As the audio industry grapples with its own response to the Black Lives Matter movement, we talk with two people who have insider knowledge of the issues at hand - and some sharp ideas about what needs to be done.

They are Jay Connor, a writer and podcaster based in Los Angeles, and Chrystal Genesis, a journalist, producer and host from London.

——

*Links*

Jay Connor

http://www.theextraordinarynegroes.com

https://www.theroot.com/author/thejayconnor

https://twitter.com/NotJayConnor

https://www.instagram.com/deathtoadverbs

Chrystal Genesis

https://stancepodcast.com

https://twitter.com/ChrystalGenesis

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Listening recommendations 

Floodlines

https://www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/floodlines/

Prison Bag

https://prisonbag.com/podcast

Kermode and Mayo’s Film Review

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00lvdrj

The Californian Century

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-californian-century/id1499112385

Seeing White 

http://www.sceneonradio.org/seeing-white

We’re not putting out a normal episode this week. Instead, we bring recommendations of a handful of the great podcasts currently being made by people of colour, from both sides of the Atlantic.

---------------- 

Links

Snap Judgement - https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/snapjudgment

Code Switch - https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/

Still Processing - https://www.nytimes.com/column/still-processing-podcast

Have You Heard George’s Podcast - https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07915kd/episodes/downloads

Lights Out: Into This World, by Axel Kacoutié - https://axelkacoutie.com/lights-out

About Race With Reni Eddo-Lodge https://www.aboutracepodcast.com

Black on the Air - https://www.theringer.com/larry-wilmore-black-on-air

Go Off, Sis - https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/go-off-sis/id1460288974

Therapy for Black Girls - https://therapyforblackgirls.com/podcast/

The Read - http://thisistheread.com/episodes

Bodega Boys - https://open.spotify.com/show/2ZgrSa9Ar0EAdlitOiMC6r

Following on from our discussion of Spotify’s pivot to spoken word - we turn our attention to the 600lb gorilla in the market. 

Apple were, of course, first to the party - adding podcast support back in 2005, and building Apple Podcasts (nee iTunes) into the world’s largest listening platform.

But for the last five years, the folks from Cupertino have seemingly turned their backs on the medium.

We dig in to their reasons for doing this, the ramifications it could have for listeners — and explain why we think they’re making a big mistake.

After that:

• Our views on the Joe Rogan / Spotify deal (18m45s)

• Pour one up for first ever Pulitzer-audio-prize-winners This American Life (22m37s)

And finally…

Listening recommendations (from 24m30s)

This time

This is Love  

The Anthropocene Reviewed 

Next time

Prison Bag 

Floodlines 

Subscribe to Can We All Come Out Now 

For the first decade of podcasting history, a single audio platform - Apple’s iTunes - had an unbreakable grip on the market. 

But lately, Spotify has been betting big on podcasts - and those bets appear to be paying off.

Over the next two episodes, we’ll look at the forces guiding these two companies and the effects that their movements will have on the industry - starting today with Spotify.

Why did the music streaming giant pivot to podcasts? What do they plan to do with big-ticket acquisitions like Gimlet and Anchor? And is their growing presence ultimately good or bad for producers? 

—————————

Listening recommendations (from 21m44s)

This time

• Home Cooking 
• Soul Music (especially the episodes on A Change Is Gonna Come, and Back to Black)

Next time

• This is Love 
• The Anthropocene Reviewed

For a decade, New York been the undisputed podcasting capital of the USA. 

But Los Angeles now has the Big Apple in its sights.

Could the victor determine the future of podcasting? 

Pete and Rachael think so - even if they don’t agree on which one it’s going to be.

————

Listening recommendations:

• Field Recordings
• Last Day from Lemonada Media 
• Soul Music from BBC Radio 4 
• Home Cooking with Samin Nosrat and Hrishikesh Hirway 

Link to submit pitches to Pod People:

podpeople.com/pitch

Email us: hellotapeclub@gmail.com

True crime is one of podcasting’s biggest boom areas, with dozens of hit shows - Serial, My Favourite Muder, Dirty John, etc etc.. - attracting tens of millions of listeners, big advertising $s, and an increasing number of Hollywood studio deals.

But what is it that draws listeners to gory crime procedurals? Why do women particularly gravitate towards the genre? And what might the success of this category tell us about podcasting more generally?

Pete and Rachael dust off their best Sarah Koenig impressions and go to find out. 

Notes: 

True crime pods for the squeamish (like us): 

• WBUR: Last Scene
• Slate: Slow Burn
• Murder We Wrote

Think pieces:

• Rolling Stone: Why True Crime and Podcasts Were Made for Each Other
• BBC: True crime: Five reasons why women love it
• Vulture: true-crime-podcasts-ever.html">The 10 True-Crime Podcasts That Changed Everything

Listening recommendations::

• Athletico Mince
• Dating While Gray
• Field Recordings
• Last Day

Email us:

hellotapeclub@gmail.com 

Pete Naughton in London and Rachael King in L.A. press play on the latest (and seemingly only) topic spreading through the podcast industry: the Coronavirus. From The Daily to CNN, it seems like every major news outlet has the prescription for listeners. Meanwhile, how is it affecting the producers themselves?

Have questions? Need to talk to someone other than your mom/roommate? Email us at hellotapeclub@gmail.com — we’d love to hear from you.

Notes: 

Coronavirus pods: 

• CNN’s Coronavirus: Fact vs Fiction
• NPR’s Coronavirus Daily
• The Economist’s The Intelligence
• BBC’s Global News Podcast 
• The Happiness Lab

Think pieces:

• Vulture: changing-podcast-industry.html">Coronavirus Is Changing Podcasting, Fast
• The Verge: Spotify’s paid subscribers accelerate as podcast listening grows 200 percent

Useful resources:

• Helen Zaltzman’s tips for the newly working-from-home
• Hot Pod’s living Google doc, with advice and useful links

Lighten the mood: 

• Rachael’s pick: WAMU’s Dating While Gray
• Pete’s pick: the British comedy show Athletico Mince
• Last pick: Richard’s Famous Food Podcast 

The number of right-leaning podcasts in the US has exploded over the past four years. Rudy Giuliani, Ted Cruz, and even - as we discover - the President of the United States now have their own shows. But conservative dominance over the airwaves isn’t new. In this episode, we explore how the Right has used radio and cable TV to mobilise activists for years and are now using podcasts as a way to try and reach new voters.

Plus - big audio developments at one of the UK’s biggest newspapers (21:47), the podcast world gets its own Oscars (24:11), a listening boom in Mexico (26:35) and the weirdest show in Rachael’s library (28:05).

------------

Links:

- EncuestaPod report on Spanish-speaking podcast audiences: http://encuestapod.com/EncuestaPod2019_Podcasteros_EN.pdf

- Pete’s favourite Key and Peele sketch: http://bit.ly/338QPn0 

- Find Rachael at www.podpeople.com and Pete at www.petenaughton.net

- Email us at hellotapeclub@gmail.com