BBC launches boring podcast

The BBC have launched a new, boring, podcast. The podcast, The Boring Talks, is one of a set of podcast-first launches from the UK broadcaster over the next few months, about the things that seem boring but aren’t. Episode one is one for Douglas Adams fans.

Dublin podcaster Liam Geraghty returns for another series of the critically-acclaimed Meet your Maker, “a podcast about the people who make the things we love”. This series features none other than Ira Glass.

USA TODAY, the national US newspaper, has announced its team working on a new longform podcast called The City. Lots of public radio people have moved to the new project, which “will explore the behind-the-scenes power structures of different American metropolises, starting with Chicago”.

Radiotopia’s Criminal team are launching a new podcast on Valentine’s Day, and it’s all about love. This is Love “tells stories of sacrifice, obsession, and the ways in which we bet everything on each other”. There’s a trailer up now at the website.

Radioplayer, the UK radio industry funded online content service, has launched a new version of their popular 'skill’ for the Amazon Echo smart speaker: you can now access podcasts and catch-up programmes from partner UK radio stations. Irish Radioplayer has also launched an Amazon Echo skill, coinciding with the availability of the Echo in the republic; and in Belgium, the Radioplayer platform is to include Flemish-speaking broadcasters as well as those from French-speaking areas.

Jaime Chaux, formerly Head of Digital Platforms at Australian broadcaster Southern Cross Austereo, and then at PodcastOne (which SCA works with in Australia), will join Commercial Radio Australia in March as their Head of Digital. He’ll drive the lobbying group on streaming, podcasting and DAB+ Digital Radio, the broadcast format in the country.

A piece about The Bowery Boys, an eleven-year-old podcast in New York NY, USA, and the growth of podcasting.

PRX has announced partnerships with Gen-Z Media and Night Vale Presents, two podcast networks. PRX brings their sales teams and distribution technology to the podcast companies.