Presented by Cozy Critters

🎧 Are You Telling a Story or Selling a Story?

Every podcast is selling something. Maybe not a product, but an idea. A feeling. A perspective. The question is: Are you selling it so hard that you forget to tell it?

A great story doesn’t need a sales pitch. It pulls people in because it matters, not because it’s been polished to a high-gloss sheen. The best podcasters (just like the best musicians, writers, and filmmakers) understand their job isn’t to convince you to care. It’s to tell a story so compelling, so rich with truth, that it slips past the intellect and settles in the bones, where it lingers, refusing to go quiet into the night.

🎙️ Signal Flow: Gretchen Rubin

Industry game changers and valiant minds from creative professions share their wisdom, adversities, and paths to innovation.

Gretchen Rubin, Host of Happier with Gretchen Rubin

Gretchen Rubin is one of today’s most influential and thought-provoking observers of happiness and human nature. She’s known for her ability to convey complex ideas—from science to literature to stories from her own life—with levity and clarity. She’s the author of many bestselling books, such as The Happiness Project, Better Than Before, and The Four Tendencies, which have sold millions of copies in more than thirty languages. Her most recent book is Life in Five Senses. She’s also host of the popular podcast, Happier with Gretchen Rubin, and founder of award-winning Happier app, which helps people track their happiness-boosting habits. Gretchen Rubin has been interviewed by Oprah, eaten dinner with Nobel Prize-winner Daniel Kahneman, walked arm-in-arm with the Dalai Lama, had her work reported on in a medical journal, been written up in the New Yorker, and been an answer on Jeopardy! After starting her career in law, she realized she wanted to be a writer while she was clerking for Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. Raised in Kansas City, she lives in New York City with her family. Happier with Gretchen Rubin along with other Gretchen Rubin Media shows Happier in Hollywood and Side Hustle School have recently joined the Lemonada Media network for ad sales and distribution.

As a writer, I had started blogging and was interested in engaging with an audience in a more direct way. Then podcasting came around, and I thought, this is a completely different way to connect with people about ideas that excite me. I couldn’t resist.

My co-host is my sister, Elizabeth Craft. For years we talked about collaborating. When I was approached about doing a podcast, they said it’s often good to have two people. Immediately, I thought, absolutely, my sister.

One of our inspirations was Car Talk. We often say we’re Car Talk for happiness.

A lot of people tell me, “I could never work with my sibling.” But it works for us. With Happier with Gretchen Rubin, I do the bulk of the work, and it has my name on it. But Elizabeth also has Happier in Hollywood, which she does with her writing partner. So she has her own space as well.

When we started the podcast, I told Elizabeth, “This is probably going to be a big flop, and it will be very public.” And we both agreed, okay, let’s do it anyway. We had no expectation of success. Our mom even asked, “Don’t you think you’ll run out of ideas in six months?” But we’re both professional writers. We knew we could keep it going. If anything, we have more ideas now than when we started.

We’ve never missed a week. No breaks, no seasons, no holidays. We’ve never missed an episode, and we’re incredibly proud of that.

I don’t pay much attention to stats. I probably should, but I don’t. What I do pay attention to is audience response—emails, social media, people telling us what they loved or what resonated with them. That’s how I know when something is working.

Podcasting brings spontaneity into my work. As a writer, I spend so much time making sure every word is exactly right. Podcasting is more conversational, looser, fresher.

I was surprised by the depth of connection you have with your audience in podcasting. When I had a blog, I already felt connected to my readers. But it’s different with a podcast. Listeners feel like they know you personally. And I get it—I feel the same way about the podcasts I listen to. You start to care about the hosts. If they’re sick for a while, you worry about them.

I remember when my sister was voice-identified in a drugstore aisle. Someone overheard her talking and recognized her just by her voice. I’ve had people recognize me in the Met because I go there every day. Listeners know that about me, so when they visit, they keep an eye out for me. It’s funny because when they see me, I feel like saying, “See? I told you I come every day.”

For happiness in podcasting—and in life—think about your physical body. Your physical state colors your emotional state. Get enough sleep, move your body, take care of yourself. That’s foundational.

Connection is another huge factor. Talking with other podcasters, sharing ideas, troubleshooting together—it's energizing. I love talking shop. The more relationships you build, the more you learn, and the more fun it becomes.

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“Cozy Critters is literal gold for parents at bedtime.” - Andy S.

Experience the sleep podcast for kids that listeners around the world are raving about! Go on a magical adventure with Dougie Pickles and his kitten co-host, Miss Meow Meow, as they visit the world's coziest critters and learn about their day.

Make bedtime a favorite part of your child’s day with Cozy Critters, selected by Apple Podcasts as New and Noteworthy and featured by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. 

And best of all: Cozy Critters is FREE and completely ad-free.

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I started a podcast manifesto before we even launched our first episode. It’s a document of guiding principles—things we aspire to, even if we don’t always get them right. One of the rules is Beware of Banter. There’s fun, purposeful chat, and then there’s rambling that makes listeners think, “Why are they still talking?” We try to keep things intentional.

Another principle: People love to learn, but they also love to teach, share, and correct. That’s why we engage listeners so much. We ask them to send in ideas, solutions, and hacks. Our Happiness Hack segment is all about that—little useful tips like “use hooks instead of hangers.” It’s not life-changing, but people love sharing and discovering those kinds of things.

A community is different from an audience. An audience listens; a community participates. We want listeners to feel heard and involved. That’s a big part of what makes the podcast work.

We aim for consistency and surprise. Listeners want to know what to expect, but they also love being surprised. That’s why we experiment with things like Clear the Decks, where we tell listeners to pause the podcast, go complete a task, then come back. People loved it. We later did Deck the Halls for the holidays.

You can tell what’s resonating by the audience's reaction. If people flood us with emails and messages saying, “Do that again,” we know it worked. If something gets little response, we move on. The engagement tells us everything.

Understanding our values and living up to them is a huge source of happiness. That’s why the podcast manifesto matters. It helps us stay clear on what we believe makes a good show, and it keeps us aligned with our purpose. That kind of clarity makes creative work more satisfying.

🎙️ Podcast of the Week

If you’ve ever had a heated debate over curly fries or ranked mozzarella sticks with deadly seriousness, Doughboys is for you. Comedians Mike Mitchell and Nick Wiger bring their chaotic charm to chain restaurant reviews, sparring over everything from Taco Bell to TGI Friday’s. It’s hilarious, weirdly insightful, and guaranteed to make you crave something fried.

🥾 Further Exploration

Reporting Dark Matters

In this vital piece from Transom, Rob Rosenthal explores the challenges of reporting on difficult topics, featuring award-winning journalists Luke Malone and Pat Walters.

ICYMI:

🤔 Hans Zimmer, Zelda, and Dallas Taylor walk into a bar

🤐 Sharing Your Secrets with the World

🎧 Rob Rosenthal on Good Storytelling

Presented by Cozy Critters

🏔️ Overcoming Summit Fever

Summit fever is that dizzy rush that hits when you’re close to the top, the moment you mistake proximity for arrival.

In podcasting, it’s easy to catch. You land a big guest, hit a chart, or get that first sponsor and suddenly start gasping thin air, convinced the climb is over. But creative work isn’t Everest.

There’s no single flag-plant moment that means you’ve made it. The higher you go, the more peaks you see. The view just gets wider, and the weather a little wilder.

The cure for summit fever? Remember that the joy isn’t in reaching the top. It’s in having the lungs to keep climbing.

🎙️ Signal Flow: Steve Burns

Industry game changers and valiant minds share their wisdom, adversities, and paths to innovation.

Steve Burns, host of Alive with Steve Burns

Steve Burns is best known as the original host of Blue’s Clues, where he spent seven surreal years solving mysteries with a cartoon dog and a talking mailbox. Then he disappeared. On purpose. Since then, Steve has released indie rock albums, toured with The Flaming Lips, written the theme song for Young Sheldon, hosted and was a storyteller for The Moth, and gone massively viral by quietly breaking the internet with a heartfelt message to a generation of now-grown-up viewers. He hosts Alive with Steve Burns from Lemonada Media.

Editor’s note: The following interview has been edited for flow and clarity.

I had hermit crabs growing up. And eventually they’d outgrow their shells, crawling across the sand as these horrible, naked, pink, vulnerable little things. That’s kind of what starting this podcast felt like. Exposed. Out in the open in ways I hadn’t been before. And I’m pretty sure that’s a good sign.

I didn’t really know what to expect going in. I just wanted to make good use of what I saw as this enduring connection I accidentally have with a generation of people who are, frankly, in a mental health crisis.

I wanted to continue the conversation we started 25 years ago on Blue’s Clues, but now as adults. Back then, we were leading an examined life together, even if we didn’t know that’s what we were doing. We’d run around with magical condiments and a cartoon dog, looking for clues that might lead us to greater understanding. Then we’d sit down, think about what we’d learned, and talk it through. That sounds like a podcast to me.

The show feels a lot like that again: sitting down with intention and asking big questions about life, pain, joy, and meaning.

It’s about trying to humanize the digital experience. The internet is optimized for conflict. It rewards outrage, performance, and division. What if we could make space for something else? What if we could show up as human beings with skin in the game — fragile, weird, funny, loving, angry, anxious, curious — and be seen that way?

I write all the music for the show. They’re not songs. More like moods or meditations. I compose most of it on an old four-track tape recorder because I want the podcast to feel like you can see fingerprints on it, like it was crafted by human hands. It’s full of imperfections, but that’s the point.

The format itself benefits from low production value, the opposite of polish. It should look and sound like something you could make at home. I think if we took even one more step toward high production, it would lose something essential.

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😴 Recommended by Pediatric Sleep Consultants!

With over 40 million minutes played in 2025, families everywhere are cozying up with Cozy Critters.

Gentle stories, calming sounds, and lovable characters help kids wind down while learning about the fascinating world of animals. One listen and you’ll see why it’s become a global favorite.

👉 Make tonight a Cozy Critters night

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(continued from above)

The podcast also borrows some structural DNA from kids’ TV. There are gentle nods to Blue’s Clues with the pacing, the directness, the sense of wonder…but spoken to adults. It’s about carrying that childlike curiosity into conversations about death, love, sex, taxes, and cryptocurrency. It’s a way of saying: We can talk about the hard things without losing our joy.

Maybe that’s what we’re ready for now, a more human experience with our screens. Because being online has become a national pastime of being a jerk to each other, and I think we’re tired of it.

When I think about legacy, I don’t really have an answer. I don’t have kids, I used to feel self-conscious about that. When I was helping care for my dad as he was dying, I couldn’t help but wonder…who’s going to do that for me someday? That experience makes you reflect on what you leave behind.

I guess I’d like to be remembered for listening. Really listening. Blue’s Clues taught me how to do that. It required me to listen to silence, to let it breathe. Silence isn’t empty. The good stuff tends to dwell in the quiet parts.

And maybe that’s what I’m chasing now. A way to bring a little stillness back to the noise.

🎧 Podcast of the Week: Radiolab

Radiolab is the gold standard for curiosity-driven storytelling. Each episode cracks open a question about science, philosophy, or the human experience, and answers it with equal parts wonder and sound design wizardry. It’s the kind of show that makes you say “just one more” at 2 a.m., and somehow leaves you a little wiser every time.

🥾 Further Exploration: Video + Interactivity Poised to Shift Podcasting

From branching narratives to hybrid video formats, creators are leaning into new formats to meet audiences where they are.

ICYMI:

💀 This true crime podcast puts you to sleep

🏆 A 2x World Cup champ just changed the podcast playbook

🎙️ Why filmmaker Rhym Guissé stepped behind a podcast mic

💡 The Quiet Spark

A weekly question to ignite fresh thinking, stir self-reflection, and fuel your creative process behind the mic.

Where in your work are you still playing it safe?

Presented by Cozy Critters

🤖 You’ve Got to Be Better Than the New Easy Thing

Every creative revolution has its shortcut. The printing press made scribes obsolete. The camera made portrait painters nervous. Now, AI is making us wonder if using it is the only way to stay competitive in a creative field.

But here’s the truth: the easy thing has always existed. The difference now is that it’s faster, cheaper, and more ubiquitous.

So what do we do?

We get better than the easy thing.

AI can mimic your words, but it can’t mirror your weirdness. It can generate a story, but it can’t live one. Your edge isn’t efficiency. It’s experience.

So yes, use the tools. Let the robots fetch the groceries. But the soul work, the work that takes time, requires effort, and is uniquely ours? That’s still on us.

🎙️ Signal Flow: Jodi Tovay

Industry game changers and valiant minds share their wisdom, adversities, and paths to innovation.

Jodi Tovay, host of Wisecrack

Jodi Tovay is a four-time Emmy® Award-nominated and Telly Award-winning producer with more than 20 years of experience in true crime television, media, and documentary storytelling. After leaving her full-time job at Warner Brothers Discovery, Jodi took a vacation to Scotland and while seeking shelter from the rain at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, she stumbled into a small pop-up comedy club. There, she discovered a new voice that would unexpectedly shape the next nine years of her life. Onstage was a little-known comedian named Edd Hedges, whose performance sparked more than just curiosity—it sparked a long and transformative journey.

Editor’s note: The following interview has been edited for flow and clarity.

The idea for Wisecrack started in the most unexpected way…while hiding from the rain at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. I ducked into a small pop-up comedy show, and onstage was this young British comedian named Edd Hedges.

He told a story that was dark, funny, raw, and completely alive. I’d spent years being told that crime and comedy don’t mix. But in that moment, I realized they absolutely can, if the storyteller is good enough. Edd proved that humor and tragedy can live side by side, the way they do in real life.

Nine years later, we’ve turned that spark into a limited true crime podcast that’s equal parts comedy special, thriller, and investigation. Finding the right balance between those tones was its own odyssey. We went through countless versions, trying different cuts, shifting beats, moving jokes, and rewriting narration. None of us knew if it was working. But that’s what creative risk looks like — a lot of trial, a lot of error, and a lot of play. You have to trick yourself into failing forward.

I think of it as a dance between structure and instinct. Every time something felt too light, we asked ourselves, Does this honor the real people in this story? Every time it got too heavy, we asked, Where’s the humanity? What guided us was Edd’s own storytelling, his ability to find humor in pain, to make you laugh and then gut you in the same breath. That rhythm became our compass.

I’m a television producer turned podcast producer. After two decades in true crime TV, I was drawn to podcasting because it strips storytelling down to its purest form. It’s just words and voices. There are no visual tricks to hide behind. You can hear truth (or the absence of it) in someone’s tone. That’s what I find so challenging and fascinating about this medium. You can’t fake authenticity in audio.

What I’ve learned is that podcasting gives you a kind of freedom that television rarely allows. The flexibility of working from a home studio, being able to record when inspiration strikes, it’s a gift. And I love that metrics are transparent. In TV, the numbers are guarded. In podcasts, you can see when people skip ads, where they stop listening, and what makes them stay. That data sharpens your storytelling. It’s not a mystery audience; it’s a relationship.

