Compiled by Tess Connery
Behind every tackle and try: Aaron Woods on LiSTNR’s Footy Talk
In February, LiSTNR introduced Footy Talk to its slate. The original podcast is a daily source for all things rugby league.
The Footy Talk team of former and current players, together with the code’s leading journalists, provides unique insights and perspectives on all the games, players, and teams.
Podcast Week’s Tess Connery spoke to Manly Warringah Sea Eagles player Aaron Woods about bringing listeners behind every tackle and try.
Aaron Woods
“I’ve been doing a bit of work with Triple M over the last two or three years, I popped up on the shows and last year did a bit of commentary. Then the opportunity came up with myself and Wade [Graham],” Woods says, reflecting on how he became involved with the podcast.
“One of the producers, Charlie White asked me ‘what do you think about doing this?’ I said, ‘man, I’m all for it’. I love telling yarns, love to have an opinion on rugby league, and it’s really good that I get to do it with two good mates, Anthony Maroon and Wade Graham.”
It’s not just Maroon and Graham that Woods works with on Footy Talk, with a team of former and current players, together with NRL journos behind the mic.
“We’ve got Gorden Tallis, Ben Dobbin, they’re Queensland royalty. Throw in Greg Inglis, Connor Watson, James Graham. It’s a really good mix.
“They got Greg Inglis, and it’s good to get his perspective, because when he played he didn’t really talk too much. They were pretty protected down in Melbourne, and then at South Sydney, he was one of the quieter of the big dogs. Getting to hear the story in own words is enormous for Footy Talk.”
Despite all coming from the world of NRL, Woods says that the hosts all have very different points of view – but the beauty of the podcast is that it allows them to fully express those views.
“We’ve always got a different opinion, we all think differently. It’s very, very rare that we all agree on something, so it’s good because we get to argue.
“One thing I’ve learned over time is that you’ve got to have an opinion, and whether people like it or not, I’m just giving you my view. You’re going to get a little bit of a backlash, but that’s just part of the industry we’re in.
“When we do media at our clubs, they only take snippets, whereas on the podcast we get to say our full peace of what we want to say. People can hear the whole story, not just take a little tiny snippet of it.”
Ultimately, Woods says that Footy Talk brings listeners behind not only the games themselves, but gives listeners an insight into what it’s like to be a professional player.
“I’m a footy tragic, I watch every game, I listen to that many podcasts, I can’t get enough.
“Our podcast is pretty cool, because we get to talk about things we’ve done on tour, and give people a bit of an insight on more than the 80 minutes that we play every weekend.”
Show and tell: Christian O’Connell on season two of Stuff of Legends
What is your most treasured item? Christian O’Connell is back as the host of the podcast, Stuff of Legends, bringing audiences more revealing conversations with celebrities from around the world.
Season one of Stuff of Legends was awarded ‘Best Entertainment Podcast’ at the Australian Podcast Awards in 2021. In season two, O’Connell asks people like Jameela Jamil, Eric Bana and Richard E Grant, to share the stories behind three treasured objects from their lives.
Podcast Week’s Tess Connery spoke to O’Connell about bringing the second season of the podcast to life.
You’ve got a whole season of Stuff of Legends under your belt now, how did you find season one?
O’Connell: “Celebrities are so used to being in interview mode these days, it’s very hard to get a deeper, more interesting conversation – they’re very wary of saying anything that could get them cancelled or trending.
“There are about 2 billion podcasts these days, I wanted to do something which was different. One thing I know is that when you ask someone about the most treasured items in their life, it’s not about the financial worth – what they do is start telling a story.
“It really surprised just how many celebrities at the end of it would say ‘that really surprised me, I really enjoyed it’. In 25 years of interviewing celebrities, they don’t ever say that because when they’re doing the rounds, it’s hard work. I’m one of about 20 people that might be interviewing them that day, and asking roughly the same questions. So when I know that the guest has actually enjoyed it, and it surprised them, that’s what’s exciting for me.”
In season one you spoke to people like Matthew McConaughey, Adam Hills, Celeste Barber, Wil Anderson and Ricky Gervais. Season two has a lineup including Jameela Jamil, Eric Bana and Richard E Grant. What are you looking for when you’re searching for guests?
O’Connell: “People that are good talkers – between you and I, not every celebrity is! Some are better for having a slightly deeper conversation than others.
“On this season, you’ve got people like Eric Bana and Amanda Keller – Amanda’s one of the best storytellers, and I think funniest people in Australian broadcasting. I always love chatting to her. Her episode actually brought me to tears, she was talking about an object to do with her son leaving home for university. When we recorded it late last year, my daughter was just finishing year 12. My daughter left in January this year to go to university, and it actually made me cry because I knew what was coming up in my life.
