The Asia Podcast Awards are launched

• The Asian Podcast Awards are now open. The awards are open to anyone who produces a podcast in Asia or the Pacific, in any language. Winners will receive recognition in radioinfo and Podnews, and the overall winner will be flown to Kuala Lumpur in September to attend the Radiodays Asia conference.

• Conshax, a value 4 value analytics service, is to close on July 15. “We want to take Conshax into a new direction,” the company says on X.

• A new Castro release today for iOS includes some lockscreen widgets.

• Podcast Movement announced its first keynotes for its Washington DC event - Amanda McLoughlin and Eric Silver from Multitude Podcasts. Use code PODNEWS for a special reader discount.

• In the US, podcasting is almost as big as talk radio, according to Edison Research. For people aged 13-64, podcasting is already bigger.

• The YAP Media Network has signed Earn your Happy, The Trent Shelton Podcast and This Naked Mind.

• Yesterday, the BBC’s Newscast did what the BBC breathlessly called “an amazing experiment” - a six hour show broadcast “live”. It comes hot on the heels of another “amazing experiment” just 37,122 days ago, when, in 1922, the BBC also broadcast a radio show live. Congratulations to all involved, etc.

Happy Independence Day, US! And Happy General Election Day, UK!

Tips and tricks

• Descript has published a detailed guide on how “value 4 value” works.

• Transistor’s bright-shirted Justin Jackson explains how to use Spotify’s new tool to upload video podcasts, wherever you’re hosted.

Podcast News

Elon Musk was recently deposed in a defamation lawsuit. Musk and his lawyer, Alex Spiro, attempted to retroactively make the deposition confidential. It was not. It is, though, extremely funny. The Deposition, a new podcast by Hug House Productions, uses the transcript of the deposition in full as its script. Part reenactment, part reaction, the direction given to the actors is simple: Play your parts as seriously as you can until you absolutely cannot.

Rephonic’s James Potter notes that The Rest Is History revealed on stage that they’re at 45,000 members and 10m downloads/mo. “Assuming the cheapest £6/mo membership plan that’s ~$350k/mo.”

Total Innovation is new today from Wazoku, an innovation firm. The show will feature some of the biggest names in the innovation sector, covering everything from best practice in open innovation, how to overcome barriers to innovation and instilling a culture of innovation within an organisation. It’s hosted by the company’s CEO, Simon Hill.