Substack improves its podcast player

• Substack has dramatically improved its podcast player in its iOS app. As shown above, the updated app now has a full-screen podcast player, speed controls, accessible playback options and a customisable 'playing next’ queue. Here’s more about podcasting on Substack.

• Apple has launched three new Apple Podcast Collections, for listeners to discover new and popular podcasts covering true-crime (“Darkside”), culture ("tbh“) and entertainment (”Popped”). The collections, which will be updated weekly, are available for listeners in the US and Canada only, from Browse and Search in the app.

  • Apple Podcasts has also launched new listening reports for paid subscriptions. It addresses one criticism in the Podnews Report Card earlier this year.

• Targetspot’s owner, AudioValley, has published its 2021 annual results. Revenue is up 44.5%; Targetspot earned €26m (US$27m) in revenue, though the company lost €6.4m (US$6.8m) overall.

• SiriusXM has signed a content deal with I Am Athlete, an athlete-led media network. The agreement will mean SXM Media will have exclusive ad representation, while I Am Athlete will get a new nightly show on SiriusXM’s Mad Dog Sports Radio channel.

• Bryan Moffett is taking part in RAIN’s Podcast Business Lunch tomorrow at 12pm Eastern. What’s he doing with his additional Network Growth role at NPR - and how come podcasts is at the centre of it all?

  
  Sep 13 2023: This broken link now points to the Internet Archive.

• Twitter, which was planning some form of podcast integration, has been bought by Elon Musk for $44bn. Musk is the world’s richest man, and also owns an electric car company, a space exploration and communications corporation, a tunnel construction company, an artificial intelligence research laboratory, and a company making silicon chips that can be implanted in your brain, yet inexplicably doesn’t appear in this list.

Moves and hires

• Michael LaPointe has joined Vespucci as Editor-In-Chief of Paperless. Michael’s writing has been featured in The Atlantic, The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Paris Review and the Times Literary Supplement amongst others. Michael has been nominated for multiple National Magazine Awards, the Journey Prize, and the Digital Publishing Awards. His first novel, “The Creep” was published by Penguin Random House last year.

Tips and tricks - with SoundStack

• What tools does Marcus dePaula use - and what equipment does he own? Cleanfeed interviews dePaula, and he suggests that tools and equipment are one thing, but learning to use them is better.
• How does a real investigative reporter make his podcast? Robert Riggs discusses how he makes True Crime Reporter, a show recently turned into a FOX Nation TV documentary.

Podcast News - with Acast

From Acast: The Doctor’s Kitchen Podcast is the show about food, medicine, lifestyle and how to improve your health today. Join Dr Rupy and his expert guests as they explore the multiple ways in which diet and lifestyle can help you achieve your healthiest and most fulfilling life.

5 Minute Food Fix is new today from ARN’s iHeartPodcast Network. Yumi Stynes and Simon Davis - who met while they were working on Yumi’s cookbook - are hosts. Shows drop three times a week, and you can expect super-quick ideas for meals that don’t take too much time (or ask for that strange ingredient you can only get from the weird supermarket that seems to be always closed).

New from Wondery and Amazon Music, Will Be Wild has been launched from Pineapple Street Studios. The show is a deep-dive into the Jan 6 insurrection at the US Capitol. Hosted by award-winning investigative journalists Andrea Bernstein and Ilya Marritz, it’s available on all podcast platforms, with Amazon Music getting new episodes first.

Ghost Church by Jamie Loftus is new from iHeartMedia’s Cool Zone Media today - looking at a nationwide religion across the US dedicated to communing with the dead. America Spiritualism takes place in spiritual camps full of clairvoyants across the country. Jamie Loftus, an Emmy-nominated writer, comedian, and creator of podcasts, investigates just what’s going on.

Higher Ed Spotlight is new from Toronto’s Antica Productions, covering the issues that matter to students. It’s hosted by Ben Wildavsky, one of the leading thinkers in higher education policy. The first five epsiodes are available now.