“That’s the surprising power of conversation with a friend, isn’t it? When you chat to your friends and you get into a surprising area, sometimes it’s quite revealing. You think ‘I didn’t know that about them’, and you feel like you know them a bit more.”
Will there be any changes or updates to the format in season two?
O’Connell: “Some of the best ideas and formats are simple. What happens in this industry is that people will go ‘it’s too simple, we need to overcomplicate it, this needs to happen and that needs to happen’ – but actually with this, the joy of it is the simplicity. I didn’t need to change anything, because it works every single time.
“This season Andy Lee was on, and he said ‘my sister jokes that I’m not very emotional, she calls me the tin man’. He said, ‘I don’t think I’m a very emotional person,’ but over the course of the conversation, I think he surprised himself. He’s incredibly emotional, and afterwards, he said ‘that really surprised me, thank you’. So I wanted to keep what was working.”
What do you hope listeners get from the second season of Stuff of Legends?
O’Connell: “I hope that they start to think about the objects in their life a bit differently – even go and maybe rummage around their house and think, ‘I’m going to look after that thing’.
“Hanging on to some mementos or things from your life actually means something, and maybe people will give them a bit of prominence at home to remind them of a time and place. I hope they start to think about their own life, and these tiny little objects that have actually a much bigger meaning in the ongoing story of our lives.”
[Listen to Stuff of Legends here]
LiSTNR and DM Podcasts announce first collaboration following strategic partnership
Following the announcement that LiSTNR has forged a strategic partnership with DM Podcasts, LiSTNR has announced that the first title to result from this collaboration is the popular Sit With Us podcast.
Hosted by Married at First Sight alumni Domenica Calarco and Ella May Ding, the podcast, which is available on LiSTNR from the 24th of May, is an invitation to listeners to sit and chat all things relationships, reality TV, pop culture and everything in between. With Dom fresh out of the jungle following her latest appearance on I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here, Ella and Dom are ready with a new season of Sit With Us to inspire and empower their audience, as well as taking a no holds barred approach to breaking down the latest news and pop culture.
DM Podcasts is an independent podcast company founded by the team behind The Betoota Advocate and creates and curates podcasts across the comedy, society and culture, and sports genres. Other DM titles on LiSTNR include Just For Girls, Ain’t That Swell, When We Grow Up, and Where’s Your Head At?. As part of the strategic podcast partnership, DM podcasts, including Sit With Us, will be hosted and distributed by LiSTNR.
New podcast marks sobriety milestone for Danny Lakey
Breakfast radio personality Danny Lakey, who once relied on a trusty Dictaphone to capture the aftermath of his drinking binges, is now celebrating a significant milestone: 8 years of sobriety. To keep his resolve, Lakey has channelled his experience into a powerful new podcast, Less Drinking, More Thinking.
Launching with six episodes and targeting the 400,000 Australian’s who wish to try sobriety, Lakey shares his journey to sobriety along with guests, including: DJ Tom Lowndes (Hot Dub Time Machine), Sam Newman, Amanda Goff (aka Samantha X); comedian Cam Knight, TV personality Mike Goldman and Alcohol Mindset Coach Kathryn Elliott.
Danny Lakey
Lakey said producing the podcast was a cathartic and revelatory experience.
“I started to feel my commitment to sobriety was waning slightly, so I wanted to look back and remember why I made this change in the first place; experience all those feelings and vulnerability again,” he said. “I realised how much loneliness and a fragile male ego was tied to my drinking. I used it as a social lubricant to be able to talk to women and get female gratification. I always believed a ‘few’ drinks made me a funnier, better Danny. It just got to a stage where I would drink until I had no self-consciousness at all!”
Lakey said at the height of his drinking he was arrested for being naked in Cavill Avenue, but it wasn’t until he was in court that he had any idea what he’d done to deserve to be charged.
“There are so many moments like this that should have been the wake-up call to stop but I went another 5 years before I quit.”
Lakey said he hoped the podcast would help people realise their truth and negative relationship with drinking sooner.
“Every time I am out people confide in me that they would like to be sober, so I thought making a podcast might help people and prevent me having to cop all the bad beer breath!
“You don’t have to wait until you hit rock bottom. You know in your heart of hearts if you have a problem. I consciously tried three times to get sober before it stuck, but I just knew I had more potential than the life I was living.”
[Listen to Less Drinking, More Thinking here]
John Farnham celebrated in podcast featuring Olivia Newton-John, Daryl Braithwaite, Jimmy Barnes, Richard Marx
On LiSTNR’s Behind the Hits podcast, the latest episode features the story of John Farnham.