I’ve always preferred to stay behind the lens or the microphone. But when you create your own project, you become the free talent. There’s something both terrifying and liberating about that. Luckily, I had my dear friend and writer alongside me, providing the checks and balances I needed to stay honest. When it’s your own voice, you can lose perspective. Having someone you trust to say, “You’re overthinking it” or “You’re missing it” is everything.

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😻 Over 40 Million Minutes Streamed in 2025

Cozy Critters is the award-winning bedtime podcast that helps kids wind down while learning about animals around the world. With gentle stories, calming sounds, and just the right dose of curiosity, it’s the nighttime routine your whole family will love.

😻 Mom’s Choice Award winner

😻 Featured by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine

👉 Make tonight a Cozy Critters night

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(continued from above)

Of course, producing across countries added its own challenges. British law enforcement is far more private than in the U.S., and getting information through Freedom of Information requests was an uphill battle. They have a thousand ways to stall you. I learned quickly that persistence and creativity matter more than credentials. A friend taught me that you can sometimes FOIA private ambulance companies because they’re connected to the government. Tricks like that make all the difference.

It’s been years of chasing this story, building trust, earning access, and not giving up. When I first pitched this project, every network passed. They didn’t think comedy and true crime could coexist. I pitched it again and again, until finally, someone said yes. Then, years later, the people who said no came back and admitted, “We should’ve done that one.” That almost never happens in this business.

The creative risk I’m proudest of is how it ends. What became the emotional core of the story wasn’t the plan. The ending found us, not the other way around. It taught me the most valuable lesson in storytelling: listen to the material. It knows more than you do.

If I had one piece of advice for other creators, it’s this: don’t give up. Not when it’s hard, not when it’s quiet, not when every door is closed.

I started this nine years ago with nothing but an idea and a conviction that it mattered. It took years of pitching, rejection, and waiting for the right collaborators. But stories like this only happen if you refuse to let them go.

🎧 Podcast of the Week: The Anthropocene Reviewed

In The Anthropocene Reviewed, author John Green reviews different aspects of the human experience on a five-star scale, from sunsets to Diet Dr Pepper to the capacity for wonder. It’s part essay, part memoir, and entirely human. Every episode feels like a deep breath in the chaos of modern life, tender, funny, and quietly profound.

🥾 Further Exploration: The Truth About Audio-Only Podcasts

This article from The Podcast Host unpacks the data and reveals that while video can help some heavy hitters break through, many successful shows still thrive purely in audio.

ICYMI:

🪐 Inside the Star Trek podcast rewriting a legend

🎙️ Steve Burns’ podcast is full of clues about being human

💀 This true crime podcast puts you to sleep

💡 The Quiet Spark

A weekly question to ignite fresh thinking, stir self-reflection, and fuel your creative process behind the mic.

What part of your creative process feels the most alive? What part feels like routine?

Presented by Cozy Critters

⚾️ Attempt the Big Swings

Safe gets you a nice, tidy podcast that nobody remembers. Big swings are messy. They risk whiffing, they risk embarrassing silence, they risk the “what were they thinking?” comments. But they’re also where the breakthroughs live.

Even a strikeout sharpens your swing. And once in a while? You’ll connect, and it’ll soar.

🎙️ Signal Flow: Cassi Jerkins

Industry game changers and valiant minds share their wisdom, adversities, and paths to innovation.

Cassi Jerkins, Executive Producer of Office Ladies

Cassi Jerkins is an award-winning producer and comedian. Cassi executive produces the hit podcast, Office Ladies with Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey, which won a Signal Award, iHeart Media Podcast of the Year in 2021, a Webby for Best TV/Film Podcast in 2022, and a Webby's People Voice Award for Best Comedy Podcast in 2025. Cassi also performs at the L.A. Upright Citizens Brigade theatre and was on Harold Night with Cousin Jaeger and Ghost. From 2015-2019, Cassi wrote and performed digital content for the hit children’s educational science YouTube channel, "Socratica Kids" which has over 81 million views.

Editor’s note: The following interview has been edited for flow and clarity.

For me, working on Office Ladies has been like a masterclass in breaking down episodes of television. Every host has strengths and weaknesses, and the best shows lean into the strengths. If you embrace what you’re great at, people will forgive where you fall short. That’s been a big lesson for me.

The idea for Office Ladies came from Jenna and Angela themselves. They had all these photos and memorabilia from The Office and weren’t sure what to do with them. They toyed with the idea of a book, but then sat in Angela’s garage and recorded themselves talking through some of it, starting with a Halloween episode.

That’s when it clicked: this could be a podcast. They pitched it, it took off, and by the time I came on about a year later, it was already a hit.

I wasn’t a superfan of The Office when I started. I’d seen episodes, but it aired when I was in high school and college, I didn’t watch much TV then. I did have a deep appreciation for it, though, especially as a comedy nerd.

Growing up, I loved Happy Gilmore, Tommy Boy, Night at the Roxbury. But I also noticed how few funny women there were, and how often they were stuck playing the “bitchy girlfriend” role.

The Office felt like a turning point. That was exciting. Producing Office Ladies made me go back and watch the show from start to finish, and I began to understand why it means so much to fans. It’s comforting. For many, especially during the pandemic, it was a lifeline.

Jenna and Angela are really cognizant of superfans, so they work hard to deliver detailed analysis. The biggest “critique” we see is usually that someone’s favorite joke didn’t get mentioned. That’s subjective, of course. But over time, I learned something surprising: a huge part of our audience isn’t just there for the analysis. They find Jenna and Angela’s voices comforting. They want to hear them talk about anything. At first, I thought the show had to stay focused on deep behind-the-scenes stories, but I learned that tangents can be just as valuable. Fans love them.

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💤 Bedtime Just Got Cozier

Families everywhere are cozying up with Cozy Critters! Gentle adventures, calming sounds, and lovable characters help kids drift off while learning about animals.

Winner of a Mom’s Choice Award and featured by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, it’s the podcast that makes bedtime easier for parents and magical for kids. One listen and you’ll see why it’s become a global favorite.

👉 Make tonight a Cozy Critters night

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(continued from above)

Our production cycle is pretty involved. We brainstorm ideas a couple of months in advance. An associate producer helps with research, Jenna and Angela often do their own prep, reaching out to cast and crew. Once we record, I edit, then send it back to them. We all sit down, make revisions, sometimes re-record. Then it goes to our engineer for mixing and mastering, plus any social assets.

From recording to publishing usually takes about three weeks. It’s very different from shows that can record and release the same day, but that extra time lets us make sure each episode is what we want it to be.

Creative energy can be tough to sustain, especially now that the rewatch is complete. The roadmap is gone, but that also gives us more creative freedom. Personally, I love coming in with new ideas. I think listeners can always tell when hosts are excited, and they can tell when burnout is setting in.

Podcast burnout is real, and fans don’t always understand how much work goes into making a show. They wonder why you can’t just “talk for an hour” and release it, even if you’re on vacation. But there are so many moving parts, so many people involved. Taking breaks is necessary. It’s what keeps the show healthy almost 400 episodes in.

The podcast industry is in a weird, shifting place. I came in during the podcast boom, when celebrities were jumping in and networks were buying up smaller companies. Now, many of those baby networks, the pioneers, are being discarded. I’ve seen friends laid off overnight, great shows canceled, talent treated like they’re disposable. It’s tough. Networks are cutting back, ad revenue is shaky, and there’s a real question of sustainability.

I think it could go one of two ways. Either podcasting becomes something you do just because you love it, with no money in it. Or creators start to realize they don’t need networks. Like the music industry, they’ll say, “We don’t need a label.” With Patreon or other direct support, some shows may find stability on their own. Something has to change, because right now, a lot of amazing talent is being pushed out, and that doesn’t feel healthy for the industry.

🎧 Podcast of the Week: How to Save It

If you’re craving a podcast that flips the script on environmental despair and fills you with agency instead of anxiety, queue up How to Save It. Hosted by wildlife broadcaster Kate Humble and Whitley Fund for Nature founder Edward Whitley, this series takes listeners on a globe-spanning journey with remarkable conservationists who are actually making a difference for endangered species and fragile ecosystems.

🥾 Further Exploration: Global Podcasting Market in 2025: Trends, Revenue, and Growth Opportunities

According to new data, global podcast revenue is projected to jump from $36.3B in 2024 to $47.8B in 2025. With video and AI shaping distribution and format, the space is expanding faster than ever. And the opportunity for creators to carve out a place is only growing.

ICYMI:

🧘‍♀️ The 30 for 30 episode Julia Lowrie Henderson can’t shake

💀 This true crime podcast puts you to sleep

🏈 How a Fantasy Football Podcast Became a Global Brand

💡 The Quiet Spark

A weekly question to ignite fresh thinking, stir self-reflection, and fuel your creative process behind the mic.

Where in your show are you playing it safe?

Presented by Acast

⚠️ What’s Your Risk Tolerance?

Risk tolerance is about knowing how much truth, novelty, and discomfort you’re willing to allow into your podcast. The safest choice usually feels like professionalism. But safety has a sound. It’s predictable. Polished. Forgettable.

Raising your risk tolerance means nudging past what feels respectable and into what feels honest.

Say the thing you’d normally soften.

Let the silence linger.

Try a structure that might confuse before it clarifies.

Trade better protection for better bets and see where it takes you.

🎙️ Signal Flow: Simon Adler

Industry game changers and valiant minds share their wisdom, adversities, and paths to innovation.

Simon Adler, former Senior Producer at Radiolab

Simon Adler has spent the past decade making Radiolab. Today, he makes WINDSTAR.

In a hurry? Here are key takeaways from Simon’s interview:

• Use your body as a compass. If a moment doesn’t create surprise, curiosity, or tension in you, it probably won’t for the listener either.

• Diagnose problems, not solutions. Listener feedback is gold, but pay attention to where people get confused or bored, not how they think you should fix it.

• Make the abstract concrete. Ideas don’t make good audio. Scenes do. Find the place, the person, or the moment that turns theory into experience.

• Let go sooner. Not every idea wants to be a podcast. Setting deadlines for story viability saves creative energy for work that actually clicks.

Editor’s note: The following interview has been edited for flow and clarity.

I didn’t have a master plan for getting into audio. I started out as an international freelancer, living in South America, working in restaurants, finishing my Spanish fluency, and trying to figure out what came next.

I loved public radio. I played in bands, so I knew audio. And I noticed something important: There were stories happening in places where very few people were reporting. Venezuela was starting to fall apart, and I thought, someone should be covering this. So I bought a mic and moved to Caracas.

I started pitching anyone who would listen. Eventually, I landed a story on The World, a BBC/PRI show. Then I moved to Ireland and did the same thing for Deutsche Welle. Piece by piece, I built a portfolio. That led to a Radiolab internship, then freelancing, then time at This American Life.

I kept pitching Radiolab until, eventually, they said yes. I spent the next eleven years there making narrative radio documentaries in that voice and style.

The lesson I take from that path is simple: Just start making things. And be strategic about where you do it. Look for stories no one else is telling, or can tell, and go there.

A lot of my job eventually became about feedback. The first thing I’m always listening for isn’t solutions, it’s reactions. Where was I confused, where was I bored, where did I lean in? That’s the first layer.

From there, you can diagnose why something isn’t working. Only after that do solutions start to make sense. People often give notes in the form of fixes, but it’s the problem they’re pointing to that matters. Especially when that feedback comes from people outside the industry because they’re the audience.

When something isn’t landing in an interview, I usually move between two approaches. One is to make the person forget they’re being interviewed, to turn it into a real conversation. The other is to be completely upfront, to explain why I’m asking a question and how it needs to work on the radio. Sometimes saying, this is what I need from you, is the most honest and effective move.

One trick I’ve learned is asking people to switch to the present tense. If someone is telling a story they’ve told a hundred times, asking them to relive it, to walk through it as if it’s happening now, can unlock something real.

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Earn more from every episode. Acast gives established creators all the tools and insights to maximize podcast revenue without the extra work.

👉 Boost your podcast revenue

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(continued from above)

When stories break down, it’s often because an idea is compelling but not yet ready. I once worked on a segment about economists trying to calculate the dollar value of nature. It was a fascinating thought experiment, but it wasn’t working. What saved it was finding a real place where bees had disappeared and people were manually pollinating apple trees. Suddenly, the idea had a scene. Someone who had lived it, a dollar amount we could hang on it. That made all the difference.

Radio, especially narrative radio, is about making complex ideas understandable without dumbing them down. My rule is simple: If I can’t picture what someone is describing in my mind, it’s not working. I’ll stop them, back up, and rebuild the explanation together. If I can’t visualize it, listeners won’t be able to either.

That instinct also guides how I choose stories. I’m looking for a visceral reaction, that physical feeling of surprise. What the hell? I never thought of that. If something gives me that, and I think I can make other producers feel it too, then it has a chance of working for an audience.

Creatively, I try to stay open to surprise. I consume a lot of novel information from different places. Movies inspire me deeply, especially the way they communicate without words. Watching movies has made me more aware of how hard audio has to work. In radio and podcasting, we’re always trying to show, but we’re mostly telling. That forces you to find audio equivalents of visual techniques: a pause, a sigh, a shift in tone.

One skill audio teaches you is listening to every word. Truly listening. That’s not how most people listen most of the time, and it takes a lot of mental energy, but it’s essential. You also have to learn when to turn that skill off.

I’ve failed plenty. I’ve held onto story ideas for too long, chasing something that wasn’t there. Now I set deadlines. If an idea doesn’t pop within a few weeks, I let it go. Knowing when to stop is as important as knowing when to push.

An episode feels finished when nothing bothers me anymore, or when an editor tells me it’s good enough, or when it has to go out. Usually some combination of all three.

Recently, I left Radiolab after eleven years. I’m figuring out what’s next. One thing I’ve been working on is a project that blends audio documentary with indie rock sound collage. The question I’m trying to answer is whether music and story can be equal partners, not one serving the other. Something closer to opera than news. It’s a way of taking everything I’ve learned and pushing it somewhere new.

That’s where my head is now. Still listening. Still surprised. Still trying to make something that feels alive.

🎧 Podcast of the Week: How To Be a Better Human (TED)

If you’re drawn to thoughtful conversations that actually help you live a little better, How to Be a Better Human delivers. Hosted by Chris Duffy, the show blends practical wisdom with big questions about work, relationships, and meaning without slipping into self-help clichés.

🥾 Further Exploration: Podcast Predictions for 2026 from 22 Industry Experts

This roundup gathers clear-eyed predictions from across the podcast industry about what’s coming next. From shifting formats to audience behavior and monetization, it offers a wide-angle view of where podcasting is headed, and what creators should be paying attention to now as they plan for 2026.

ICYMI:

🎧 The YouTube Trap Most Podcasters Fall Into (And How to Avoid It)

🎉 Celebrating 2 years of The Noise Gate!

