Podcast Week: The Younger Man, Clementine Ford, Readly + more

Compiled by Trent Thomas and Tess Connery

LiSTNR’s Jenn Goggin on launch of Audio Fiction pillar

LiSTNR has launched the first podcast series in its new audio fiction pillar based on Zöe Foster Blake’s book The Younger Man.

The Younger Man audio rom-com podcast series utilised LiSTNR’s audio-first production skills, and a cast of Australian actors, in order to adapt Foster Blake’s original story into a new type of audio entertainment for the Australian market. 

Developed in partnership with LiSTNR and film and TV executive Bob Campbell and Bryden Media, Foster Blake’s best-selling book The Younger Man is the first of four of LiSTNR’s audio fiction series.

Podcast Week‘s Trent Thomas caught up with LiSTNR’s head of content – Original Podcasts, Jen Goggin about what the launch of Younger Man means for LiSTNR and the future of the audio fiction pillar.

“Audio entertainment is progressing really quickly, what we’re seeing is more and more digital audio products,” said Goggin. “We’re always looking to do the most engaging audio storytelling. Audio fiction is intensely immersive. Ever since War of the Worlds came out, audio fiction has become a new opportunity to engage in storytelling in a different way. What was interesting during Covid, with the growth of audio consumption, people were looking to be entertained more by audio and to escape more within audio. This felt like the right next step is to give the Australian public a more immersive audio storytelling experience away from screens.”

The new podcast series stars Ella Scott Lynch (Amazing Grace, Informer 3838) who voices the protagonist Abby, alongside Penny McNamee (Home & Away), Steve Bastoni (Fires, Australian Gangster),  Andrea Dimitriades (Clickbait, The Unusual Suspects) and Nicholas Burton (Pieces of Her). Goggin described it as a huge effort bringing all these resources together.

“The audio production skill set and the story skill set you need to create fiction that lives within an audio first focus is a very different skill than putting together talk shows or putting together a TV drama. What we did was built a team with a diverse skill set, but the focus has always been audio first production.”

Goggin said that the team at LiSTNR’s disposal and how they approached the project is what separates this series from an audiobook.

“What we really look to do is to take a story from a book such as Zoe Foster Blake’s The Younger Man and say, if we adapted this for an audio first approach, what would that sound like? And that involved writers’ rooms, drafts and drafts of scripts, casting for voices, casting for performance, and also original composition. It was a really diverse team we had to build, because what we wanted to do is make sure that the fiction we were creating did not rely on any visuals, and for every bit of action and sound that came through it lived within the world of sound instead of you missing the visuals.”

When asked about what appealed to LiSTNR as the first project for their Audio Fiction pillar, Goggin said that she feels like rom-coms are an underrated genre.

“The rom-com genre is a really interesting one to master. Like a lot of female literature, sometimes it doesn’t get the reputation for creativity that it deserves. Sometimes people don’t understand how valuable content is that just makes you feel good for a small period of time. We thought with everything going on with a lot of doom and gloom in the world, let’s release something that’s just fun, is engaging, and speaks to a very important audience to us, which is women in their 30s, who love podcasting.”

When asked about the growth potential for this pillar, Goggin had high hopes, which she felt were justified by the amount of investment going into the category.

“There is huge growth potential in audio fiction. We’re gonna see it grow globally and we’ve already seen people starting to invest overseas. We invested quite a while ago in our internal production skills and making sure that we were ready for a trend that we think is gonna grow. So we’ll definitely be continuing to put more out, we have another three that are going into production already. It’s gonna be a really dynamic part of the industry in terms of production and production roles.”

[Listen to The Younger Man here]

Clementine Ford explains signing to Nova

Whether you’ve got a question about sex, relationships, a work dilemma or anything in between, Clementine Ford is here to help with her new Nova Podcast Dear Clementine launching on Thursday 23 June.

Podcast Week’s Tess Connery spoke to Ford ahead of the release of the first episode.

Dear Clementine is not the first time Ford has dipped into podcasting, having previously run Big Sister Hotline throughout Covid lockdowns.

“I have been wanting to do more podcasting,” says Ford. “With Big Sister Hotline, I was producing and editing and basically doing everything – I ended up working with Acast on that, and they were great, but the work came down to me. I’m really good on the microphone, and really bad with admin!

“After that came to its conclusion, I was thinking about how could I make this happen again, and I reached out to Yvie Jones who does a podcast with Nova Podcasts. I also spoke with Em Rusciano. One of them passed on Rachel Corbett‘s email address.”

Once in touch with Nova and Corbett, Ford says it was all hands on deck

“We set up a Zoom meeting, and I gave her my idea. She was like, ‘well, we’ve got something similar to that’ – I said, ‘lucky you, I’ve got lots of ideas!’

“We spoke again a couple of weeks later, and they pitched Dear Clementine to me – it was similar to the Friday Night Bites that I was doing during lockdown on Instagram stories, but really capitalised on the reputation that I’ve managed to build about being someone that women – mostly women – come to and ask for advice.”

With Big Sister Hotline having wrapped up at the end of last year, Ford says that there are some common threads between the two projects.

“I’m the same person, so it’s compassionate, it’s thoughtful, it’s funny. I also feel like it’s it’s not the kind of advice that people are hearing everywhere – definitely not necessarily in mainstream media.

“I have a working vocabulary around patriarchy and misogyny, and I feel like I can bring those insights in the way that maybe some other people aren’t as good at articulating.”

