Anchor adds 35 different languages

• Podcast host Anchor’s creator interface is now available in 35 different languages. Of the top five podcast hosts, Omny Studio is in six languages, Spreaker available in four; Buzzsprout and Libsyn only offer English, though YouTube is in 82 different languages. It’s unclear whether support is available in all of them. Podcasting is growing faster in non-English languages.

• Podcasting is the most engaging method to advertise using audio, according to Acast’s Sounds Smart Report, released today in Australia.

• The first Irish Podcast Awards have opened for entries. Podcasters in the country have until Friday May 13 to get their submissions in.

• The Parcast Union have reached a tentative deal with Spotify, according to a tweet last week.

• Podcast listeners are likely to be more curious and less neurotic, according to research from QUT. Is that good? We hope that’s good? You’ll tell us if it isn’t, right?

• Pod Bible issue 20 was released. The UK print magazine has interviews with Romesh Ranganathan and Tom Davies from Wolf and Owl and Griefcast’s Cariad Lloyd.

• A new podcast freelancer hub has been launched, aiming to connect podcast freelancers with clients looking for them.

• Lauren Passell has launched a podcast swap database for podcasters interested in setting up a promo swap their podcast.

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

• Luminary is releasing a music album. It’s from hip-hop duo Black Star, and is their first new album in 24 years.

Libraries: Not Just Books! Virginia Marshall is the curator for The EarBuds Podcast Collective this week, featuring five episodes of podcasts that focus on amazing things that libraries do. Subscribe to EarBuds today!

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

Moves and hires

• Lydia Polgreen is to join The New York Times as an Opinion columnist. She had been Managing Director for Spotify’s Gimlet.

This link is no longer available, as at Sep 13 2023
• Aria Bracci is leaving her position as writer for Hot Pod, a podcast newsletter. She’ll be focusing on Calling for Closure, her podcast. Hot Pod will announce a new lead writer - the fourth in seven months - this week.

This link is no longer available, as at Sep 13 2023

The Tech Stuff - with RSS.com

• Libsyn appear to have switched from Highwinds to Amazon Cloudfront according to John Spurlock’s analysis of podcast CDNs. Libsyn’s switch has increased Amazon Cloudfront’s market share from 45% to 51% of all podcast episodes published in March.
• iHeartRadio appears to be switching from Spotify’s Megaphone to Omny Studio, according to our host changes page. Omny Studio is owned by Triton Digital, which in turn is owned by iHeartMedia.
• Bleav Podcast network, and the Los Angeles Times, have both switched from Amazon’s ART19 to SiriusXM’s Simplecast.
• Buzzsprout reports that Apple Podcasts had 37.4%, and Spotify 26.8%, of all downloads in March. These numbers are IAB certified, and generic AppleCoreMedia traffic is not reported under Apple’s numbers.
• Riddler, a bot, has been identified and added to the OPAWG user-agent list (along with a number of other podcast apps).
• Lava, a social audio app, has been added to the OPAWG RSS user-agent list.

Podcast News - with Acast

From Acast: Dr Emily Morse, the host of Sex With Emily, was just inducted into the Podcast Hall of Fame. Emily shares her expertise on relationships and more on this podcast, which is the longest-running podcast of its type.

After a $47m lawsuit was filed against it, true-crime podcast Culpable is back to tell the background story of the lawsuit, and to look at legal protection, defamation and other areas. It’s from Resonate Recordings and Tenderfoot TV.

Liar, Liar: Melissa Caddick and the Missing Millions is launched today from The Sydney Morning Herald and 60 Minutes, telling the extraordinary case of an audacious $23 million Ponzi scheme by missing Sydney businesswoman Melissa Caddick and the subsequent, grisly discovery of her severed foot on a beach. It’s hosted by the Herald’s Kate McClymont and 60 Minutes reporter Tom Steinfort.

Comfort Blanket is new from Joel Morris, who had previously made comedy writers’ podcast Rule of Three. The new show talks about the films, TV shows, books or music which people go to again and again to feel safe, happy and welcome. The first episode looks at Raiders of the Lost Ark with comedy actor and writer Rufus Jones.

WorkLife with Adam Grant returns for a new season this week from the TED Audio Collective, going inside the minds of some truly unusual professionals to explore how psychological insights can help us live better lives at work and beyond. Some of the upcoming episodes will cover the great (or not so great) resignation, the art of the pitch, how to let go of perfectionism, and an interview with Dolly Parton.