Time flies! We’re almost through Q1 of ‘24, and I’ve been so busy listening to stuff that I haven’t yet found the time to tell you about all the stuff I’ve been listening to. That ends now! Here’s some new or new-to-me podcasts I’ve heard recently, and my thoughts about them:
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2024 Year in Review
2023 is in the books. What a year! It felt like a lifetime yet it was over in the blink of an eye.
Read MoreTiny Huge Decisions
Would you carry a baby for your best friend?
That's the main hook for Tiny Huge Decisions, a new podcast series I produced that has just released its last episode.
Read MoreThings I've Listened To Lately: Part 2
I last paused to take stock of my listening in Q1 2023. Now we’re well into Q3, and you’d be forgiven for thinking I’d given up on listening to podcasts. Well, you’d be wrong! Here’s a belated update of what I’ve thought about what I’ve heard over the last few months – new and new-to-me releases alike.
Read MoreWhen Science Finds A Way
One of my big projects for 2023 has been putting together When Science Finds A Way — a podcast from the Wellcome Trust that tells real stories from the cutting-edge of health research.
Read MoreSocial Audio Is Dead, Long Live Social Audio
If you’ve heard the term “social audio” being thrown around, you’re probably inside the media business bubble. That means you’re probably also aware that “social audio” just isn’t hot anymore.
Read MoreThings I've Listened To Lately: Part 1
If a tree falls in the forest but nobody hears it, does it make a sound? Great question. Another is, if I listen to a new podcast series, have some thoughts about it, but don’t write them up into a blog post, what am I even doing here?
Welcome to Things I’ve Listened To Lately, potentially the first of an irregular series. It’s nothing more or less than some thoughts about new (or new to me) podcasts I’ve listened to lately. Recommendations, reflections, rants — anything could happen.
In this edition you’ll read about post-Medieval Europe, coercive interrogations, the importance of scripting, one true crime show that sticks the landing, and one that doesn’t.
Read MoreWhat's with the Podcast Doomerism?
Congratulations! You made it. We’re already one month into podcasting’s doom and gloom era – 2023.
Read More2022: What I heard
I know we’re well into 2023 now and you’ve probably read enough retrospective lists. But some of us (me) were on holidays through December and haven’t had a chance to pull our lists together until now. Better late than never!
For posterity’s sake, here’s some podcasts I listened to for the first time, or that put out a new limited series, in 2022. And, of course, some thoughts I had about them.
Read More2022: What I Did
2022 is in the rearview, and it was a busy one. So busy, in fact, that I haven’t really updated this blog with what exactly I’ve been working on. Better late than never, here’s a quick recap of some professional highlights of the year that was.
Read MoreMy New Normal
Long time between updates! Since we last spoke I
moved permanently to London
got a visa
got married
went on a honeymoon to Scotland
had both shots of a covid-19 vaccine
visited Devon, Cambridge and Whitstable
got a full-time job
So there’s been a bit going on.
Read More2020 In Review
Hell of a year, that 2020. Maybe one day we’ll look back and laugh — and while it’s not that day yet, I think with the calendar finally turned to 2021 it’s probably safe to write about some achievements from the latter half of the year.
Read MorePodcast birth announcements
In the last few weeks, not one but two of my beautiful podcast babies have been born into the world! 🎉🙌🍾
First up - Thinking Out Loud with Konnie and Liz.
I record, produce, edit and record this show for PodcastWorks, in collaboration with Acast and presenter, author and legend Konnie Huq.
“Thinking Out Loud is the podcast where there are no stupid questions. Every episode, Konnie Huq and her best mate Liz Owens pick a big topic, and share what they know (or what they think they know). Then, they invite a bona fide expert into the studio, to correct mistakes, answer questions, and teach us all some interesting facts. Think of it like a cross between your favourite class at school and a really interesting chat down the pub!”
Next up - Leading Edge.
I recorded, produced and edited the first season of this branded podcast for Henley Business School, in collaboration with their agency, their brilliant academics, and BBC journalist Thomas Mason.
“Leading Edge is a series of podcasts that gets inside the heads of great leaders. Thomas Mason, business journalist is joined by some of Henley Business School’s leading academics to explore and challenge their approaches and perceptions of what successful leadership should and could look like.”
You can listen above via the Omny Player…
Or click here if you’re on your phone, to be taken to your native podcast app…
Or go here for every possible link to the show.
What a treat to work on such varied, interesting productions with smart, excited people. And there’s no better way to learn about podcasting than makin’ ‘em and puttin’ ‘em out there.