🤬 What brands misunderstand about podcast creators (and vice versa)

💡 The Quiet Spark

A weekly question to ignite fresh thinking, stir self-reflection, and fuel your creative process behind the mic.

What part of your podcast are you holding onto that might need to be let go?

Presented by Acast

💭 The Previsualization Process

Before a story is recorded, it’s rehearsed in the mind. This is previsualization: the phase where imagination runs ahead of execution and asks, “What could this become?”

This is where the open mindset gets to dream freely, while the closed mindset starts asking the necessary questions: Who is this for? How long can it be? What does it cost? What does it need to do?

So take time here, let the fun and the function sit at the same table. When imagination and intention shake hands early, the story knows where it’s going and how to get there.

🎙️ Signal Flow: Mandy Matney and David Moses

Industry game changers and valiant minds share their wisdom, adversities, and paths to innovation.

Luna, Mandy, and David of LUNASHARK®

Mandy Matney and David Moses are the co-founders of LUNASHARK® Productions and LUNASHARK® Media, driven by a shared commitment to truth, accountability, and independent journalism. Mandy Matney is a #1 podcaster, best-selling author, and investigative journalist whose work on Murdaugh Murders (now True Sunlight) led to Hulu’s Murdaugh: Death in the Family, where she serves as an Executive Producer. David Matney brings a background in marketing and business development, producing Luna Shark’s podcasts and helping scale their impact through strategic storytelling.

In a hurry? Here are key takeaways from Mandy and David’s interview:

• Choose trust over speed. Being first is tempting, but credibility compounds. Audiences will wait if they believe you’re telling the story responsibly.

• Build the infrastructure early. Growth isn’t just creative, it’s operational. Monetization, logistics, and production support matter if you want sustainability.

• Let the format serve the moment. Breaking news demands flexibility. Structure is important, but rigidity will break when the story keeps moving.

• Say no until it feels right. Not every partnership deserves a yes. Alignment, especially ethical alignment, matters more than exposure.

Editor’s note: The following interview has been edited for flow and clarity.

Mandy:
When I started reporting on the Murdaugh family, I never imagined it would become a podcast. I’d been covering this story locally for years, long before it blew up nationally. But once things started unraveling publicly, it was clear print alone wasn’t enough. The story was moving too fast. People needed context, and they needed it now.

David:
She’d been talking about doing a podcast for a long time. When the moment finally came, I handed her a microphone and said, “You’ve been living with this story for years. It’s time.” I figured out audio engineering as we went. She figured out how to translate investigative reporting into audio. We were learning in real time.

Mandy:
I loved long-form narrative podcasts — Serial, Dirty John — but this wasn’t something you could map out in advance. It was breaking news layered on top of years of corruption. Every time we thought we knew where the story was going, something shifted underneath us.

David:
From the beginning, my role was making sure the foundation was there. Production, business, monetization, logistics. We both came from newspapers, and I had a background in advertising and marketing. When we saw 5,000 downloads on day one, I immediately understood what that meant. Not just creatively, but also practically.

Mandy:
What surprised me most was how listeners described the show. People would say it felt like sitting next to a friend at a kitchen table, listening to her explain something unbelievable that just happened at work. It wasn’t slick. It wasn’t overproduced. It felt human. That became our compass.

David:
Sponsors started reaching out early, but what mattered most were the local businesses who said, “We’re sick of the corruption, too. We want to support this.” That support told us we weren’t alone, that people understood why this work mattered.

Mandy:
As the show grew, the pressure grew with it. There were weeks when entire episodes were written and mostly recorded, only to have indictments drop hours before release. Everything had to be rewritten. Early on, I was obsessed with being first.

David:
And eventually we realized that wasn’t sustainable.

Mandy:
Exactly. My co-host Liz Farrell and I started telling each other the same thing: either be first or be best. Most of the time, we chose to be best.

David:
The audience made that possible. When episodes were delayed, listeners didn’t complain. They told us to take the time we needed. That level of trust is rare.

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Mandy:
When Hollywood came calling, we said no a lot. Many people wanted access without understanding the responsibility that comes with telling this story. Then we met Erin Lee Carr. I already admired her work, but more importantly, she understood victim-focused storytelling. She was thoughtful. She was kind.

David:
Once we committed to that partnership, we put all our eggs in that basket. We signed the option deal, and then…nothing happened for a long time. Strikes. Delays. Waiting.

Mandy:
It didn’t feel real until Patricia Arquette signed on. And even then, it didn’t feel real until we were on set.

David:
Being there changed things.

Mandy:
After years of covering such a dark story, years of harassment, threats, and losing faith in people, watching artists and crew members take pride in doing things the right way was healing. Seeing scenes I’d reported on recreated in front of me was overwhelming in the best way.

David:
The companion podcast came later. I’d suggested it years earlier, but the timing finally aligned. When the green light came, we moved fast, producing eight audio episodes and what became a full companion video series in just weeks.

Mandy:
We joked that it was like building the plane while flying it.

David:
We learned lighting, sets, wardrobe, props. The same way we always have: by saying yes, then figuring it out.

Mandy:
What mattered most was being responsible. These are real people, real victims, real communities. We didn’t want sensationalism. We wanted accountability.

David:
That’s why we started LUNASHARK Media in the first place, to build something independent, ethical, and sustainable.

Mandy:
This story took a lot from us. It cost us peace and safety for a long time. But it restored my faith in the work, and in humanity.

David:
And there’s still more to do. So we keep going.

🎧 Podcast of the Week: Naked Beauty

If you’re interested in conversations that go deeper than trends, Naked Beauty is a standout. Host Brooke DeVard explores beauty, wellness, and self-care through culturally sharp interviews, including last week’s episode featuring Jameela Jamil. It’s a great example of how honest conversation builds a real connection with an audience.

🥾 Further Exploration: Welcome to the Era of Liquid Content

This forward-looking piece from Steven Goldstein reframes podcasting as something more fluid than a single feed or format. It explores how audio, video, and social clips are blending into “liquid content,” and what that means for creators who want their stories to travel across platforms. A smart read if you’re thinking about how your podcast lives beyond the episode itself.

ICYMI:

🎧 The YouTube Trap Most Podcasters Fall Into (And How to Avoid It)

🎉 Celebrating 2 years of The Noise Gate!

🤬 What brands misunderstand about podcast creators (and vice versa)

💡 The Quiet Spark

A weekly question to ignite fresh thinking, stir self-reflection, and fuel your creative process behind the mic.

When the pressure is on, do you choose speed or integrity?

Presented by Acast

🙅‍♀️ Is It Time to Quit Your Podcast?

Maybe the real question isn’t “Should I quit?”

Instead, it’s: “What does this podcast need to become (or stop being) for me to keep going?”

Answer that honestly, and the next move becomes clear.

🎙️ Signal Flow: Maia Stern

Industry game changers and valiant minds share their wisdom, adversities, and paths to innovation.

Maia Stern in her element

Maia Stern is the lead video producer for Tiny Desk concerts at NPR Music. She oversees a small but robust team of video producers responsible for directing and editing the groundbreaking music video series. Before joining the NPR Music team, Stern was the creator and director of the NPR series Foraging, which offered a whimsical and informative look at wild foods and the people who are passionate about them. The series was nominated for a James Beard award. She was also co-creator and director of NPR's science video series Maddie About Science.

In a hurry? Here are key takeaways from Maia’s interview:

• Let the moment lead, not the camera. Hold steady, cut less, and trust that what’s happening in front of the mic is interesting enough without constant movement.

• Constraints create clarity. A small space, simple setup, and clear rules force stronger performances and more intentional storytelling.

• Restraint is a creative choice. Doing less (fewer edits, fewer effects, fewer interruptions) often makes the work feel more confident and more human.

Editor’s note: The following interview has been edited for flow and clarity.

I’m the lead video producer for Tiny Desk concerts at NPR, which mostly means I manage a small team of videographers and video editors. We rotate directing and editing because we produce about three Tiny Desk concerts a week. Everyone takes one, edits one, and I help make sure everything stays cohesive, from graphics to lighting to pacing, without anyone burning out.

For a long time, Tiny Desk didn’t use lights at all. We relied entirely on natural light coming through the windows. Over the years, we’ve added a lighting system that stays off the ground so we don’t lose audience space and don’t have light stands getting in the way. It’s still subtle. We’re just trying to even things out, especially when clouds roll in and out, so as not to change the feeling of the room. The audio side is handled by NPR’s audio engineers, who rotate in much the same way our video team does.

Our camera approach is simple on purpose. One wide camera lives on a tripod. The others are on monopods and move based on the artists’ movements.

Lens choice depends on whether someone is playing an instrument. If they’re singing without one, we can go tighter with a 70–200. If they’re playing guitar or piano, we use a 24–105 so we can see both their face and their hands. Seeing the emotion while someone plays is really important to us.

Framing, for us, is about letting the artist speak for themselves. We don’t do fancy camera work. We hold steady. We breathe. We bend our knees. The beauty is in the music, not in showing off fancy camera work.

I used to think video was all about movement — running around, jolting the frame — but over time I’ve learned that a lot of the craft is actually learning how to be still. That applies to editing, too. We don’t cut in the middle of a phrase or lyric. If someone is having a solo moment, we sit with it. You wouldn’t look away if you were standing in the audience, so why would the camera?

That doesn’t mean we never move. Some music demands it. When punk or metal bands come in, the slow pans don’t always fit. Sometimes I’ll ditch the monopod and just match what I’m feeling. When Turnstile played Tiny Desk, the lead singer jumped on the desk and then into the crowd. We weren’t prepared for a crowd surf, it was our first, and we had to switch gears quickly. That taught me to expect the absurd, even if it never happens.

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Tiny Desk is a creative constraint, and that’s part of why it works. There’s no PA system. No in-ear monitors. No vocal effects. It’s raw voices in a small office space with a desk in the middle. Artists make of it what they want.

Sometimes that means we nudge the desk forward a few inches to fit a baby grand piano, or to make room for costumes like Gwar’s. Sometimes shelves get knocked over. That’s part of it.

The background has grown organically over time. Artists leave things behind like guitar picks, IDs, inhalers, little objects pulled from their bags. We ask them to sign what they leave. It becomes a kind of living archive. Nothing too precious, nothing staged. Just traces of who’s been there.

When someone new joins the team, I tell them the same thing I tell anyone learning video: just do it. Pick up the camera and film something.

I grew up filming my friends, filming my hamster running around my bathroom. It doesn’t have to be precious. That’s how you learn. That’s how you get comfortable. Over time, you find your own style. Not just in how you shoot, but in what you’re drawn to capture.

Tiny Desk taught me that you don’t need much to make something special. You don’t need to overproduce. Sometimes the most powerful thing you can do is set up the camera, hold it steady, and let what’s already there be enough.

🎧 Podcast of the Week: What Went Wrong

If you love hearing how the sausage didn’t get made, What Went Wrong is a fascinating listen. Each episode dives into the behind-the-scenes chaos, bad decisions, and near-disasters that almost derailed famous movies (and sometimes did). It’s a sharp reminder that creative work is messy and the stories that survive are rarely the ones that went according to plan.

🥾 Further Exploration: How Many Podcasts Are There?

If you’ve ever wondered just how crowded the podcasting landscape really is, this data-driven breakdown is eye-opening. It looks at how many podcasts exist in 2025, how many are actually active, and what that growth means for discoverability.

ICYMI:

🎧 The YouTube Trap Most Podcasters Fall Into (And How to Avoid It)

🎉 Celebrating 2 years of The Noise Gate!

🤬 What brands misunderstand about podcast creators (and vice versa)

💡 The Quiet Spark

A weekly question to ignite fresh thinking, stir self-reflection, and fuel your creative process behind the mic.

Where would doing less make your work stronger?

Presented by Acast

⭐️ Great Things Start in Little Rooms

Jack White once told André 3000, “Great things start in little rooms.”

Podcasting was built in these little rooms. On blankets hung as soundproofing, on laptops balanced on laundry baskets, on hosts whispering into USB mics while the rest of the house sleeps. And somehow, out of those tiny spaces, entire worlds emerge. Worlds big enough to move people and shift cultures.

The secret isn’t the size of the room, it’s the permission it gives you. Small rooms let you make something before anyone tells you what it should be.

🎯 Open to Work Spotlight: Rebecca Cunningham

A showcase of podcast creators, editors, and storytellers who are open to work and ready to elevate your next show.

Rebecca Cunningham is the Founder of Cordelia Studios, an award-winning kids' podcast production company. She started the kids' podcast, Girl Tales in 2017 and has since helped build podcasts for Mattel, Realm, National Geographic, Spotify Kids & Family, Sony, America’s Test Kitchen, and tonies. She was honored with the Webby for Best Kids & Family Podcast Episode, a Signal Award, the Kennedy Center’s Next 50 Award, and The Gotham/Variety Audio Honors.

Cool stuff Rebecca’s done:

• Achieved 140k monthly listens, produced 300+ episodes, and 8 seasons of Girl Tales

• Wrote and directed The Barbie Podcast for Mattel

• Currently creating a new kids' podcast about Sephardic Jewish ancestry with the Jewish Writers' Initiative

• Led 2 sold-out kids' podcast events at the Kennedy Center

Roles she’s looking for: 

• Creative Director

• Head of Kids' Content

• Executive Producer

• Audio Producer, Audio Director, Writer

• Associate Producer, Brand Partnerships

Contact Rebecca via LinkedIn.

🎙️ Signal Flow: Henry Molofsky

Industry game changers and valiant minds share their wisdom, adversities, and paths to innovation.

Henry Molofsky, former executive producer at Pineapple Street Studios

Henry Molofsky is a podcast producer and executive, and one of the creative forces behind some of the most acclaimed documentary podcasts of the past decade, including Hysterical, 9/12, Missing Richard Simmons, and Wind of Change. His work has been named a Pulitzer Prize finalist, twice awarded Podcast of the Year at the Ambies, recognized with an Edward R. Murrow Award, and nominated for a Peabody. Molofsky has also helped launch influential shows like Still Processing with Wesley Morris and Jenna Wortham, Stay Tuned with Preet, and The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller and Adam Scott. He lives in Los Angeles.

Editor’s note: The following interview has been edited for flow and clarity.

What I look for in a podcast pitch almost always begins with the host and their relationship to the story, their angle, their investment, or simply their passion. For investigative and documentary series, the host needs to be able to write. People hear the performance, but what they often miss is how much writing shapes every moment. If it’s good, you don’t notice it.

People have talked about a “Pineapple Street sound,” but internally the structure was more fragmented. Different senior producers ran their own narrative shows, often without crossing paths at all. What created cohesion was everything around the storytelling: editors like Joel Lovell shaping tone across multiple shows, shared engineers affecting sound, fact-checking embedded into the process, and original composers giving each project its own musical identity.

