iOS 15.4 release updates Apple Podcasts

• Apple has released an update to Apple Podcasts as part of iOS 15.4, iPadOS 15.4 and macOS 12.3, which were all released today. Listeners can now browse by season on show pages, and you can now filter episodes - played, unplayed, downloaded, or saved - from show pages too.

• Voting is now open for The Podcast Academy Board of Governors. It’s the first election; the Academy’s rules are that 40% need to be “independent podcasting professionals”, which is defined as companies with 20 employees or less. Voting is by members only: look in your email for a mail called “Board of Governors Vote!”

• Tangia R. Estrada and Maribel Quezada Smith have launched a new website for BIPOC Podcast Creators, the group they have run for the last year; and with it, a consultancy, Amplify BIPOC, to help brands gain a deeper understanding of multicultural audiences.

• Rooster Teeth and WarnerMedia Access announced the Rooster Teeth Digital Creators Program, an initiative designed to identify and develop aspiring and emerging digital content creators with an eye toward widening diverse, equitable, and inclusive representation.

• Gemini XIII has launched - calling itself “Podcasting and Radio’s New Home for Premium Audio Content, Production and Marketing Services”. Leading the company includes the former COO of Westwood One, Charles Steinhauer, and the founder of Cadence13, Spencer Brown.

• Congratulations to Sheletta Brundidge: one of USA Today’s Women of the Year. An author and Emmy Award-winning comedian, she started her own podcast production company in 2020.

• The winners of the Spark Media Podcast Awards were announced, honouring faith-based podcasters. Our list includes podcast hosting companies; Buzzsprout hosts more of these winners than anyone else.

• Podcast hosting company Blubrry has released a new homepage as part of a set of upgrades to the platform. Their last new website redesign was in September 2020.

• Podcast hosting company Transistor now supports multiple languages for its built-in podcast websites. They now support French and Spanish as well as English; and would like to add more. ¡Excelente! Merveilleux! The company has also announced a new podcast website builder with additional templates.

• Lizhi’s Tiya app, which offers audio chatting similar to other social audio apps, is now on both iOS and Android and has a new version. New features include real-time screen sharing with others.

• Podcast donation and monetisation platform Podfan has had a website update, and a pricing plan change. Their podcast websites will be next to update.

• Ira Glass, “who has the nasal voice and nerdily handsome looks of an attractive suburban maths teacher”, is interviewed by Hadley Freeman in The Guardian.

“There aren’t many examples of successful shows that start as platform exclusives for a reason.” - Matt Deegan, who doesn’t like Amazon’s Amp much.

Moves and hires

• Zachery Troutman has been named as Head of Podcasting for the Southwestern Family of Companies, one of the nation’s oldest and largest private companies. Zachery was formerly the Operations Manager for Rural Radio, SiriusXM Channel 147.

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• Steve Nelson has been hired as VP of Content & Production at Lemonada Media; he’d been at Religion of Sports, NPR and APM.

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• Rachel Neel has joined Lemonada Media as Senior Director of New Content. She was a Senior Supervising Producer at NPR.

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• Kyle Shiely will become Senior Producer of In The Bubble for Lemonada Media. He was with Minnesota Public Radio.

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Podcast News

Sugar Maple is Osiris Media’s first fiction podcast, and launches today - telling the story of a mysterious electric guitar and the power that songs composed on it hold. Starring Fred Savage, it includes an original soundtrack. - read more

This Week in the Metaverse is a new weekly technology news show from Brand Content Studios, covering cryptocurrency, blockchain, NFTs and virtual reality. It’s hosted by Mike Stiles, a former radio personality, and we’re promised that the podcast is short, weekly, and snarkily funny.

Puck Presents: The Powers That Be is new from Audacy’s Cadence13 and new media company Puck: it focuses on the four corners of power in America: Wall Street, Washington, Silicon Valley and Hollywood. It’s hosted by Emmy Award-winning journalist Peter Hamby.

The new series of Power is focusing on Don King, the legendary boxing promoter. Hosted by Panama Jackson, it looks at his drive to stay on top, and his lasting imprint in sports and entertainment. It’s from Somethin’Else, a part of Sony Music Entertainment’s Global Podcast Division.