How to Grow a Pod

This week, we hear from Alison Vernon-Smith whose thirty years’ experience as a producer in broadcasting at the BBC and in the independent sector makes her the perfect person to talk about producing podcasts. Or does it? She tells us how she applies her BBC mindset to high-end, sponsored podcast series for brands such as Harrods’ True Tales of Luxury presented by Mariella Frostrup and Belstaff ’s The Road Less Travelled with Reggie Yates.  

This week, I’m talking queer podcasting with Tash Walker, Adam Smith and Shivani Dave, the team behind The Log Books, the niche podcast carved from real stories from Switchboard, the second- oldest LGBT+ telephone helpline in the UK which first opened in 1974. And it only went and won Best New Podcast award at the British Podcast Awards in 2020 -although none of us knew that at the time of recording.

This week, I’m with Award-winning podcast producer and playwright Chris Hogg who used the unlikely format of a drum ’n’ bass musical to tell the story of eating disorders to a young audience in his podcast Cassie and Corey.  He told me 6 weeks after the launch about how he did it – the crowdfunding, the sip pitch, and how to get on New and Noteworthy. He started by telling me about working with the Arts council 

This week, I’m talking podcasting value with Danny Lowney, managing director of influencer agency, Sixteenth who is watching with interest the potential of podcasting to become the next platform for making some serious cash.  He explains the impact of podcast sponsorship and advertising and podcasting fits among the usual channels of Instagram and Youtube in terms of value for brands