There will be one big difference to Dear Clementine, however.

“It will be quicker, it’s snappier. The Big Sister Hotline episodes invited other people to answer questions with me while having a longer discussion about themselves. These particular episodes are more in format with the Friday Night Bites, which ran for about the same time and dealt with snappier questions.

“My eventual hope with it is that we can do some special episodes where we bring some of that format back – maybe in terms of a special one off ‘in conversation’ with other incredible people who I feel like listeners would benefit from hearing from.”

Ultimately, Ford hopes that she can bring a podcast to the table that not only offers up no-nonsense advice, but leaves listeners feeling like they’ve learned something.

“My constant reference point with writing and storytelling is that you need to tell people something they don’t know about something they thought they did. So I hope that in listening to this, people – even if it’s not a problem that’s specific to their life right now – will be able to recognise times in which it has been relevant to them, and think about those things in a different way.

“Also, I hope that what they’ll ultimately be getting out of it is something very warm, something where they feel like there’s someone out there who will listen to them without judgement, and will offer advice with compassion – but also with no mincing around.”

No matter who you are, Ford says Dear Clemintine will have something for you.

“This is a podcast that is for everybody. You may think that it’s not for you, but trust me, it is. Everyone struggles with the same concerns of life, everyone has the same experiences of heartbreak, and everyone ultimately desires to be heard.”

[Listen to Dear Clementine here]

Magazine and newspaper app goes into podcasting

Digital magazine and newspaper app Readly has launched a podcast section on its platform. The first phase is in collaboration with three British publishers and covers areas such as food, politics, celebrity and crime via the associated publication page on Readly.

Readly’s pod player allows a publisher who has a podcast connected to their respective title to reach new listeners via Readly’s app.

The rollout will eventually include podcasts from additional countries and interest areas. There is also a focus on gathering user insights that will form the basis for further development of the service. In addition to qualitative customer surveys, Readly will collect data on listening time, number of episodes played, number of users listening, how it affects magazine reading and also how it affects retention and conversion.

Podcasts available on Readly from Future Publishing Limited, Immediate Media and Guardian News & Media:

Ben Lee and Ione Skye partner with Acast on new podcast network

Australian musician and producer Ben Lee and actress, painter, and director Ione Skye have partnered with Acast to launch The Weirder Together Podcast Network. The new podcast network aims to amplify unique, left-of-centre personalities.

Names with projects in development at the network include Alexi Wasser, Max Quinn and Safy-Hallan Farah. Ben and Ione recently launched their own weekly podcast with Acast, Weirder Together, which shares the same name as the network.

The show explores the husband and wife duo’s lives as artists.The duo will launch their network with a free party at Sydney’s Cafe Freda’s on June 29 featuring DJ sets from Ben and Ione along with DJ sets by Georgia Maq of Camp Cope and Japanese Wallpaper.

Acast will make all podcasts on the Weirder Together Podcast Network accessible to listeners on all podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, Samsung Free, and more.

LiSTNR launches Beyond the Medicine Cabinet podcast

LiSTNR has announced the launch of a new podcast, Beyond the Medicine Cabinet, in partnership with Dr’s On Call and Kooyong, that features real-world examples of how medical technology has changed the lives of many Australians.

The LiSTNR podcast series is designed to inspire and educate the next and current generation of medical professionals on the latest technologies and advancements in all facets of the medical sector through human stories and experiences.

Beyond the Medicine Cabinet will inform those already in the medical industry about how innovation is creating jobs and projects that they may not have considered working in and educate those looking to enter this rapidly changing field of what the future of their place in healthcare and medicine may look like.

Kooyong is part of Avant Medical Group and provides financial loan options to medical specialists and has provided more than 100 grants across medicine, hospitals, mental health, and arts organisations in the past three years. Dr’s On Call is a mobile medical practice servicing the needs of vulnerable populations across NSW.

Beyond the Medicine Cabinet is hosted by Dr’s On Call general manager, Zoë Callister- Hakewill. She is Australian editor of the Innovation & Impact Scientific Technology and Business Journal, and has expertise in commercialisation research, public health, health law and ethics.

[Listen to Beyonnd the Medicine Cabinet here]

Keep it Cleaner founders bring their KICPOD and KICBUMP podcasts to LiSTNR

Keep it Cleaner founders Steph Claire Smith and Laura Henshaw are bringing their hugely successful podcasts KICPOD and KICBUMP to LiSTNR.

The previously self-published KICPOD, which focuses on health and wellness and body positivity, has notched up more than 6 million downloads since its launch.

Hosted by entrepreneurs, authors and fitness enthusiasts Steph and Laura, KICPOD is your “weekly D&M on the stuff that matters.”

The show will cover everything from staying safe when travelling and mental health to tackling your life admin and navigating friendships through different life stages.

Steph has also launched the KICBUMP podcast, that covers everything from “bump to baby” to support women on their journey to motherhood and beyond.

Steph and Laura established Keep it Cleaner to help build confidence, embrace all body shapes and sizes, and educate people on how to embrace a sustainably healthy lifestyle. With more than 1,000 workouts and recipes, Keep it Cleaner has supported over 250,000 people across all corners of the globe.

KIC is a leading Australian health & fitness app that delivers a holistic wellness program. Through movement, mindfulness, nutrition, and community KIC helps people find their personal recipe for a healthier, happier lifestyle.

KICPOD and KICBUMP will be available on LiSTNR from 1 August 2022