At Pineapple Street, my job as an executive producer meant initiating all parts of a show. Developing ideas, finding funding, negotiating terms, hiring the team, and setting up the framework a project needed to succeed. But I wasn’t the kind of EP who set things up and walked away. I was in the writing, the reporting, the interviews, the production, essentially acting as a senior producer too. These shows are writing-heavy and reporting-heavy, and even when something sounds off-the-cuff, every word is crafted on the page before it gets to the listener.

Discoverability, though, has only gotten harder. Ten or twelve years ago, if you made a decent investigative show, listeners would find it because there simply weren’t that many. Now there are dozens every week, some great, some not so much. And it’s hard to know what’s what.

Celebrity involvement can help, but only when the celebrity is genuinely invested. Otherwise, the audience feels misled.

Podcast artwork used to be an afterthought for us. We were audio people, and that’s where we put our money. But it became clear that podcasting is not just an audio medium; it’s an internet medium. Artwork matters. The whole visual identity matters. The way it looks on Apple, Spotify, Instagram, in an article, or inside a feed — all of it affects discoverability.

Designers would mock up every draft inside these real environments so we could see how it lived next to other shows. And because podcasts don’t come with built-in visual assets like film does, you have to think more like book publishing.

One of my favorite examples is 9/12. It’s a show about 9/11, and we didn’t want something depressing or literal, but we also didn’t want to lose the connection entirely. We worked with a creative director and a visual artist to explore ideas, like inflated shapes inspired by the Twin Towers, experiments with color, clouds. It was a long process, and I find that fun. Artwork should never be the thing you rush out at the end.

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Risk-taking has shaped many of the shows I’m proudest of. With Wind of Change, we flew to Germany to interview the lead singer of the Scorpions, a big swing financially and logistically. But I believe traveling always pays off. Being there changes what happens. When you show up, scenes occur naturally, and scenes are what make a story move. Reporting is always better when you’re physically present.

A different kind of risk was the score for 9/12. We commissioned an entire soundtrack built on a single instrument: a deep Norwegian tuba. It could have gone very wrong. Instead, because of the composer’s skill, it became one of the elements I’m most proud of. It gave the show a sonic identity you don’t hear anywhere else.

If I had unlimited resources, I wouldn’t chase a single “dream story.” I’d ask writers and thinkers I admire to pitch the thing they don’t think is pitchable. My favorite ideas are the ones I never expected, where the content matches the host or writer perfectly, where there’s a surprising angle or a completely idiosyncratic approach. I don’t want to compete with six versions of the same news-cycle idea. I want the story no one else is making.

And at the heart of it all is collaboration. These shows come from teams of five to ten people working together for long stretches, sometimes more than a year. The chemistry matters. The trust matters. Working with the same researchers, fact checkers, producers, editors, and engineers, it starts to feel like a band. When everyone is firing together, that’s where the good work comes from.

🎧 Podcast of the Week: A Very Merry Iconic Podcast

If you love pop culture served with warmth, wit, and just the right amount of festive sparkle, A Very Merry Iconic Podcast is a delight. Danny and Jenna dive into movies, music, TV, and all things nostalgic with the chemistry of two friends you wish you could join at the table. It’s the perfect listen when you want something light but genuinely joyful.

🥾 Further Exploration: Apple Podcasts unveils the most popular shows and trends of 2025

If you want a snapshot of what listeners actually showed up for this year, Apple’s 2025 Podcast Trends report is worth a scroll. It’s part inspiration, part market check. And a helpful reminder that the medium keeps evolving in ways creators can learn from.

ICYMI:

🎧 The YouTube Trap Most Podcasters Fall Into (And How to Avoid It)

🎉 Celebrating 2 years of The Noise Gate!

🤬 What brands misunderstand about podcast creators (and vice versa)

💡 The Quiet Spark

A weekly question to ignite fresh thinking, stir self-reflection, and fuel your creative process behind the mic.

Who on your team makes the work better, and how can you create more space for that?

Presented by Acast

⚾️ Sports Mentality in the Creative Space

Creatives love to believe we’re nothing like athletes. We don’t “train,” we “feel.” We don’t “compete,” we “express.” And yet every meaningful creative breakthrough has the same fingerprints as a great sports moment: repetition, focus, resilience, and a willingness to look a little ridiculous while you get better.

Next time you feel stuck, try thinking less like a tortured artist and more like someone warming up before game time. Take the shot. Miss gloriously. Adjust. Repeat. Because creativity isn’t a performance, it’s practice.

🎙️ Signal Flow: Stephanie Arakelian

Industry game changers and valiant minds share their wisdom, adversities, and paths to innovation.

Stephanie Arakelian, Podcast Growth Strategist at Mark Manson’s SOLVED

Stephanie Arakelian is an award-winning Podcast Growth Strategist and the current Podcast Growth Strategist at Mark Manson’s SOLVED, where she leads analytics and omni-platform expansion across audio and YouTube. Named one of Quill’s 50 Trailblazing Women in Podcasting (2024) and a two-time Ambies Judge, she has driven audience growth for major shows including Women of Impact and Impact Theory. She also consults for creators and brands and co-founded the SoCal Podcast Meetup. Connect on IG @stepharakelian or LinkedIn.

Editor’s note: The following interview has been edited for flow and clarity.

People always ask the same question: How do I grow my show? Everyone wants the hack. The secret. The magic switch. But growth isn’t magic, it’s clarity and consistency.

Consistency because listeners crave reliability. Release your episodes on the same day, around the same time, every time. Human behavior loves rhythm. It’s not glamorous, but it’s the root system that lets a podcast grow.

And clarity, because without a “why,” even the most well-produced show collapses. I walk creators through this all the time. Why are you doing this? To build community? Tell your story? Generate leads? Connect with people? If your answer doesn’t light you up, you’re not going to stick with the parts that aren’t fun, like the editing, the show notes, the uploads, the titles, the little unsexy pieces people underestimate.

When we talk about advanced strategy, things get more interesting. Podcasting today isn’t one audience, it’s multiple. Audio listeners behave differently from YouTube viewers. Spotify video consumers aren’t the same as subscribers on Apple Podcasts. So the first step is to really understand who’s listening. Not who you think you’re making the show for, but who the data says is actually there. Demographics, age ranges, location, gender skew, best-performing topics. From that, you build an audience profile.

Once you know who they are, you can meet them where they already are. If your audience is women 35–55, their time is tight. They want value early in an episode. They want structure. They want clarity. They want to know exactly why they should spend 45 minutes with you. Sometimes that means shorter episodes. Sometimes it means front-loading the “here’s what you’ll get” section.

And then there’s YouTube. That’s a different beast entirely. Discoverability exists there in a way it simply doesn’t in podcast apps. YouTube is powered by search, by recommended videos, by titles and thumbnails that signal value in under two seconds. Average view duration (AVD) is the metric people obsess over. You have to hook viewers fast. And often that means packaging the same episode differently for YouTube versus audio.

For example, at a previous network I worked at, we found something interesting happening on YouTube. One long two- or three-hour episode performed well because the audience was primed for long-form conversations. But on audio? Completely different. Audio listeners topped out around 40–45 minutes. So we split episodes in half for audio, giving listeners what they could actually consume and what kept them engaged. We changed titles, too, because audio isn’t driven by search. People rarely discover shows through episode titles; they come for the host, the style, the perspective.

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Serious creators choose Acast for revenue and growth. Access premium advertisers, smarter sponsorships, and global distribution - all built to maximise your earnings.

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YouTube is search, SEO, topical angles, click-worthy framing. And if you want to grow there, you have to play that game. Chapters help retain viewers. Strong thumbnails matter. Timestamps and takeaways help people jump to the value they want.

The trick is delivering value without alienating either audience. Too many podcasters just rip the audio from their video show and throw it into an RSS feed. That’s not enough. If the audio-only listener feels like they’re missing something, you’ve just trained them to go somewhere else. But when the storytelling is strong, when the episode works even with your eyes closed, that’s when you’ve elevated both versions.

The biggest shift I’ve seen is creators learning how to design for multiple platforms without becoming multiple people. It’s not about being everywhere, it’s about being adaptable. About understanding why someone shows up for you in the first place.

And then there’s the CTA, the call to action. Creators hate saying it: “Don’t forget to subscribe! And ring the bell!” And yes, audiences can tune it out. But here’s the truth: If you don’t say it, they won’t do it. It’s human nature. Your CTA should align with your goal. Do you need subscribers? Say it upfront. Do you want newsletter sign-ups? Point them there. Be clear, because clarity converts.

One YouTube channel that nails this is Diary of a CEO. They’re direct, transparent, even a little cheeky, and it works. They tell you exactly what percentage of viewers aren’t subscribed. It’s psychology, and it’s effective.

When I think about where podcasting is heading, here’s what excites me most: The next evolution hasn’t been invented yet. The rules aren’t fixed. The opportunities aren’t capped. There are so many ways to break the system, to split content across platforms, to treat video and audio as siblings instead of clones, to build entire ecosystems around a show.

My advice to creators is simple: Keep pushing. Keep experimenting. Keep questioning the rules. This industry is still young, still fluid, still full of possibility. The next wave won’t appear on its own. We have to build it together.

🎧 Podcast of the Week: Gloss Angeles

If you love beauty podcasts that feel equal parts insightful and delightfully fun, Gloss Angeles is a must-listen. Hosts Kirbie Johnson and Sara Tan Christensen bring sharp reporting and plenty of personality to conversations about skincare, makeup, trends, and the stories behind them.

🥾 Further Exploration: Podcast Statistics & Industry Trends 2025: Listens, Gear, & More

The Podcast Host breaks down the latest listener trends, platform shifts, and industry data in a way that’s truly useful. It’s a quick pulse check on the medium’s momentum and a great way to spot opportunities for your own show.

ICYMI:

🎉 Celebrating 2 years of The Noise Gate!

🤬 What brands misunderstand about podcast creators (and vice versa)

🎤 The Maine producer turning local life into art

💡 The Quiet Spark

A weekly question to ignite fresh thinking, stir self-reflection, and fuel your creative process behind the mic.

What are you asking your audience to do, and is it clear enough for them to act?

Presented by Transistor.fm

🎂 Has it been 2 years already?

Creativity is a shared frequency, and it sharpens when other people tune in.

Every reply, every forward, every “this made me think” message, you’re helping shape the signal. You’re the reason this thing has a heartbeat.

So thank you, truly.

Not in the generic newsletter-signoff way, but in the way creators thank the people who make the work worth doing. I’m grateful for your attention, your time, your curiosity, and your willingness to explore the creative edges with me.

And if you have 60 seconds, I’d love your help shaping what comes next by taking The Noise Gate reader survey.

Grateful to be in your inbox—and on this journey—every week.

🎙️ Signal Flow: Some of My Favorite Interview Moments

After two years of interviewing creators, producers, hosts, and podcasting game changers I admire, I’ve been fortunate to receive more wisdom and creative insights than I could ever fit in one issue. But I’d like to share a few favorites.

Hi reader, Doug here.

Editor’s note: The following interviews have been edited for flow and clarity.

No matter how boring somebody seems, crazy shit happened in their life at one point. And they have a story to tell about it. We should never think there are people who are beneath listening to.

- Cal Fussman, Host of Big Questions with Cal Fussman

Conversations, like writing, can reveal parts of ourselves we hadn’t realized were there. Studs Terkel was interviewing a woman and he let her listen to the recording. And when she stopped listening, she took the headphones off and said, “I didn't know I felt that way.”

- Rob Rosenthal, Host and Producer of Sound School

I started this nine years ago with nothing but an idea and a conviction that it mattered. It took years of pitching, rejection, and waiting for the right collaborators. But stories like this only happen if you refuse to let them go.

- Jodi Tovay, Host of Wisecrack

Of course, I’ve had my share of “oh no” moments. Once, a last-minute change unmuted a track that should’ve stayed silent. I skipped a final quality check, and sure enough, my host called the next morning after the episode went live. It happens. But I’ll never forget the advice from an early boss: “CYA: cover your ass.”

- Derek L. John, EP, Editor, Showrunner

I started a podcast manifesto before we even launched our first episode. It’s a document of guiding principles—things we aspire to, even if we don’t always get them right. One of the rules is Beware of Banter. There’s fun, purposeful chat, and then there’s rambling that makes listeners think, “Why are they still talking?” We try to keep things intentional.

- Gretchen Rubin, Host of Happier with Gretchen Rubin

I had hermit crabs growing up. And eventually they’d outgrow their shells, crawling across the sand as these horrible, naked, pink, vulnerable little things. That’s kind of what starting this podcast felt like. Exposed. Out in the open in ways I hadn’t been before. And I’m pretty sure that’s a good sign.

- Steve Burns, former Host of Blue’s Clues (and current Host of Alive with Steve Burns)

I’ve learned the power of shutting up. I used to hate awkward silences. I'd rush to fill them, prove I was smart, keep momentum going. But I’ve found more value in listening, in curiosity. These days, I use AI tools that literally tell me when I’m monologuing. It’s humbling. It helps.

- Bryan Barletta, Founder of Sounds Profitable

What worries me is the flood of meaningless audio that automation makes easy. Not because the tech is evil, but because the world doesn’t need more noise. The question I always come back to is: Why make this? If the answer isn’t that it adds clarity or connection, maybe it’s not worth making.

- Theo Balcolmb, Co-Creator of The Daily

We were trained as prosecutors to have one thought or idea per question. The technical term for it, legally, if you do the opposite, is called a compound question. Let’s say you ask, “Were you in New York City on March 14^th and did you witness a traffic accident?” That's actually two questions. A compound question is confusing for the interviewee and the audience. It also allows the interviewee to either dodge or collapse or answer only whichever part they want to answer. So one thought per question, and ask short, direct questions.

- Elie Honig, Host of Up Against the Mob

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For Black Friday, get 20% off Transistor's annual podcast hosting plans. Upload your episodes to Transistor and we'll distribute them to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, etc. Start unlimited podcasts!

👉 Click here to get 14 days free!

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(continued from above)

I convinced myself, out of fear, that I might be able to get 10% of my audience to support me at $1 per month. Listener feedback really helped during this process. Two separate listeners I had gotten to know were like, “Is that really what you think your show is worth? Don't you work on it a ton? You’re really only asking for $1?” And someone was like, “Are you sure this isn't your self-esteem or your fear of getting in the way of things? Are you doing what's best for you and the podcast?” That was so helpful to get that honest feedback. Subscription services and crowdfunding helped turn the show from a hobby into a full-time gig.

- Drew Ackerman, Host of Sleep with Me

Not every source is happy with how they’re portrayed. That’s a tough reality of this job. My job isn’t to make people look good—it’s to tell the truth. As long as I know we’ve reported the story fairly and accurately, I stand by it.

- Denise Chan, Writer, Reporter, and Host of Scam Factory

Being independent means every feather in your cap is functional. It’s not just decoration, it helps you fly. I didn’t just show up and talk into a mic. I cut the tape. I wrote the scripts. I made the thing. And when you do all that, the recognition means something deeper. It’s personal.

