BIPOC Podcast Creators closes

• A community to connect BIPOC creators through education, networking and partnerships, BIPOC Podcast Creators has announced that it is closing. The co-founders announced that the closure is partially driven by capacity and time constraints, but also reflects the structural challenges of sustaining community-driven work in the current content creator landscape. “The industry benefits enormously from communities like ours, but the infrastructure to sustain them long-term requires arduous work and significant financial investment. And frankly, it’s not enough to ask our creators to pay to make up this difference,” said co-founder Maribel Quezada Smith.

• VeePod has launched dynamic 3D branding for any video podcast, particularly useful for product placements and logos, as well as busy podcast publishers. The toolkit will be demonstrated at The Podcast Show later this month.

• Yesterday, we reported on what we called Spotify’s “video lock-in”. This story was based on screenshots of Podigee’s implementation of Spotify’s video distribution API, which we erroneously attributed to Spotify’s own UX: we’re happy to make that distinction clear. What’s a little less clear is the extent of the lock-in. Spotify denies that creators are permanently “locked in” to using a Spotify API feed if they opt for video distribution in this way, though the company has confirmed that changing your feed back to RSS requires manual work from both the podcast hosting company and from Spotify itself. From others, we hear that this reversion process may remove comments, reviews, and video files from your podcast; and we also understand that following our story yesterday, Spotify has contacted all partners to clarify messaging about this process. Not that any of us would know - at least two podcast hosting companies have told us that the whole API is under a non-disclosure agreement, and that they are prohibited from speaking about it.

• Podtrac has published its April 2026 podcast rankers. The Volume is a new publisher.

• A new audio post-production house has launched: Syrup Sound specialises in podcast sound design and mixing, and is founded by Gaëtan Harris, a former senior sound designer at Pacific Content. He’ll be at The Podcast Show later this month.

• The Podcast Show in London has published a number of new speakers for its event. Our Editor, James Cridland, will start day 1 with a reveal of the new Podnews Report Card results. From Apple Podcasts, Susie Warhurst - Head of International Podcasts - will be speaking about video, joined by Acast’s Laura Hagen, and Aussie podcasters Toni and Ryan. Day two includes YouTube’s Steve McLendon and Stella Binns for “a deep dive into the platform’s global podcasting strategy and the evolving creator landscape”.

  • We interview the event’s co-founder, Jason Carter, in the Podnews Weekly Review today. The text of his interview is also in our sister publication, the Podcast Business Journal.

• Acast are claiming a world first - the “first quarterly earnings call to be a video podcast on Apple Podcasts”. You can watch the Acast Financial Reporting podcast for the presentation, which we think is from Acast’s Stockholm video studio.

People news

• Congratulations to Radiolab founder Jad Abumrad, above, who was awarded the Bill Ayres Social Justice Award last night at WhyHunger’s Chapin Awards Gala in NYC. (Pic: Diane Bondareff)

Tips and tricks - with The Podcast Show London

• Podnews reader Andrew tells us: if you’re looking for somewhere to eat for The Podcast Show, the Indian Veg buffet on Chapel Market, 10 minutes walk from the venue is THE place to go. All you can eat for under a tenner and open from 12-11pm daily. People who know, know!
• How do YouTube stats work for podcasters? We have plenty of detail.

Podcast News - with Airwave

With Airwave: In The American Miracle with Michael Medved the popular national radio host examines improbable coincidences in American history… coincidences that some call miraculous.

Attitude Presents: Out with Suzi Ruffell is a newly-reimagined podcast from the UK’s Attitude magazine. Now in video, the award-winning show promises a high-profile guest lineup, and is part of a redesign of the LGBTQ+ magazine’s brand.

For almost three decades, One Nation and Pauline Hanson have been ridiculed, dismissed and shut out. Now, as the party surges in the polls and is a serious contender for a second lower house seat in Australia’s federal parliament, no one is laughing. In The Making of One Nation host Ashlynne McGhee joins politics experts from Australia and overseas to break down how a party built on fear and grievance thrived, died and rose again to upend Australian politics.

Paper Trail is a new investigative podcast from Pulitzer-winning ProPublica, hosted by Jessica Lussenhop. “Informing the public is how change happens. That’s what this whole show is all about,” says Lussenhop. The podcast is a partnership with PRX.

Bodega Botanica Tales is a short story podcast where myths and real life collide. Each episode is an original tale inspired by the gossip you hear in bodegas, the botánica, and from cultural myths and folklore that shape us all. Many of the tales are rooted in Latinx culture, but you don’t need to share that heritage to enjoy this podcast. If you enjoy discussing traditions, legends or superstitions that sometimes make you uneasy, curious, or totally confused, this folklore story podcast is for you.