Compiled by Tess Connery and Grace Gollasch
From sports stars to artists: How Mark Howard made the second series of The Howie Games Artist Series
Mark “Howie” Howard, host of Australia’s top ranked sports podcast, The Howie Games, is continuing to expand with the launch of a second series of The Howie Games Artist Series on LiSTNR.
The second series launched in September, and includes names such as TV presenter Grant Denyer, Australian comedian Glenn Robbins, and TV presenter and swimming legend Johanna Griggs.
The Artist Series runs concurrently with The Howie Games, making Howard a particularly busy man.
Podcast Week’s Tess Connery spoke to Howard about The Howie Games, the Artist Series, and what comes next.
As if podcasting wasn’t keeping him on his toes enough, Howard has been trekking around the country as part of the ICC T20 Cricket World Cup.
“The last few weeks have been hectic, because it’s the first time I’ve worked on a Cricket World Cup,” says Howard. “I’m working for the ICC, which is the world feed. In the last six days, I’ve been to Hobart, I’ve been to Sydney, I’ve been back to Hobart, I went to Brisbane, and now I’m in Perth. It’s been a fantastic experience to work on the World Cup and to work with a lot of commentators I haven’t worked with before.”
With the second season of The Howie Games Artist Series now out into the world, Howard says that there are a few things that surprised him when looking back at making the first season.
“When you interview sports people, there’s normally a bit of a structure to it when you’re following their career timeline, but the artists don’t really have that. They’re much more organic, and things just seem to happen. I’ve tried to do just as much research, but be completely open minded to what we’re talking about – because creative people will take you into areas that you didn’t necessarily expect.
“What I really learned from the first series is that I have tremendous admiration for people that do things that I cannot do in any way, shape, or form. To sit there with musicians and writers or comedians, I’m more in awe of them than I am with the athletes, because I’m used to dealing with the athletes, I see them day to day.”
Running the two podcasts at the same time has meant a very full schedule – not that Howard says that he’d change that for the world.
“I had a 36 hour period where I spoke to Robert Craddock, a journalist about how to write articles. I spoke to Mitchell Starc about what it’s like to open the bowling for Australia. The next morning, I was sitting in my office, speaking with Jack Johnson about surfing, music, and playing guitar – three things that I love to do, but I’m no good at! It’s surreal, but it’s bloody fantastic.”
As for what comes next, it’s onward and upwards for The Howie Games and the people that join Howard behind the mic.
“We were lucky enough to have Shaquille O’Neal on the show five weeks ago. If you said to me six years ago, you’re going to get Shaquille O’Neal on the show, I would have just laughed at you, it would have been inconceivable.
“As the world becomes smaller due to technology, and you have more high-profile people on your show, it makes it easier to get other high-profile athletes. There are a few guests in my mind that two years ago I would have thought we’d have no chance of getting, that now I’m starting to ask, how can we potentially get that guest on?”
Making his way around the country with the ICC may just be the beginning for Howard in terms of travel, hinting that he’s hoping to be back on the road again soon.
“I love to travel. I’ve been working with a few ideas about how I can combine a travel component with The Howie Games. I’ve got a couple of ideas, there’s always stuff ticking over as to what is next.”
[Listen to The Howie Games here]
Abbie Chatfield and Hamish Blake comment on Mediaweek Star Power 25
Having placed fourth on the Mediaweek 100 Star Power 25 list last week, Abbie Chatfield has addressed the award on the recent episode of her It’s A Lot podcast.
On her episode titled, Yes. Dom and I Have A LOT In Common, Chatfield commented on the recent back-and-forth between herself and former MAFS contestants after she publicly sided with Domenica Calarco.
In response to not addressing the situation sooner, Chatfield pointed to her recent win and busy schedule for her delayed response.
“I was busy last week winning an award for the fourth most influential person in the Australian media,” Chatfield said, referring to her Star Power 25 award.
Additionally, Hamish Blake jointly took out the #2 spot with co-host Andy Lee on the Star Power 25 list.
On the win, Blake said, “The only thing Andy and I do together is our podcast, so it’s a great tip of the hat for podcasting. As much as I love commercial radio – and it’s been very good to me over the years – it’s fun to be up there with Ando for podcasting.”
The Star Power 25 counts down the top 25 most powerful talent on screen and on air, considering factors such as the average number of listeners/viewers, influence to shape the future, and commercial value.
See also: Kyle and Jackie O comment on Mediaweek Star Power 25 win
TikTok star Ash Magic releases debut podcast with iHeart
One of Australia’s top TikTok creators Ash Hodgkinson – AKA Ash Magic – has launched a new iHeart Podcast called What’s Poppin!
The social media star and Heartbreak High actor, who has 9.7 million TikTok followers, has teamed up with fellow TikToker Heli Jones for a fun and frenetic show all about the biggest trends, fads and news on social media.
The podcast is a partnership between ARN’s iHeart and youth media platform CADA.