- Ronald Young, Jr., Creator of Weight For It

I think it could go one of two ways. Either podcasting becomes something you do just because you love it, with no money in it. Or creators start to realize they don’t need networks. Like the music industry, they’ll say, “We don’t need a label.” With Patreon or other direct support, some shows may find stability on their own. Something has to change, because right now, a lot of amazing talent is being pushed out, and that doesn’t feel healthy for the industry.

- Cassi Jerkins, Executive Producer of Office Ladies

Podcasting is the nucleus. It’s the center of everything we do—books, toys, memberships, live shows. The podcast fuels it all. That's the strategy: create great content first, then build from there.

- Mindy Thomas, Co-Founder of Tinkercast

🎧 Podcast of the Week: Practical AI

If you want a podcast that makes AI feel less like a mysterious monolith and more like a practical tool you can actually use, check out Practical AI. Each episode breaks down real-world applications, emerging tools, and industry insights in a way that’s accessible without being watered down. It’s a great listen if you want to spark new ideas for how AI can support your creative work behind the mic.

🥾 Further Exploration: Podcasting Activity Reaches Record High in 2025 – What Creators Should Do

This quick read breaks down the surge of new shows entering the field, and why that’s both exciting and a little daunting. More importantly, it outlines what creators can do now to stand out: sharpen your niche, deepen your craft, and rethink how you show up for your audience. A useful pulse-check on where the medium is headed and how to stay ahead of the wave.

ICYMI:

🤬 What brands misunderstand about podcast creators (and vice versa)

🎤 The Maine producer turning local life into art

🎙️ Co-creator of The Daily makes her next move

💡 The Quiet Spark

A weekly question to ignite fresh thinking, stir self-reflection, and fuel your creative process behind the mic.

What emotion are you not letting into the work?

Presented by Transistor.fm

🙏 Can you do me a 60-second favor?

Hello, dear reader! I’m experimenting with a few new ideas for The Noise Gate, and I’d love your take. Would you mind sharing your opinion in this anonymous survey? It only takes 60 seconds!

🔥➡️ Press the Advantage

Too many creators pause to celebrate the spark instead of fanning it. The truth is, creative rhythm is fragile. Once you’re in flow, hesitation kills it faster than failure ever could.

When the wind’s at your back, keep going. Because if you don’t press the advantage, it presses back.

🎙️ Signal Flow: Jeremy Westphal

Industry game changers and valiant minds share their wisdom, adversities, and paths to innovation.

Jeremy Westphal, Director of Partnerships at Gen-Z Media

Jeremy Westphal is the Director of Partnerships at Gen-Z Media, focusing on marketing, creative services, advertising, and business partnerships, and previously worked in audio and podcasting for 10 years at Comedy Central, CBS, MTV, Nickelodeon, and more under Paramount Global.

Editor’s note: The following interview has been edited for flow and clarity.

I didn’t plan on working in podcasting. I started in theater, studying every corner of the craft. Acting, directing, stage management, box office, design. Back then, it felt like a generalist’s education. Now I see it for what it really was: training for a 360-degree brain.

Theater taught me to understand the whole system, not just my place in it. And that way of seeing is the through-line in everything I do at Gen-Z Media.

These days, my title says partnerships and ad strategy, but that barely scratches the surface. I work across ad sales, distribution, business development, creative, marketing, operations. Anything that touches a show or helps it reach its audience. I like knowing how every department works, what they need, what slows them down, and what helps them thrive.

It’s the same lesson I learned from a great assistant director on a film set: your job isn’t to know everything, it’s to know enough to help everyone.

Curiosity is the engine behind all of it. I hope I never lose it, even though I constantly feel like I’m not curious enough.

I admire people who live with that beginner’s mind, the ones who ask why, how, and what if without apology. I try to borrow some of that from them. When I hear something magical in a podcast, I think, How did they do that? Then I start pulling on the thread. Sometimes I can catch a little of that lightning myself.

But curiosity isn’t just a craft tool. It’s relational. It’s how you understand what someone truly needs, whether it’s a creator, a colleague, or a brand. I ask people the same question over and over: How can I help you? It cuts through ego, guesswork, and hidden expectations. And honestly, it makes the work more fun.

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Transistor is the best way to start one podcast (or multiple!). Upload your episodes to Transistor and we'll distribute them to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, etc. We do private podcasts, too!

👉 Click here to get 14 days free!

……………………..

(continued from above)

Some of the best ideas I’ve heard in the last year came from conversations with no agenda. Just two people following a thread because it felt good.

That’s what people get wrong about partnerships. Creators sometimes misunderstand what brands actually want. Brands often misunderstand what creators actually need. But when you get everyone talking honestly, about goals, audiences, hopes, and guardrails, you can build something that works for all sides.

The worst thing you can do is rely on emails alone. The best thing you can do is get someone on the phone and actually talk like humans. You hear their tone. You catch nuance. You discover what they’re really trying to solve. And sometimes you walk away with an idea you never expected.

Working in kids and family audio adds another layer: COPPA (Children's Online Privacy Protection Act). As someone who grew up on ‘80s cartoons and now has two kids of my own, I take that seriously.

We’re intentional at GZM: we separate ads clearly from the content, we keep things honest, and we aim our messaging at adults who are co-listening. Families experience our shows together, in cars and kitchens and living rooms. That matters.

And when it’s done well, it hits. I remember when I was at Nickelodeon, helping guide an early Blue’s Clues podcast. Not writing, not producing, just helping shape the podcast strategy and release. When the promo aired on TV, my son saw it and jumped up and down on the couch yelling, “Daddy, they like your work so much they put it on TV!” That moment cracked something open for me. It made the whole world of family audio feel bigger, softer, more meaningful.

That’s the gift of this field. In a moment when creative jobs feel scarce and uncertainty is the norm, I get to collaborate with wildly inventive people and make stories families can enjoy together. I get to help shape work my kids actually listen to. I get to be curious for a living. That’s more than I ever imagined.

🎧 Podcast of the Week: Magic: The Gathering Drive to Work

If you want a podcast that feels equal parts creative masterclass and behind-the-scenes magic, check out Drive to Work. Hosted by Magic: The Gathering head designer Mark Rosewater, each episode is a quick, thoughtful dive into creativity, iteration, world-building, and the messy joy of making things people love. It’s surprisingly inspiring for podcasters, proof that great ideas often take shape in the most ordinary moments…like your commute.

🥾 Further Exploration: Video podcasts become next streaming battleground

TikTok, Netflix, and Spotify are quietly turning video podcasts into the next streaming arms race. Here’s what that means for creators who want to stand out. It’s a smart snapshot of a rapidly shifting landscape, and a reminder that format experimentation isn’t a risk anymore. It’s an advantage.

ICYMI:

🎤 The Maine producer turning local life into art

🎙️ Co-creator of The Daily makes her next move

💀 Can comedy and true crime mix?

💡 The Quiet Spark

A weekly question to ignite fresh thinking, stir self-reflection, and fuel your creative process behind the mic.

What would your next episode sound like if you approached it with a beginner’s mind?

Presented by Transistor.fm

🚨 Take The Noise Gate Survey! 🚨

Hello, dear reader! Would you mind doing me a huge favor and taking this quick, anonymous survey about The Noise Gate? It’s your chance to help make TNG even better!

🧐 The Na Na Na Na Boo Boo Technique

Half of art is rebellion. The other half is saying “na na na na boo boo” with taste.

The technique is simple: find what annoys you…then make something better. The worst ad you’ve ever heard. The podcast host who talks over their guests. The lazy take that went viral. Instead of rolling your eyes, let it light a fire.

It’s not about spite, it’s about clarity and sharpening your skills. Every “ugh” is really a “this could be so much more,” opening the door to prove your taste matches your talents.

So next time you feel that petty creative spark bubbling up, channel it. Hit record. Make something that answers back.

🎙️ Signal Flow: Brenna Farrell

Industry game changers and valiant minds share their wisdom, adversities, and paths to innovation.

Brenna Farrell, producer of Essential Salt

Brenna Farrell is an editor and producer who’s worked for Radiolab and NPR, and is thrilled be part of the team at Maine Public.

Editor’s note: The following interview has been edited for flow and clarity.

Essential Salt may be about Maine, but it’s really about community. Every episode asks the same quiet questions: What does it mean to belong? What makes a place worth staying in? How do we live together when we see the world differently?

The state might be called “Vacationland,” but real life happens here in all its messy, beautiful contradictions. Maine is a microcosm of everything the country is wrestling with: economics, environment, immigration, identity. You can hear all of that play out in a diner, on a fishing dock, or across a town-hall table.

Working locally has also cracked something open for me creatively. I’ve always been an editor. The planner, the tape cutter, the one mapping the structure. But on this project, I had to take on sound design myself. For the first time, I built our little sonic IDs, 30-second collages of voices and emotion that open each episode. I didn’t think of myself as someone who could score or design sound, but this project forced me to try. And in doing it, I realized that of course I could. I’d been hearing it all along.

We released six episodes, twelve stories total, and dropped them all at once, binge-style. Each one is a reminder that meaningful storytelling doesn’t have to be grand; it just has to be true.

When I think about what I want listeners to take away, it’s not about Maine so much as it is about paying attention to where you live. Noticing the small acts of courage, humor, and kindness that make up a place. Sometimes the most powerful stories are the ones happening right down the street.

For me, that’s the essential part: the salt. The thing that keeps a story alive long after it’s told.

(continued below)

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Transistor is the best way to start one podcast (or multiple!). Upload your episodes to Transistor and we'll distribute them to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, etc. We do private podcasts, too!

👉 Click here to get 14 days free!

……………………..

(continued from above)

I’ve spent most of my career chasing stories that start small and end up being about something much bigger.

I came up in public radio. Long-form documentaries, narrative nonfiction, the kind of audio that takes time to unfold. I was shaped by places like WNYC and Radiolab, where you could stretch an idea until it shimmered. Those years taught me how to listen, really listen, for the tension beneath a story. For the laugh hiding inside something tragic. For the quiet breath before someone tells you who they really are.

Today I’m at Maine Public Radio, where I work on a series called Essential Salt. It’s a collection of local stories that feel, to me, anything but small. They’re about people figuring out what it means to belong to a place, to take responsibility for it, to challenge it, to love it anyway.

One story follows a man fighting to keep his vanity license plate “PWR BTM.” To some, it’s provocative. To him, it’s identity. In a state once famous for anything-goes license plates, he became a kind of folk hero when new laws took his away. At first, it seemed like a funny little piece about freedom of expression, but the more we talked, the more it became a story about pride, persistence, and how we show the world who we are.

Another story, “The Valentine’s Bandit,” follows a secret tradition that lived for decades in Portland. Every February 14th, red paper hearts would appear overnight — on lampposts, shop windows, even cranes and forts in Casco Bay. No one knew who was behind it until the man responsible passed away.

His family finally revealed the secret: he’d been covering the city in hearts simply because it made people happy. His wife told me, “It was a gift to the city of Portland.” You could hear the weight of love and loss in her voice. It’s moments like that, when an ordinary gesture becomes a mirror for something eternal, that remind me why I do this work.

🎧 Podcast of the Week: Diggnation

Diggnation is back! After a 15-year hiatus, Kevin Rose and Alex Albrecht are back covering the top stories from around the internet. This cult-favorite tech talk show is back in podcast form. The same beer-in-hand banter, the same wild mix of web culture, innovation, and nostalgia.

🥾 Further Exploration: Why curiosity gets you farther than ambition

Drew Lynch shares moving, funny, and honest moments from his journey, showing how staying open and playful turned setbacks into breakthroughs. If you’re looking to reset how you approach creativity (especially behind the mic), this is a refreshing nudge to stay inquisitive instead of just chasing outcomes.

ICYMI:

🎙️ Co-creator of The Daily makes her next move

💀 Can comedy and true crime mix?

🪐 Inside the Star Trek podcast rewriting a legend

💡 The Quiet Spark

A weekly question to ignite fresh thinking, stir self-reflection, and fuel your creative process behind the mic.

Where does your curiosity end and control begin?

Presented by Transistor.fm

🎉 Take The Noise Gate Survey!

Got two minutes?

This quick, anonymous survey is your chance to help make TNG even better.

This little newsletter started as a spark, an experiment in pulling back the curtain on how great audio gets made. And it’s grown into something I’m deeply proud of, thanks to readers like you.

Your feedback helps keep The Noise Gate evolving, inspired, and just downright fun to make. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Because without you, this whole thing would have remained a “maybe one day” idea.

🔨 Closing the Creative Gap

Every creator knows the ache between what you want to make and what you’re able to make. It’s the space between your taste and your skill, between what you hear in your head and what actually comes out of the speakers.

Early on, that gap feels like failure. You record, edit…and cringe. You can sense what “good” sounds like — the rhythm, the pacing, the weight of silence — but your own work never quite gets there. That’s not a flaw. That’s the compass. Taste shows you where you’re headed; ability is just the vehicle that hasn’t caught up yet.

The only way to close the gap is to walk through it, again and again. Let your taste hurt your feelings until your hands learn what your ears already know.

🎙️ Signal Flow: Theo Balcomb

Industry game changers and valiant minds share their wisdom, adversities, and paths to innovation.

Theo Balcomb, Co-Creator of The Daily (PC: Daymion Mardel)

Theo Balcomb created The Daily at The New York Times in 2017. Under her leadership, the podcast reached an audience of more than 4 million listeners a day and more than 200 public radio stations, won a duPont award, and served as part of multiple Pulitzer Prize-winning submissions. Before The Daily, she was the youngest-ever supervising producer of All Things Considered at NPR. These days, she is working as an independent editor and producer on projects across the audio industry, including the podcast Song Exploder, The Washington Post’s investigative series The Empty Grave of Comrade Bishop, a 2024 Peabody award winner, Broken Doors, a 2022 Pulitzer finalist, and Field Trip, a 2024 duPont award nominee.

Editor’s note: The following interview has been edited for flow and clarity.

I didn’t leave The Daily because I stopped believing in it. I left because I wanted to see what else I could make.

When you help create something that becomes part of millions of people’s mornings, it’s tempting to stay put. But after years of running at full speed, I knew the pace wasn’t sustainable. I was proud of what we built, the people, the process, the sound, but I also wanted to try new things, to make something that didn’t yet exist.

So I stepped away. I moved home to Maine. I swapped the urgency of a newsroom for a quieter rhythm, joined the ranks of freelancers and independent producers I’d always admired, and decided to see what it felt like to build a creative life on my own terms.

When I pitched The Daily back in 2016, people weren’t sure a newspaper should even be in the audio business. At the time, I was at All Things Considered, watching Serial explode and realizing my friends (people who’d never listened to public radio) were suddenly hooked on audio storytelling. They’d call me and ask, “Why aren’t you doing this?” And I’d say, “I am doing this. You’re just not hearing it because it’s on the radio.” That was the spark.