The episode tells the tale of Farnham’s beginnings, personal and professional highs and lows, told in his own words and those close to him.
With audio found in LiSTNR archives, never been heard before and new interviews feature industry names and friends of Farnham including, Olivia Newton-John, Kate Ceberano, Daryl Braithwaite, Jimmy Barnes, Richard Marx, The Veronicas, Triple M radio legend, Lee Simon, wife of Farnham’s former manager and friend Glenn Wheatley, Gaynor Wheatley and Director of the newly released documentary, Finding the Voice, Poppy Stockell.
[Listen to Behind the Hits – John Farnham here]
Nine Podcasts launches Hannah’s Story
Nine Podcasts has launched a new podcast, Hannah’s Story, during Domestic and Family Violence Prevention Month
It was a day that shocked Australia. The day Hannah Clarke and her three young children, Aaliyah, Laianah and Trey, were tragically killed by their father and Hannah’s estranged husband, dousing them in petrol and setting them on fire in a quiet suburban street.
The incomprehensible act of domestic violence sparked a wave of outrage, shock, and grief across Australia, but most importantly, started a national conversation about a form of domestic violence few had even heard of – coercive control.
Hannah’s parents Lloyd and Sue with Melissa Downes
Melissa Downes, 9News Queensland presenter, was one of the reporters covering the story of Hannah and her children that day. Standing on the street in the Brisbane suburb of Camp Hill, Melissa was left at a complete loss as to how something like this could have happened, and how to explain it to the rest of Australia.
It is a story that has stayed with her ever since.
Downes said: “As heartbreaking and confronting as this story is, it needs to be told so we can learn and better understand coercive control.”
Downes with Hannah’s parents Sue and Lloyd
Now, three years on, Downes and Nine producer, Jess Lodge, are launching their labour of love to Hannah and her children – a six-part podcast series called Hannah’s Story.
Across each episode, listeners are shared details from the weeks and months, even years, leading up to the crime that the public hasn’t been told. Melissa also sits down with Hannah’s family, friends, first responders, witnesses, domestic violence experts and political leaders – some speaking for the very first time – to reveal the whole story.
The first two episodes launched on Monday 22 May, with episodes dropping each week.
[Listen to Hannah’s Story here]
The Growth D_Stillery Vodcast: Embracing the power of good
Earlier this year, News Corp Australia announced the launch of The Growth D_Stillery, a dedicated research and intelligence service offering consumer insights to help marketers navigate brand challenges, anticipate consumer trends and understand where best to invest.
As a part of its release into market, the platform has launched a series of vodcasts hosted by News Corp Australia’s director, Growth Intelligence Centre Dan Krigstein, with guests from all corners of the marketing world.
This week’s guest is Andrew Therkelsen, The Lab’s managing director, Sydney.
Andrew Therkelsen
“We’ve been partnering with News Corp for three or four years now, and we have worked on a range of different series, engagements, and thought leadership pieces with them – from our emotional connection series, all the way through to forces of good,” Therkelsen told Mediaweek.
“Dan invited us to come and be part of this particular episode with the Force of Good program, because it’s a topic that’s really close to his heart. He’s really passionate about what brands can be doing in this space, and what more we can we can all be doing to make a better Australia. It’s something that we’re passionate about, too.”
The episode focuses on the power of using business as a force for good. When asked what this looks like in practical terms, Therkelsen says that while there are a lot of components to goodness, it comes down to taking on board the values that consumers want from brands.
“Many businesses these days are focusing on improvement and betterment, and there are many different aspects of that – from processes, to the way that we treat our people, to just needing to survive in today’s economic climate. Practically, there are many different applications of getting better, and doing and being good.”
ARN uses geo-location to deliver headlines on Your News Now podcast
ARN’s iHeartPodcast Network Australia has announced a technically advanced news podcast, Your News Now, an under 3-minute burst of news, sport and weather, delivered via a geo-location aware feed that adapts the content based on the listener’s location.
Continuously updating elements of the bulletin, Your News Now is the podcast to hit play on to get up-to-date news in your area presented by journalists from across ARN’s national network.
Fiona Ellis-Jones, ARN’s head of news and information, said: “Your News Now is a technological first and we are proud to be delivering up-to-date geo-targeted news with world-class journalists to audiences.”
Stephanie Coombes, ARN’s iHeart Podcast Network content director said: “We are thrilled to be releasing a news podcast that uses exciting technology in an innovative and original manner that will ensure audiences are always kept across the news as it happens and can listen when and where it suits them.”
[Listen to Your News Now here]