Speaking about the launch, Ash Magic said, “I’m thrilled to be working with ARN’s iHeart and CADA on my first ever podcast! I love the process of creating, whether it’s working on a video for TikTok or a new magic trick for TV. I’m so excited to extend that love into the world of podcasting and to share ‘What’s Poppin!’ with my followers!”
Co-host Heli Jones added, “Keen as a bean to be collabing with ARN on my first podcast!! I love creating exciting content to brighten people’s days and can’t wait to share this podcast with the world!’
[Listen to What’s Poppin here]
Audible shares top terrifying listens for Halloween
Ahead of Halloween, Audible has shared its top ‘spooky’ audiobook and podcast recommendations.
New research commissioned by Audible shows “43% of Australians’ favourite audiobook genre is mysteries and thrillers” and that “39% of Australians’ favourite podcast genre is true crime.”
The spooky Audible Originals include:
• Impact Winter by Travis Beacham – From executive producers of The Walking Dead and Travis Beacham, the writer of Pacific Rim, comes a heart-stopping Audible Original featuring a British cast.
• Birds of Prey – It all started with a simple, yet sneakily difficult challenge from global best-selling author Harlan Coben: Pick a bird of prey, then use it as the inspiration for a brand-new story.
• The Method by James Patterson and Michael B. Silver – James Patterson leads audiences into the darkest recesses of the mind with this chilling, immersive audio thriller.
• The Orchard – At the edge of an old orchard, on the grounds of an exclusive private girls’ school, a teenage boy is found dead. Was it murder, suicide, or something else?
• Bloodguilt by Dan Box and Kate Wild – Days after Richard Dorrough violently takes his own life at a public gun range in Perth, Western Australia, his fiancée receives a parcel from him in the post – a book filled with the former sailor’s handwriting.
• John Safran vs The Occult – John Safran has fallen in with the wrong crowd, again. He has spent months among sorcerers, satanists, and exorcists and he’s spilling the beans in a new podcast.
Bachelor winner Holly Kingston opens up about “living out of a suitcase” on Nova’s Separate Bathrooms
2021 The Bachelor winner Holly Kingston recently went on Cameron and Alison Daddo’s Nova podcast Separate Bathrooms, revealing a story about her teenage years.
Kingston shared the details of her parent’s separation as a teenager, resulting in her “living a very privileged life to living out of a suitcase for two years.”
During this time, she attended private school during the day and then cleaned houses with her mother at night whilst couch surfing.
“I wasn’t actually going back to a home, I was going to clean houses with my mom. And I was going back to whatever house we could find that night, whether it was on a, you know, house sitting website, or whatever, we lived out of our suitcases for two years,” Kingston said.
“And not a single one of my schoolmates or anyone really knew about it, you know, and then straight after that, it was, it’s taken a really long time to maintain or regain any kind of financial,” she added.
2021 Bachelor Jimmy Nicholson also joined Kingston on the podcast as he discussed the aftermath of The Bachelor and proposing to Kingston in Italy.
[Listen to Separate Bathrooms here]
LiSTNR reaches the 1 million signed in user milestone, 18 months after launch
LiSTNR reached one million signed up known users after launching just 18 months ago, growing by 230% year on year.
LiSTNR hosts more than 500 curated and co-created podcasts comprising LiSTNR’s own 124 original Australian podcasts, together with global podcast creators Stitcher and Wondery, the BBC, NPR and locally with Schwartz Media, The Royal Institution of Australia, the AFL, NRL and Network 10.
LiSTNR’s original podcasts include Australia’s No. 1 podcast Hamish & Andy, No. 1 sports podcast The Howie Games and No. 1 news podcast 7am in partnership with Schwartz Media, and its partner podcast suite includes popular international podcasts such as Dr Death, The Shrink Next Door, SmartLess, Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend, Crime Junkie and How Did This Get Made.
LiSTNR houses SCA’s 99 Hit and Triple M network radio stations, live broadcasts of the AFL, NRL and Cricket along with 25 exclusive music stations.
LiSTNR is available across devices including iOS and Android, CarPlay and Android Auto, Web, Google Assistant and Alexa, Apple TV and Android TV.
NOVA Entertainment and Fear & Greed launch new podcast How Do They Afford That?
NOVA Entertainment and Fear & Greed have launched the new podcast How Do They Afford That? to provide simple hacks, habits and ideas to make your money work harder.
Each week hosts Canna Campbell and Michael Thompson peek into the financial lives of everyday Australians with episodes tackling common problems and sharing advice on issues that affect everyone.
Nathan McCahon, Nova Entertainment’s head of digital audio strategy and partner management, said: “Fear & Greed continues to be Australia’s most popular and commercially in-demand business podcasts. Working in close collaboration with the Fear & Greed team allows us to identify new opportunities that meet at the intersection of audience appetite and commercial demand…”
How Do They Afford That? episodes include making your credit card work for you, money management when you’re a spender and your partner is a saver, investing for your kid’s future, the only budget you’ll ever need and turning superannuation into a fun topic to name a few.
This is a podcast for anyone interested in managing their money better, creating more wealth with what they have and getting busy living rather than worrying about their money.
[Listen to How Do They Afford That? here]