I wanted to make a news show for people like them, one that felt human and alive, not institutional. When The New York Times posted a listing for an audio executive producer, I applied and included a memo outlining the shows I’d make in the first year. The first idea on that list was a daily news podcast. They didn’t hire me for the EP job, but they called back later to say, “We liked that daily idea. Want to make it?”

I joined in January 2017, a month before launch. There were four of us (Michael Barbaro, Lisa Tobin, Andy Mills, and me) inventing the show day by day. Two weeks after Trump’s inauguration, we released our first episode. The world was chaotic, and people were hungry for clarity. Suddenly, this little experiment took off.

From the start, I wanted the show to feel completable. Something listeners could actually finish each morning without feeling buried. Some people worried that a new episode every day would stress people out, but I thought: then make it short. Make it a habit. A few minutes of focus in a noisy world.

Of course, that didn’t last. The stories got bigger, the stakes higher. We realized listeners didn’t mind staying longer if the story deserved it. The so-called attention-span crisis didn’t apply. People will follow a good story wherever it leads.

What made The Daily exciting was what it didn’t have: the constraints of broadcast. We weren’t bound by the clock or by the constant parentheticals explaining who’s speaking and where we are in time. We could linger. We could breathe. We could make journalism that felt cinematic.

Eventually, I left. Not because I stopped loving the work, but because I wanted to see what else was possible. I’d spent my career inside big institutions, and I wanted to learn how it felt to build things outside them. Freelancing gave me that chance. It’s not always comfortable, I miss the illusion of stability sometimes. But it’s exhilarating to choose your projects and collaborate across the industry.

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Transistor is the best way to start one podcast (or multiple!). Upload your episodes to Transistor and we'll distribute them to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, etc. We do private podcasts, too!

👉 Click here to get 14 days free!

……………………..

(continued from above)

I’ve started using new tools, too. Descript changed how I do early edits. It lets you see and cut audio like text, which is wild and useful. As long as you remember to keep listening. Because if you edit only with your eyes, you lose the music of the voice. Technology can help the process, but it can’t replace your ear.

What worries me is the flood of meaningless audio that automation makes easy. Not because the tech is evil, but because the world doesn’t need more noise. The question I always come back to is: Why make this? If the answer isn’t that it adds clarity or connection, maybe it’s not worth making.

That was always the point of The Daily: one story, done right. Something thoughtful and necessary at a time when everything felt chaotic. We hoped it helped people understand what was happening around them, even for a few minutes.

If there’s a legacy for The Daily… I hope the legacy is that, instead of feeling like we unleashed a crazy idea that you can make a show every day and then everybody should do it, people understand the care that goes into it.

It wasn't necessarily an intention of the show, but a thing that happened as a result, is that more people understood what it was to be a reporter and what it was to get information, and make sure it was as right as we could get it. And so I hope that there's a legacy of understanding the media a little more. That we're all just trying our best to find the story, figure it out, and share it in a compelling way.

🎧 Podcast of the Week: Cheeky Pint

If you like your big ideas served with a side of wit, grab a seat at Cheeky Pint. Hosted by Stripe co-founder John Collison, the show feels less like an interview and more like a smart pub chat, where founders, builders, and thinkers talk candidly about what they’ve learned along the way.

🥾 Further Exploration: How to Create a Writing Process That Works for You

For podcasters who script episodes, jot down segment ideas, or map out interview questions, this one’s a gem. It breaks down how to turn all that creative energy into a repeatable process that actually works.

ICYMI:

💀 Can comedy and true crime mix?

🪐 Inside the Star Trek podcast rewriting a legend

🎙️ Steve Burns’ podcast is full of clues about being human

💡 The Quiet Spark

A weekly question to ignite fresh thinking, stir self-reflection, and fuel your creative process behind the mic.

Are you editing to make it better, or to make it safer?

Presented by Cozy Critters

🤖 You’ve Got to Be Better Than the New Easy Thing

Every creative revolution has its shortcut. The printing press made scribes obsolete. The camera made portrait painters nervous. Now, AI is making us wonder if using it is the only way to stay competitive in a creative field.

But here’s the truth: the easy thing has always existed. The difference now is that it’s faster, cheaper, and more ubiquitous.

So what do we do?

We get better than the easy thing.

AI can mimic your words, but it can’t mirror your weirdness. It can generate a story, but it can’t live one. Your edge isn’t efficiency. It’s experience.

So yes, use the tools. Let the robots fetch the groceries. But the soul work, the work that takes time, requires effort, and is uniquely ours? That’s still on us.

🎙️ Signal Flow: Jodi Tovay

Industry game changers and valiant minds share their wisdom, adversities, and paths to innovation.

Jodi Tovay, host of Wisecrack

Jodi Tovay is a four-time Emmy® Award-nominated and Telly Award-winning producer with more than 20 years of experience in true crime television, media, and documentary storytelling. After leaving her full-time job at Warner Brothers Discovery, Jodi took a vacation to Scotland and while seeking shelter from the rain at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, she stumbled into a small pop-up comedy club. There, she discovered a new voice that would unexpectedly shape the next nine years of her life. Onstage was a little-known comedian named Edd Hedges, whose performance sparked more than just curiosity—it sparked a long and transformative journey.

Editor’s note: The following interview has been edited for flow and clarity.

The idea for Wisecrack started in the most unexpected way…while hiding from the rain at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. I ducked into a small pop-up comedy show, and onstage was this young British comedian named Edd Hedges.

He told a story that was dark, funny, raw, and completely alive. I’d spent years being told that crime and comedy don’t mix. But in that moment, I realized they absolutely can, if the storyteller is good enough. Edd proved that humor and tragedy can live side by side, the way they do in real life.

Nine years later, we’ve turned that spark into a limited true crime podcast that’s equal parts comedy special, thriller, and investigation. Finding the right balance between those tones was its own odyssey. We went through countless versions, trying different cuts, shifting beats, moving jokes, and rewriting narration. None of us knew if it was working. But that’s what creative risk looks like — a lot of trial, a lot of error, and a lot of play. You have to trick yourself into failing forward.

I think of it as a dance between structure and instinct. Every time something felt too light, we asked ourselves, Does this honor the real people in this story? Every time it got too heavy, we asked, Where’s the humanity? What guided us was Edd’s own storytelling, his ability to find humor in pain, to make you laugh and then gut you in the same breath. That rhythm became our compass.

I’m a television producer turned podcast producer. After two decades in true crime TV, I was drawn to podcasting because it strips storytelling down to its purest form. It’s just words and voices. There are no visual tricks to hide behind. You can hear truth (or the absence of it) in someone’s tone. That’s what I find so challenging and fascinating about this medium. You can’t fake authenticity in audio.

What I’ve learned is that podcasting gives you a kind of freedom that television rarely allows. The flexibility of working from a home studio, being able to record when inspiration strikes, it’s a gift. And I love that metrics are transparent. In TV, the numbers are guarded. In podcasts, you can see when people skip ads, where they stop listening, and what makes them stay. That data sharpens your storytelling. It’s not a mystery audience; it’s a relationship.

I’ve always preferred to stay behind the lens or the microphone. But when you create your own project, you become the free talent. There’s something both terrifying and liberating about that. Luckily, I had my dear friend and writer alongside me, providing the checks and balances I needed to stay honest. When it’s your own voice, you can lose perspective. Having someone you trust to say, “You’re overthinking it” or “You’re missing it” is everything.

(continued below)

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💤🎃💤 Need a little peace and quiet this Halloween?

Cozy Critters is the award-winning bedtime podcast that helps kids wind down while learning about animals around the world. With gentle stories, calming sounds, and just the right dose of curiosity, it’s the nighttime routine your whole family will love.

😻 Mom’s Choice Award winner

😻 Featured by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine

😻 Top 5 podcast worldwide on Yoto

👉 Make tonight a Cozy Critters night

……………………..

(continued from above)

Of course, producing across countries added its own challenges. British law enforcement is far more private than in the U.S., and getting information through Freedom of Information requests was an uphill battle. They have a thousand ways to stall you. I learned quickly that persistence and creativity matter more than credentials. A friend taught me that you can sometimes FOIA private ambulance companies because they’re connected to the government. Tricks like that make all the difference.

It’s been years of chasing this story, building trust, earning access, and not giving up. When I first pitched this project, every network passed. They didn’t think comedy and true crime could coexist. I pitched it again and again, until finally, someone said yes. Then, years later, the people who said no came back and admitted, “We should’ve done that one.” That almost never happens in this business.

The creative risk I’m proudest of is how it ends. What became the emotional core of the story wasn’t the plan. The ending found us, not the other way around. It taught me the most valuable lesson in storytelling: listen to the material. It knows more than you do.

If I had one piece of advice for other creators, it’s this: don’t give up. Not when it’s hard, not when it’s quiet, not when every door is closed.

I started this nine years ago with nothing but an idea and a conviction that it mattered. It took years of pitching, rejection, and waiting for the right collaborators. But stories like this only happen if you refuse to let them go.

🎧 Podcast of the Week: The Anthropocene Reviewed

In The Anthropocene Reviewed, author John Green reviews different aspects of the human experience on a five-star scale, from sunsets to Diet Dr Pepper to the capacity for wonder. It’s part essay, part memoir, and entirely human. Every episode feels like a deep breath in the chaos of modern life, tender, funny, and quietly profound.

🥾 Further Exploration: The Truth About Audio-Only Podcasts in 2025

Curious whether audio-only podcasts are still a viable format in 2025? This article from The Podcast Host unpacks the data and reveals that while video can help some heavy hitters break through, many successful shows still thrive purely in audio.

ICYMI:

🪐 Inside the Star Trek podcast rewriting a legend

🎙️ Steve Burns’ podcast is full of clues about being human

💀 This true crime podcast puts you to sleep

💡 The Quiet Spark

A weekly question to ignite fresh thinking, stir self-reflection, and fuel your creative process behind the mic.

What part of your creative process feels the most alive? What part feels like routine?

Presented by Cozy Critters

🧩 The Problem with Problems

How we describe our work becomes how we experience it. The words we choose set the tone for the climb.

Problem? It sounds like something to avoid, not something to solve.

When you reframe a problem as a puzzle, a challenge, an experiment, your brain starts looking for patterns. Call it a challenge, and you shift into motion. Call it a problem, and you’ll probably start checking your email.

The next time you feel resistance, try renaming it. Because sometimes the first thing that needs fixing isn’t the work. It’s the word.

🎙️ Signal Flow: Kirsten Beyer

Industry game changers and valiant minds share their wisdom, adversities, and paths to innovation.

Kirsten Beyer, writer and EP on Star Trek: Khan (PC: Amberbella Photography)

Kirsten Beyer is the New York Times Bestselling author of eleven Star Trek: Voyager novels, the Buffy the Vampire Slayer novel One Thing or Your Mother, and the Alias APO novel Once Lost. She contributed the short story ‘Isabo’s Shirt” to the Star Trek: Distant Shores anthology as well as the short story “Widow’s Weeds” to Space Grunts. She has also written several articles for Star Trek magazine, and is a writer and Executive Producer on Star Trek: Khan.

Editor’s note: The following interview has been edited for flow and clarity.

Writing for Khan reminded me how flexible storytelling can be. Every episode has its own rhythm. Some are heavy on action, others on ideas or emotion, but all are interconnected.

Around episode four, I remember thinking, I just want to write a Star Trek story now. That impulse carried me back to what I love most about this universe: the balance of big, thematic questions and deeply human characters. Every time I write, I look for that hook, what this story really is, beneath the plot.

When you move from television to audio, you lose one of your most powerful tools: the visuals. Suddenly, you’re building a world from footsteps, wind, the hum of a ship, a character’s breath before they speak. You want listeners to feel like they’re eavesdropping on life, not listening to a performance.

It’s a delicate trick. Everything has to sound effortless, even though it’s incredibly deliberate.

A lot of that work starts in the script. I tend to overdescribe (footsteps entering a room, birds changing from morning to night) because it helps cue the sound designers and keeps the story anchored in time and place. Then, in post, we discover what all those details actually sound like. It’s such a joy to hear the collaboration unfold.

Of course, with a franchise like Star Trek, every choice is scrutinized. Fans notice everything. And I mean everything. I’ve made mistakes, and I’m fine with that. Sometimes they catch details I missed, and sometimes I just don’t agree with their read, and that’s okay too. What matters is intention. The goal is never perfection, it’s respect. You tell stories so the audience isn’t pulled out of the world for a dumb reason, and you do that by knowing the universe inside out.

I’ve been part of Star Trek long enough that its values have become inseparable from my own. It’s a vision of humanity at its best; striving, evolving, hopeful.

I first fell in love with it as a kid, watching the original series with my brother because it was the only show we could agree on. But Voyager changed everything for me. It was the first time I watched a Star Trek show as it aired, from start to finish, and it sparked the thought: I have an idea for a story about that. That’s where my writing journey began.

(continued below)

……………………..

😴 Recommended by Pediatric Sleep Consultants!

Families everywhere are cozying up with Cozy Critters.

Gentle stories, calming sounds, and lovable characters help kids wind down while learning about animals. One listen and you’ll see why it’s become a global favorite.

👉 Make tonight a Cozy Critters night

……………………..

(continued from above)

I don’t consult Star Trek historians because, well, I am one. Not officially, but practically. Years of writing novels and screenplays built a mental map of the universe. I know where to find answers quickly, but I also understand how those facts fit emotionally into the stories we’re telling now.

That’s something no database or AI can replicate. AI hasn’t lived a traumatic childhood, hasn’t experienced loss or fear. My job is to write from that, from the human stuff. Machines can remix, but they can’t remember.

When I’m deep in a script, time disappears. It’s one of the few places that still gives me flow, that full immersion where hours vanish and all that exists is the story. Outside of work, what fills me back up is connection. Museums, art, film, sure, but mostly conversations. Sitting with my daughter and hearing about her day resets me. That’s real life. That’s the stuff all stories are built from.

As proud as I am of the writing, this project is bigger than me. It’s the result of hundreds of artists: Nicholas Meyer’s original story, David Mack’s collaboration, Fred Greenhalgh’s extraordinary direction, an unbelievable cast, and sound designers who made the universe feel alive again.

At the end of Khan, I hope listeners see him not as a one-dimensional villain but as a flawed, gifted, complicated human being whose path wasn’t inevitable. It’s so easy to label people as one thing. But understanding demands nuance. That’s the whole point of Star Trek. Empathy, evolution, curiosity.

At the end of the day, that’s what keeps me writing. The hope that stories can still remind us of who we are and who we might become.

🎧 Podcast of the Week: Turkish Airlines Series

Season 2 of Turkish Airlines Series has just taken off — inviting listeners to explore Istanbul’s vibrant bazaars, the sunlit coasts of the Mediterranean, and faraway destinations like Tokyo. Blending cinematic soundscapes with rich storytelling, each episode captures the beauty, culture, and spirit of travel. Discover new voices, fresh journeys, and the magic of exploration through sound.

