversations exploring anti-racism in the arts, co-curated by Shade and Convergence. They’ve wanted to work together since, both confirming that it had been a year long process to get Interludes made. However, to add a timeline to projects like these is reductive. In some of the Interludes episodes, the sounds Axel used draw inspiration from projects that were made ten years ago, “It’s all part of the healing process that being able to give life to things that you thought would never see the light of day,” Lou adds, “I’ve been working in the arts for nearly 30 years so there is no way that all the things I’ve experienced and been a part of, have not been a part of this series because they have, so it’s a lifelong process of memories and inspirations.”

This project was as much for the creators as it is for the listener.

Listen to Interludes on The Shade Podcast now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and other popular podcast apps.

The post REVIEW // Shade Podcast LIVE – Interludes appeared first on POD BIBLE.

What was your introduction to podcasting as a listener?

I’m a veteran of sorts, back in the Ricky Gervais Guardian days I became hooked, for me I could see at that time a democratisation of media production and platforming both for audio and video on the horizon. Serial (S1) of course took the storytelling aspect to another level but the weekly pods like Football Weekly have always been mainstays.

Why was audio the right medium for your project?

I’ve listened to loads of documentary podcasts and what I always envied of the storytellers was the freedom of length that the format allowed. Some are an hour others 20 minutes, some carry on for 15 episodes and others just five. So far I’ve been able to give focus to some parts of Michael’s story and themes that wouldn’t have had space in a traditional TV documentary.

I’m used to recording video and what’s great about audio is the access and freedom it allows. You don’t need to worry about permits for tripods, the shot being backlit or huge amounts of kit. The interviewee also relaxes without a camera in their face.

What the biggest thing you’ve learned from making the podcast?

I’ve never voiced anything before so it was really daunting, but my mentor Clare Walker has been instrumental in helping me to develop a performance for the mic, I’ve learnt that all that talking takes effort and skill!

What would you like to see more of in the podcast space?

I think Audio Lab and other programs like it are trying to rectify the gap that I see in the podcast world. Podcast makers that don’t have the necessary experience or backing from production companies and the like, but do have great stories and content to put out there. During the infancy of podcasting this wasn’t such an issue due to the size of the industry, but now with huge conglomerates and celebrities involved, there needs to be more ways for creators to have a voice.

Listen to Who Was Michael X? now on BBC Sounds and other popular podcast apps.

Don’t forget to check out the other interviews in this series.

The post BBC Sounds Audio Lab: Hamza Salmi – Who Was Michael X? appeared first on POD BIBLE.

So tell us a bit more about what your podcast is about?

Goodniks is an audio project exploring the journey and meaning of doing good in the world — for people who do good or are just thinking about it. We follow the journeys of people who are doing good things and wanting to make a difference- we dig into who and what inspired them, what keeps them up at night, their sacrifices, their rewards, their failures, and what it means for their relationships. What does it really mean to do good over the course of a life, or a moment, or a season?

What was the first podcast you ever listened to?

The first podcast I ever listened to was about social workers. I don’t remember the name of it now, It was years ago and I assigned it to my students to listen to. I wanted them to do more than read academic articles. I wanted them to be immersed in people’s stories of what was happening in the field and I thought a podcast was a good way for them to do that. I let them choose what podcast but I listened to many to give them some options.

Why did you decide to start podcasting in the first place?

Jeff Leitner, our producer approached me with this project. He knew that I believe so strongly in the power of stories to transform and that everyone has a story to tell. Also, I’ve been hearing the most incredible things that people are doing- like really amazing things that are changing the world and how we do things. Everyone in my life always comments that I am so lucky to know really interestedly, brilliant, creative people and I thought that a podcast was one way to share stories with the world. And, it’s working- the other day, I had someone from the Philippines (where my parents are from) reach out to me. I’ve always done work with the Philippines Women’s movement and now I was able to reach whole different sectors that normally I wouldn’t have been able to. People love to listen to stories and delve into what people do and why. I think that’s part of the magic of Goodniks.

Which podcasts do you take inspiration from?

Right now I’ve been listening to The Only One in the Room. It speaks to how we always think we are the only one experiencing something but actually, it’s probably something so many people are going through, I love it because it normalizes and brings into light all of those things we think isolate us or make us vulnerable. A podcast I listen to consistently, like I jump on it right when a new episode comes out is We Can Do Hard Things. I love the message that Glennon Doyle, her sister Amanda and her wife, Abby have to say. They are so real and tackle so many of the things that resonate with me sometimes, I feel like I’m sitting in their living room just talking with my friends. Luvvie Ajayi Jones is like that too. There’s a lot of strong women podcasts out there. I’m also listening to Noble Blood with my niece. I want her to love history but she’s not a big fan until we started listening to these stories. It brings it to life and is so fascinating! We listen in the car and sometimes I find myself taking the long way around so we can finish an episode.

Who’s your dream guest for the podcast?

There’s so many. I honestly am not sure who would be a dream guest. If I had to pick- definitely in the top five would be Chanel Miller. She wrote the book Know My Name and I just recently listened to her on a podcast and she sounded so thoughtful and intentional. She had a beautiful way of discussing past traumas and challenges but also a lot of humor and love when talking about her world.

What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learnt so far as a podcaster?

I’ve always believed that stories were essential but it’s also how you tell the story that makes a difference. Our producer and editor, Amanda Rosco Mayo works with Jeff to curate and present the stories in the most impactful way. We have themes and speak to these themes in the most powerful ways possible. It makes a difference and I appreciate the work they do so much to bring it all together. I’ve also learned how much people appreciate the work we ware doing and putting out there. You can sometimes feel like you are screaming into the abyss but to know that you are making a difference? That’s humbling and exciting and inspiring.

Which episode would you say is the perfect introduction to your podcast?

Episode 4: If you want to see God laugh. I love this episode. It’s all about how our Goodniks knew they were on the right path. I’m a big believer that everything happens for a reason and these stories are full of what happens when you get signs from the universe that you are on the right path and how you have to listen and trust that and keep going- even when things are not what you planned or how you thought it would be.

Where can the Pod Bible readers find out more about you?

On our website goodniks.org and I’m also a contributor for Psychology Today.

Listen to Goodniks now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and other popular podcast apps.

The post Goodniks: a podcast for people doing good in the world appeared first on POD BIBLE.