Liquid Studios reveals strategy; visualises Podnews

• Liquid Studios - headed up by CEO Jeanine Wright - has released a new website revealing its strategy, and launched a new content-transformation pilot with Podnews. As a pilot, the Podnews daily newsletter will be visualised and produced for video by Liquid Studios, to our own specification - no AI images, the voice is our Editor’s own, and the video is reviewed by a human before publishing. Wright said: “A daily news bulletin is one of the tightest turnarounds in podcasting, which makes Podnews a real test, not a demo.” You’ll see it in on our YouTube channel, as well as LinkedIn and in selected podcast apps.

• Audioboom released a positive Q3/26 trading update. The company posted a record Q3, with 17% revenue growth, and posting a profit of US $5.6mn. The company says it will use its cash balance of $6.7mn, and available capital, to “lead the inevitable consolidation within the podcast industry”.

• Apple launched a set of new smart-home products, including the $299 Apple Homeview, a device with speakers and a screen. That device has Apple Podcasts pre-installed on it, but doesn’t contain an app store - so no full access to Spotify, Overcast or other podcast apps. It will support the CarPlay standard, however, so playback from your iPhone is possible. (It won’t be available in the EU). Stephen Robles has more.

  • Apple is also kicking off a new advertising campaign promoting the use of Safari, including video ads and a website. We’re looking forward to the promotion of the Apple Podcasts app in this way.

• Is Podcasting 2.0 still “fringe”? In an article for Podnews, Mike Dell argues that if it is, the fringe is getting awfully crowded. He’s writing for us today thanks to the Podcast Professionals Association.

  • Podcasting 2.0 and the Podcast Index are now six years old; Dutch publication Spreekbuis - which had the initial scoop - covers the anniversary.
  • Adam Curry will be a guest on the Podnews Weekly Review, out this Friday.

• How does podcast money work? Tech writer and podcast ad executive Lex Friedman listened to the recent Freakonomics Radio episode, and in an illuminating blog post, explains how advertising works in podcasting, including how attribution works, and why we shouldn’t worry too much about downloads.

• Happy Place with Fearne Cotton has joined Audio Always. Audio Always will now work with Acast on commercial opportunities; and Audio Always will help with production of the show. It’s the fourth show to move to Audio Always from entertainment agency YMU … Podcast Nation has signed Morning Rae: the show is hosted by digital creator Allana Blumberg … Pivotal Conversations is relaunching Emilee Hembrow’s Let’s Be Real; the show was with NOVA.

• Record a show and upload it to Buzzsprout, and the transcript helpfully writes “Buzz Sprout”. No longer! The transcript editor now has autocorrect (which’ll fix all that), as well as keyboard shortcuts and chapter markers built-in. More details in this week’s Buzzcast.

• UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham was interviewed for The Rest Is Politics: Leading, and his comments - that Russia interfered in the 2016 Brexit referendum have been the main news story in the UK for much of this week. Media commentator Raymond Snoddy suggests his comments mark the maturity of a relatively new medium.

• Vox Media has announced a partnership between Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Kara Swisher. It’ll start with a special series, High Stakes, focused on the midterms, which releases today within On with Kara Swisher.

Tips and tricks - with Audiencelift

• You can install Apple Podcasts on your Android phone with a little work - and, yes, video does work that way. Worth a look to see how things are being promoted on that platform.

Podcast News - with Airwave

With Airwave: Let’s Begin brings you daytime meditation and relaxation, to help you start your day with a positive and relaxed mindset or to find a moment of calm and peace if you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed in the middle of the day. Each episode includes a wake-up section at the end so you don’t fall asleep!

Baby, this is Keke Palmer was joined by former Vice President Kamala Harris - discussing life after the White House, midterms, 2028, what Democrats may be missing, voting rights, Black voters and what has surprised her about Trump.

White Smoke - Pope Leo XIV the American Pope White Smoke, from Caloroga Media, is covering Pope Leo’s lung cancer diagnosis and recovery. New episodes break down the surgery at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital, what the diagnosis means, how the Vatican keeps running while the Pope is hospitalized, and the worldwide outpouring of prayer. The show explains papal news and history in plain terms for a general audience, with new episodes as the story develops.

Priced Out with David Pralong is for anyone who can’t afford to live in the city they work in. You’ll hear a property investor with 20 years in European development explain how housing got this expensive, and set out his five-part plan to fix it. Then you’ll hear him put it to the test with people like the chair of the City of London’s planning committee and to investors from the likes of Patron Capital and others.

Season 2 of Lucky to Be Here: Building Lives & Careers Abroad starts this week. The podcast showcases those who took the leap to build lives and careers across countries: sharing their stories, their lessons, and their advice to show us what it means, and what it takes, to build a life and career abroad. This season, you will hear stories of immigrants who built more than lives and careers abroad: they also built businesses, communities and resources to support one another.

How can Indigenous design and planning methodologies change the world around you? PlaceKnowing with Dr. Ted Jojola has returned for a third season to engage with the architects, designers, and Pueblo leaders whose work grounded in cultural sovereignty continues to shape 20th- and 21st-century design.

Designed in California, the Apple history podcast that raised $311,236 on Kickstarter returns today. With the 25th anniversary of the iPod coming up, hosts Jason Snell and Myke Hurley explain how the device remade Apple, built its modern ecosystem, and paved the way for the iPhone.

Irish Books returns for a second season this week. The Independent Podcast Awards nominated show brings academics, writers and curators together to discuss contemporary literature, building your reading list one episode at a time.

Baby loss is something that rarely gets openly talked about, but if you’ve experienced it or know someone who has, you’ll know that the silence that surrounds it can be as devastating as the loss itself. The Cradle Podcast exists to start the conversation around baby loss, and offer support to those people it affects.