🎧 Listen now on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

🥾 Further Exploration: Netflix is making a big bet on video podcasts

The Verge breaks down a fascinating deal between Netflix and Spotify that could reshape how we think about podcasting.

ICYMI:

🎙️ Steve Burns’ podcast is full of clues about being human

💀 This true crime podcast puts you to sleep

🏆 A 2x World Cup champ just changed the podcast playbook

💡 The Quiet Spark

A weekly question to ignite fresh thinking, stir self-reflection, and fuel your creative process behind the mic.

What idea have you been quietly circling that deserves your full attention?

Presented by Cozy Critters

🏔️ Overcoming Summit Fever

Summit fever is that dizzy rush that hits when you’re close to the top, the moment you mistake proximity for arrival.

In podcasting, it’s easy to catch. You land a big guest, hit a chart, or get that first sponsor and suddenly start gasping thin air, convinced the climb is over. But creative work isn’t Everest.

There’s no single flag-plant moment that means you’ve made it. The higher you go, the more peaks you see. The view just gets wider, and the weather a little wilder.

The cure for summit fever? Remember that the joy isn’t in reaching the top. It’s in having the lungs to keep climbing.

🎙️ Signal Flow: Steve Burns

Industry game changers and valiant minds share their wisdom, adversities, and paths to innovation.

Steve Burns, host of Alive with Steve Burns

Steve Burns is best known as the original host of Blue’s Clues, where he spent seven surreal years solving mysteries with a cartoon dog and a talking mailbox. Then he disappeared. On purpose. Since then, Steve has released indie rock albums, toured with The Flaming Lips, written the theme song for Young Sheldon, hosted and was a storyteller for The Moth, and gone massively viral by quietly breaking the internet with a heartfelt message to a generation of now-grown-up viewers. He hosts Alive with Steve Burns from Lemonada Media.

Editor’s note: The following interview has been edited for flow and clarity.

I had hermit crabs growing up. And eventually they’d outgrow their shells, crawling across the sand as these horrible, naked, pink, vulnerable little things. That’s kind of what starting this podcast felt like. Exposed. Out in the open in ways I hadn’t been before. And I’m pretty sure that’s a good sign.

I didn’t really know what to expect going in. I just wanted to make good use of what I saw as this enduring connection I accidentally have with a generation of people who are, frankly, in a mental health crisis.

I wanted to continue the conversation we started 25 years ago on Blue’s Clues, but now as adults. Back then, we were leading an examined life together, even if we didn’t know that’s what we were doing. We’d run around with magical condiments and a cartoon dog, looking for clues that might lead us to greater understanding. Then we’d sit down, think about what we’d learned, and talk it through. That sounds like a podcast to me.

The show feels a lot like that again: sitting down with intention and asking big questions about life, pain, joy, and meaning.

It’s about trying to humanize the digital experience. The internet is optimized for conflict. It rewards outrage, performance, and division. What if we could make space for something else? What if we could show up as human beings with skin in the game — fragile, weird, funny, loving, angry, anxious, curious — and be seen that way?

I write all the music for the show. They’re not songs. More like moods or meditations. I compose most of it on an old four-track tape recorder because I want the podcast to feel like you can see fingerprints on it, like it was crafted by human hands. It’s full of imperfections, but that’s the point.

The format itself benefits from low production value, the opposite of polish. It should look and sound like something you could make at home. I think if we took even one more step toward high production, it would lose something essential.

(continued below)

……………………..

😴 Recommended by Pediatric Sleep Consultants!

Families everywhere are cozying up with Cozy Critters.

Gentle stories, calming sounds, and lovable characters help kids wind down while learning about animals. One listen and you’ll see why it’s become a global favorite.

👉 Make tonight a Cozy Critters night

……………………..

(continued from above)

The podcast also borrows some structural DNA from kids’ TV. There are gentle nods to Blue’s Clues with the pacing, the directness, the sense of wonder…but spoken to adults. It’s about carrying that childlike curiosity into conversations about death, love, sex, taxes, and cryptocurrency. It’s a way of saying: We can talk about the hard things without losing our joy.

Maybe that’s what we’re ready for now, a more human experience with our screens. Because being online has become a national pastime of being a jerk to each other, and I think we’re tired of it.

When I think about legacy, I don’t really have an answer. I don’t have kids, I used to feel self-conscious about that. When I was helping care for my dad as he was dying, I couldn’t help but wonder…who’s going to do that for me someday? That experience makes you reflect on what you leave behind.

I guess I’d like to be remembered for listening. Really listening. Blue’s Clues taught me how to do that. It required me to listen to silence, to let it breathe. Silence isn’t empty. The good stuff tends to dwell in the quiet parts.

And maybe that’s what I’m chasing now. A way to bring a little stillness back to the noise.

🎧 Podcast of the Week: Radiolab

Radiolab is the gold standard for curiosity-driven storytelling. Each episode cracks open a question about science, philosophy, or the human experience, and answers it with equal parts wonder and sound design wizardry. It’s the kind of show that makes you say “just one more” at 2 a.m., and somehow leaves you a little wiser every time.

🥾 Further Exploration: Video + Interactivity Poised to Shift Podcasting

From branching narratives to hybrid video formats, creators are leaning into new formats to meet audiences where they are.

ICYMI:

💀 This true crime podcast puts you to sleep

🏆 A 2x World Cup champ just changed the podcast playbook

🎙️ Why filmmaker Rhym Guissé stepped behind a podcast mic

💡 The Quiet Spark

A weekly question to ignite fresh thinking, stir self-reflection, and fuel your creative process behind the mic.

Where in your work are you still playing it safe?

Presented by Cozy Critters

🧭 The Scale of Ambition

There’s ambition that wants to go viral. And then there’s ambition that wants to matter. One chases reach, the other chases resonance. Both are valid, but only one will still feel worth it a year from now.

Podcasting exposes this difference fast.

If your show is built for something sharper, something that leaves a mark, then scale isn’t about size. It’s about depth, about knowing the change you’re trying to make and measuring your success against that, not the algorithm.

By all means, dream big. Just make sure your ambition scales in meaning, not just in metrics.

🎙️ Signal Flow: Tobin Heath

Industry game changers and valiant minds share their wisdom, adversities, and paths to innovation.

Christen Press and Tobin Heath, co-hosts of The RE–CAP Show

Tobin Heath is a 2x World Cup Champion for the U.S. Women's National Soccer team, an equal pay pioneer, and the Co-Founder and Co-CEO of RE. She is a 4x Olympian, with two gold medals and a bronze medal. She is known as one of the most skillful and entertaining players in the game. Throughout her club career, Heath has played for PSG, the Portland Thorns, Manchester United, and Arsenal. Tobin brings her vision, leadership, and creativity as a Co-CEO of RE, a values-led sports media brand that betters the world through the unifying power of sport.

In a world so driven by ego, sports still give us something to believe in that’s bigger than ourselves.

I never thought I’d be doing anything in or around sports media. I used to be the last person who’d agree to an interview, let alone host a show.

I realized the reason I avoided it is because I thought sports media was a joke, especially when it came to women’s sports. There was such a disconnect between how we lived it and how it was portrayed.

Eventually, I stopped being frustrated and started building something better. That’s what RE is. That’s what The RE-CAP Show is. We’re not just making a podcast, we’re trying to define women’s sports culture. And not just the competition, but the emotion, the humor, the humanity. The whole thing.

Creatively, I knew what I didn’t want. I didn’t want the show to sound like everything else out there, I wanted it to be unfiltered and unapologetic. That was the biggest thing missing in women’s sports: people speaking with nuance, with real experience, and without watering things down. That’s the culture we’re building. I call it “gal culture.” It’s the feeling of being in the locker room with the U.S. Women’s National Team. Confident, bold, honest, fun. That’s what we’re trying to bring to the world.

We didn’t start this thinking, “Let’s make a podcast.” We started thinking, “Let’s lead the narrative of women’s football.” And somehow, that led us here.

At the 2023 World Cup, my teammates were thanking me for starting this. That meant everything. It wasn’t about numbers, it was about impact. If your own peers tell you that something you created helped them feel seen and heard, that’s success.

Most of the time, the episodes are just extensions of the conversations Kristen and I are already having at home. We don’t avoid complexity—we go straight into it.

Because it’s our company, our platform, we can go as deep as we want and then decide, “Is this how we want to say it?” That freedom is powerful.

When people talk about the show, I hope they say it made them braver. I hope it gave them permission to be their full selves. I hope it made them feel seen, included, and understood. That’s the kind of space we want to create. Liberating. Provoking. Honest.

(continued below)

……………………..

🍁💤 Need a little peace and quiet this fall?

Cozy Critters is the award-winning bedtime podcast that helps kids wind down while learning about animals around the world. With gentle stories, calming sounds, and just the right dose of curiosity, it’s the nighttime routine your whole family will love.

😻 Mom’s Choice Award winner

😻 Featured by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine

😻 Top 5 podcast worldwide on Yoto

……………………..

(continued from above)

Podcasting is a disruptive space. It lets us cut out the gatekeepers and go straight to our community.

Community isn’t something we curate, it’s something we show up for. We don’t pretend to have it all figured out. We evolve with our audience. We let ourselves be vulnerable. And because of that, people feel like they’re on this ride with us.

Our partnership with Audacy was a big moment. They understood the vision from the beginning. It wasn’t just a good business deal, it felt like true gal culture.

That’s what changed everything for women’s sports: social media, digital storytelling, direct connection. That’s why we’re a digitally native media company. You have to meet the next generation where they are, and that means building many doors into the RE universe.

Sometimes that’s clips. Sometimes that’s long-form. Either way, you’ve got to earn their attention and keep it.

I’ve always been led by gut feelings. I never overthink it. That’s how I ended up here. Not because I planned it, but because it felt right.

🎧 Podcast of the Week: The Midnight Miracle

Hosted by Dave Chappelle, Yasiin Bey, and Talib Kweli, The Midnight Miracle isn’t just a podcast, it’s an experience. Part conversation, part mixtape, part mind-bender, it blends music, philosophy, storytelling, and humor in a way that defies format.

🥾 Further Exploration: How Podcast Storytelling is Evolving

Here’s a deep dive from Nieman Storyboard exploring how producers are experimenting with narrative structures, from cliffhangers to standalone vignettes, highlighted by insights from the “Snitch City” team. A practical, craft-focused look at storytelling’s cutting edge.

ICYMI:

🧙‍♀️ A Wicked voice with a wildly good podcast

🙋‍♀️ This podcast won’t give you answers, just better questions

🎉 A family, a microphone, and a podcast that stuck

💡 The Quiet Spark

A weekly question to ignite fresh thinking, stir self-reflection, and fuel your creative process behind the mic.

What are you presuming to be true?

Presented by Cozy Critters

🎧 Are You Telling a Story or Selling a Story?

Every podcast is selling something. Maybe not a product, but an idea. A feeling. A perspective. The question is: Are you selling it so hard that you forget to tell it?

A great story doesn’t need a sales pitch. It pulls people in because it matters, not because it’s been polished to a high-gloss sheen. The best podcasters (just like the best musicians, writers, and filmmakers) understand their job isn’t to convince you to care. It’s to tell a story so compelling, so rich with truth, that it slips past the intellect and settles in the bones, where it lingers, refusing to go quiet into the night.

🎙️ Signal Flow: Gretchen Rubin

Industry game changers and valiant minds from creative professions share their wisdom, adversities, and paths to innovation.

Gretchen Rubin, Host of Happier with Gretchen Rubin

Gretchen Rubin is one of today’s most influential and thought-provoking observers of happiness and human nature. She’s known for her ability to convey complex ideas—from science to literature to stories from her own life—with levity and clarity. She’s the author of many bestselling books, such as The Happiness Project, Better Than Before, and The Four Tendencies, which have sold millions of copies in more than thirty languages. Her most recent book is Life in Five Senses. She’s also host of the popular podcast, Happier with Gretchen Rubin, and founder of award-winning Happier app, which helps people track their happiness-boosting habits. Gretchen Rubin has been interviewed by Oprah, eaten dinner with Nobel Prize-winner Daniel Kahneman, walked arm-in-arm with the Dalai Lama, had her work reported on in a medical journal, been written up in the New Yorker, and been an answer on Jeopardy! After starting her career in law, she realized she wanted to be a writer while she was clerking for Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. Raised in Kansas City, she lives in New York City with her family. Happier with Gretchen Rubin along with other Gretchen Rubin Media shows Happier in Hollywood and Side Hustle School have recently joined the Lemonada Media network for ad sales and distribution.

As a writer, I had started blogging and was interested in engaging with an audience in a more direct way. Then podcasting came around, and I thought, this is a completely different way to connect with people about ideas that excite me. I couldn’t resist.

My co-host is my sister, Elizabeth Craft. For years we talked about collaborating. When I was approached about doing a podcast, they said it’s often good to have two people. Immediately, I thought, absolutely, my sister.

One of our inspirations was Car Talk. We often say we’re Car Talk for happiness.

A lot of people tell me, “I could never work with my sibling.” But it works for us. With Happier with Gretchen Rubin, I do the bulk of the work, and it has my name on it. But Elizabeth also has Happier in Hollywood, which she does with her writing partner. So she has her own space as well.

When we started the podcast, I told Elizabeth, “This is probably going to be a big flop, and it will be very public.” And we both agreed, okay, let’s do it anyway. We had no expectation of success. Our mom even asked, “Don’t you think you’ll run out of ideas in six months?” But we’re both professional writers. We knew we could keep it going. If anything, we have more ideas now than when we started.

We’ve never missed a week. No breaks, no seasons, no holidays. We’ve never missed an episode, and we’re incredibly proud of that.

I don’t pay much attention to stats. I probably should, but I don’t. What I do pay attention to is audience response—emails, social media, people telling us what they loved or what resonated with them. That’s how I know when something is working.

Podcasting brings spontaneity into my work. As a writer, I spend so much time making sure every word is exactly right. Podcasting is more conversational, looser, fresher.

I was surprised by the depth of connection you have with your audience in podcasting. When I had a blog, I already felt connected to my readers. But it’s different with a podcast. Listeners feel like they know you personally. And I get it—I feel the same way about the podcasts I listen to. You start to care about the hosts. If they’re sick for a while, you worry about them.

I remember when my sister was voice-identified in a drugstore aisle. Someone overheard her talking and recognized her just by her voice. I’ve had people recognize me in the Met because I go there every day. Listeners know that about me, so when they visit, they keep an eye out for me. It’s funny because when they see me, I feel like saying, “See? I told you I come every day.”

For happiness in podcasting—and in life—think about your physical body. Your physical state colors your emotional state. Get enough sleep, move your body, take care of yourself. That’s foundational.

Connection is another huge factor. Talking with other podcasters, sharing ideas, troubleshooting together—it's energizing. I love talking shop. The more relationships you build, the more you learn, and the more fun it becomes.

