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Having worked on radio for many years, statistics make me both giddy and wanna throw up. I always read them with one eye open while listening to something else.

Reason being is that they are always changing. And they are always based on something that has already happened.

Nonetheless, I do enjoy scanning podcast statistics every now and again. Like this infographic from the Infinite Dial Podcast Consumer Report. (March 2023)

I hate to admit it but looking at this makes me realize I am a pretty average US listener. 😉 My household definitely sits in five to seven podcasts a week. In fact, my wife probably consumes closer to 10-12 episodes each week.

How about you?

With that said, here are just a few of the podcasts we have been consuming recently.

Happy listening
— Sean

1. Scamanda - Lionsgate Sound

This show is currently part of my reason for loving Mondays!
This 8 part series ( 6 episodes have been released to date ) chronicles the story of Amanda Riley who blogged about her cancer journey after being diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Journalist Charlie Webster does an incredible job of slowly revealing how Amanda went on to scam her community and solicit more than $100,000 in donations to help pay for treatments she never received. Just wait until you hear how she explains her pregnancy to a friend 🤯

2. A Very British Cult - BBC Sounds

I have one more episode to go on this podcast. It’s titled The Showdown and that spells intrigue for me. In a nutshell, Catrin Nye investigates a life coaching company called ‘Lighthouse’ that takes over your life. There are plenty of great audio recordings from real phone calls which makes the production really compelling. As the story hots up, they fight back, and there's apparently a surreal final showdown. Also, the guy this story is centred around is South African. 😑

3. Hidden Brain - NPR

Hosted by Shankar Vedantam, Hidden Brain explores the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior and questions that lie at the heart of our complex and changing world. In the episode I listened to recently, Psychologist Jer Clifton unpacks how our beliefs shape our reality and how we can use this knowledge to live happier and more harmonious lives.

4. Two Dead Girls In Jubeliene: An Audio Drama - Ethan Wellin

“Two Dead Girls in Jubeliene” is a fiction audio drama podcast. So like a scripted TV-show, for your ears! Myra Abernathy has spent a lifetime running from her past. But when her estranged father dies in a grisly "accident," she comes home to take up his secret obsession: the hunt for her sister's cold case killer.

🎧On My Must-Start-Listening-Soon List

📢 AI Tool To Test

•  Melobytes is an AI music platform providing a plethora of AI-powered creative tools to help you explore the boundaries of art, music, and more. You can create unique and amusing content for yourself and your friends to enjoy. It’ll generate songs for you based on lyrics you enter, or even, images you upload. There’s text to speech features, as well as loads of other tools you can tinker with. Apparently the quality of output can vary quite drastically. Let me know if you have any success with it
  

• Did you see Buzzsprout’s new offering called Cohost AI?
  For an extra $10-$30 per month (depending on how many hours of data you upload each month), Cohost AI transcribes your podcast episode, offers five titles, and an episode description of roughly 230 words. It also breaks your episode into chapters and helps you place chapter markers.

📰 And Two More Things

• The APVA Awards 2023 takes place on 23rd of September, 2023 and nominations are open until 15 June 2023. It is the premier event for recognizing the outstanding work of African podcasters, spoken-word artists, and voice actors. Enter now!
  

• Spotify is running a free masterclass next week (14 June) on “unlocking your podcast potential”. I have signed up. One of the speakers is Maya Prohovnik, VP of Podcast Product at Spotify, as well as Spotify’s Head of Podcast Partner Management, Jordan Newman and Gael Aitor from Teenager Therapy.
  

If you have a podcast service and would like to tell others about it, a podcast recommendation or a venue in mind for a podcast meet up in Cape Town, you know how to find me - [email protected] 

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