Compiled by Tess Connery
Eight seasons of A Life of Greatness with Sarah Grynberg
LiSTNR podcast A Life of Greatness with Sarah Grynberg has made its return, launching an eighth season.
Hosted by Sarah Grynberg, the new season will delve even deeper into the lives of its guests, giving listeners a look at the insights, challenges, and triumphs that have defined their journeys.
Podcast Week’s Tess Connery caught up with Grynberg ahead of the first episode of the season being released.
Before diving into season eight, Grynberg reflects on some of the highlights of the podcast’s seventh season.
“We had great guests, a highlight to remember is definitely Deepak Chopra in his only face-to-face Australian podcast interview while he was in Melbourne. That was wonderful. Another absolutely amazing one was Jada Pinkett-Smith, again, in her only Australian podcast interview. She was phenomenal.
“We always get big names on the podcast, and getting those two huge names was great. We have the creme de la creme in overseas guests coming to A Life Of Greatness as their first point of call.”
The first cab off the rank for season eight of A Life of Greatness is author and speaker James Clear. When asked what it was about his interview that made it right to start the new season, Grynberg said “He doesn’t do many interviews, and he’s just so unbelievably full of wisdom when it comes to habits.”
“People love him, he’s got a huge following because of his number one New York Times bestselling book Atomic Habits, which has been a number one New York Times bestselling book for numerous years.
“Especially as we kick off season eight in February, we spoke about New Year’s resolutions and how to keep them going. He was the perfect person to start A Life Of Greatness season eight.”
With an impressive list of people she’s interviewed – names like Olivia Newton-John, Matthew McConaughey, and Daniel Ricciardo – Grynberg said that there are still people she has left on her wish list of podcast guests.
“I’ve interviewed Amy Shark and Vance Joy, who are obviously Australian musicians, but I would love to interview some of the bigger musicians in America or the UK. People I loved when I was growing up like Bruce Springsteen, Eddie Vedder, Dave Grohl, and people of that ilk. I’d love to have them on the podcast one day because I think they’re just extraordinary, and to do long-form interviews with them would be amazing.”
Speaking about what she hopes listeners take away from A Life of Greatness, Grynberg concludes “The podcast is just jam-packed, and it’s there to help others on their journey.”
“The whole idea is that people are able to live their own life of greatness by listening to the experiences of others and the words of wisdom from a lot of the thought leaders that I have on. These people have been able to be able to change their life so that they can live their greatest life, and in return, they’re touching the people around them. It’s about people being able to be their best versions of themselves, and being able to listen to the podcast to learn the wisdom on how to do that.”
[Listen to A Life of Greatness with Sarah Grynberg here]
LISTNR launches new gangland crime thriller Gripped: Second Son
Gang leader Harun Haqq is murdered, triggering a turf-war on the streets of Sydney.
Bloodshed seems inevitable, but Harun’s younger brother Jamil doesn’t want to take on his new role as ruthless crime boss. Jamil’s father and crew insist he must avenge his brother’s death, but after one too many close calls, Jamil’s wife Amy is adamant that enough is enough – it’s time for them to leave this life of danger and protect their impressionable teenage son, Salim.
The question is, what will Jamil have to do to escape this life for good?
This is the setting for LiSTNR’s new six-part gangland-crime audio fiction series Gripped: Second Son, adapted from the award-winning novel The Second Son by Australian crime writer Loraine Peck. The adaption was written by former gang-member-turned-investigative-journalist, writer and reporter, Mahmood Fazal.
New episodes of Gripped: Second Son drop each Wednesday at 6am until March 13th.
[Listen to Gripped: Second Son here]
Podcast Ranker January 2024: Shameless takes top spot as downloads surge 33% YOY
The first Podcast Ranker data from 2024 has rolled in, with a new name in the top spot.
According to Triton Digital, Australians downloaded 90.3 million podcasts in January, up 33% from January 2023’s 67.8 million, and 11% from 81.2 million downloads in December 2023.
The Shameless podcast produced by Shameless Media was the podcast ranked highest for listeners for the month, with 516,000 listeners, up three places from December 2023. The most downloaded episode was Buckle up, it’s a big one, published on 17 January.
Shameless podcast
Rounding out the top three were ARN’s Casefile True Crime, and ABC’s Conversations.
Hamish & Andy dropped to fifth in January, although no new episodes were released during the month.
Amazon, Teladoc Health and Maccas: iHeart and Magellan AI reveal top brands advertising on Australian podcasts
ARN’s iHeart and Magellan AI have revealed the top 15 brands advertising on Australian podcasts for Q4 2023.
The Top Advertisers report uses artificial intelligence to analyse thousands of episodes from 400+ of Australia’s most popular podcasts, determining the top brands advertising in the medium.
The Q4 2023 list of top spenders on Australian podcast advertising features brands from a broad range of categories, including online retailers, health and food/entertainment.
Amazon was again named as the market’s top advertiser, followed by Teladoc Health, McDonald’s, Airbnb and gambling company Flutter Entertainment, rounding out the top five.
The iHeart and Magellan AI report also found that the majority of podcast genres continue to see an uplift in investment, with a marked increase in Comedy (129%), Sports (94%) and True Crime (70%) categories year-on- year.
The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age partner to launch daily podcast, The Morning Edition
The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age have joined forces to launch The Morning Edition, a daily podcast series that aims to reveal the stories behind the stories making headlines.
Hosted by journalist Samantha Selinger-Morris, the podcast, which will drop every weekday at 5am, will feature the likes of Kate McClymon, Nick McKenzie, and Ross Gittins.
The Morning Edition will have two regular episodes: Peter Hartcher every Thursday to dissect the biggest issues at home and abroad, and on Friday, Jacqueline Maley and David Crowe take listeners behind the biggest stories in Canberra.
[Listen to The Morning Edition here]
Lucy Durack returns with I Love With Lucy season two
Lucy Durack is back with the second series of her podcast, I Love With Lucy, launching March 7th 2024.
Each fortnight a new episode will be uploaded, as Lucy Durack chats to TV host David Campbell; comedians Geraldine Hickey and Rhys Nicholson; musical director John Foreman; Wicked mate Rob Mills, and new Wicked stars Courtney Monsma and Sheridan Adams; TV producers Michael Lucas and Robyn Butler & Wayne Hope; casting director Lisa Campbell; and SBS Head of Scripted, Julie Eckersley.
[Listen to I Love With Lucy here]