 (continued below)

“Cozy Critters is literal gold for parents at bedtime.” - Andy S.

Experience the sleep podcast for kids that listeners around the world are raving about! Go on a magical adventure with Dougie Pickles and his kitten co-host, Miss Meow Meow, as they visit the world's coziest critters and learn about their day.

Make bedtime a favorite part of your child’s day with Cozy Critters, selected by Apple Podcasts as New and Noteworthy and featured by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. 

And best of all: Cozy Critters is FREE and completely ad-free.

……………………..

I started a podcast manifesto before we even launched our first episode. It’s a document of guiding principles—things we aspire to, even if we don’t always get them right. One of the rules is Beware of Banter. There’s fun, purposeful chat, and then there’s rambling that makes listeners think, “Why are they still talking?” We try to keep things intentional.

Another principle: People love to learn, but they also love to teach, share, and correct. That’s why we engage listeners so much. We ask them to send in ideas, solutions, and hacks. Our Happiness Hack segment is all about that—little useful tips like “use hooks instead of hangers.” It’s not life-changing, but people love sharing and discovering those kinds of things.

A community is different from an audience. An audience listens; a community participates. We want listeners to feel heard and involved. That’s a big part of what makes the podcast work.

We aim for consistency and surprise. Listeners want to know what to expect, but they also love being surprised. That’s why we experiment with things like Clear the Decks, where we tell listeners to pause the podcast, go complete a task, then come back. People loved it. We later did Deck the Halls for the holidays.

You can tell what’s resonating by the audience's reaction. If people flood us with emails and messages saying, “Do that again,” we know it worked. If something gets little response, we move on. The engagement tells us everything.

Understanding our values and living up to them is a huge source of happiness. That’s why the podcast manifesto matters. It helps us stay clear on what we believe makes a good show, and it keeps us aligned with our purpose. That kind of clarity makes creative work more satisfying.

🎙️ Podcast of the Week

If you’ve ever had a heated debate over curly fries or ranked mozzarella sticks with deadly seriousness, Doughboys is for you. Comedians Mike Mitchell and Nick Wiger bring their chaotic charm to chain restaurant reviews, sparring over everything from Taco Bell to TGI Friday’s. It’s hilarious, weirdly insightful, and guaranteed to make you crave something fried.

🥾 Further Exploration

Reporting Dark Matters

In this vital piece from Transom, Rob Rosenthal explores the challenges of reporting on difficult topics, featuring award-winning journalists Luke Malone and Pat Walters.

ICYMI:

🤔 Hans Zimmer, Zelda, and Dallas Taylor walk into a bar

🤐 Sharing Your Secrets with the World

🎧 Rob Rosenthal on Good Storytelling

Presented by Cozy Critters

👇 Gesture Toward the Solution

A podcast doesn’t need to solve everything. It just needs to point somewhere real. Somewhere worth going. Your job isn’t to bulldoze every question into an answer. It’s to make space. To offer a gesture, a direction, a spark.

Next time you write, edit, or record, resist the urge to wrap everything up with a neat bow. Instead, leave a door open. Gesture toward the solution—and let your listeners walk through it themselves.

🎙️ Signal Flow: Mindy Thomas

Industry game changers and valiant minds share their wisdom, adversities, and paths to innovation.

Mindy Thomas, Co-Founder of Tinkercast

Mindy Thomas is the Chief Creative Tinkerer and Co-Founder of Tinkercast. With her co-host Guy Raz, she captivates young audiences with the award-winning, Wow in the World and Two What’s and a Wow podcasts. In addition to the podcasts, Mindy is the co-author of the #1 New York Times bestselling Wow in the World book series. She is also the Gracie Award-winning host of the Absolutely Mindy Show on SiriusXM’s Kids Place Live, where she has spent the last two decades entertaining kids and families across North America every weekday morning. Mindy's boundless creativity, coupled with her commitment to inspiring curiosity, continues to make her a beloved figure in the realm of children's entertainment.

I don't fit everything into a day. I have a long to-do list, and I never get it all done. I'm constantly stressed about it, but it's a good kind of stress because I love what I do.

Tinkercast grew out of a simple idea: create a kids’ media company built around curiosity and humor. It all started from a science news segment I did with Guy Raz on my SiriusXM show. We realized the stories that resonated most were about new discoveries and problem-solving—hopeful stories—and that became the seed for Wow in the World.

My radio show is 100% improvisation. I’m talking to real kids every morning. That keeps me sharp and grounded. The podcast is different. It’s scripted, polished. I love both. The radio keeps me connected to the audience; the podcast lets me craft something lasting.

I didn’t know I was a writer until I started Tinkercast. Years of improvisation had been training me to write without realizing it. Now, putting it on paper is just another way to keep playing.

Kids are naturally absurd and hilarious. They inspire our tone. We take risks with our comedy because kids get it. Like the kid who called in to tell us about mushrooms growing out of their kitchen floor. We couldn’t have written anything better.

When we create, we aim for shared experiences between kids and parents. 92% of our listeners listen together as a family. That's unheard of in kids’ media. It’s a huge part of how we write and produce.

One of the biggest challenges? The kids’ podcast industry is still small. We need more competition. More amazing shows. I want a world where kids’ and family content is taken as seriously as any other content.

Merchandising came later. We started with simple t-shirts and water bottles. Now we have a full toy line with Wondery, Thames & Kosmos, and Galactic Goliath Games. But we always stayed focused on the content first—the toys came from that, not the other way around.

When it comes to advertising, we’re really careful. Kids can tell when they're being sold to. Our ads are aimed at parents, and we separate the show and the ads clearly. It’s about maintaining trust.

The COPPA law doesn’t ban ads, it restricts collecting kids’ information. There's a lot of confusion about that. We respect the boundaries and still make sure our business model is sustainable.

(continued below)

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Cozy Critters: A dream for parents at bedtime.

😴😴😴 Used by Pediatric Sleep Consultants

Sleep isn’t just a bedtime goal—it’s foundational to a child’s wellbeing. Research shows that quality sleep supports stronger memory, better emotional regulation, improved learning, and overall physical health.

Cozy Critters is proud to help kids around the world get the rest they need, especially those managing pain, neurodivergence, or nighttime anxiety.

……………………..

(continued from above)

We never set out with a huge master plan. We just focused on making Wow in the World great. Over time, the books, the toys, the live shows, the travel programs…all those things grew out of the podcast.

To stay connected with our listeners, we invite kids to call in with their 'wows'—something they learned or experienced that amazed them. Hearing their voices reminds us why we do this.

Kids can sniff out pandering a mile away. We always create from the kid inside us, not from some adult idea of what kids should like. That’s the difference between a good kids’ podcast and a great one.

My first metric of success: Could I pay my bills? Now, it’s: Are we still having fun? Are we still challenging ourselves? Are we still connected to the audience? Those are the measures that matter.

Want to start a kids’ podcast? Just do it. You don’t need fancy gear. Start with passion. Start scrappy. But be realistic—it takes time to build something sustainable. Don’t expect it to pay your bills overnight.

Podcasting is the nucleus. It’s the center of everything we do—books, toys, memberships, live shows. The podcast fuels it all. That's the strategy: create great content first, then build from there.

🎙️ Podcast of the Week: How Did This Get Made?

If you've ever watched a truly terrible movie and thought, “How did this even happen?”, this is the podcast for you. In How Did This Get Made?, Paul Scheer, June Diane Raphael, and Jason Mantzoukas hilariously pick apart some of the best worst films ever made. It’s chaotic, brilliant, and weirdly cathartic—perfect for anyone who loves a good cinematic trainwreck.

🥾 How to Create an Ear-Grabbing Podcast Intro

First impressions matter. Captivate.fm provides a comprehensive guide on crafting compelling podcast intros and outros that hook listeners from the start and leave a lasting impression.

ICYMI:

❤️ The Podcast That’s Helping Cancer Patients Every Day

🔥 The Cannabis Podcast that Hits Different

🎉 The Kids Show that Won Best News Podcast at The Ambies

Presented by Cozy Critters

👊 Rely on Dedication, Not Motivation

Motivation is a flake. It shows up late, leaves early, and only texts you back when you’re already in a groove. Dedication, though—that’s the one who sets the alarm, puts the mic on, and presses record even when the vibes are off.

Motivation feels good, but dedication does good. One gives you the spark. The other keeps the fire burning when no one’s listening, when the edit drags, when inspiration ghosted you three episodes ago.

You don’t need to feel like podcasting to podcast. You just need to keep doing it.

🎙️ Signal Flow: Samantha Laine Perfas

Industry game changers and valiant minds share their wisdom, adversities, and paths to innovation.

Samantha Laine Perfas, host and producer of Harvard Thinking

Samantha Laine Perfas is a journalist and multimedia reporter in the Boston area. Originally from Minnesota, she received her undergraduate degree in English at North Dakota State University, then immediately pursued her master’s in journalism at Northeastern University in Boston. Before joining Harvard University to launch the Harvard Thinking podcast, she was a staff writer and producer for The Christian Science Monitor, where she launched a variety of shows. In her free time, she enjoys getting outside, cooking, and snuggling up with a good book.

There is pressure when you're making something under the Harvard name. But I try to remind myself: I'm not here to be the expert. I'm here to be curious on behalf of the listener. I can't possibly know everything about cancer research one week and end-of-life care the next. But I can ask thoughtful questions and help translate complex ideas into something meaningful.

Right out of journalism school, I had a couple of odd jobs and eventually ended up at The Christian Science Monitor as a social media editor and reporter. When they launched a new daily newsletter, they wanted to create a podcast version of it, and I got the opportunity to lead that effort. That led me to pursue more narrative podcasting, and I completely fell in love with the medium.

I love how intimate podcasting is. I love that listeners can hear the actual voices and emotion of people, instead of just reading their quotes in a print article. I ended up producing around seven podcasts at the Monitor.

When I was looking for a career change, I applied for a writing job at Harvard. It turned out they had been thinking about launching a podcast for a while, but didn’t have anyone who knew how to do it. So I raised my hand, and a year later, we launched Harvard Thinking.

Harvard had a few general ideas for the show, but nothing specific. The podcast had to incorporate research and reflect the university’s mission, but we didn’t know exactly how. We brainstormed a lot (a traditional interview show, a study-based format), but it was tough to find a structure that could showcase the range of topics coming from all of Harvard’s schools. Eventually, we landed on the roundtable format: one topic, multiple experts from different disciplines.

It can be a challenge, but it's led to some powerful conversations. The mix of perspectives creates this layered, unexpected dialogue that feels different from your standard academic fare.

Every show is different, and expectations vary. At Harvard, downloads aren’t the main success metric. Of course we track them, but we’re much more focused on alignment with our mission and how well the content is resonating with our community. The goal is to create high-quality, thoughtful content that genuinely benefits the listener, even if it’s a smaller audience.

Thankfully, we don’t rely on ads or monetization. The podcast is a public service, and the measure of success is impact, not revenue.

Our team values qualitative feedback: what listeners say about the show, what they liked, what they didn’t, what they learned. That kind of engagement means more to us than pure download counts.

I sit within the Harvard Gazette team, which is the university's internal newsroom. The podcast is part of the Gazette's content, so we compare podcast engagement to other Gazette stories. We track performance through our daily newsletter and see how the podcast compares to other high-performing pieces. It's usually one of the top-performing links.

(continued below)

……………………..

Cozy Critters: A dream for parents at bedtime.

😴 Recommended by Pediatric Sleep Consultants!

Sleep isn’t just a bedtime goal—it’s foundational to a child’s wellbeing. Research shows that quality sleep supports stronger memory, better emotional regulation, improved learning, and overall physical health.

Cozy Critters is proud to help kids around the world get the rest they need, especially those managing pain, neurodivergence, or nighttime anxiety.

……………………..

(continued from above)

For marketing, we lean heavily on Harvard's daily email newsletter. We also use Instagram and LinkedIn, and we always send the episode to our guests. Many of them work at other institutions and help spread the word through their channels. Promotion is a whole job in itself, so we're constantly experimenting.

Each season teaches us something new about what topics resonate. We're trying to refine our editorial lens, to pick subjects that are timely, helpful, and intellectually engaging. My goal as a host is to help listeners think about the world differently or learn something new they can carry with them.

There aren't many roundtable shows quite like this one. Most roundtable podcasts have multiple hosts and one guest. Ours is one host, multiple guests. It's a unique format, and it's still evolving.

Interviewers I admire? Anna Sale from Death, Sex & Money is one. She leads with curiosity and creates space for depth. I also loved the early seasons of Ear Hustle and how they brought humanity and storytelling to life inside San Quentin. And Guy Raz, of course. He has a great way of highlighting his guests without needing to be the center of attention. That’s something I aspire to.

If you’re just starting out, my biggest tip is: Ask questions you're actually curious about. If you're not interested, your audience won't be either. And listen. Like, really listen. If you're too focused on sticking to your question list, you miss the magic.

Podcasting still feels small. We can compete, sure, but what if we collaborated more? What if we helped each other grow the pie instead of fighting over the same slice? That mindset really resonated with me, especially at conferences like Podcast Movement.

We try to collaborate when we can. A lot of our guests are affiliated with Harvard but have moved on to other institutions. Their success is our success. If a guest is now at Princeton or Stanford, we reach out to their comms team and invite them to share the episode. It’s a small thing, but it helps.

I use a Blue Yeti mic, Audio-Technica headphones, Riverside to record, and Descript to edit. I used to use Pro Tools, but Descript has been a game-changer for the way I work. I'm amazed how far editing tools have come in just a few years.

We don't do a video version of the podcast—yet. Because the show is highly edited, a visual version feels less natural. But we do post the audio to YouTube with a static thumbnail, and it's performing better than expected.

The truth is, I’ve learned so much from the people I interview. I get to talk to some of the smartest, kindest, most thoughtful people in the world, and then share their wisdom with others. That’s a privilege I don’t take lightly.

🎙️ Podcast of the Week: The Pod Lab

Looking to level up your podcast craft? The Pod Lab is a bite-sized class in audio storytelling, hosted by yours truly. Each episode tackles a single element—like pacing, interviewing, or narrative clarity—and helps you make your next episode better than your last. I collaborated with Podcast Movement back in 2021 to create 10 episodes of this show, and had forgotten about it until a friend recently found it and mentioned that it’d be great if it came back…

What do you think? If you want to hear more episodes of The Pod Lab, respond to this email and let me know!

🥾 Further Exploration

Tired of shouting into the void on social? This article from The Podcast Space offers clear, expert-backed advice on marketing your podcast more effectively across platforms. From knowing your audience to choosing the right format for your content, it’s a practical guide that’ll help your posts do more than look good—they’ll actually work.

ICYMI:

🚀 How a Kids' Podcast Sparked a Media Empire

❤️ The Podcast That’s Helping Cancer Patients Every Day

🔥 The Cannabis Podcast that Hits Different