Life After Cardiac Arrest
Something I’m a bit proud of - over the last six months or so, I have been doing some pro bono work for Sudden Cardiac Arrest UK - editing their Life After Cardiac Arrest podcast.
Sudden Cardiac Arrest UK is a community that supports, educates, and advocates for survivors of cardiac arrest. Starting as a simple Facebook group for survivors to share their stories and get support, it has grown into an organisation that runs events, provides invaluable resources and information, and even holds a Guinness World Record for largest meetup!
The Life After Cardiac Arrest podcast is produced and hosted by Paul Swindell, one of the leaders of SCA UK. It features interviews with survivors and health professionals sharing their stories and their expertise on cardiac arrest. Being for a community support organisation, the podcast is totally produced by volunteers and run on virtually no budget, so I’ve had to clean up some occasionally dodgy audio as well as well as the verbal stumbling of some of the guests. That said, this is a show by and for cardiac arrest survivors - it’s just a matter of getting out the way and letting them tell their stories.
Editing the show has not just kept my Audition skills sharp, but also taught me about cardiac arrest and the issues that arise from these life-changing events - from the importance of first aid training and public defibrillators, to the struggle with the trauma that affects not just survivors but their friends and family too.
You can subscribe to the show here, or have a listen below.
Award-winning
I recently got the chance to add a few lines to my LinkedIn after winning big at the 2019 Chip Shop Awards.
The Chip Shop Awards is a no-holds-barred creativity contest. Entries don’t have to run, or even be plausible. Just get the idea, make the thing and enter.
The team at Maple Street Creative did just that and managed to pick up the Chip (ie: gold) in the Best Use of Bad Taste Category, for Backed The Wrong Side?: a speculative ad for Paddy Power making bold use of the Shemima Begum controversy. Have a listen below.
It was a great team effort, and a big achievement flying the audio flag in a competition dominated by graphic design. There were some full hearts and fuzzy heads in the studio the next day.
The Poster Boy For Great Production
Just a quick update to point out that I’m now a cover star on the revamped Maple Street Voices website - a resource for sourcing, booking and recording voice talent for all your audio needs.
Studio sessions come with free, incredibly handsome audio engineers
Look at me, knowing what I’m doing with all those knobs and faders!
As a bonus, here’s my profile on the Maple Street Creative page. If you ever need audio production help in London, you could do a lot worse.
Besides starring in the shoot, I also wrote the blurb
The Good, The Bad And The Photos
I spent the end of 2018 in California, road tripping between San Francisco, Palm Springs, Yucca Valley, Joshua Tree, Los Angeles and Arroyo Grande.
We had Christmas in the desert, burritos in the Mission, selfies on the beach and Dr. Dre on the car radio.
The sunshine was gorgeous and reliable - they should shoot movies over there.
Paris, je t'aime
I visited Paris for the first time this past weekend. In between baguettes, croissants and steak avec frites, I tried a bit of amateur street photography, the City of Light living up to its name with gorgeous sunshine.
The story behind Julie's story
Watching Julie's Story, it's a nice little video profile. But behind the scenes, this job was actually one of my trickiest production challenges.
That's because it wasn't my job at all, until 11pm on Sunday night before the shoot the next day. That's when my co-producer, who'd been been handling the project, texted to let me know he was in hospital and wouldn't be able to make it.
He'd been trying to organise the shoot for weeks. The talent was a real person, and worked as a nurse so was hard to pin down. The client also wanted to be there, and their availability had been locked in too. Crew and gear had been booked in for the shoot as well. So, we wanted to avoid the headache of rescheduling.
That said, the director/producer was in a hospital bed. Did I mention the shoot was interstate - an hour's flight, followed by a ninety minute drive? And I had about ten hours before call time?
I booked flights and a car, and spent Sunday night poring over the brief, as I'd need to be interviewing Julie for an hour the next day and I didn't know anything about her.
I got the first flight to Sydney, landed, met the clients, reassured them that I was on top of everything, and headed to the shoot. There, I met the family of four, directed a small two-person crew, and interviewed Julie for an hour, while monitoring sound and with the client looking over my shoulder.
I left just in time to make it back for the evening flight back to Melbourne - a bit stressed and tired, but also relieved.
And the best part is, watching the video, you'd have no idea.
HOOD TO COAST
Earlier this year I helped my friend Ayub made a video for a Nike employee contest.
We had no time or budget, so I used my personal Olympus OM-D on a dodgy old borrowed tripod, and relied on the golden hour lighting at a nice spot by the banks of the Maribyrnong river.
A little rough around the edges, but with a bit of colour correction it scrubbed up okay, and definitely blew away the other iPhone selfie camera entries.
