Episode 1,800 for Todd Cochrane’s Geek News Central

• While you fill out the Podnews Report Card, we’d also like to point you to the Podcast Marketing Academy’s Podcast Marketing Trends survey, which is open to enter. The survey will uncover everything from idea-testing to podcast search algorithms. By taking part, you’ll “be automatically entered to win one of more than $15k in prizes.”

• Audyllic is an audio processing tool for podcasts that uses the broadcast-standard Orban Optimod tool to make podcasts as easy to listen-to as your favourite radio station. It offers two hours free a month.

• The US’s iHeart is producing a true-crime show with the UK’s Chalk and Blade, and Australia’s Clockwork Films. “Crying Wolf” will be released later in the year.

• All Entertainment Media Group has acquired the Global Podcast Network, an excited press release informs us. No terms were given; the two companies work in business podcasting.

• Australian comedian and ABC politics host Chas Licciardello was accused by a recent segment of the ABC’s Media Watch program of using the ABC to promote his personal podcast and his range of merch, and using ABC facilities to make the show. In a poll of his listeners in a recent episode, it appears that 50% would be happy hearing ads, and 50% would prefer a membership model (tip for Chas - look at who’s sponsoring our Podcast News segment).

• Further reading: Pacific Content posts “The Podcasts We Wish Our Clients Would Listen To”, to help them think out of the box and get new ideas … “Podcasts have become cultural artifacts, shaping how we consume, think, and even worship.” - so says Strike Magazine, in a piece called The Podcast Delusion.

Tips and tricks - with Pod Predictor by Coleman Insights

• If you’re just putting your podcast onto YouTube as an ‘audiogram-style’ show without video, you’re wasting your time, says Chris Stone in the Podcast Strategy newsletter. (As a contrary view: they don’t perform as well as full video - but they still do get listened-to, and since you can do it automatically, there’s no time being wasted anyway).

Podcast News - with Memberful

Using Memberful: AppStories is a weekly exploration of the world of apps by MacStories’ Federico Viticci and John Voorhees. Each week, they discuss the best new apps, the impact of apps on our culture, and cover the stories behind popular apps.

Congratulations to Geek News Central which has hit episode number 1,800. The twice-weekly tech news show is hosted by Todd Cochrane, the CEO of Blubrry.

On SNL’s 50th birthday, Now What? With Carole Zimmer talks with Laraine Newman, about SNL and all the things that have happened to her since. The show promises conversations with extraordinary people about their lives and how they navigate all the bumps in the road.

If you’ve been wanting a new show with plenty of cocktails and celebrities, Stories To Tell with Richard Marx is right here waiting for you. Surprisingly not a true-crime show about the disappearance of Mary by a river in an old Nebraskan town - Marx swears he left her safe and sound - the show is actually an interview show and includes guests like Kenny G and Katie Couric, telling stories over cocktails in his home bar.

Nature’s Genius is a new limited series from Bioneers, explores actionable solutions to restoring Earth’s ecological balance - turning to nature to show us how to model human organization on living systems and heal the damage we’ve caused to our planet.